Europe’s biggest indoor waterpark gets ready to open in Poland

Suntago Water World, which developers claim will be Europe’s largest covered waterpark, is moving closer to completion.

The waterpark, located around 50 kilometres south-west of Warsaw, will boast 18 swimming pools with a total area of 3,500 square metres; 32 water slides totalling 3.2 kilometres in length (including Europe’s longest slide at 320 metres); and a 40,000 square metre “tropical” garden complete with imported palm trees.

It is the first stage in a larger development, Park of Poland, that will contain a theme park, hotels, shopping centre and conference facilities. The developers, Global City Holdings and Wund Group, claim that once complete it will be Europe’s second-largest entertainment complex, covering a total of 80 hectares.

Artist’s impression of Suntago Water Park

Construction at the site commenced in May 2017, and the water park was due to open before the end of this year. However, in November, Park of Poland’s CEO Idan Greidinger told website Gazeta.pl that the plans had been delayed “due to unexpected circumstances”. The park is now due to open in spring 2020.

Hundreds of real palm trees and other plants have been delivered to the site from Malaysia, Florida and Costa Rica. Earlier this year, Gazeta Wyborcza reported that the investment had already used 37,000 cubic metres of concrete, more than in the entire construction of Warsaw’s iconic Palace of Culture and Science, as well as 5,000 tonnes of steel – half the weight of the Eiffel Tower. The cost of the investment is reportedly around 150 million euros.

Mega radość dla nas! Zaczynamy sadzenie palm.Huge joy for us! We start planting the palms…

Opublikowany przez Park of Poland Piątek, 19 lipca 2019

As Park of Poland enters final preparations for its opening, it is recruiting staff for what it promises will be a “dream job”. Around 90% of its expected 430 staff have been hired, with recruitment set to end in January, reports Business Insider Polska.

Speaking to Onet, the company’s human resources director Małgorzata Karwacka promised numerous perks for new recruits, not least free entry to the park. “This is a place that we haven’t seen the like of in Poland before,” Karwacka said. “Imagine working under the palms, where the summer lasts all year!”

Comments from potential visitors on Park of Poland’s YouTube videos and social media posts confirm that there is growing excitement about the development, although some commenters also express scepticism and predict that high prices will mean that many visitors are foreign tourists rather than locals.