Aquatica San Diego Adding New Waterslide for 2014

Just one year after being rebranded “Aquatica San Diego,” the Chula Vista, CA water park will be welcoming its newest addition, Taumata Racer, in 2014.

Named for a famous hill in New Zealand, Taumata Racer is a 6-lane side-by-side racing slide made by ProSlides of Ontario, Canada. It will propel riders through 375 feet of track, including a 180º turn through a tunnel at the start of the slide. It is approximately 60 feet tall, and will be one of the faster attractions at Aquatica San Diego.

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Photo via aquaticabyseaworld.com

This will be the second Taumata Racer slide at an Aquatica park. There is currently an 8-lane Taumata Racer at Aquatica Orlando.

According to a press release from SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, the parent company of Aquatica San Diego, Taumata is short for the 85-letter Maori word “Taumata¬whakatangihanga¬koauau¬o¬tamatea¬turi¬pukakapiki¬maunga¬horo¬nuku¬pokai¬whenua-kitanatahu.” Roughly translated, this Guinness Book of World Records word means “The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who traveled about, played his flute to his loved one.”

Construction of the new slide is set to begin in November, and Taumata Racer will open with the rest of the park during Memorial Day weekend 2014. It will be located between Walhalla Wave and Kata’s Kookaburra Cove® on the northwest side of the park.

“We’re thrilled to bring Taumata Racer to Aquatica,” said David Cromwell, the water park’s vice president. “This new mat-racer water slide is a unique blend of competitive racing and high-speed thrills. It will be a welcome addition to the park and certainly an experience that families and friends will be able to enjoy together. This is exactly the type of attraction that will make Aquatica an even more exciting waterpark.”

Aquatica San Diego originally opened in 2000 as White Water Canyon, and was later named Knott’s Soak City, before Cedar Fair Entertainment Company sold the park to SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment in November 2012. It opened as Aquatica on June 1, 2013.

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