FISCHER BROTHERS, LLC. PARTNERS WITH LIFE FLOOR AND WATERPLAY AT RAPID RIVER LODGE

Located near the picturesque Brainerd Lakes area, Rapid River Lodge is an ideal destination for exploring over 400 lakes, biking trails, and our favorite: a newly renovated waterpark! The lodge is making a positive impression with the upgrade of spray features from Waterplay and a beautiful Life Floor surface installed by Fischer Brothers, LLC.

BEFORE

AFTER

The refresh brightened the space with lighter colors, vibrant features, and improved safety facility-wide. The installation expertise of Fischer Brothers led to a smooth renovation with a high level of customer service, producing a final attraction sure to impress visitors.

INCLUSIVE DESIGN + SAFETY = MORE PLAY VALUE 

One of the most important goals of the partnership between Waterplay and Life Floor is to bring even more free play and accessibility to aquatic spaces. Rapid River Lodge prioritized inclusive design in every spray feature and surfacing decision, using play zones to accommodate a wide variety of play styles and the needs of different waterplayers.

With a wide range of play opportunities, from the calmer zero depth entry area with pint-sized character sprays perfect for smaller kids, to the more adventurous activity tower with elevated platforms, water cannons, and slides, this play space invites all to have fun within their ability level and comfort zone. Along with the guidance of Fischer Brothers’ restoration expertise, the waterpark at Rapid River Lodge is beautifully reimagined.

River Rapid Lodge is the first facility to debut Fischer Brothers’ new Double Lane Toddler Slide. With its modern, two-lane structure, the Double Lane Toddler Slide was designed to produce double the fun. Thoughtfully engineered materials and the intentional inclusion of Life Floor's cushioned Landing Pads make these slides beautiful, fun, and safer for the littlest water park goer. 

Life Floor safety surfacing covers every walkable surface in the waterpark. Bands of Pomegranate-colored tile offer contrasting visual cues that signal guests to exercise caution around each body of water. Visual signals are an important safety feature to show depth changes, the presence of features, and represent a changing landscape when paired with zoning for different stages of childhood development.

Thank you to Fischer Brothers and Waterplay for a collaboration filled with fun! Our team loves working on projects that focus on retrofitting facilities with inclusivity, safety, and play in mind. 

To learn more about revitalizing your attractions with inclusive design and safety, we’d love to begin a conversation with you! 

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We’re thrilled to announce that Fischer Brothers, LLC has officially joined Life Floor’s Installation Network as our newest Certified Installation Partner.

Andrew Fischer accepting Life Floor’s Certified Installation Certificate on behalf of Fischer Brothers LLC

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Waterplay by MAKR

Waterplay creates playful, inventive, and inclusive splash pad equipment for people from all walks of life, of all ages, and with diverse abilities. Everyone should have access to amazing, inviting, playable, enjoyable and ‘go-backable’ aquatic recreation places. With thousands of installations, millions of happy waterplayers splashing around on six continents, Waterplay is here to support you from concept, to installation, maintenance, future planning, and revitalizations. Splash pads for the win!  

Learn more about Waterplay

Fischer Brothers, LLC

Fischer Brothers, LLC got their start in 2007 restoring waterslides, and eventually moved on to other parts of the waterpark. From waterslide towers, aquatic play structures, spray features and more, Fischer Brothers has led the charge in pioneering innovative solutions for the aquatics restoration industry.

Learn more about Fischer Brothers, LLC

Life Floor

Life Floor was founded upon a vision to create safer, more memorable experiences at aquatic facilities. Since 2011, our mission has expanded to include innovative design, increased play value, and inclusivity wherever our surfacing is installed.

Across all of our unique projects, one thing remains the same: improving aquatic environments for all people will always be at the heart of our purpose.

A Beachy Transformation in Tasmania

The renovation at Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre in Tasmania began during 2020’s mandatory COVID-19 closure and included many updates to the facility including adding approximately 480 square metres of Life Floor on the surface of a large zero depth entry play area and on some of the walls and stairs to increase cushioning. 

“The new pool has already had a rousing response from our first young visitors, who absolutely loved it. The new slide and bucket play space is an exciting area for the bigger kids, but there’s also a zero-depth splash-pad with water features, which is suitable for babies and toddlers.”

