ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — This $100 million game changer for Atlantic City was ready for a closeup.
But first, developer Bart Blatstein had to cut a ribbon made of two long hair braids tied together from the heads of two live mermaid characters, then let a crowd of locals, politicians, and other VIPs into his Island park for a splashy party and preview look around.
Day passes for the 120,000-square-foot attraction attached to the Showboat Hotel are priced at $89. The park opened on the Fourth of July after a delay of several days.
It's a brightly colored, tropical and surfer themed, whimsically designed crystal palace located just off the Boardwalk at New Jersey Avenue, and it made a handsome first impression. In addition to the showy water slides that protrude from both ends of the glass building in a maze of tubes (the Barracuda Blaster, Electric Eel, and Sonic Serpent rides), the water park boasts a FlowRider wave pool that approximates some (apparently challenging) combination of surfing and snowboarding, a Lazy River-type ride, a giant bucket of a waterfall, a Kids Cove, a Tiki Hut Tree House Bar, and a Paradise Adult Island area with cabanas for rent.
There are four restaurants and three bars and a Boardwalk-themed area.
"It's beautiful," said Tameka Kelly, of Florence. "Everything is lovely."
Kelly was at the preview party watching her niece perform with a dance group. She said she comes to Atlantic City once or twice a month but never with family.
"Yes, I will be back and bring the whole family," she said. "It's so well-worth it. This is a whole family experience."
In typical Blatstein style, the party featured an abundance of food and drink; mermaids; body-painted, scantily clad blue Avatar-like water people milling around; flapper-type ladies in bubbles; dance troupes, and a bunch of local surfer dudes on hand to demonstrate the wave pool.
The Island Waterpark holds the promise of a family entertainment and adult destination in one, said Brandon Dixon, head of Blatstein's Tower Investments, Blatstein's development company. He said that combination is unique to their property.
Blatstein is calling the water park's opening, which depends on some final state permits from Trenton, an "unprecedented moment for Atlantic City," though expectations have been a bit tempered by the Philly-based developer's track record on some ambitious projects in Atlantic City, including the failed transformation of the Pier at Caesars.
He also purchased the Garden Pier and evicted a historic museum and an art gallery but did little else. His bid to compete to develop the massive Bader Field property did not gain traction.
His reopening of Showboat, which as a casino was shuttered, has been generally well-received, and he's been renovating the hotel rooms. He said Thursday he had 500 people working at Showboat now. He is touting the water park as an entertainment venue "built with an exotic island theme to make visitors feel like they've been swept away to a tropical paradise."
Maury Blumberg, a Commissioner in nearby Margate, was impressed.
"I don't think there's anything that this remotely compares to," Blumberg said. "I'm happy for Atlantic City. I can't wait to see it thrive. I know it will. It's beautiful."
The price of the water park has been the subject of some jeering from the sidelines, as the attraction's website initially advertised $100-a-day tickets.
The current price is $89 for a daily rate that includes, according to the website: 11 waterslides, Island Drift Lazy River, Blue Cascade Waterfall, Adventure Island, Kids Cove, Wild Wave FlowRider, the Island Water Boardwalk, four restaurants, and three bars, but excludes the "Coconut Coaster, Rip Tide Zipline, Paradise Adult Island, and Lucky Snake Arcade."
A twilight four-hour pass from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. is set at $69.
A $119 all-access day pass includes the Paradise Adult Island area, the Bliss pool, and what is being touted as the "only swim-up bar in Atlantic City."
Mike Manna, of the A.C. Surf School, praised the water park as "something Atlantic City definitely needs, catering to families and kids."
He thought it would be especially popular in the winter months.
A.C. Mayor Marty Small said, "It's amazing. It's beautiful. It's all we imagined. I always said we would diversify what we offer and it's the definition of that."
Councilman Aaron Randolph, whose ward includes the water park, said he would work to make sure the children of Atlantic City were able to take advantage of the new attraction.
As with anything in Atlantic City, there have been naysayers, some pointing out that the beach and ocean right outside the water park is free (with excellent surfing). But the pricing is basically consistent with similar attractions (the Great Wolf Lodge offers $80 day water park passes at peak times; Morey's Piers outdoor water park is $46 a day), and on Thursday, the positive first impressions were drowning out the skeptics.
"Sad day for the naysayers," tweeted Frank Becktel, a jitney driver and Atlantic City resident and observer known as Jitney Guy.
