World Waterpark

Story

World Waterpark is a water park located at West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Opened to the public in 1986, it is the world's second-largest indoor water park after the Tropical Islands Resort in Germany. It has a maximum capacity of 5000 guests, an average air temperature of 31°C, and contains the world's largest indoor wave pool with a capacity of 12.3 million litres.The highest slides in the park are Twister and Cyclone, which are both 83ft high.World Waterpark is the last waterslide park in Alberta after the closure of Wild Waters Waterslides in 2012, a unknown, unnamed waterpark near Chestermere Lake (unknown closure date), one in Calgary, and the Wild Rapids Waterslide Park in 2016. The waterpark is also the location of the novel The Phoenix Index: Never Rain by author James Cummins.Blue Thunder wave poolThis wave pool has four active wave bays, each with 2 panels operated by a hydraulic system (8 total active panels). For many years, the (4) panels in the two outer wave bays have been disabled, apparently due to the waves being far too intense, resulting in injuries; guests were being thrown into each other when all 12 panels were operating, as they were in the 1980s.Waves are generated (in 10 minutes on, 5 minutes off sessions) of approximately 5 to 6 feet, utilizing only the 8 active wave panels. It is arguably the most popular attraction in the park, as many swimmers (most with yellow inner tubes) can be found bobbing in the water. The start of every session is marked with a loud air horn blast, warning swimmers to be ready for a wave to flip them over. Every now and then, the large crowd of people in the pool will jokingly scream after hearing the air horn, a common behavior among frequent users of the wavepool.