The State of Floating Water Parks in the West
Inflatable Floating Water Parks: Part 1
General description and selling points.
These floating water parks are specially built with waterproof obstacle pieces that can all be connected then rearranged to form a race track or running track, all while floating on the water! Except for the more massive slides, all pieces are interchangeable. We design each connecting piece in 3m/5m/10m lengths etc. The more massive slides and a few others like the iceberg climb are great individual pieces.
We refer to these as “stand-alone” pieces since they are not connected. When on a floating water park, it is common knowledge to get the people into the water (or falling into the water) as much as possible to keep them wet. Stand-alone pieces are drawing cards to pull you off of the track. Remember that if 30% of your guests are in the water, then the 70% on the course will represent a higher total of people per hour.
The Unique Selling Situation
As an international company working out of Canada and China, we have our main office and factory in China. Flying to and from the Philippines, Thailand, Korea, Australia, and now the USA and UK so we could basically, set up and train distributors for our parks. Moreover, we are now opening other new distributors in America, Europe, and the Asian Pacific Rim as we write this.
We are designers and manufacturers having 32 years’ experience. We are factory direct. Presently, the plan is to set up distribution points across the globe. We set up distributors to sell at trade shows using investor type partners. And use existing internet sellers of water toys to represent our products to the consumer.
The Competition:
1) Wibit Company
Wibit is a Germany based company. They have been around for at least 15 years. They started their business with pool inflatables. However, they have their routes back farther with a company called Aviva. (You will see that brand name out there). One of the partners split the Head Office company and took Aviva, and the remaining partners formed Wibit!
Today Wibit is number one having distributors set up in other countries. (USA is not one of them). Wibit is placing substantial orders with two factories to put products into inventory for the up and coming season. They do trade shows and are very confident. Their product is very high quality.
However, therein lies their weakness! They focus so much on the image; they have forgotten innovation. All their new offerings do not offer any new designs. They have the same design offerings as years ago, and only the last few years have released a few more modern models. Their brochure is just another toss of photos and layouts from the same parks as the previous year and the years before. Below are the major components. Put them in any configuration to accomplish a large or small aqua park. They call them Wibit-40 or Wibit-60 or the Wibit-60plus.
Where do We Come in?
We will admit that Wibit has done an excellent job at marketing. They have made many sales across Europe and are advancing globally. They are setting up distributors globally to sell to end-users.
The main problem with the German company is that they are marketers first and foremost. They have been selling the same designs without any real innovations or any new angles. Their marketing materials have changed only slightly over the years showing new photos. However, it is still basically the same product and the same message as last year!
Our quality is the same or better than the Germany Company. The same since we were building some units at the same factory as them. We are better in areas of design and innovation. More significant, taller, more excitement. Operating our factory, we have no partners. We are living at the factory with our head office situated on the site.
Wibit is neither of these. We have 33 years of inflatable design experience, so therefore we are using those years of play design to enhance the designs and play attributes for the water parks. We are better at innovating as we take every component of the water piece and try to improve the user experience, the wear probability, and the play attributes. Again, all based on our 33 years of human play design experience. Recently Wibit has taken a few pages of our playbook into their marketing message.
The Competition:
2) Aqua Glide
These guys are also a spinoff from the old Aviva Company as above. But they are more USA based. By having a strong presence around the European landscape, and therefore it should be noted. They have a strong network of distributors. They and Wibit are enemies and fight over the rights of specific handle designs etc.
Aqua glide Quality is very high also. It is worth a mention now that all three companies mention thus far are all built at one of our local factories which are known for outstanding quality work. This factory also does military rafts and boats for other Asian countries. I have seen the inflatables on the factory product floor.
Even though Aqua Glide is an aqua park company similar to Wibit, they have positioned themselves more as water games and sports. Their floating water parks are smaller, but they duplicate units to appear large. But they tend to sell smaller packages of water toys and also offer towing tubes and water sleds to be pulled behind the boats!
Aqua Glide vs. Us
Aqua Glide is similar to a point with Wibit but differs since Aqua Glide is doing some innovation with designs. For many years, the aqua water parks were built at the same factory as Wibit. Lately, they have been offering some new climbers and slides. They also have ventured into yacht slides that install on the sides of the yacht. Aqua Glide owners do have some ties to Wibit from way back. They continuously fight over usage of specific handle components, otherwise, who did it first.
