Table of Contents
Inflatable Water Park Setup, Do’s and Don’t’s
1) Required spot’s size L x W (m)? How far from the beach line?
Your spot size “outside your water park of choice” should be around 10m wide by 10m longer. You should be about 10m from the shoreline (+-, depending on depth). To approach the park on the shoreline, install a sales booth, a life jacket station then thirdly a cue up /launch area close to the water. You might have a small plastic fence around just to corral the people for instructions. Here the employee uses a megaphone to shout out instructions for safety and lifeguards positioning.
During this time, the other lifeguards are inspecting the park from the last session for any damages or safety issues or unnoticed lounging participants. On a blown whistle, the people now walk and enter the water and swim the 10m to the water park. Some think there should be a walkway, but swimming out is more fun.
2) Advisable place of installation, requirements, and restrictions? Needed depth of water!
Calmer waters are best naturally. Any parts of the shoreline that have barriers or curved shorelines, creating a semi barrier to the Open water, is always better. The minimum water depth is 2m; maximum depth is not an issue. It means longer anchor ropes and little more difficulty in placing anchor weights for initial setup since we need across horizontal line configuration to stop park swaying. Remove the park system; the ropes stay in water with attached floats to keep clips close to the surface for reattachment. You should install a floating boundary, the same used for swimming boundaries.
Maybe the corners could have some flags for oncoming boaters. Boats are restricted to dock up against the park. You need to have a simple system to keep boats out and away from the park.
3) How to organize ticketing and entrance to the inflatable water park game?
Could you choose a personalized bracelet with an implemented timer and sound/light alarm? Etc. It allows you to avoid collecting customers and enforcing them to wait in line. And you could implement a colour-coded band to track the periods they have purchased such as one-hour, two-hour half day full day.
However, we have always used the 50-minute play set up. It allows us to clear the park for a 10-minute inspection and, of course, look for any other people who may be in trouble. Swimming Pool operators follow this procedure too. Swimmers waiting, during an inspection, is not a bad thing. It builds the excitement. When they come off, they may rest for the one hour then get in the following hour of play. Maybe it keeps people in your park, there longer. We find it easy to manage the large crowds this way.
The second crowd is then getting their life jackets on, at the 40-minute time mark (of the first crowd). They then start getting their instructions to begin their time block, which is essential to give verbal reminders and instructions to the grouped up waiting crowd instead of one on one! When they are waiting, they are getting excited like an amusement ride. The wait builds up the anticipation. And with the 50-minute block, they feel they want their money’s worth.
4) How much time is required to assemble a Floating inflatable Water Park and preparing it for use?
It takes two days for the first set up since installing the anchors and such. After the anchors are in place, you can drag the park out of the water in two hours (no deflation). However, that is only necessary for violent storms to shore it and tie them down. Leaving in the water won’t hurt the park for typical storms. Think of all the docks, wooden rafts, and boats left in water. No problems.
If dragging to land, then really deflation should occur, and you use the pumps. That is more time consuming and requires advanced planning. For severe storms where removal is necessary, weather reports give advance notice for us to prepare a deflate. But most wind storms and heavy rains of cold weather, the park can remain in the water. Even if one attachment broke, there are more than one per piece, and then pieces are anchored together.
5) Sometimes because of the risk of storms, there might be necessary to disassemble the units and put them in a safe place.
What is its total weight and volume (size) per component (non-inflatable)?
Total weights for each piece are 100 lbs, 200 lbs for most, and 800 lbs, 1000 lbs for the main attractions like the massive slide or a giant iceberg. The total size of each piece deflated is small. When rolled up, the smaller one (one pc) can fit onto a wheel barrel. The larger ones 200-300 lbs (one unit) can fit in the trunk of a large car, and the more significant slides and icebergs fit 3 or 4 in the back of a pickup truck.
6) How many employees should we hire for maintaining the Mobile Floating Water Park System and customer servicing?
We need a staff of at least 10 people for a given day decided on the fact that we use the large park size we mentioned, such as the 200 person park. Most of them need to be qualified lifeguards.
The ones that aren’t, handle the shoreline duties. But they should have a first-aid certificate for emergencies. Out of 10, you would have maybe 6 lifeguards on guard with two rotating for breaks and lunches.
Another is selling tickets, and another is the life jacket monitor and loudspeaker instructor. These people can relieve each other for washroom breaks and can eat during their station time. They are more relaxed in their duty. And you still have the two other lifeguards that can help now and then.
7) Cost of maintenance per month (year)
Here’s a good thing. Maintenance is little. Take one of your employees for the month; his salary would be your budget. If he only works half the time, then the balance covers the supplies like new ropes, anchor attachments. Repair kits. Anchor stakes for on the beach. You need gas for the water pump to keep running water to the top of the giant slide to keep wet! Maybe 10-20 dollars per day! You need some electricity to charge the boat battery and for a few other minor necessities.
Overall, maintenance is low. Use the one employee wage for budgeting purposes to cover everything.
