Kalahari Resorts Opens America’s First Waterslide With VR.

To celebrate the fifth-annual National Waterpark Day, Kalahari Resorts and Conventions (founder of National Waterpark Day), partnered with BallastVR to launch America’s first and only virtual reality waterslide — bringing a totally new dimension to waterpark fun.

Riders can now experience virtual reality worlds while riding down Kalahari’s Anaconda waterslide in Pennsylvania. It’s not a simulator, what people are experiencing is the combination of VR with the real physical effects of riding down a water slide. As riders race down the unique drops and twisting curves of Anaconda (while wearing a VR headset), they will be fully-immersed in one of three experiences:

• An action-packed African safari adventure

• Chasing aliens through outer space

• Flying through castles surrounded by fire-breathing dragons.

“We wanted to do something extraordinary to celebrate the 5th annual National Waterpark Day and what better way than to introduce America’s first virtual reality slide?” said Cary Brandt, Corporate Creative Director Entertainment at Kalahari Resorts and Conventions. “Our guests will be truly blown away by the experience offered by Ballast’s VRSlide technology, and we’re proud to continue to innovate the waterpark experience to bring our guests the best in entertainment.”

“There’s a magical combination that comes from merging immersive virtual reality worlds with the thrill of riding down a real waterslide. At Ballast, we’ve been committed to bringing that magic to waterparks for the last four years with VRSlide and we couldn’t be more pleased to debut this system in America with Kalahari Resorts,” said Stephen Greenwood, CEO and Co Founder of Ballast VR. “To date, we’ve had over half a million riders of VRSlide at prior installations overseas – it’s a system that has proven to be safe for riders and profitable for our clients and partners. The Anaconda at Kalahari is the perfect match for VRSlide and the result is an incredible guest experience that can be repeated over and over, without getting old. We’re deeply appreciative of Kalahari’s vision for innovation and their leadership in the immersive entertainment space.”

Ballast engineers thoroughly matched each piece of content to the exact slide layout to maximize the experience for each guest.

Here’s how it works: You pick a virtual reality world, the headset gets scanned, and then strapped onto your head. Then you’re off.

For $14.99 a person, guests can enjoy all three experiences with the virtual reality all day “add-on”. *A separate water park admission ticket is required.

In addition to waterslides, Kalahari has a large game room, black light and outdoor mini golf, escape rooms and two virtual reality arenas with zombie, pirate and Transformers themed games.

Kalahari Resorts and Conventions offers locations in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Sandusky, Ohio, the Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania, and now, also open in Round Rock, Texas — delivering a beyond-expectations waterpark resort and conference experience all under one roof.

For tickets and more information, visit the official Kalahari website by clicking here.