Thursday, December 06, 2018
Here's a new concept for nighttime entertainment at water parks
www.themeparkinsider.com: How can you keep a water park open at night? Water and darkness are a bad mix for safety, so keeping pools and waterslides open at night requires quite a bit of lighting power. That's not a big deal for hotel pools and the other relatively small installations, but it becomes an overwhelming issue for sprawling water parks, which is why most of them close when the sun goes down.
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This all sounds plausible and profitable in theory, but in reality there would be some obstacles to executing this sort of plan. First, there would have to be changeover time between daytime operations to nighttime operations. They would likely need to install audience safety measures to keep them away from the water, for one. Either it would need to be some sort of automated feature, like pop-up railings, or they would likely need to get the public out of the park entirely in order to install barriers. And either the tech requirements for the shows would have to be severely limited in order to keep equipment safe from and for daytime pool users, or there would have to be nightly install and teardown. But past all that, I do not think there would be that much of a market for it. Yes, people like the O show, and people like waterparks, but people who have spent all day at a waterpark tend to be tired and want to go home, not wander around for a few additional hours.
This sounds like a novel idea to solve a big problem for the water park industry. While amusement parks have safety concerns, water parks have the added concern about guests getting hurt in the dark. Not only does closing the parks early limit the number of people who may come, but if people are not there they can not buy merchandise, food, or other things the park has to offer. Additionally, in the summer people may come just to see the Cirque du Soleil performances, which could potentially attract a different crowd after work hours. It will be interesting to see how this is incorporated into existing amusement park as opposed to the Cirque themed resorts because the water rides are already existing structures. I wonder if the rides will have to change or be adapted to accommodate the needs of Cirque. Nevertheless, this sounds like a novel idea and I would love to see it in action.
They better still have some well lighted pools for people to go into, because nothing is more heartbreaking than kicking a child out of a pool, cutting endless summer fun short. That being said this is a marvelous idea, it effectively integrates the space and transforms it into something even more magical. I have strong opinions about nightime entertainment at theme parks and there is one must to ensure a phenomenal show, and that is fireworks, I do not know if this would be an issue with the ash falling into the pools but it is a must. Disney has the pyro-free Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom and it simply falls flat because it lacks the punch of explosive pyro. This being Cirque I am sure they could manage to light the pools on fire or something just as crazy and magical, they would be able to integrate every single part into some whimsical circus wonderland of water.
I was disappointed this article didn’t go more into the details of how this could be executed but from my perspective this is problematic. You’ll need a pretty significant shift from night to day, unless you’re planning on keeping the necessary equipment for the performances up but that could include rigging lighting and other things that probably shouldn’t be exposed to the sun and water that water parks provide. Also I think there becomes an additional safety problem of opening a space to the public which has been deemed as unsafe before but now having a few of the park attractions open. It seems as the plan is to have the viewers walk around so what happens when you have those adventurous /idiotic / drunk viewers who decide to try and sneak into an uninhibited part of the park? Seems like a dangerous amount of trouble. With that being said if Cirque wants it I’m sure they will make it happen.
I have never been to a waterpark in my entire life, and if I'm gonna be honest with myself, I don't think I ever will. The thought of hordes of people sharing the same gross water as me seems quite gross to me, but the idea of tunring them into performance venues at night seems like a really great idea. I'm imagining a fairly simple system of automatic cordons rising up out of the edge of pools to prevent people falling into them at night. I also think that the concept of water themed shows has not been sufficiently explored by the entertainment industry. Where have all those crazy synchronized swimming musicals from the '60s gone, have our tastes changed, or has the tastes of holly wood executives changed. Perhaps my excitement stems from the fact that I'm going to Las Vegas this New Years and going to see the Cirque du Soleil O show with my family, and I am quite excited. I have heard a lot about the show from David Boevers, who was part of the crew who actually built the thing, and I'm thrilled to see his handiwork.
Firstly, I'm not sure why there is a sudden need now to keep parks open after dark. I thought that was part of the finacial consideration when building a waterpark - that they close when it gets dark. That all aside, I do like the idea of having the water become a performance venue after dark. I definitely think that is the best solution as opposed to trying to find a way to make the park available for rides , as the article pointed out, it is extremely dangerous even with adequate lighting. I am interested to see what Cirque will do because I feel like a waterpark tide pool, or whatever venue they perform in, will be no as precise as they need. There is a huge discrepancy between the specificity and needs to design a pool for a family waterpark versus designing a pool for Cirque performers. It is a safety concern I'm sure they are thinking about but still begs the questions: is all of this worth it?
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