Case Study: Meryal Waterpark

Qatar’s National Vision for 2030 foresees the country as an advanced society capable of sustaining its development and ensuring a high standard of living for its citizens. In line with this vision, Qetaifan Projects embarked on the construction of a water park to enrich the entertainment landscape. The outcome is Meryal Waterpark, a groundbreaking destination that seamlessly blends exhilarating adventures with the authentic spirit of Qatar.

Blending History with Today

Located in Lusail City, Qatar, Meryal Waterpark blends tradition with modern entertainment, offering an unparalleled leisure experience paying homage to Qatar’s oil and gas industry. With 69 rides, slides, and attractions, there’s something for every thrill-seeker. The name “Meryal” symbolizes the depth of the sea and reflects safety and familiarity for the local community. Meryal is more than just a water park; it’s a celebration of Qatar’s heritage and modern aspirations, promising unforgettable excitement and adventure for the entire family.

With this inspiration, WhiteWater collaborated with Qetaifan Projects to incorporate attractions in varying hues of aged metal and rust to tie in with the backstory and build a water park serving as an entertainment and cultural landmark.

Meryal Water Park by the Numbers:

• 69 attractions
• 280,000+ square meters of land
• 20,000 construction staff
• 7 horizontal and 3 vertical conveyor belt systems
• 40,000 sqm beach

Qatar’s Largest Waterpark

The water park is spread over 60 acres of land and is one of the most technologically advanced properties in the Middle East through its on-ride projections. While the technology sets the water park apart from others in the region, it’s the engineering done by WhiteWater that makes the property worthy of recognition.

Guests can explore both wet and dry rides across the park spanning nine zones:

• Maydan Mahzam
• Halul
• Al-Karkara
• Al Idd El-Shargi
• Bul Hanine
• Rig 1938
• Dukhan
• Al-Dasha
• Al-Yal

Mainland Waterpark

Maydan Mahzam

Providing the ability for families to share the ride experience, the family raft ride tower at Meryal, Maydan Mahzam, has an Abyss (Dukhan No.10) and Walhalla (Rocket Blast) water slide. The first installation of Walhalla in the Middle East, the ride merges two of WhiteWater’s most popular attractions—Boomerango and Manta—to create a unique family ride experience, combining maximum Gs, near-weightlessness sensations, and exhilarating oscillations with the highest climbs, fastest speeds, and biggest thrills in our portfolio—without increase in rider risk. A visually impressive ride, the POV video of the Walhalla earned over 285 million views on Instagram!

The Abyss is one of three within the water park, dropping guests into a large funnel for a zero-gravity experience with multiple oscillations.

Halul

At the heart of the mainland water park is Halul Tower, featuring two slide towers: Meryal’s inner tube ride complex and the high-speed body tower.

The highlight of the inner tube tower is the AquaSphere water slide giving guests the chance to interact with technology based on four themes: party, jungle, sunset, and extreme. Known for piquing guests’ curiosity about the mysterious ride concealed within its large, enclosed orb, once inside the AquaSphere, the ride reveals iSlide projections changing accordingly depending on the selection of the rider.

On the high-speed thrill tower, four body slides launch reaching speeds up to 53 kilometers per hour. Thrill seekers can choose between riding the AquaLoop for a gravity-defying 360-degree loop or the high-speed Flatline Loop.

Al-Karkara

Tying together the different components of the water park is the 4,150-square-meter wave pool (Oil Slick Lagoon) that can produce waves up to 1.2 meters high. It serves as a central gathering spot for families, ensuring no one gets lost and enhancing the overall experience by creating a communal area for rest and fun.

Also found in this zone is the region’s first SlideWheel water slide (Rapid Refinery) launching 3-4 person rafts every 32 seconds. Once inside the perpetually spinning SlideWheel, riders oscillate along the moving flume before being churned out into a final serpentine that descends them 11.5 meters (38 feet) into a pool entry. Riders are rewarded with a 96-second spectacle of physical and visual wonders inside the spinning wheel – including mesmerizing AquaLucent technology – that they are sure to talk about.

Al Idd El-Shargi

The closest zone to the Rixos hotel, Al Idd El-Shargi, includes two high-speed body slides with the AquaDrop and Speed Slide, a six-lane Whizzard, and two side-by-side Master Blaster + Tailspin Fusion water slides (Wildcat’s Well).

