Waterparks
www.parkworld-online.com
AquaMundo2.0
Creating the next generation of waterparks for Center Parcs
Center Parcs Trois
generation Aqua Mundo
waterpark, Trois Forêts is
Center Parcs’ fourth holiday park in France, opened in 2010. Set within a 435-hectare forest, in Moselle, Lorraine, it is the largest and most wooded Center Parcs property in Europe. The park’s “green heart” is a riverside conservation area covering 58 hectares and guest accommodation comes in the shape of wooden cottages completely integrated into the countryside and surrounded by incredible flora and fauna. As well as Aqua Mundo, which for summer 2012 welcomed a Master Blaster water coaster, families can enjoy a children’s farm, a high ropes adventure course, canoes, pony rides, sporting activities, relaxation opportunities and more.
centerparcs.com
Forêts Home to the next
Aqua Mundo is an essential part of Center Parcs’ offering as an all-weather, 365-days-a-year destination. Michel Linot-Frion explains how the European holiday park operator is taking the waterpark concept to the next level
A
qua Mundo plays a key role in encouraging visitors to spend a short break at our parks, and almost every one of our guests spends a few hours each day enjoying the exhilarating offer of water-related activities inside a unique, undercover subtropical environment. We want Center Parcs guests to enter “another world” each time they step inside Aqua Mundo. It’s an environment, an atmosphere, an experience that cannot be found elsewhere. The natural materials and tropical plants inside this exotic climate feel ‘authentic’.
There are no constraints on everyday clothing, time or “things to do” – and no commercial pressures either (free lockers, no shopping and no entertainment). Although the experience is not primarily intended to be “wellness” driven, it is obviously good to do something that involves moving your body. Aqua Mundo is dedicated to yourself, your family and friends. It’s fun to do something with the people you like!
When, a few years ago, we decided to revive the Aqua Mundo concept so as to keep it a front runner within the industry, we first defined what we should not change: •An overall ‘real’ atmosphere, with lots of natural light, the illusion of the open air and large dense plants everywhere around you.
•The use of authentic, natural materials: stone or pebble flooring, rocks, boulders, wood or bamboo,
34 Center Parcs Trois Forêts, France canvas nets, plants, earth.
•Activities for all. A variety of different swimming/wet experiences, ranging from action packed activities such as the slides and wild water river, through to the more relaxing corners such as the whirlpools, sauna and spa areas.
So how to move forward, what should evolve and define the next generation Aqua Mundo? First, we eliminated totally all standard “pool vocabulary” (stainless steel ladders, ceramic tiles…) so as to reinforce our “green signature”, thus allowing for a total immersion into our manmade tropical jungle and lagoon.
Complete Experience It’s the atmosphere we create that our guests are seduced by, and all details contribute. It needs to be a complete experience, like a book; with a beginning, a good storyline and a great end. To do this we started the design process by thinking out of the box, asking skilled designers specialised in creating environments for zoos and natural science museums to help us imagine an environment,
Les Hauts de Bruyères. France
SEPTEMBER 2012
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