MIDDLEBURY, Conn. – Quassy Amusement Park’s plunge into the waterpark business a decade ago seemingly pumped new life into the family-owned property overnight. Today, Quassy officials announced the waterpark will officially carry a new name: “Splash Away Bay.” “With a huge expansion of the waterpark under way, we felt now was the appropriate time to rename it,” said Quassy President Eric Anderson. “Splash Away Bay’ was a title that surfaced from within our management team,” Anderson added. “At first, we thought we would tag one of the new waterpark attractions with that name, but the more we thought about it, the better ‘Splash Away Bay’ sounded as an overall waterpark title.” Quassy is virtually doubling the size of the waterpark – formerly called “Saturation Station” - with the addition of a “BulletBOWL” ® water raft ride and a pair of “FreeFall” ® extreme bodyslides, all from ProSlide Technology Inc., of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In addition, the park is building a 2,000-square-foot children’s Vortex Splashpad ® by Vortex Aquatic Structures International Inc.,
Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada. “Initially, we were going to call this children’s water play area ‘Splash Away Bay,’ but decided the name was a great fit for the entire waterpark since it is adjacent to our beach,” noted George Frantzis II, a park owner. “That area (splashpad) will be called the ‘Fish Pond’ instead. Our guests have requested a water play area just for the toddlers, and this will be just that! ” All new attractions are currently under construction and will be located next to the existing “Saturation Station” modular water play area and waterslides. The parcel being developed, overlooking Lake Quassapaug, was occupied by the “Monster” mad mouse roller coaster, which was dismantled after the 2010 season. About The Attractions The “BulletBOWL” is a two-person tunneled tube ride that will drop more than 30 feet and travel more than 210 feet. When the tube emerges from the tunnel it is sent spinning into a gigantic bowl where speed and centrifugal force keep the riders glued to the outside of the bowl. As the tube circles and slows down, it plunges into the center of the bowl and exits into a landing trough.
The ride will have a capacity of more than 300 persons per hour with a minimum height requirement of 48 inches to participate. As of this year, 14 “BulletBOWL” installations existed worldwide. The “FreeFALL” slides, which will share the same loading platform with the bowl tube ride, are also known as “extreme” bodyslides. ProSlide revolutionized speed slide design in 1991 with its narrow, u-shaped fiberglass flume profiles. Quassy’s two new bodyslides will be more than 140 feet long with riders traveling at more than 20 feet per second. The two flumes will accommodate more than 300 riders per hour with a minimum height requirement of 48 inches. Riders will come to a stop in runoff troughs. “These new slides will take Quassy’s waterpark to the next level – adding more value to the guest experience,” Anderson noted. The “Fish Pond” splash pad will be located next to the new waterslides and has been designed as a play area strictly for younger children. Many attractions will be incorporated into the area including a rainbow spray tunnel, geysers and themed hands-on water play elements.
“We envision this being an extremely popular play area for youngsters – especially toddlers,” Frantzis said. “It will be very parentfriendly so the adults can easily keep an eye on their children. It’s not an attraction for older kids, but geared toward those under 8-years-old.” M.E. O’Brien & Sons Inc. of Medfield, Mass., is the regional distributor of the Vortex products to be used at the “Fish Pond.” Anderson and Frantzis, owners who oversee daily operations at Quassy, said construction of the new attractions will continue throughout the winter with an official opening slated for Memorial Day weekend. The waterpark expansion is part of a multi-year projected $5 million improvement plan initiated by the park in 2009. The first phase was completed in 2010 with the addition of the “Free Fall ‘N” drop tower from Italian ride manufacturer SFB.