— Anna Reynolds, City of Hobart Lord Mayor

By installing Life Floor on their surfaces in different zones of play, the aquatic centre was able to capture added value for patrons of varying ages and abilities.

This Seashore Theme is arranged in a custom pattern replicating a beach with shallow water. Given Hobart’s temperate climate, this indoor haven is perfect for families who want to enjoy a beach day any day of the year. Marine inlays have been interspersed throughout the area to spark childhood imagination and increase overall play value at the centre.

Thank you to the Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre for installing Life Floor and increasing safety and play at your facility! To learn more about how to get Life Floor at your facility in Oceania, please visit Life Floor Australia + New Zealand’s website. 

For other international regions, please visit our international team page. For North American projects, please contact us directly.

The Benefits of Diversifying Play Features in Aquatic Environments

Everyone experiences play in different ways. It’s the reason why there isn’t just one type of spray feature or just one type of pool. Aquatic environments are always changing and adapting to new trends and regulations in the industry. Likewise, aquatics facility directors and operators are constantly evaluating updates that will deliver increased value to their guests and members. In order to provide features that appeal to a wide variety of individuals, facility staff needs to choose what combination of elements will allow for limitless play for their intended audiences.

Providing options for guests to engage with a facility in different ways is a crucial component of play value. At Life Floor, we talk about this concept often because it’s a central tenet of why we design safety surfacing to be interactive and engaging. Play value directly influences guest perception of a facility and can be a determining factor of whether or not guests will return. For example, if a child has a better experience at a park farther away, parents may be more inclined to return to that park even if it is more inconvenient. 

One way to increase play value is to provide experiences for different age groups. Any type of water play for infants and toddlers can be seen as risky from their perspective. For instance, interacting with a simple spray feature on a splash pad is often a new and exciting experience. For older children, riding down high-speed water slides, scaling lofty towers, or getting drenched under tipping buckets can be seen as more exhilarating ways to interact with aquatic environments. These different features help shape children’s development at different stages.

Awareness of how specific age groups prefer to interact with water features can be meaningful when determining how to zone a facility properly. Lopesan’s Costa Bavaro Resort is a good example of zoning for different development stages in a child’s life. At this facility, large landscaped “islands” separate the larger risky play area, equipped with slides and high platforms, from the adjacent splash pad, where smaller children may feel more comfortable. While these zones are located on opposite sides, they are also connected across one large aquatic play area. This integration allows children the freedom to move from one area to the next, encouraging them to balance safety and adventure. When an aquatic play area offers this range of features, guests can gradually choose to engage with riskier play elements, which ultimately helps to boost both decision-making skills and self-esteem. Accommodating a variety of preferences also increases play value and enables families of all ages to enjoy these spaces for longer periods of time. 

Social interaction is another crucial part of play learning. Just as it may be difficult for a child to play house alone, it is important for them to be able to collaborate with other children in aquatic environments as part of their experience. Spray features, water tables, and interactive activities that contribute to this social play can elevate learning in both creativity and problem solving. Children are able to boost their communication and social skills as they practice working together and learning to share or compromise as they explore these environments together. 

Diversity of play is encouraged by maximizing the creative options available; however, these options don’t have to be limited to the spray features, slides, and towers on site. The design of a facility’s floor can also enhance play value by giving children the opportunity to creatively invent games based on the patterns and images below their feet. When an aquatic surface is also cushioned and slip-resistant, children can more confidently run, jump, and explore to fully enjoy all that a facility has to offer. 

By engaging with visitors more holistically across all features of an aquatic design to accommodate different age groups and comfort levels, facility supervisors, operators, and decision makers can create more encompassing parks filled with limitless possibilities for play. The experiences they offer can encourage important developmental milestones for children while also creating long-lasting family memories along the way. 

10 Ways to Give Your Aquatic Facility a Competitive Advantage

How do you ensure that guests are choosing your aquatic facility over others? And when they do visit, what is encouraging them to extend their stay? The simple answer to this question is to provide elements they aren’t able to receive elsewhere - it’s a key principle of competitive advantage. On a very basic level, visitors need to feel comfortable and excited about amenities. While location weighs into the convenience factor of which facility a visitor may choose, other factors such as superior safety, cleaner surfaces, level of shade, and play features can all sway decisions. 

