Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park

[andrewm]

I'm just back from a holiday in Hawaii and while I was there I visited Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park. I booked a tour which took me by coach from my hotel in Honolulu to the park, included entry to the park (normally about $40 US) and all drinks, a barbecue lunch, and a boogie board lesson in the wavepool. The package was $79 US. I was disappointed that the bus left the park at 2:30pm, when the park didn't close until 4:00pm. The park is built into the side of a mountain, with the latest (and surprisingly unadvertised) attraction-- a bright red Tornado-- right at the top of the hill. The Tornado is surrounded by the multi-rider raft slides which I didn't get to use, since I went alone. There was a 4-lane racer slide built up the mountain as well, in red, orange and yellow, themed as lava flowing down a volcano. The path up to the racer is very slippery and steep, but the ride is great and the drops were nice and steep giving you lots of speed. The digital display showing the order each lane got to the bottom was on but not working. The path was also shared by the 2 speed slides, which I couldn't bring myself to do. The wavepool was probably the same size as wet n wild's, but also included a waterfall area in the shallow end which was nice. The wavepool didn't have any theme to it though. As it was "low season" (although every day we were there was pretty hot) the 3 solo body slides and the half pipe were open half an hour at a time, so it could be run by the same operators and lifeguards. The body slides were excellent. One dark tunnel slide, one very windy slide, and one that just did loops making you very dizzy when you got to the pool. The Flyin Hawaiian was a great attraction we don't have here-- a very short body slide with a 1.5m drop into the pool at the end. Very cool. There were 2 kids areas-- a toddler area and an older kid area. The tipping bucket was a bit out of order. It filled and overflowed mostly, and only very rarely actually tipped and dumped the water. They had an excellent lazy river. The scenery was nicer than WnW's. One area had a waterfall coming right down the side of the mountain (which also flowed into the adult spa pools-- more later). There were a few smaller waterfalls along the way, some nice quiet bits with high walls around the edges, a footbridge over the top. There were 2 entry points to the lazy river, fairly close to each other, but on opposite sides of the river. The only problem with this was that the lazy river was only open between 12pm and 3pm-- probably again because it was low season and they didn't have the staff for it. As I said above, on the island area surrounded by the lazy river, there is an adults only spa with the waterfall pouring into it. You must be over 21 to enter the spa. I had a quick wade in there but after the cooler water, it felt like it was boiling water so I stayed out. But here is a great idea that our water parks don't have-- a bar! Yes, you can order alcoholic drinks and take them into the adult spas! How cool. The other attraction was a flowrider, just like Dreamworld's. And just like Dreamworld's it cost extra to book time on the flowrider. As for the barbecue lunch that came with the tour, it was kind of an asian thing with rice, and meat, and a salad, and fruit. Not too bad. Overall, the attractions are pretty top notch. A few repairs are needed here and there, but nothing that stopped me enjoying it all. The attractions are very spread out around the park, so there is a lot of walking involved in getting around. It left me with very sore feet at the end of the day. The theming is pretty good-- most thing have a Hawaiian theme or name, though the wavepool could do with some prettying up. In number of attractions, it is somewhere between WnW and WWW. It is a good size and can keep you busy for a full day. It was not busy at all when I was there, though they do count this as low season because it is Autumn (Fall). I think the weather was just perfect though. Not too hot. So lines were very short which was great. You could get to the bottom of a slide and go straight back up the stairs and go again. It's a very good water park and if you are lucky enough to get to Hawaii, make sure you spend a day there.

[Gazza]

I remember being told about that tornado back at the Kamikaze launch, they also do dive in movies too, so I guess this is what they mean about applying the WnW formula (Also check out the style of the advertising: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=jLCXcXoBnPE ....same style as WnW, even with some recycled footage. How long till we see the park re branded as WnW?

The Tornado is surrounded by the multi-rider raft slides which I didn't get to use, since I went alone.

When I was there I didn't bother with the 3 person big Kahuna ones, but the Waianae Coaster ones I did because they would let you sit in the back of a 2 person one, and just go down in that, or have they changed the rules since then? But let me get this straight, is the Tornado right up on the upper part of the park at the top of the cliff? Anyhow, your thoughts on the place echo my own, it feels like a smaller WnW, but the park has the potential now to go and put in a lot of the newer slide types without competitive difficulty. EDIT: Yeah, it is at the top of the park.....I found a video report about it here, according to the reporter the park was bought out by "Village Roadhouse", the park has had extra landscaping, the kids area got a tipping bucket, and the dive in movie screen is an inflatable one. Did you happen to get any photos? I'd be interested to see what WVTP have done in the 11 or so months since I visited. Edited November 9, 2008 by Gazza

[andrewm]

