originally posted on 7/6/2021 1:05:53 AM
Photo: Todd Andrus. View full-sized image.
On June 6, 2021, 36 ACE members, guests and their children enjoyed a hot summer’s day in Florida at the Island H2O Live water park located in Kissimmee, Florida. Island H2O Live is a medium-sized water park with a social media theme throughout the park and its attractions. The waterpark is currently open in its third season of operations. All its waterslides and attractions were manufactured by WhiteWater West, located in British Columbia.
Photo: Thomas Hedeen. View full-sized image.
Amber Aberg won 2nd place in the ACE Mat Slide Race and showed off her soft-sided cooler prize.
Photo: Michael Christopher. View full-sized image.
Attendees checked into the park before the public and enjoyed a small continental breakfast with ERT on three amazing waterslides. Breakfast was served right in the queue of the ERT slide tower, so guests could grab a bite to eat or drink in between their rides. The 30-minute ERT session included three fun tube slides, each with different elements. Follow Me Falls is a Blasterango model featuring an uphill water blast and a boomerang element with two steep drops. The Downloader is a Super Bowl model that includes a high-speed curved drop into a bowl, making a few rotations before dropping down the center of the bowl into the plunge pool. Riders of The Downloader can use the park’s phone app to select customized music that will play while riding this slide. Finally, Reload Rapids is a fast-moving and heavy-banking Constrictor model with a Rattler element as the ending finale.
Photo: Thomas Hedeen. View full-sized image.
After ERT and breakfast, guests met at the Live Lagoon wave pool for a group photo, then were released to enjoy the rest of the park with the public. Throughout the day, guests could enjoy thrilling attractions like Hashtag Heights, a family slide with a steep drop and boomerang element; Profile Plunge, another family raft ride with exciting twists and turns; or one of the two trap door freefall slides, Live Streaming and Drop Down. Guests could also relax in the Chat Creek lazy river or catch some waves in the Live Lagoon wave pool. Adult guests could enjoy a beverage at the Private Domain pool, and children had two amazing play areas, Candy Stripe Cove and Pelican’s Paradise.
Lunch was served at the reserved private pavilion and included a buffet of delicious brisket sandwiches with sides. All guests received a souvenir drink cup from the park that included free soft drinks throughout the entire day. After lunch, ACE Florida Regional Rep Michael Christopher and Todd Andrus, Island H2O Live’s director of marketing and sales, hosted a raffle prize giveaway. Island H2O Live gave a few lucky ACE members hats and beach towels, while the first-ever ACE Florida Golden Limited Edition collectible pin was given to ACE member Jane Wiley. When the prize giveaway concluded, Island H2O Live General Manager Jim Kunau spoke to the group about how the park has fared exceedingly well during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. He mentioned that, in the 2021 season so far, the park has outperformed both budget and attendance estimates. However, the current focus is on specific return-on-investment projects, which include installing more cabana options, improving the queue speed for food services and bringing in more vendors for additional food options.
Attendees received drink bottles as an event perk.
Photo: Michael Christopher. View full-sized image.
Todd Andrus, Director of Sales and Marketing for Island H2O Live. He was the official coordinator of the event for the park.
Photo: Peter Pellegrino. View full-sized image.
The park was open to guests and the public for the rest of the afternoon. By using the Island H2O Live phone app and waterproof wristband, guests could collect points by riding different rides and finding secret locations scattered throughout the park. At the end of the day, Allison Krentz collected a whopping 2,340 points! She won the second Golden Limited Edition collectible pin as her prize!
At park closing, guests were invited back to the Reply Racers mat slide to participate in the ACE Race. Eight guests took three rides each down the slide to get their best time possible. The top winner was Jesse Sweeney with a lightning-fast run of 4.22 seconds. His prize was two free day passes to the park. Second place was Amber Aberg with a time of 4.4 seconds. She won a free day pass along with a Coca-Cola soft-sided cooler and beach towel. Third place was Peter Pellegrino with a time of 4.66 seconds. He also won a free day ticket to the park. Since Pellegrino was the fastest ACE member in the competition, he also won the third Limited Edition collectible pin!
Photo: Michael Christopher. View full-sized image.
Overall, it was an enjoyable day for ACE members to “cool down” in the Florida heat! The ACE Florida region thanked Island H2O Live for hosting a second amazing event with fun, food and cool prizes! Special thanks went to Todd Andrus and Jim Kunau for their friendship, courtesy and welcoming of ACE to enjoy their amazing waterpark. ACE Florida looks forward to working with the park in the next year to plan the next ACE Summer Cool Down in 2022.
— Michael Christopher, ACE Florida Regional Representative
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