Ultimately, guests are looking for the best possible experiences they can give their families. Parents want to ensure their kids have fun over summer vacation and want to fill their childhoods with positive memories of fun. They’re going to choose to visit environments that support these good experiences and they’re going to choose locations based on perceived value. 

Curious about how you can increase your facility’s perceived value? Keep reading for our top 10 tips:

1. Cleanliness of Facilities

Maintaining a clean facility is more important now than ever during the midst of COVID-19. As facilities begin to reopen, parents want to ensure their children are avoiding coming into contact with viruses and bacteria. One or two bad reviews online can be enough to sway parents into choosing another facility, so consistent cleaning practices are important.

2. Superior Safety Features

Safety is at the forefront of many parents' minds. For those with toddlers, child-proofing their homes is a familiar task. However, ensuring their children’s safety at splash pads and pools is full of uncertainties. Is the surface cushioned? Is there a lifeguard on duty? Are water shoes needed to give children better traction or to protect against abrasive or hot surfaces? Many questions play into decision making. 

One way to ensure the safety of your facility is to walk through your features like a child would or ask visitors how they feel about your facility. It may sound unusual, but get down on your hands and knees or walk around it barefoot. Is the surface abrasive and uncomfortable? Does it feel too hot? Is it slippery? Consider all aspects of play in your analysis to find areas that could be improved. 

3. Appropriate Shade Levels and Seating Options

Consider all of your guests and know their demographics. Are grandparents bringing their grandchildren to your splash pad? Is there a shady area that allows them to sit and watch without being uncomfortable? Are there picnic tables so that families can eat lunch together and then resume play or do they have to leave the park for food with the chance of not being able to return? Making sure your guests stay cool, comfortable, and well-accommodated will encourage them to stay longer. By knowing the demographics of your visitors or creating ideal demographics of who you wish would visit your facility, you make the space more welcoming to more people.

4. Exciting and Interesting Play Features

Play features add to the overall play value of a facility. Play features include water jets, sprayers, climbable features, and unique flooring patterns like hopscotch or theming. Having a good balance of engaging features per square foot is important to provide guests with more options of play. Using a safety surface like Life Floor in conjunction with spray features allows your facility to maximize this utilization while providing superior safety. With a surface like Life Floor, you can create engaging designs that work with your existing play features and give parents another draw for visiting your facility. Ultimately, safer play features result in more positive experiences and memories.

5. Keep Accessibility in Mind

Accessibility is often overlooked when designing facilities. Even one concrete step could mean someone’s experience could be prevented entirely. To analyze all aspects of making your facility accessible, we recommend fully immersing yourself in the task - ride a wheelchair from the moment you enter the parking lot all the way to the final destination and utilize different features such as drinking fountains, bathrooms, and play features along the way. It helps you realize firsthand the shortcomings and/or benefits of your facility design. 

6. Drinking Fountains

Having one or more drinking fountains on location is important because a lack of potable water means visits can get disrupted and end if guests are thirsty and either forgot to bring water or assumed it would be present at the facility. It is equally important to ensure these fountains are consistently clean and free of contaminants such as gum or other foreign objects that may contain bacteria or viruses. 

7. Accessible and Clean Bathroom Options

For smaller facilities, bathrooms are a luxury; however, offering a bathroom or suggesting one nearby can prolong visits and ensure the cleanliness of facilities. In some cases, learning that they have to leave and go home to use a bathroom may result in children having otherwise avoidable “accidents” in or around the facility. This can cause issues for facility operators that then need to shock the system and eliminate traces of the contaminant. If bathrooms are present, it is also important to ensure that they are clean and maintained since a dirty bathroom can have the same impact as not having one at all.

8. On-site Parking or Free Street Parking

Offering a free parking option can encourage guests to visit your facility that may not have otherwise due to location convenience. By offering parking, you are signaling to your visitors that you value their time and are offering them an amenity to encourage their patronage. Keep in mind that parking should still be accessible to all people and include ramps or valleys in curbs so that people riding wheelchairs can enjoy the facilities as well.