However, they still have not figured out the best way. Like every component, you always have a weak link in the chain, or rather handle setup. They have a decent patch seal to the inflatable, and they have a sturdy plastic handle. However, it is all joined together by a piece of weaker webbing strap. Even when folded over to double it up, it still is the weak link. It rubs against the plastic.
Wibit has tried making an angle cut, so it does not wear. Again, more importantly, it is the saltwater effect on the webbing itself. It is breaking down fast and allowing for a speeded-up rotting process, and then adds the rubbing impact, and it breaks.
The handle is not replaceable.
NOW, right now, we are doing the same… but we are in the process of innovating and designing a new handle… stand by for that further improvement to be launched soon.
So Aqua Glide has functional play pieces but does not offer a floating water parks as big as Wibit or Us without duplicating units. They offer up a play-structure type, obstacle course using individual or duplicated pieces.
Aqua glide is stable in the USA market and has global reaches using distributors and selling to end-users.
Our Parks: Aqua Play Parks.com
We are the newcomer on the block to floating inflatable water park systems. However, we have some very strategic positioning. We have been designing all types of inflatables for 32 years plus. Firstly, we are one of the pioneers in this overall inflatable amusement business.
A Canada-based background, we have been designing and building for many years, but have now established a more international presence by having our base in Guangzhou, China. Our second advantage. Knowing all the factories, and we know where our competitors are building. We see their quality and some of their new offerings and new quality standards directly on the factory floor. We know what our competitors are doing.
Secondly, having designing inflatables for 25 years, we can look at the weak links in the competitor’s building procedures. Therefore, we can innovate in design and quality components. We also have the years of “play “design for inflatables over 25 years. Wibit and Aqua Glide do not! We can take this experience and cross it over into the water play business. Therefore, it allows us to come up with new designs continuously. We can do this business to the next level.
Thirdly, we are cost-effective since we don’t have the levels of middlemen across the board! We are at the factory overseeing all production from design to shipping.
We also span our products from Giant water slide, giant water parks, and down to individual water toys.
Combination of Pieces.
There is a scenario where most people already know about the competitors. Therefore, we can build copy type parks for a better price. We don’t advertise this out loud, but it becomes a unique selling position if the client knows about the competitor and is thinking about buying from them.
We can give them exactly what they want. And to top it off, we can add extra value by adding a few of our designs for that particular type of park. So, the issue is we can give the client what they want. And we can match their budget and even save them money of they like the competitor.
Our Unique Selling Facts for Floating Water Parks
Some good talking points to help make the sales talk more convincing without sounding like a sales pitch.
These are taking points directly from some of my emails. PPH = People per Hour
Email 1)
Parks are sized-up according to how much money you want to make. Do you want to handle 20 people an hour (PPH) or 40, 60, 100 people an hour? (PPH)
So, if you factor about 15 dollars per person per hour… then 20 pph (people per hour) = $300 per hour
40pph = $600 per hour, 60pph = $900 per hour and 100pph = $1,500 per hour.
Our park in Australia is doing 150 PPH… = $2,250 per hour grossing 600,000 dollars in 6 months. (We were only open school holidays and weekends) Food and drinks not included.
The size of the park you want is relevant to the money you want to earn. For a general idea of budget, think of it this way. It will give you a target to project.
20pph = 20,000 park cost… 40pph = about 40,000 park cost and 100 pph = about 100,000 park cost… (Plus. minus)
Our Australia Park client and Philippines client pictures you see in the brochure were close to 150,000USD total investments. (Was Paid for in 4 months)
They can all be connected then rearranged. Except for the more massive slides, all pieces are interchangeable since we design each walk-way piece in 3m/5m/10m lengths, etc. The more massive slides and a few others like the iceberg climb are great individual pieces.
The idea is to get the people back into the water as much as possible to keep them wet. Stand-alone pieces are drawing cards to pull you out of the track. Remember that if 30% of your people are in the water, then your 70% on the track system will represent a more significant number of people per hour.
Now once a person buys one, they can mix and match and add on as they see fit. That’s the beauty of the whole design. It’s very flexible where no one park will be the same.
Did I answer your question? We have any components to make up a design unique to every client. Then we can customize the slides to their budgets and height requirements! So really, just like the whopper burger, they can have it “their way.”
In most cases, when talking to a client, we can show them the sample packages, but we want to know their budget and what do they want to achieve? What age group? Families? Park or resort settings etc.
