Wisconsin Dells - "The Waterpark Capital of the World!®"
This is like any good bedtime story -- folks want to read it over and over again. So, we bring you, the story of how the nation's first indoor waterpark was created. This is a true story.
The Father of the Indoor Waterpark
The roots of the indoor waterpark craze in the United States can be traced back to 1989 and a casual observation made by Stan Anderson, owner of the Polynesian Resort Hotel in Wisconsin Dells. Anderson was on a scouting trip to a Texas resort looking for ideas for new water attractions, accompanied by his two business partners, Tom Lucke and David Kaminski. Each owned properties with indoor swimming pools, but felt the pool-thing was getting to be ho-hum.
Anderson commented that one of the featured attractions at the Texas resort, called "The Water Factory," might be a good fit for his resort, particularly with young families. It was an outdoor feature, but Anderson wondered if he could put a roof over it as a way to extend the Dells tourism season which, at that time, ran Memorial Day to Labor Day. Not long after, construction began at the Polynesian for the first indoor waterpark, with The Water Factory the main attraction. As Anderson humbly notes, "It was successful beyond our dreams." The Polynesian was packed, even in the off season. Within a few short years, the area’s largest waterpark developments took shape.
Here are the Numbers
- 16 million gallons of water
- America’s Largest Outdoor Waterpark
- America’s Largest Indoor/Outdoor Combination Waterpark
- Wisconsin’s Largest Indoor Waterpark
- More than 200 waterslides
Rides includes extreme plunge slides, tube rides, racing speed slides, bowl drops, water roller coasters, indoor surf machine, massive wave pools, and lazy rivers.
