Stone Mountain Park adding water playground

By Howard Pousner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Metro Atlantans who've been known to seek relief from unrelenting heat and humidity at water attractions and public fountains will have a new option for getting wet starting this spring as Stone Mountain Park introduces Geyser Towers.

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Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.com Stone Mountain Park will get a new attraction to complement its Crossroads attraction - Geyser Towers, a water playground.

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Just how damp they want to get, from being kissed by a fine mist to reveling in an outright soaking, will be up to the individuals. Still, there will be some surprises from the multiple sources of liquid refreshment spraying in this two-story playground of suspended net bridges and tunnels and open-air platforms connected by climbing towers.

Expected to open March 31, the start of spring break for many metro school systems, Geyser Towers targets ages 6 through 12 but is designed to allow parents who are game to share in the wet wildness. "We wanted to create something for everyone, and I believe we have," said Tina Skees, the project's creative director for Herschend Family Entertainment.

Budgeted at just under $1 million, it's a kind of cousin to Sea World's Castaway Bay attraction at Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, though that one is all about climbing across rope bridges at odd angles and does not boast water features.

Geyser Towers is intended to complement its neighbor in Stone Mountain Park's Crossroads fun town, Sky Hike, an elevated family adventure course where the only moisture involved is sweat. Admission to both attractions will be included in the park's daily and annual passes.

"This is consistent with the brand of Stone Mountain Park to offer family fun in the great outdoors," Skees said of Geyser Towers, which will begin construction in November. "Stone Mountain is not a water park, but we wanted to provide the opportunity for our guests to play in the water a little bit."

That will be accomplished by a variety of water elements, including a rain spray, stream jets, air misters and two geysers erupting roughly 30 feet in the air. For toddlers, there will be a "creek" beside the attraction, with benches for parents wanting to take five.

As with the park's seasonal Snow Mountain attraction, the water will be supplied by Stone Mountain Lake and will not tap a municipal water source. It will go through a treatment process to make it similar to swimming pool water.

Park officials anticipate most visitors will spend a half-hour or less in Geyser Towers, but there's no time limit. The park expects to run the attraction eight to 10 months of the year, with the option of opening it on nicer cold-weather days sans water.

Stone Mountain Park

A one-day Adventure Pass is $27 for adults, $21 for ages 3-11; annual Mountain Memberships for new members are $54 adults, $42 ages 3-11. Prices, which are expected to rise $1 for Adventure Passes and $2 for Mountain Memberships next year, do not include tax. Stone Mountain Park, U.S. 78 East, Exit 8, Stone Mountain. 770-498-5690, www.stonemountainpark.com.