Zoombezi Bay waterpark, located next to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, is building a ground-breaking new waterslide complex and we were invited to get an up-close look at the construction progress. Conservation Tower will hold three new waterslides by ProSlide Technology. Development of the slide complex began in late 2023, took around 18 months, and was announced during the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo in November 2024.
Most of Mussel Mayhem is standing.
Celebrating the Zoo’s pollinator conservation efforts, The Hive is the first slide of its kind in the world where riders in a two-person tube soar through two massive beehive-shaped helixes.
Rendering of what the two bee-hive helixes on The Hive will look like.
The translucent panels and bee elements are going to be really cool to see for riders and non-riders alike.
Anthony Sabo demonstrates how you’ll be able to see into or out of the translucent panels on The Hive.
Captina Falls is a dual slide where riders race head-first on individual mats through high-speed turns and rally points. It’s the only RallyRACER with FlyingSAUCER turns in the world. The name comes from Captina Creek in eastern Ohio where Ohio’s endangered hellbender salamanders have been released.
Each lane of Captina Falls will have two FlyingSaucer turns, a worlds-first for a mat racer.
A first-in-the-Midwest experience, Mussel Mayhem features two halfpipe cutbacks and two funnel elements, highlighting the importance of freshwater mussels in Ohio’s rivers. It also uses two-person rafts where riders face each other.
Center is one of the cutback elements on Mussel Mayhem.
The tower went vertical on March 1, 2025, and you can see the Mussel Mayhem slide has almost been completed in the one month since.
Fiberglass slide pieces for the Hive are sub-assembled in the parking lot before being transported to the slide complex.
854 fiberglass slide pieces were delivered to the park where they are assembled into tube segments on the ground before being lifted into place on the tower. The slides are basically constructed in reverse from the ground upwards.
A piece of Captina Falls about to be installed.
The rider height requirement for all three waterslides will be 42 inches. Riders will hand-carry the individual mats or two-person rafts up the 81 stairs to the top of the 51 foot-tall tower.
The main tower looks completed but additional support columns continue to be installed.
Conservation Tower replaces the former Dolphin Dash six-lane mat racer slide, which is now called Patriot’s Plunge at the rebranded SuperSplash USA in Missouri. The new slides at Zoombezi Bay will be a combined 1,860 feet long and require 45,500 gallons of water.
Workers bolt a segment of Captina Falls into place.
But that’s not all that’s happening. Coral Kitchen is a new ground-up restaurant with self-ordering kiosks and shaded seating areas.
Foundation for Coral Kitchen has been set and the new shading structure was being welded up.
We got to sample some new chicken sandwiches and they were absolutely delicious! Coral Kitchen is planned to be opened on June 1st, 2025.
Altogether, Zoombezi Bay has invested roughly ten million dollars into improvements this year (roughly $8 million for Conservation Tower and $2 million for Coral Kitchen plus other improvements).
Zoombezi Bay – Waterpark With a Purpose
From highlighting freshwater mussels to showcasing energy-efficient design, Conservation Tower exemplifies Zoombezi Bay being a “waterpark with a purpose” and brings the mission of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to life in a new and exciting way. Anthony Sabo, Vice President of Zoombezi Bay explained the inspiration behind the theme and names of the attraction:
“The whole purpose of Zoombezi Bay is to help support the zoo. That was the original purpose and it continues to be today. One thing we’ve never really done a good job about is tying Zoombezi to the zoo’s conservation efforts, and that’s something we’re increasingly doing now. Zoombezi Bay truly is a waterpark with a purpose. We financially help support the zoo. Twenty percent of our ticket revenue and our season pass revenue goes back to the zoo. But we’re also now increasingly spreading that conservation message at Zoombezi as well, and that really became the influence for the theming behind these attractions…We wanted to honor all the local conservation efforts with Conservation Tower.”
He further explained this will be a theme we’ll see coming out of Zoombezi Bay in the coming years. “We’re going to do a much better job helping the zoo tell its conservation stories. Conservation Tower is really the first time we had the opportunity to do that.”
There is no opening date set for Conservation Tower yet, other than summer 2025. Once construction is a little further along, the park will announce the date on their social media channels and website. All three slides will open together.
Special thanks to Anthony, Jen, and the teams at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and Zoombezi Bay for showing us around the construction site.
Which of the three slides would you want to ride first? Let us know in the comments below!
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