Radisson Water Park Albuquerque

The new water park at the Radisson Hotel Albuquerque is redefining water play in the desert with a "surfing treadmill."

The slides protruding out of the side of the building adjacent to the hotel have been a topic of conversation in Albuquerque for quite some time.  Everyone with children has been wondering when the park will open.  Finally, after three years of construction, the water park at the Radisson Hotel opened on March 12, 2010. Currently, the attraction is only open on weekends and only to overnight hotel guests until zoning concerns are resolved with the city.

Packages are available at the hotel, which includes the room, game tokens and admission to the park for up to four people for both the day of arrival and the day of departure. Up to four additional passes may be purchased for each hotel package reservation for $29.95 each. The packages also include tokens for the arcade.

Radisson management said the hotel chain chose Albuquerque for the water park because it is such a family-friendly market and there was not a destination hotel for families to enjoy that brought it all together.
 
The two slides visible from outside the building include one 298 foot-long drop designed to be enjoyed while sitting on a tube, and an enclosed  237-foot-long slide for those brave enough to slide without a tube. The two slides start inside the building on a 34-foot-tall tower and after circling inside and outside the building release the riders on the inside.

The lazy river winds around inside the building allowing for a more relaxed pace as the water gently propels riders on their tubes around the circuit.

An activity pool with a lily pod bridge tests the dexterity of both youth and adults.  For group entertainment, the activity pool also has three basketball hoops in a separate area. The zero-depth pool gently slopes into the water in a beach-like fashion for the younger kids. It has a playground in the middle and a large bucket on top that will randomly tip over drenching children below.

Need a break from playing with the kids? Take a dip in the adult hot tub that spans between indoors and outdoors on the south end of the building.

Perhaps the most unique feature is the Flow Rider, or surfing "treadmill" that accommodates two surfers at a time with a continuous wave formed by pumping 32,000 gallons of water per minute. Unlike wave pools that have been in Albuquerque in the past, this wave is designed for surfing and continues uninterrupted. The hotel loans boards for the experience. The plan is to eventually provide private surfing lessons on the FlowRider.
   
When the park was opened, people questioned why an indoor water park was needed in the desert. Then, after it snowed twice before Halloween that year, the questions began to subside.  It's convenient to have easy access to family activities -- such as culture, history and winter sports  -- all so close to the hotel.

Where else in New Mexico, or for that matter anywhere outside of California, can you ski and surf all in the same day?

- by Julie Medina, Albuquerque Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Julie Medina

Julie Medina has experience as a reporter at the Albuquerque Journal and has written freelance articles for the Albuquerque Tribune, Albuquerque the Magazine, New Mexico Magazine and New Mexico Kids Magazine. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in print journalism from the University of New Mexico in 2008. She has lived in Albuquerque since 1984 and believes it is best to remember to play like a tourist in your own hometown so you don't forget the vast culture around you.