Kalahari Resort & Water Park Coming to Spotsylvania County, VA in 2026

[Fenrihr]

Since I pass this almost every day, have an update: there are walls up, but no roof. There are also 6 cranes on site, 4 permanent, 2 on tracks.

Found a website with progress photos, run by the resort company.

Kalahari Resort in Thornburg, VA.

 

[Tacky3663]

I don't know if this is a hot take, but I consistently find ProSlide products to be better than White Water ones so this is a disappointing development IMO.

Note: I may be biased due to going to a new White Water West-designed park near opening a few years back and having my day ruined by what was almost certainly a concussion on the top of one of their enclosed tubes in the middle of one of their brand new slides. Not a good time.

Ouch. I mean, I also prefer ProSlide to WWW but they have some pretty good rides themselves so i’m not disappointed

I don't know if this is a hot take, but I consistently find ProSlide products to be better than White Water ones so this is a disappointing development IMO.

Note: I may be biased due to going to a new White Water West-designed park near opening a few years back and having my day ruined by what was almost certainly a concussion on the top of one of their enclosed tubes in the middle of one of their brand new slides. Not a good time.

Also then again, They could also be using both for their attractions. WhiteWaterWest was just the one to reveal they’re involved in a press release. We likely won’t know everything until the park is close to being finished.

 

[farfeather]

I'm interested to see what slides they'll have, as from what I've seen, they haven't shared what the water park will look like. Hopefully it doesn't take like 7 years for them to actually build one of the waterslides, unlike the Poconos.

 

[farfeather]

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[Fenrihr]

Noticed some slide pieces on site OMW home from work today, visible from 95.

 

[Tacky3663]

Noticed some slide pieces on site OMW home from work today, visible from 95.

Wonder when we can make out what manufacturer they’re from

 

[farfeather]

Wonder when we can make out what manufacturer they’re from

I believe they've gone with Proslides in the past, but for the new Wisconsin Dells expansion they went with WhiteWater, so I'm not too sure.

 

[Fenrihr]

If anyone is good at identifying manufacturers by the product, lemme know, I can take some photos when I go by again. Of course, my camera is just my phone, so I can guarantee nothing on quality distance photos.

 

[farfeather]

Kalahari looks to be coming along well. Seems to be a lot of work being done, and there were a lot of slide pieces. I noticed a large, raft tube with what looked like see-through star shapes, as well as what seemed like a small funnel thing.

I think the slides are by WhiteWater, as I've seen similar elements from them.

 

[MaxxForceFan]

I think the slides are by WhiteWater, as I've seen similar elements from them.

Yes, shipping records show it is WhiteWater West slides made in China.
Kalahari International Corp. | See Full Importer History | ImportGenius

 

[Tacky3663]

Yes, shipping records show it is WhiteWater West slides made in China.
Kalahari International Corp. | See Full Importer History | ImportGenius

Well…this is going to be fun then. Kalahari’s usually a ProSlide buyer. Wonder what made them go with WWW for this resort?

 

[Unagi]

Well…this is going to be fun then. Kalahari’s usually a ProSlide buyer. Wonder what made them go with WWW for this resort?

ProSlide has a ton of projects going on right now all over the planet, including a brand new water park in Vietnam so it's possible they're fully booked for work.

 

[Tacky3663]

ProSlide has a ton of projects going on right now all over the planet, including a brand new water park in Vietnam so it's possible they're fully booked for work.

That’s fair enough. WhiteWaterWest still provides elite slides.

 

[Unagi]

That’s fair enough. WhiteWaterWest still provides elite slides.

Their product line is top notch. In addition to water parks they do many of the slides on all the major cruise lines' ships including the popular Flow Rider surf simulators. I believe they also did all the attractions at Royal Caribbean's water park in the Bahamas at Coco Cay, which has the tallest water slide in North America.

 

[RollyCoaster]

LOTS of slide pieces all over the property viewable from 95. Including a few bowl pieces. I was driving and didn't catch a picture, but the bright colors definately caught my eye. A ton of slide parts!

 

[Fenrihr]

Agreed. The building is coming along, too. Absolutely huge area that I assume will be used for the Indoor waterpark.

 

[Unagi]

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[SixFlagsIssues]

I knew this place was going to be big, but 900 rooms? That is crazy. The cruise ship Caribbean Princess has 900 balcony staterooms to put that into comparison.

 

[Unagi]

I knew this place was going to be big, but 900 rooms? That is crazy. The cruise ship Caribbean Princess has 900 balcony staterooms to put that into comparison.

As a former Vegas resident, 900 rooms isn't big to me considering the MGM Grand has over 5,000. The average mega hotels on the strip there average anywhere from 3,500-4000 rooms.

However for a better comparison, Kalahari will have more than double the rooms that Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg has.

 

[SixFlagsIssues]

As a former Vegas resident, 900 rooms isn't big to me considering the MGM Grand has over 5,000. The average mega hotels on the strip there average anywhere from 3,500-4000 rooms.

However for a better comparison, Kalahari will have more than double the rooms that Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg has.

I've never experienced vegas so I wouldn't know. Just big(in my opinion) for the region it's going in, although I guess it will probably serve NoVa, D.C., and possibly Baltimore.