Rooms of the hotel overlook dueling Master Blaster + Tailspin Fusion water slides (Wildcat’s Well). With two mirrored slide paths, riders begin by boarding the inner tube and launching into the ride’s Tailspin, pinning high on the outside wall as they spiral downwards. After exiting the Tailspin, guests experience their first Master Blaster section being pushed uphill by water. A series of twists and turns await as the two slides race side by side to the finish.

All three slides on the speed tower launch from a height of 21 meters. AquaDrop (Alqatara) sends riders on a heart-pounding experience inside an AquaLaunch capsule, where a countdown is announced before the trapdoor opens to a free fall sending the rider straight down. Speed Slide (Oil Slip) takes the rider down a steep drop in an open flume and then through another gut-wrenching zero gravity crest. The Whizzard pits groups of six against one another as they race through AquaLucent patterns and 360-degree turns with open flume views of the Icon Tower in a head-to-head competition.

The zone also includes a Wave River that takes you through a cave and under rushing waterfalls.

Bul Hanine

Families with children will find hours of entertainment in Bul Hanine. That’s because it features not one but two multi-level aquatic play structures, including an AquaPlay 550 and a RainFortress 5. Featuring 255 play features and 13 slides of varying thrills, from 1 to 6 meters high, this area creates fun with no line in sight.

The AquaPlay 550 is also paired with a splash pad offering ground-level interactives for toddlers to play with. Prioritizing safety and comfort for both parents and kids, this area of water park features over 1,300 square meters (15,000 square feet) of Life Floor on the splash pad area. Strategically using colour, the Life Floor splash pad features blue tones to show where the water activity is located, and tan tones show the overspray area. This helps to indicate to guests how to stay dry and navigate through the park without unintentionally getting sprayed.

Outside of the play structures and splash pad, this area offers five additional kids’ slides to entertain young visitors in the Alsfun section.

Icon Tower on Rig 1938

Hosting the famous Icon Tower, Rig 1938 is the island portion of the water park, launching12 water slides. One of the most ambitious and challenging projects in WhiteWater’s 44-year history, the Icon Tower is the first vertical water park at a record-breaking 85 meters (278 feet). Winning a 2023 MENALAC Award for Most Unique Concept, the slide tower features 3.7 kilometers (2.3 miles) of slidepath with no two slides the same; WhiteWater’s engineering team calculated 12 unique paths so that each high banking turn and gravity-defying hump will catch riders by surprise.

Two of the main rides on the tower is the Abyss water slide, recognized as the largest funnel slide in the world. Looking to do something never seen before, the WhiteWater team elevated one of the Abyss slides, suspending it at 40 meters (131 feet) high—four times higher than the standard height of an Abyss. Weighing up to 20 tons (18,143 kg), the Abyss required careful planning to get the fiberglass up in the air as the Icon Tower is subject to a high wind load due to its unprotected island location.

Due to the structure’s height, WhiteWater’s engineering team got creative about how to get guests to the next ride on their journey to the bottom of the water slide tower. The resulting feature was two water-filled stainless steel transition tubs to facilitate seamless rider transfers between different slide sets. This design enables guests to “choose their own adventure” and navigate onto the conveyors before being dispatched to the next set of water slides. This enhances the overall experience of the attractions on the tower as visitors can travel the duration of the water slide and enjoy the tight 90-degree turns with panoramic views from the island before smoothly floating onto the next set of rides.

Icon Tower by the Numbers

• 12 different water slides over 6 decks
• 279 ft (85 m) high
• 2.3 miles (3.7 km) of slidepath
• 4,600 FRP parts on the tower
• 1,411 ft (430 m) total sum of elevation drops
• 253 ft (77 m) drop from top platform
• 12 minutes total slide time
• 3 pedestrian elevators

In Summary

Meryal Waterpark is a testament to Qatar’s commitment to its National Vision for 2030, offering unparalleled entertainment experiences. Through meticulous planning and innovative design, Qetaifan Projects has created a landmark destination that blends history with modern-day attractions, captivating visitors with its immersive storytelling and cutting-edge technology.

With its record-breaking rides, immersive theming, and attention to detail, Meryal Waterpark sets a new standard for water parks in the Middle East and beyond. It is not merely a water park but a symbol of Qatar’s vision for the future—a place where adventure meets culture and memories are made to last a lifetime.