Birthday party packages are big stuff in this type of environment. Also, corporate parties too! These parks cater to the small family-type operations, or we can gear up for adults and get a little wild. When I was in Australia, I was observing our client’s park, you see in the brochure.
I watched Sat and Sun, and all the guests were mostly 18 and up and all 20 something’s. Many adults participated, along with some heavy-set mothers and grandfathers. (No grandmothers yet)
Our Unique Selling Theory
One of our main attractions has been the giant monster inflatable water slide, which is a wet slide standing 40ft high, 175ft long, and 50 feet. It is a water type park kind of attraction. It is for sale to campgrounds and beach resorts to help them have a water slide attraction at a reduced cost.
The selling pitch here is if he doesn’t have a like for a floating water park? And doesn’t have the space for pool park, then this is another option to provide a water fantasy play. No exceptional plumbing or drainage needed.
Set up, anchor it down using massive concrete slabs, and then add electrical outlets for the three blowers (Run on separate circuits). Add a water supply source comparable to a garden house situation. Split into three and now wet the slide down with intermittent sprinklings of water; hence we call it a wet slide, Not a real water slide. But we still call it a water slide since the kids get wet, and the client makes the same money an actual water slide can bring in.
Running an inflatable water slide on the beach can be very profitable.
You would start at single ride tickets, which may only be a $2.00. Then you can do the three-ride deal for $5.00. If slow, offer four rides for $5.00 and so forth since people participating and sliding on the unit will attract others to do it! You then have the option to charge by the hour using a wrist band such as $15.00 for an example. Then half days $30.00 and all-day passes for $40.00 so on.
A half-day pass is 4 hours. An all-day pass is 6 hours.
If you have a small tent for your sales table, you can make some more money offering SUP (Stand up Paddle) surfboards for rent by the hour.
Another option is to have a few water-based play inflatables, which are water trampolines and iceberg climbing walls. With these items, you can set up a small water play park that is floating and can charge the same rates to play on these—no singles, just hourly and such.
We can provide you with other items you’ll find interesting. Baseball caps, towels, thermal cups, roll up water bottles, and sunglasses, all branded with your logo and your company name.
We will set you up with a sunscreen spray machine. Two-bucks, for a body-spray blast. These are just some ideas to help you create a business model.
Basically, in a nutshell, for regular operation, there must be at least three operators
And one manager working the slide at all times.
1. One operator at the entrance who sells rides sprays feet and controls access to the slide.
2. One operator at the top of the slide, who directs riders down the slide, monitors the traffic and keeps the sliding surface wet at all times.
3. One operator at the landing bed assists riders off the slide quickly and safely.
The slide can handle up to 300 riders per hour; a simple garden hose connection supplies water. Water is just lightly sprayed onto the slide to keep it wet and slippery. The bottom section will puddle, giving the rider a splash as they go through. No unusual drainage is required. You will spill no more water than that what splashed-over from a children’s wading pool is. Evaporation takes care of the rest.
Three blowers are operating on three separate 210V circuits. This way, for some reason, a fuse blows the other two still going. Your fans only draw seven amps, so you will not have any problems with a separate circuit set up.
Stand-alone Units and other Water Toys
Asia from the overall water parks, it can be seen that all pieces (water toys) of the water parks can stand on their own and sell separately! Our unique pieces can install together to create mini play structures on and off the water.
Other attractions can be added to water parks and can stand on their own.
Floating Inflatable Trampolines vs. Floating Inflatable Bouncers
Jump, jump, and more jumping! Trampolines and bouncers are the latest new hot, water toy for kids, parents, and families.
Trampolines are more professional type trampolines, having steel springs. Whereas bouncers are trampolines without the spring and frame, allowing for more a bouncer type action. . They just rely on the tight fabric and tension to the trampoline. Trampolines come in varied sizes.
Typically, Inflatable Trampolines start at 4m diameter and upwards of 5m, 6m, 7m, and 7.5m at the largest. Take note that the larger sizes need to rely on the steel-framed ring since the more massive bouncers do not perform well on tension only. Keep this in mind. When selling a trampoline, a bouncer type trampoline, which uses bungee cords, is typical for kids and situations where budget is a primary factor.
We can do a more significant bouncer type, but you loose on the bouncing action due to the broader span. If a larger size is required, due to many guests playing, then a steel frame with springs will be needed.