Yes, it is now owned by Village Roadshow theme parks. The Hawaiian Waters site links to the myFun site, but myFun doesn't link back to Hawaiian Waters in any way. I emailed myFun to ask if they had entry discounts to myFun members and they said they do not for Hawaiian Waters yet. It kind of seems like they own it, but aren't that interested in it yet. Yes, the Tornado is right at the top of the cliff. If you walk up the path to the multi rider slides, where it branches left and right, you go left, then climb another ramp up even higher, then grab a raft and head up the stairs. I didn't go all the way up there, but I imagine it would look pretty high once you got up there! If you are at the lockers and look up, the Tornado is right there. It is the first thing you see coming off the highway, especially being bright red. I can't believe they don't advertise it yet. I didn't realise you could ride the 2-person raft alone. I saw they were multi-rider slides and didn't bother going any further. If the park was busy I would have lined up and tried to jump in with another single rider, but there weren't that many people and there was no queue. I did ask if the halfpipe could be ridden alone, but they said no. Shame I didn't ask. The new tipping bucket is a bit of a laugh. I waited FOREVER for it to tip and it never did. I did hear it tip at one point though, but never saw it go. I think it might be off balance or something. Plus the area it dumps into doesn't look that big. I'd be worried about kids entering the pool and getting knocked back by the force of the water tipping. I guess it must be OK though. I was actually wondering if they'd do dive in movies, but there was no hint of a screen in the area like WnW has on top of the building at the back. The inflatable screen sounds interesting. I'd like to see how that works, and how big it is. I do have some photos. I'll try and get them organised soon and post them here for you. The only things I can say we could learn from their park are: the Flyin Hawaiian is cool, and is a nice small slide that WWW could easily fit in a corner somewhere. The big drop at the end is really fun. And the nice relaxing, protected lazy river was great. WnW might look at theming their one a bit better, blocking it in more from surrounding areas, or if WWW get the go-ahead on theirs they should take this into consideration, though it would be harder in a small park.

[cerberus584]

The Hawaiian Waters site links to the myFun site, but myFun doesn't link back to Hawaiian Waters in any way.

It's in the scroll bar and under the 'Choose an Attraction menu."

[Gazza]

I do have some photos. I'll try and get them organised soon and post them here for you.

Did you happen to get photos of the Tornado? That's the only ride missing in the Hawaiian Waters gallery: http://www.parkz.com.au/parks/US/Kapolei/H...Adventure_Park/

[BNErider]

That ad is just annoying! And they're too cheap to even get a new one made...

[sonic123488]

It still looks like an awesome park! Here's a slightly different ad

Edited November 14, 2008 by sonic123488

[cadboy]

It still looks like an awesome park! Here's a slightly different ad

Might be different but that voice over is horrible.

[Gazza]

Might be different but that voice over is horrible.

Yeah, but your average Hawaiian wouldn't have a problem with it would they?

[andrewm]

Might be different but that voice over is horrible.

Off topic, but: This would be a welcome change to the TV ads we saw in Hawaii. They seemed to alternate between pharmaceutical companies selling prescription medication with a long list of known side effects, and lawyers advertising services to sue pharmaceutical companies for the side effects their medications cause. I couldn't believe it! Anyway, I have uploaded a couple of pics that didn't seem to already have pics in the gallery: the Tornado, the new tipping bucket in Water World, and the waterfall part of Hurricane Bay wave pool.

[Gazza]

^It was weird, I remember seeing ads for Gardasil (Yup, the vaccine that is given for free to Australian girls is advertised on TV in the US ) and they were indeed running through all the side effects...Must be an advertising law over there. Notice how here you aren't even allowed to name any prescription drugs in ads on tv here, hence that generic message "Talk to your doctor". Just looking at that pic of Waterworld reminds me of how bare and industrial it was. If you check out this pic of Pipeline plunge you can see how all the water elements are modular and attach to the columns, it would be nice if they bought a bunch of these and turned the platform into a proper water play structure, and at the same time dressed it up a bit with some theming on the columns, and on the roofs, just so it is a bit more fun and inviting.

Edited November 16, 2008 by Gazza

[Bush Beast Forever]

Vilage Roadshow's result release today mentions that the park is getting a proslide octopus racer and a WhiteWater West Raft ride this year. Unfortunately don't mention anything about a new WnW ride. Given the WWW expansion seems to not be happening anytime soon I really hope WVTP aren't going to be spending all their money overseas this year!

[Gazza]

The other thing they mentioned (I was wondering when they would do it) is that the park is being re branded as Wet 'n' Wild.

Edited February 26, 2009 by Gazza

[S.W24]

Also soon be Part of Warner Village theme Parks Wet 'n' Wild brand will be a new Wet 'n' Wild park Due to open in 2009, Wet’n’Wild Water World in Phoenix, Arizona USA

[Original]

Look as if the park will be re-branded as WnW and also an interesting on WVTP interests in the waterpark http://www.amusementtoday.com/waterparks.html bottom article