Behind-the-Scenes: Carolina Harbor Waterpark Prepares for a New Season of Splashes
Ashlyn Pecchio
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Carolina Harbor, Carowinds' premier water park, is gearing up for its 2024 season opening on Saturday, May 25. Behind the scenes, associates are working hard to prepare the slides, wave pools, and play structures for another summer of splashes under the Carolina sun.
Preparing Attractions for Opening Day
As opening day draws near, the Carowinds' aquatics team is busy ensuring every aspect of Carolina Harbor Waterpark is prepared for guests.
Annual Deep Cleaning
The first step in the preparation process involves deep cleaning each wave pool and splash pool throughout the water park. A preliminary cleaning is completed before water is added to these pools. Once each pool is filled with water, chemicals are added to ensure the water is properly balanced and safe to enter. Then, associates enter the water to finish cleaning with special vacuums and brushes.
After all the pools are cleaned and filled, associates tidy the surrounding areas. Lounge chairs are retrieved from storage and set up in each area. Park services associates work hard to ensure all restrooms, including changing stalls and showers, are clean and stocked with essentials for guests.
For the final touches, the Carowinds' landscaping team refreshes the plants and greenery throughout the water park, restoring beauty and vegetation to the area. A few days before the gates open to guests, the entire water park's walkways are pressure-washed.
Seasonal Repairs
While the aquatics team is initially cleaning, Carowinds' in-house maintenance team inspects each water slide. Inspections ensure the structural integrity of the support structure and stairs and the smoothness and comfortability of the actual slide. If needed, repairs, such as welding, sanding, and painting, are completed before these attractions are handed off to the aquatics team.
Water Slide Commissioning
Like the rides and attractions inside Carowinds, each Carolina Harbor Waterpark water slide must be commissioned before opening.
For water slides, commissioning involves associates of differing heights and weights riding each slide for a set number of times. For example, six individual slides comprise the water park's Boogie Board Racer attraction. To complete commissioning, each slide must be ridden ten times for 60 rides. The required number of rides varies by attraction and depends on why the attraction is being commissioned.
State Inspections
After Carolina Harbor has been cleaned, necessary repairs have been made, and Carowinds’ in-house maintenance teams have completed their inspections, the water park is inspected by the states. North Carolina and South Carolina's health departments complete water park inspections based on attraction location. Both agencies check to ensure proper water chemical levels, safety signage, and attraction integrity. These inspections and on-site visits are usually completed during the commissioning process.
New Additions to Carolina Harbor in 2024
In 2024, Carowinds is proud to unveil two new projects to improve the overall guest experience at Carolina Harbor Waterpark.
Keeping Guests Cool: Concrete Upgrades
The Carolinas are no stranger to summer heat. Naturally, walkways throughout the water park heat up as the air temperature increases and the sun gets brighter. Three high-traffic walkways have been resurfaced to mitigate this phenomenon, creating what our aquatics team calls the "cool deck." These resurfaced areas will provide guests with an excellent place to walk as they travel to various water park attractions.
New Bar Location: 21° and Colder
A new bar will be available to guests at Carolina Harbor this season. 21° and Colder will be located at the front of the water park, across from Boogie Board Racer. At this new location, guests ages 21 and above can enjoy frozen adult beverages in various flavors.
Lifeguard Training
Operating Carolina Harbor Waterpark requires a team of lifeguards to keep each guest safe during their visit. Our associates pride themselves on being an elite aquatics team, consistently scoring within the top percentile of aquatic facilities worldwide in accountability, professionalism, and lifeguard skill performance.
Gold International Aquatic Safety Award: Awarded to Carolina Harbor Waterpark for outstanding performance during the 2023 season.
Golden Guard: Awarded to Carolina Harbor lifeguard Zoe Berwick in June 2023 for individual lifeguard excellence. This honor is achieved by the top 1% of lifeguards worldwide.
While Carolina Harbor is undergoing pre-season preparations, guard classes are conducted off-site. During these classes, Carowinds' lifeguards are certified through Ellis and Associates' prestigious International Lifeguard Training Program.
Shallow Water Guards: These guards ensure guest safety at Carolina Harbor's shallow pools, including attractions like Kitty Hawk Cove and Pirate's Landing.
- Swim 25 yards unassisted
- Retrieve a brick from a water depth of 3.5 feet
Deep Water Guards: These guards ensure guest safety at Carolina Harbor's dynamic attractions, including the water park's two large wave pools.
- Swim 200 yards unassisted
- Tread water for two minutes unassisted
- Retrieve a brick from a water depth of six feet
In addition to these requirements, guards must complete a written test and demonstrate solid knowledge and understanding of life-saving skills, including CPR and rescue breathing. Carowinds' highly qualified instructors are committed to making lifeguard certifications and training classes attainable for applicants. They thoroughly teach guards key elements of lifeguard duties, such as scanning and various rescues, to ensure each guard is well acquainted with the job before beginning a shift.
Join Carowinds' Aquatics Team
Carowinds continues to hire lifeguards for the 2024 season. Benefits include:
- Free park admission.
- Complimentary tickets for friends and family.
- Discounts on food and merchandise.
- Paid certifications and training with starting pay up to $15.50 per hour.
Apply online at Carowinds.jobs.
Access to the water park is included with a 2024 Silver Season Pass, along with unlimited Carowinds visits, free parking, exclusive discounts, and the all-new Carowinds Summer Music Fest amplified by Coke Studio™.