Trampoline Construction
Firstly, our trampolines are heat welded, inflated structures. Then it is complemented with a steel-rimmed frame that sits on the donut-shaped structure. This frame has many steel springs around the perimeter which hooks into the fabric.
As the springs hook into the material, it creates a stable jumping surface allowing the sturdy material to throw the person high into the air. The combination of tight material then support by the springs provides an excellent launching pad allowing the rider sufficient air time to do tricks in the air. It is a pro trampoline setup that floats in the water.
Over the top of the springs, we provide a 1″ thick padded cover. A safety feature for the rider, so if the landing is not on target, and off to the side, they will not slip between the springs. But stay on top of the structure, having a smooth landing to reposition themselves.
Now, aside from the trampoline itself, we off some add-ons for the sides. We offer a slide section that attaches to the side so kids and riders can slide off the edges and into the water. It is a great attraction to get people moving in and out of the water.
Another attraction for an add-on is the log walker. It is an inflatable tube to challenge their skill by allowing the person to try and balance by walking on the inflatable. Again, this is another option to get the people moving on and off the unit. The third option is our mini blob.
As you read on, you will see more about our full-size blob. However, the mini blob allows for one person to sit on the far end; the blob is a soft airbag. The rider sinks into the end, then the other person stands on the edge of the trampoline and jumps on the closer side of the bag, which then transfers the “blast of air down to the end person, catapulting them into the air.
Then kids reverse, and the jumper knows they can move to the end, becoming the flying person into the water. And round and round they go.
These add-ons support the people jumping in and out of the water, are staying cool and refreshed as they expend their energy playing on the trampoline.
Bouncer Type Trampolines
Everything is the same as the trampoline above; however, they are more a recreational type trampoline. The outward appearance will look the same as there is a 1″ padded foam cover around the perimeter as the trampoline. Webbing straps are supporting the fabric instead of springs.
The bounce is good and will provide lots of action; however, not considered Pro-like as the trampoline. The bouncer is suitable for the cost-saving type of clients that want a trampoline without the higher cost associated with the Pro-like trampoline.
Blobs
Blobs are airbags about 10m long x 3 m wide, typically, filled only to
3/4 capacity. One person sits on one end, allowing the air to push to the other end. The person who is ready to jump will jump from a high raised platform of cliff onto the end where the air is bloating!
Then as that person jumps onto the bloated end, the air will transfer to the other end with a blast causing that resting person to Launch into the air and splash down into the water. The heavier the jumper and the lighter, the launcher will cause the launcher to fly very high into the air for a splash landing into the water.
Blobs are anchored down into the water, the same as inflatable water trampolines. Material is .9mm heavy-duty vinyl—all heat-welded seams with reinforcement strips along the seams.
Some blobs operate with an inner bladder for extra toughness. Maybe a pro-type bag would have this. Especially of jumping from very high cliffs or if the client wants a bag to last a long time, at extra costs, of course.
Another option is to provide a single layer bag with a cover. The cover is laid over the bag and tied down at the sides of the bag. It gives a wear and tear protection from usage and provide some ultraviolet protection to the first surface of the airbag for prolong use in high sunny Ares in the south. So those few options can be used in the selling situation depending on the client’s needs!
Water Pool Parks
These are 20m, 30m, and 40m in diameter pools at about 1m deep. They are for swimming and play. The bordering rim of the vinyl pool, filled with air, the bottom floor, a single sheet of heavy-duty vinyl does not need air.
Along the borders, we will offer “attractions” such as slides and play items. These are large and inflated and are usually, in most cases, “not” heat-sealed, and then it is filled with air using a blower unit. These side attractions are sewn technology and must have blowers on at all times, or they will deflate. It gives the attractions a soft cushiony feel for play. The pool section is heat-sealed and thus firmer and harder to support the water levels!
Standard Pool Play Park
Below are some examples of natural pool parks at various sizes with attractions added. A standard pool park is one pool at a specific size with added attractions. Any pool can be adapted to fit one, two, or as many as the client wishes. Pools start at 20m. However, we can do special orders to accommodate budgets. But 20m is an average minimum since you need space to accompany the number of children. Going too small will take away from the wow factor for the families and will appear childlike. At this size and up, it represents a public swimming pool.
If the pool is large enough, you may add certain water toys inside the pool for extra play value—a small trampoline, a teeter-totter, or an orb play unit.
Contact us for more information. We are happy to help!