When the estimated 700,000 visitors pass through the gates of Lake Compounce this summer, General Manager Jerry Brick hopes the 167-year-old amusement park’s latest multi-million dollar investment makes a splash.
That’s because Bayou Bay — the centerpiece of the park’s expanding water attractions with more than 1.5 million gallons of water — has more than tripled the amusement giant’s wave pool capacity to accommodate up to 750 people.
The project — three years in the making — reflects a strategic shift at Lake Compounce, which has seen its water rides expand from a couple of slides in 1998 to more than five and a half acres of water park space today.
“Water rides have been a major area of growth for us,” Brick said. “It is something [our guests] were asking for, so we added more space.”
In fact, with 15 water slides, a lazy river, two wave pools, a kid’s activity pool and spray decks, water attractions now comprise more than 40 percent of the park’s real estate, Brick said.
The growth of water attractions at amusement parks is a trend that has emerged nationally over the past decade, according to Alethea Ezra, director of park member development for the World Waterpark Association.
“Water parks appeal to people who want quality recreation in an extremely safe environment,” Ezra said. “And water parks are safer than oceans, rivers, lakes or even pools.”
In North America alone, more than 85 million people visited water parks in 2011, generating an estimated $1.7 billion for the industry, Ezra said.
And many of those visitors are families with young children — a target demographic that has driven the growth of water rides at Middlebury-based Quassy Amusement Park.
Since its first water raft ride — the Big Flush — in 1999, Quassy has strategically invested in its water attractions.
“Our decision to enter the water park market probably saved the park,” said Ron Gustafson, director of marketing and public relations for Quassy, which has been family-owned and operated for the past 75 years.
Water-based activities now account for one in every four rides at Quassy, which added a 2,000 square-foot children’s splash pad — called the Fish Pond — this summer, part of a three-year, $5 million plan to add new attractions, Gustafson said.
“We needed to create an environment where young children could play safely,” Gustafson said. “But our water park [which was renamed Splash Away Bay this year] also features other rides from our free fall slides to the bullet bowl that still appeal to teens and adults.”
And while Quassy and Lake Compounce have introduced new water features this year, they both have maintained a focus on upgrading traditional amusement rides like roller coasters.
“On days when it’s cloudy and cool, it’s great to have the amusement rides,” Gustafson said. “But when it’s 90 and humid, our water park comes to life.”
The amusement-water park combination is not only driving attendance, but also price increases at many major theme parks across the country, according to Pete Trabucco, an amusement park enthusiast and author of America’s Top Roller Coasters and Amusement Parks.
“Lots of parks are offering a combined season’s pass, providing access to the water attractions for an extra $20 or $30,” Trabucco said.
And as discretionary dollars have stretched thin for many Connecticut families, both Lake Compounce and Quassy have seen a surge in recent years of people buying season’s passes simply to use the water attractions to cool down.
“It’s more fun and cost-effective then buying a pool,” said Lake Compounce’s Brick.
In addition to watching regional competitors, both parks also have an eye on emerging technologies, which are driving new and innovative water experiences.
“With today’s technologies, water rides can be designed to follow nearly any path imaginable,” said Ezra, of the World Waterpark Association. “Ride designers have incorporated technologies that allow them to move the rider up and down the ride path, so they’re not limited by the traditional momentum derived from the top of the slide.”
And as these new technologies continue to emerge, it’s a wave that both Quassy and Lake Compounce are likely to ride.
Both parks have strategically reserved space for further water ride expansion. That can only add fuel to an industry that generated $66 million in economic activity in Connecticut in 2011, according to International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.
