Waterpark Developments

[Acajack]

http://newswire.ca/en/releases/archi.../08/c7271.html

[harls]

460 acres.. good god!

Will it be visible from the 417 I wonder? I thought waterparks needed some sort of hilly terrain, it's pretty flat out there, isn't it?

[Acajack]

Yeah, well the one this company operates near Québec City is pretty massive and impressive. I think the one in Eastern Ontario will be a tad smaller however.

[MolsonExport]

The shittiest things about waterparks are (in order):
1. waiting in line, either freezing your ass off or burning to a crisp (in either case, suffering from boredom).
2. getting hit in the head from some asshole's foot.
3. having to look at the trailor-trash tattoos adorning half the women (stupid butterfly above asscrack, or some dolphin, or barbed-wire a la Pamela Anderson) and three-quarters of the men.

[BlackRedGold]

Well they're claiming it will be the biggest in Canada.

I think the previously announced Lottawatta waterpark will be a bigger hit. It's going to off the 416 near Bankfield and developed by a local company that designs water rides for places like Six Flags and Great Wolfe Lodge.

Here's an article on Lottawatta:
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/...4-3875f29d1f7a

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by BlackRedGold

Well they're claiming it will be the biggest in Canada.

I think the previously announced Lottawatta waterpark will be a bigger hit. It's going to off the 416 near Bankfield and developed by a local company that designs water rides for places like Six Flags and Great Wolfe Lodge.

Here's an article on Lottawatta:
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/...4-3875f29d1f7a

Well I wish them luck, but in all honesty can this area keep potentially 3 places like this going (Mont Cascades, this one near the Tick and the one out in Limoges) with our prime weather going from the end of June until Labour Day.

I can see the council in The Nation getting behind this (not much else creating jobs there), but I'm sure the Manotick water park will run into local opposition and City stalling. Does it require an OPA?...anybody?

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

The shittiest things about waterparks are (in order):

3. having to look at the trailor-trash tattoos adorning half the women (stupid butterfly above asscrack, or some dolphin, or barbed-wire a la Pamela Anderson) and three-quarters of the men.

You've obviously been to the same waterparks as I have....they do attract quite an interesting assortment of characters.

[Acajack]

Hard to say at this point which of these parks will end up being the most successful.

But it’s interesting that after having for many years a relative dearth of these types of recreational parks, we are now poised to have what is perhaps an overabundance of them. (Of course, there is a still a dearth of “La Ronde” and “Wonderland”-type theme parks in this area, but that’s another story.)

Anyway, the people setting up in Limoges aren’t simply counting on the Ottawa-Gatineau market for their park, since they’ll be barely more than an hour away from Montreal as well.

[harls]

There's Parc Aquatique in Pointe-Calumet near Mirabel, too.. now that I think of it, isn't Mirabel Airport supposed to be converted into some sort of fabulous waterworld too? I think there's another one near St-Sauveur too, the place with the big fake water tap.

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

The shittiest things about waterparks are (in order):
1. waiting in line, either freezing your ass off or burning to a crisp (in either case, suffering from boredom).
2. getting hit in the head from some asshole's foot.
3. having to look at the trailor-trash tattoos adorning half the women (stupid butterfly above asscrack, or some dolphin, or barbed-wire a la Pamela Anderson) and three-quarters of the men.

Man, now I'm going to have to cancel my tattoo appointment. I was all fired up for this..

Lottawatta? They stole my idea for bottled water from the ottawa river, I was going to call it "Ottawater". jerks.

[Kitchissippi]

SUNNYLAND? What kind of sucky name is that? It's not even bilingual, which is surprising coming from francophone entrepreneurs.

[harls]

It sounds like a magical, whimsical kind of place.

[Kitchissippi]

Originally Posted by harls

It sounds like a magical, whimsical kind of place.

Like this place?

[harls]

HA.. exactly!

[BlackRedGold]

Originally Posted by clynnog

Well I wish them luck, but in all honesty can this area keep potentially 3 places like this going (Mont Cascades, this one near the Tick and the one out in Limoges) with our prime weather going from the end of June until Labour Day.

The developers of Lottawatta own Mont Cascades, which they use to test their new rides.

I can see the council in The Nation getting behind this (not much else creating jobs there), but I'm sure the Manotick water park will run into local opposition and City stalling. Does it require an OPA?...anybody?

The regional councillor, Glenn Brooks, seems to be on board.

