Summer Vacation: Inside Edition

whiteman

by Candace Jackson
Friday, May 11, 2007

In Gatlinburg, Tenn., summer typically sees humid days reaching 90 degrees. But the weather forecast at Wild Bear Falls Water Park is somewhat cooler. That's because the new park -- which includes a giant water-spewing treehouse and a 300-foot tube slide -- is indoors, climate-controlled by an air-conditioning unit the size of a semi truck.

Welcome to the great indoors. At a time when much of the travel industry is marketing environmentally friendly vacations, one segment has a different take on climate change. Betting that travelers don't want to risk having a vacation rained out or otherwise ruined by weather, some developers are dramatically expanding the recreation options indoors. They are enclosing entertainment complexes in mall-like structures and putting water parks under greenhouse roofs -- and pitching them as summer destinations even in places where the weather's usually pretty nice.

In all, at least a dozen water parks are opening this year -- and a further 240 are on the drawing board, says consulting group Hotel & Leisure Advisors. Holiday Inn opened its 12th indoor water park earlier this year, with two more opening in the fall. The concept is mainly associated with colder-weather states like Wisconsin, where indoor resorts can be havens in winter. But now they are cropping up outside the Midwest. New indoor parks have been built in or are coming to Texas, Arizona and North Carolina, among other states.

What visitors get compared with vacationers braving conditions outdoors: Entry to a cavernous building -- some are three acres in size -- where the screams of splashing children echo in the climate-controlled air. Some travelers liken the moist atmosphere to an indoor hotel pool but in a much larger setting.

Gatlinburg's Wild Bear Falls, which opened in March, is operated by Westgate Resorts, a chain of timeshare properties. The company studied water parks in the Wisconsin Dells area during the summer months, and found that although the hotels were busy, many of the water parks weren't as popular. \"In the wintertime it's nice and cozy but in the summertime it's like walking into a musty gym,\" says Mark Waltrip, chief operating officer of Westgate.

The solution: build a park with a retractable roof that would let in more light and fresh air, but still allow the space to be climate-controlled. Westgate hired a greenhouse manufacturer to design the roof. \"It feels like you're outside, but not in the sun,\" says Mr. Waltrip.

Operators say their research shows that weather concerns are a big factor for families planning vacations. Americans are taking more shorter trips, usually around two nights, according to the Travel Industry Association of America.

Indeed, some operators expect travelers to pay a premium for a room at an indoor park. Bill Haralson, a consultant to the water-park industry, says hotels that add an indoor water park can boost occupancy by 25% and charge up to double for a room. At Great Wolf Lodge's Kansas City, Kan., location, weekend rates can start at around $229 a night in August. At a nearby Radisson, which has an outdoor pool and hot tub, rates can start at $110.

Indoor-park operators say their resorts also appeal to travelers who worry about skin cancer from too much sun. \"The feedback we're getting from parents is that they're very conscious about their kids in the sun right now,\" says Steve Dooner, a former Disney creative engineer who is developing an indoor entertainment complex in Las Vegas that will include an indoor ski hill, 600 hotel rooms and a spa.

But don't assume you can leave the sunblock home just because you'll be indoors. Some resorts are designed to allow some ultraviolet light to pass through the roof -- so vacationers who want a tan won't take a real beach vacation instead. At the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio, a new high-tech Teflon-style roof will let in 75% of the sun's UV rays. \"You'll need to put on some tanning lotion,\" says Todd Nelson, CEO of Kalahari Resorts.

With green travel picking up steam, the indoor strategy comes with some risks. It takes a lot of energy to maintain a steady climate and pump thousands of gallons of water. Great Wolf, for instance, says each of its parks cycles about a million gallons every hour to keep water sanitary.

A typical water park uses about 20 times as much energy per square foot as a typical Wisconsin home, estimates Sharon Gould, a licensed engineer who works with Wisconsin's state energy conservation program.

Other parts of the travel industry are starting to use renewable energy \"credits\" to offset consumption. The structures vary but credits are often bought or sold, with the money used to help plant trees or fund wind farms and other carbon-reducing programs.

Delta Air Lines, for example, recently said it would begin letting customers contribute money to carbon offsets when buying a ticket online. Last year Vail Resorts, an operator of ski properties in places like Colorado and Wyoming, started buying wind-power credits to cover its energy consumption. Tour operator REI Adventures says it is going \"carbon neutral\" by buying credits to cover travelers' flights and ground transportation.

Water-park companies say they are addressing environmental issues. Kalahari's new resort in Wisconsin will have a \"green\" roof with a garden that absorbs heat, making the building cooler. Great Wolf and Kalahari Resorts say they are now using ultraviolet rays to kill bacteria in the water so they can cut down on the use of chlorine.

Dawn Witt, a 37-year-old sales representative for an industrial piping company, recently stayed with her family at the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. Her son and daughter tubed on the river and raced down the water slides and the family is already considering another trip to an indoor park over the summer. \"Once you go to Florida and it rains, your vacation is ruined,\" she says.

From: http://finance.yahoo.com/family- ... tion-Inside-Edition