9. Cost

Cost can be a barrier to entry for some guests. Often, having a paid facility can help support other costs such as on-site food, bathrooms, lifeguards, and other luxuries. However, free facilities can encourage guests to visit more often and develop location loyalty. It’s ultimately up to your brand model to decide which option you want to offer and which features are most important for you to provide your guests.

10. Have Fun with It!

Get excited about your facility! Your guests can tell how much effort was put into it, so have some fun with it. Whether it’s getting creative with your signage or introducing a mascot for your city or even installing a unique and engaging floor - your guests will thank you and become champions for your city if they fall in love with your special park. Be proud of the work you’ve accomplished and never stop having fun!

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If you’d like to learn more about how to incorporate fun surfacing designs into your facility, send us an email at solutions@lifefloor.com or give us a call at 612-567-2813. We’d love to help you increase your facility’s competitive advantage!

The Importance of Free Play in Aquatic Environments

Childhood is a time of limitless imagination, boundless creativity, and wild invention. It’s the one time in life when exploration is encouraged freely without the weight of daily responsibilities other than formal learning and helping with chores. The freedom of being young displays itself in many ways, one of which is free play. 

Free play is critical to a child’s development. It enables them to problem solve, think critically, develop stories, and innovate. It can be seen in activities such as building Lego sets, playing house, creating structures and gaining achievements in video games like Minecraft, strategy forming in board games, and simply running through backyards envisioning new worlds. One method of free play continues to evolve as children explore aquatic environments, such as splash pads. 

Children play at Lopesan’s Costa Bavaro Resort, Dominican Republic.

An octopus tentacle leads guests through a spray feature at Westfield Memorial Pool, NJ.

Historically, splash pads have included spray features that inspire thoughts of running under mountainous waterfalls, becoming pirates on a treasure-hunting adventure, or riding gigantic animals through vast seas. Far too often, these features have laid upon a blank canvas of abrasive concrete beckoning for inspiration. Covering this blank canvas with a specific flooring design is one way to further encourage free play. For example, a pirate-themed splash pad could round out the experience for children with an “x marks the spot,” different clues on the island to give more context, and a beach theme with blues symbolizing the water, tans symbolizing the shore, and aquatic creatures sprinkled throughout. It could even include hopscotch inlays to encourage children to jump from shape to shape to get across a certain section of the surface. This concept of adding theming to the flooring design can also help with zoning. For instance, a facility could denote a more adventurous zone with darker blues creating the “high seas” or a calmer zone with tans to portray a peaceful sand-colored beach. 

Before: Disintegrating Pour-In-Place at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, FL

After: Life Floor’s Pirate Theme at Wyndham Bonnet Creek, FL

Alternatively, surfaces can display a more simplistic, geometric pattern to encourage a different kind of free play. For example, “the floor is lava” is a common game for children to play by jumping from color to color or chasing each other around by only touching certain patterns. These activities could augment the free play made available by the water features they encounter as they run around. 

Children play on the hexagon surface at Parr Park, Grapevine, TX.

It should be noted that free play is only as free as children feel while engaging with the aquatic environment. Do they feel like they can tumble to the ground without fear of a bruised knee? Do they think they can jump around without losing their footing and slipping? Are they certain in their games that the only thrill is that of excitement and not of fear of injury? 

Life Floor strongly believes that aquatic surfaces should lessen and, if possible, eliminate fear of major injury. It’s natural to get a couple bruises playing; however, if injuries halt play then something needs to change. Our company was founded on the idea that play shouldn’t be painful. Scrapes, cuts, and concussions shouldn’t be a common occurrence on splash pads and pool decks, especially when young children could be getting their initial introductions to aquatic free play. That’s why a central tenet of our brand is safety. Our product provides safer surfaces with cushioning, impact absorption, and slip resistance, allowing kids to play freely as they were meant to play: without fear. 

For more information on the benefits of free play, please visit https://wetheparents.org/importance-of-free-play

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If you would like to discover ways you can transform the flooring at your aquatic facility, please send us a message at solutions@lifefloor.com.