Water Parks, Surf, and Tech: WhiteWater Showcases Global Momentum at IAAPA Expo 2025

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- WhiteWater's press conference at IAAPA Expo 2025 was all about momentum, spotlighting bold new projects across a wide range of venue types as well as innovative attractions that will be coming to life in 2026/2027. The update from the world's leading designer of water parks and attractions concluded with a few corporate announcements.

North and South American Project Updates

With emphasis on the Americas, WhiteWater highlighted some notable projects that opened this year and looked ahead to next year.

As part of a major 2025 expansion, Hotel Xcaret México in Playa del Carmen is inviting families to enjoy five new water slides featuring AquaLucent, translucent, and veil fiberglass technologies—all tastefully integrated into this luxury resort. In Aquiraz, Brazil, Beach Park turned heads with "Surreal," the world's tallest water coaster—a Master Blaster + Constrictor Fusion launching from a height of 28 meters (92 feet).

Looking ahead in Brazil, "Nações," a mega 32-meter tower with two 6-person Family Blaster fusion raft rides, is nearing completion at Thermas dos Laranjais in Olímpia. Also in the tropics, Norwegian Cruise Line's Great Stirrup Cay in The Bahamas will open the 6-acre (24,000-square-meter) Great Tides Waterpark with a magnificent 170-foot (52-meter) Tidal Tower, a RainFortress 5, and a total of 19 slides.

In the USA, fans of the renowned family leisure brand, Kalahari Resorts and Conventions, are highly anticipating two projects. An $85-million indoor water park expansion in Wisconsin Dells will feature seven kids' slides, two Parallel Pursuits and two 6-person family raft rides, including the world's first Covered Boomerango. In Spotsylvania County, Virginia, a brand-new property will boast the state's biggest indoor water park with a well-rounded ride mix and a FlowRider® Double.

Beyond water parks, WhiteWater is also working with theme parks and zoos. At Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the Water Rides team is providing a fresh fleet of durable composite vehicles for the guest-favourite "Daredevil Falls" Super Flume. At San Antonio Zoo in Texas, the Vantage team is launching a guest engagement platform that includes a guest app, a team app, and a configuration and reporting portal that will enhance satisfaction, help understand visitor behaviour, and drive sales. 

Five Projects to Open in 2026 for Endless Surf

Following O2 SURFTOWN MUC's fanfare opening in 2024 in Munich, Germany, Endless Surf's state-of-the-art surf lagoon has demonstrated more than 6,000 hours of operation since August with zero downtime, 90% occupancy on average, the ability to host up to 15,000 people for major events, and highly successful revenue opportunities.

With powerful pneumatic hardware and an innovative software suite, Endless Surf will open five impressive projects in five different venue types in 2026, proving its versatility in diverse business models. In Saudi Arabia, the groundbreaking water theme park Aquarabia Qiddiya City will unveil the Kingdom's first surf pool, followed by another—an Endless Surf ES36, with 36 caissons—at the Red Sea in a high-end resort. In Brazil, an ES48, with 48 caissons, will anchor the members-only Brasil Surfe Clube Aretê Búzios. In Mexico, Cabo Real Surf Club will attract discerning home buyers to its private luxury community with an ES48. In Vero Beach, The Point—a standalone surf park—will become the first in the state of Florida and home to the first Endless Surf lagoon in the United States—an ES36.

Endless Surf also announced its largest project to date—a record-breaking ES66—to be built at Terras de São José, a residential community in Itu in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. This model will offer amazingly long rides of 40 seconds in Single Peak mode and 20 seconds in Split Peak.

Innovative Products and Experiences

WhiteWater showcased the next evolution in aquatic play: AquaAdrenaline™. Set over a purpose-built pool or a repurposed existing pool, it is an unharnessed adventure course with irresistible agility challenges. AquaAdrenaline is designed for free exploration, allowing children to push their boundaries while promoting multi-generational play. PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park in Tarragona, Spain, will be the first to offer this new ride category for water parks.

Among the water slides to debut in the coming years will be Nautilus and Hurricane.

• Reminiscent of a spiraled seashell, Nautilus is oscillating slide feature that is highly adaptable to incoming slide paths and speeds. It will be thrilling guests at Great Tides Waterpark in 2026.
• Hurricane is a visually impressive feature for 6-person rafts that surprises riders with a fun pool entry-like deceleration followed by a strong vertical and centripetal acceleration for the exit. It will premiere in the USA in 2027.

Because a great guest experience goes beyond physical slides and attractions, Vantage is providing a unified single platform for guests, operations, and commerce to personalize experiences and make every touchpoint seamless. With every guest account tied to multiple systems, such as ticketing, POS, gamification, marketing, and more, the Vantage platform will be able to anticipate each guest's needs, be it in water parks, theme parks, or zoos.  The team profiled the newest venue to introduce Vantage, with San Antonio Zoo going live in December 2025.

"The landscape for water parks and attractions is evolving, weaving together thematic storytelling, technology, and sport to create experiences that friends and family would want to share, both in person and online," said Onno Meeter, President, Water Parks. "With the biggest portfolio in the industry, WhiteWater is well poised to help clients with this shift towards building multi-experience destinations."

Partnership, Sustainability, Scholarship: Corporate Updates

Concluding the press conference, the company made three announcements.

WhiteWater revealed a strategic partnership to bring the world's leading water park products and services to Australia by joining forces with Swimplex in the region. Combining WhiteWater's global expertise with Swimplex's deep local knowledge, the collaboration will strengthen support for developers, accelerate project delivery, and elevate aquatic experiences in this market.

WhiteWater also shared that the company passed its second ISO 14001 audit and added Endless Surf to its certification scope. This international standard for environmental management systems signals to partners and clients that sustainability is an integral part of WhiteWater's processes—and can be part of the process for other players in the attractions sector.

In addition to encouraging sustainability across attractions, WhiteWater supports advancing the industry and bridging the opportunity gap for underrepresented groups. WhiteWater introduced the 2026 IDEA Scholarships to attend IAAPA's Institute for Executive Development (IXD)—one for the program in Riyadh in April 2026 and another for Orlando in November 2026. Applications are open now for the first program, with details available at www.whitewaterwest.com/idea-scholarship.

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About WhiteWater

WhiteWater was born in 1980 with one clear purpose, to create places where families unite and make joyful lasting memories.

We achieve this by standing alongside our customers from concept to completion of award-winning attractions, from slides to water rides and everything in between. We aim to inspire our clients by unleashing our creativity to realize their ambitions; we craft solutions which make each park unique. We are dedicated to making products that operators can count on, because we understand the importance of reliability and efficiency on the bottom line. 

As market leaders, we put our success down to our attitude, in all our years we've never once forgotten why we're here – to help parks solve problems, create immersive experiences, and delight guests all over the world.

We're here to create places where fun can thrive.

SOURCE WhiteWater