Want in on the Indoor Water Park Trend? Here Are the First Questions to Ask 

Opened in 2024: Aquascope at Futuroscope in France and Water World at Shanghai L+Snow Indoor Ski Resort in China.  

Opened in 2025: Bavarian Blast at Bavarian Inn in Michigan.  

Opening in 2026: a Kalahari Resort with an indoor water park in Virginia.  

Coming in 2027: Bellevue Bay Indoor Waterpark in Nebraska and Bradley Indoor Waterpark in Illinois.

With these recent announcements of sizable new indoor water park projects, you might be saying to yourself, “Hey, these people are on to something!” 

And they are. 

Offering year-round aquatic fun regardless of weather, an indoor water park can serve different purposes: as a complementary attraction to a “dry” venue, as a magnet to draw families to a hotel or resort, or as a standalone facility to provide quality leisure in a municipality or to enhance local tourism. Of course, the decision to build an indoor water park isn’t made overnight. What are some basic questions to ask when considering such a development?  

Having worked on indoor water parks all over the world, we have compiled a few fundamental questions to start with when we partner with clients on these projects. 

What Demographic Are You Targeting? 

At first, you might say, “Families with children, obviously.” 

But let’s delve deeper. Do you want to zero in on families with kids under 12? Or maybe you want to attract tweens and teens because there’s not a lot for them to do in the area. What does the local demographic data tell you? Is there demand for family entertainment? 

Perhaps you also want to appeal to those with no kids or need a break from their own kids. In that case, we would have to design for an adults-only area or the possibility of hosting adults-only events.   

What Is Your Business Model? 

Do you want to zero in on the local market or are you aiming to be a destination that is a beacon for tourists from afar? 

Would your indoor water park be an additional offering for a hotel or in a bigger entertainment complex? Or would it be a standalone venue? 

The answers to these questions will affect your choice of attractions, your design and theming, and your unique selling proposition, just to name a few. 

Who Is Your Competition? 

Are there other indoor water parks in the region where your development is located? If so, what attractions do they offer for what ages? What is the quality of their facilities? Are they doing good business? What about indoor municipal pools in the area? 

It wouldn’t just be indoor water parks that you would be competing with. Are there other indoor family entertainment venues within a 50-kilometer/30-mile radius? Do they provide a good value for the money for the length of stay?  

Be sure to check online reviews to see what the customers are saying about all these competing venues. These will reveal a lot about what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s missing. 

What Is Your Footprint? 

For any indoor project, space comes at a premium. The smaller it is, the more creative your design needs to be in order to maximize the footprint and at the same time, expand the sense of openness. You will also need to be hyper-focused about your target demographic and try not to be everything to everyone.  

What Does the Labour Market Look Like in This Area? 

Year-round indoor water park fun requires year-round staff. Is there qualified labour in the market to fill the different roles? What are the living wages for these positions?  

What Is Your Investment Scope? 

Are you focusing only on the initial development and purchasing cost? Or does your scope include the total cost of ownership? 

Experience tells us that when the initial purchaser does not consider the day-to-day when the park opens, they might aim for the lowest price capital investment options, leaving the operator to foot the bill for high water and electricity costs, high maintenance costs, and premature repairs. 

Just the Beginning 

All these questions and more would be addressed in the feasibility study, and we’d love to chat about all the creative possibilities for an indoor water park’s business success. Contact us to start exploring or learn more with our indoor water park design guide.