8) Mobile Floating Water Park System: Period of amortization (depreciation)
Your water park can earn your investment back in one season. In a worst-case scenario, maybe two seasons. Your park has a life span of 4 years under heavy use. Medium use is 6 years. After 6 years we say just replace it! The colors dull after 3-4 years. So, we recommend you add new and exciting standalone pieces to keep the excitement level up. Don’t use one park for 5 years. Keep adding a few new pieces every year to create the excitement as many people return. “Give them something to get excited about!”
9) List of needed and desirable accessories
- A) Two service boats. A little electric raft type boat for shuttling around the park for supervisor and a small pontoon type boat with a flat deck for using as a work platform and filling station. These can have a gas motor or electric. (load a generator onto these boats. Along with the electric pumps to go around and fill or instead top-up every morning, after the cold nights. Now and then, you might notice a unit is a little soft. so, send an employee out and top up)
- B) A generator as just mentioned above.
- C) a water pump. There is a water pump/generator (all in one) units out there with 100-200 ft of water hose to feed water up to the top of the slide.
- D) surfboards or SUB boards, visit aqua play parks.com, for lifeguards to paddle in and out. And can be used for floating stretcher if the participant is injured and needs pulled into shore.
- E) Life jackets. Swimming float jackets as used in water parks on land. You need at least 100 spit in all different sizes.
- F) life jacket racks with shade cover. It can be built of wood or use an inflatable tent. Jackets are hung-up according to sizes,
- G) Large inflatable tent for people to rest and gather. About 10 m x 20 m open concept.
- H) picnic tables for under the tent 20-30pc
- I) sales booth. Wooden or inflatable tent for selling tickets.
- J) inflatable arch to mark the water entrance
- K) a little bit of plastic fencing for mini barrier on both sides of the arch (just to funnel the crowd accordingly as they gather to hear instructions before entering the water. Also, employees do visual checks of life jackets, upon participant entering the water, to ensure all clasps have been “clicked” properly! Pull aside those improper life jackets for adjustment or jacket replacement!
10) Warranty period for Mobile Floating Water Park system.
2 years Limited warranty. The first year, if break down occurs on a unit. You pay shipping to us. We send you out another unit right away once you have sent your damaged unit out. The two are crossing each other at sea. We supply you with a few simple pipes floats to fill in the gap. It comes with your purchase. We keep the old one.
In the 2nd year, you pay the shipping to us and back to you. We fix or replace it. If I am a partner in your park, then you have ongoing warranty and support for the life of the park. Am Something to tickle your ear! I am always interested.
11) Is electronic Ticket selling a common practice? Or can unique widgets and gadgets be used for paying through the gates?
The operation is at its best as a cash business, however, based on your employee and staff setup, you can set up an electronic payment system for better controls, but this would require a radio system for the internet.
12) Which kind or number of trucks (SUV or trailer) is most appropriate for supporting and maintaining this particular type of business?
Having a 3/4 ton pickup truck with a trailer would work quite nicely. The trailer should be enclosed so it can act as a portable storage unit while on the site. Odds and ends, maintenance supplies, and generators. All these on-shore pieces of equipment is stored away for the evening! A truck is not necessary during operations but comes in handy. A teardown and set up a truck is more handy for running around. An onsite trailer or shipping container is ideal for a locked shed.
13) Could you please send me a few drawings of the land setup part for ideas?
Yes, I would be happy too. Once you have a location in mind, send me photos and possibly a sketch with rough, walked out dimensions. I can look it over for you and make suggestions for an ultimate setup!
14) I’d like to know an overall size (perimeter) of land I would need for the dry land part of the facility to harmonize it with a city (beach) administration authority.
The land requirement is about the same size as the water park size or less. You also want to have vehicle access. And some storage spots. You have a picnic area with tables, a beach area. And sales tent area and possible an inflatable arch and flags.
15) Water pumps: are they designed for using saltwater?
Hmm, good question. The pumps we have been using up until now are in freshwater! The units placed in saltwater have not used pumps because they are using parks without the giant slides. We will provide more info on this subject soon. We are sourcing that now. If you have info regarding this subject, we are all ears. See, we learn together in our group.
16) Is the capacity of batteries sufficient for supplying water pumps on the water slide good for at least 10 hours? Or do we need to have the reserved batteries for changing along the operating day?
The water pump we used in Australia was a pump with a combination gas generator all in one. We just top it up with gas every three hours. So, I am not sure how you are referring to batteries to the water pumps!
17) Electrical shock safety.
We have no issues here. The pump is located on the beach or in the boat away from the crowds. When filling the units, we do this on the beach out away from the crowds and then drag out the unit to its position, to hook up to the anchors, or we drag out and then hook up the anchors, whether the setup is first time or re-install. When topping up the units, we are out on the boat. The generator is running! But it is more centred in the boat. The air pumps are small and easy to move around. The filling tube is long, about4 m. So, everything is quite safe.
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