I don't know how much local opposition there will be since the site doesn't have any locals nearby. It isn't in Manotick and it's not in Richmond. It's right off the 416 so it isn't going to be causing any traffic problems for anyone.

[BlackRedGold]

Originally Posted by harls

Lottawatta? They stole my idea for bottled water from the ottawa river, I was going to call it "Ottawater". jerks.

I think they've changed the name now to Alottawata based upon an article in the Citizen.

Searching for Lottawatta brings up a lot of results for a lodge at DisneyWorld.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

SUNNYLAND? What kind of sucky name is that? It's not even bilingual, which is surprising coming from francophone entrepreneurs.

Francophone entrepreneurs setting shop across the border in Ontario (albeit in a majority francophone area like Prescott-Russell) often have the mindset that they have to go “full anglo” in order to prove themselves in the new market. Rightly or wrongly, the last thing they want is to be identified as is a Quebec/French/francophone or worse!, separatist-leaning (egads!) company.

When Quebec convenience store giant Couche-Tard made its first foray outside Quebec, it was in largely French-speaking towns in Eastern Ontario, but even there it renamed its outlets “Winks”. Similar logo with the winking owl, but different name.

[Acajack]

In my opinion, not that many people from the Quebec side of the river are willing to venture to western and southwestern fringes of Ottawa for entertainment and shopping, so I wouldn’t count on that segment of the market. Just ask the Ottawa Senators and the unemployed manager of the defunct Bayshore Ailes de la Mode store.

But then again, south and west Ottawa and outlying areas may easily be large enough to support a new waterpark with little or no clientele from the Quebec side. Perhaps as well, if these are the same people as Mont-Cascades, maybe they think the Quebec side and some stragglers from Ottawa is a big enough market to support Cascades, and that there’s an untapped market in that part of the region that finds Cascades too far and maybe even too French (don’t laugh, more people than you suspect actually think that way).

But I’d bet lots of people from the Gatineau side would go to Sunnyland in Limoges, no matter the name. It’s on the highway to Montreal that everyone is familiar with, in what is perceived to a franco-friendly area where many in Gatineau have friends and family, plus Village Vacances Valcartier is well-known across Quebec via ads, media, word-of-mouth...

[harls]

Originally Posted by Acajack

When Quebec convenience store giant Couche-Tard made its first foray outside Quebec, it was in largely French-speaking towns in Eastern Ontario, but even there it renamed its outlets “Winks”. Similar logo with the winking owl, but different name.

When I was in Brandon, MB last year, all of the Mac's outlets featured the Couche-tard winking owl (it used to be a cat). It was still called "Mac's" though. I've never heard of "Winks" before?

[BlackRedGold]

Originally Posted by Acajack

In my opinion, not that many people from the Quebec side of the river are willing to venture to western and southwestern fringes of Ottawa for entertainment and shopping, so I wouldn’t count on that segment of the market. Just ask the Ottawa Senators and the unemployed manager of the defunct Bayshore Ailes de la Mode store.

But then again, south and west Ottawa and outlying areas may easily be large enough to support a new waterpark with little or no clientele from the Quebec side. Perhaps as well, if these are the same people as Mont-Cascades, maybe they think the Quebec side and some stragglers from Ottawa is a big enough market to support Cascades, and that there’s an untapped market in that part of the region that finds Cascades too far and maybe even too French (don’t laugh, more people than you suspect actually think that way).

You can't assume that everyone living north of the Ottawa River is a francophone who knows little about Ottawa's west end. I know lots of people who are aren't francophones that live in Quebec because of the cheap housing prices. I also see them shopping at Bayshore or at Senators games.

But I’d bet lots of people from the Gatineau side would go to Sunnyland in Limoges, no matter the name. It’s on the highway to Montreal that everyone is familiar with, in what is perceived to a franco-friendly area where many in Gatineau have friends and family, plus Village Vacances Valcartier is well-known across Quebec via ads, media, word-of-mouth...

I think that they'd probably go to the closer park, all things being equal. And unless a bridge is built in eastern Gatineau, the park off the 416 will be closer to Gatineau residents.

I don't think a park off the 417 would be able to draw very well from Montreal. There are other parks closer to Montreal.

[Rathgrith]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

The shittiest things about waterparks are (in order):

3. having to look at the trailor-trash tattoos adorning half the women (stupid butterfly above asscrack, or some dolphin

No its not! Its a bulleyes to let the world know that they put out!