Countdown is on until the Typhoon lands
It’s almost here. Typhoon Texas, the 25-acre waterpark next to Katy Mills Mall, is less than two weeks from debuting on Memorial Day weekend.
Construction workers are applying landscaping to the park as final details are completed, with thousands of locals expected to visit on opening day. More than three years of planning is almost over, said Terry Hlavika, a co-founder of the park.
“We’ve had a very aggressive construction schedule,” Hlavinka said. “It’s taken a lot of due-diligence.”
The park will include nine water rides, 30 slides, a Texas barbecue restaurant and other food options.
Family rides will allow up to six people to ride at once, as well as a “slide boarding” attraction that will glide riders down a darkened slide while lighting up targets they can shoot at from inner tubes in videogame fashion.
Though its size doesn’t compare to well-known Texas waterparks such as the Schlitterbahn and Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Arlington, founders say the privately owned park will have first-class customer service and amenities. They expect the park to be a regional draw that will boost Katy’s economy.
Opening day on May 28 will include performances from Shane Smith and the Saints
and the Sloppy Joe Band, according to Tara Hlavinka, Terry Hlavinka’s daughter and the park’s group sales associate. The following day will include musical performances and fireworks. Tickets cost $49.99 per weekend day.
Organizers of the park expect local officials and business leaders to be present for the opening. A private ribbon-cutting ceremony will happen days before the park opens.
Aware of community concern about effects from heavy traffic to the park, the founders said they contracted a firm to perform a traffic study. The park will have one entrance and three exits to control the traffic flow, and the park’s summer operating hours are during the same period when the mall experiences low numbers of visitors, Hlavinka said. He did, though, acknowledge that the study revealed potential for “heavy traffic and parking conditions.”
Some of the design plans have changed since the original blueprints were laid out. The idea for an emblem at the entrance of the park, originally slated to be in the shape of Texas, was changed to that of a mountain with a waterfall. Organizers have added features to the park such as shading, pool lighting and more food options, Hlavinka said.
The park has been funded by private investors and a loan from Texas Capitol Bank, but founders have been tight-lipped about construction costs. The park will eventually expand to 18 more acres.
After eight months of construction, the opening will coincide with arrival of Houston heat and humidity and a corresponding quest for summer pleasures that are cool and wet.
Only a week and a half left until waterpark fun, folks.