Tuesday, Jun. 30, 2009

Sliding into summer the Myrtle Beach area way

Riders get the sand washed off their feet before climbing the Hippo, a, three-story inflatable water slide on the beach in the Ocean Drive section of North Myrtle Beach, on Friday afternoon. Photo by Charles Slate cslate@thesunnews.com

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After riding a new, three-story inflatable water slide in North Myrtle Beach 63 times in one day, Tina and Ronnie Blackwell's granddaughter Madelyn finally figured out her favorite way to go down: as a cannonball.

"It's better because you go down farther than you do regularly," said Madelyn, 8, who was still trying to go fast enough so she could hit an inflatable wall at the bottom of the slide.

The inflatable water slides are popping up on beaches, in campgrounds and at hotels across the country as destinations and attractions aim to offer something unique to lure more tourists during the rough economy. The slides have caught on because they can be set up in places where permanent water slides can't, including the beach.

The slide in North Myrtle Beach, called The Hippo, is debuting on the oceanfront for the summer as the city's latest tourist attraction. City officials hope the slide, at 36 feet tall and nearly 180 feet long, will help attract and retain visitors to North Myrtle Beach in what could be a tough summer tourist season.

"Once you see it, it's super cheap and it's really fun," said Mike Junga, the city's beach services manager. "The kids ride it all day. It's something neat to do that's different on the Grand Strand that other cities don't have."

The slide is at the beach between First and Second avenues South. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at least through Labor Day, and beachgoers can either pay $3 per ride or buy a day pass for $20 at a stand nearby. Junga said operating hours could be extended later in the season.

The slide, billed by its manufacturer, St. Petersburg, Fla.-based FreeStyle Slides, as the world's largest inflatable slide, is not the first one to grace the Grand Strand.

Ocean Lakes Family Campground used to have a slide in partnership with a local beach services company, but the slide is no longer at the campground, a spokeswoman said.

But Lakewood Camping Resort, another campground, just bought a new Hippo slide this year. They replaced an older slide that had been at the campground for the past few years, said Shannon Gomer, one of the co-owners.

"We just thought it was neat to be able to have a three-story high water slide without having to build the concrete" for a permanent slide, Gomer said. "It gave ... the feel of the water park without the whole water park."

That's one of the benefits of the Hippo slide - it allows hotels or tourist destinations to have a water slide without the hassle of actually building one, said Stephen Philp, the co-owner of FreeStyle Slides.

"You don't have to bring people to your location, you bring the slide to where the people are," he said. "That is the secret. That's what makes it so successful and what makes it so popular."

The company, started in 2002, has slides in 75 locations around the world, including Japan, Mexico, China, South Africa and the Caribbean, Philp said. It also manufactures a smaller version of the slide, called The HippoH2. The slides can serve as wet or dry slides, Philp said.

"Inflatables have been around for a long time, but not on this magnitude," Philp said. "The slide is designed on the same scale as slides in the water parks. The only difference is it's on air."

Junga said the city did some research into how the slides performed at other locations before it decided to purchase the slide, which has a lifespan of five to seven years and was bought for $85,000. Junga said the city needed to make $700 a day to break even; so far, it has been averaging $1,500 a day.

Philp said the price of the slide can vary. At Ocean Lakes, marketing and public relations director Barb Krumm said although the slide was something different for guests to enjoy, the campground decided not to purchase one.

"There is a lot of water-based amenities that a property could install for that amount of money," she said.

In North Myrtle Beach, the slide appeared to be a hit with the Blackwells, from Columbia, who parked their beach chairs next to the slide so they could watch their grandkids ride it over and over. Ronnie Blackwell figured the kids would ride it maybe 10 times a day - not more than 60.

"It's fun for them, and it's better than trying to watch them over there," he said, gesturing toward the ocean.

As Madelyn and Evan, 6, were led away past the slide by their grandmother for lunch, Evan proclaimed: "That was awesome."