December 1, 2018, marked an important day for the water park industry. Previously, a beloved amusement park filled the space next to the Gaylord Opryland resort in Nashville, Tennessee. After its demolition, a shopping mall took the spot. Almost two decades later, in 2018, SoundWaves opened its interior water park to the public.
“The history actually kind of goes back a little bit further than actual SoundWaves, because there used to be an amusement park here that was very Music City themed called Opryland,” SoundWaves Manager Donny Wensinger said. “Opryland, for a couple generations, was a theme park based around music. All of our attractions are called the half note slides, and things like that. We play music very loudly in the park so everybody can enjoy it. We’re here in Nashville, Music City. So that’s kind of the theme behind it.”
Known as the nation’s first truly upscale indoor and outdoor water park, as well as Nashville’s only resort water attraction, SoundWaves provides a destination for tourists and local residents alike.
“[There are] people that travel far, you have people from like Brazil, or you have people from Korea, or you have people from different locations,” Aquatic Supervisor Lylliana Menjidar said. “They may not speak the same language either, but they come here, and we try our best to say ‘hey, you should try this. I’m so sorry for the miscommunication, but come enjoy. We have many things for you to enjoy.’”
The resort, built in the 1970s, has had many guests walk through its doors. Some recurring visitors have seen the resort at many stages of its development.
“They didn’t have SoundWaves the last time I was here,” Sheryl Shahan, a guest at the hotel said. “That’s why I wanted to go see it. The amusement park was there before [the last time I was here], but I’ve been there too.”
The Gaylord holds all of its attractions to a high standard, and SoundWaves is no exception. Issues present in many public water parks were addressed in its creation, such as safety. Not only are there lifeguards on watch poolside, but there is a secondary set behind the scenes watching cameras in the water.
“We get to see things, and we can announce things,” Menjidar said. “It’s kind of a good idea to help the facility to grow so that there’s less life lost through drowning.”
Another area the park addressed was the occupancy levels. SoundWaves only admits the amount of people to fill the number of chairs they have. This rule allows guests to experience something greater than a public pool.
“SoundWaves always has a different mentality,” Wensinger said. “We want your experience to be fantastic. We want everybody to have a chair and a fantastic time, and not have to wait an hour and a half to go down the slide. The biggest thing is how we really maintain our capacity and the experience that we provide. We want you walking away really feeling like you’ve got your value.”
The work put into the creation of SoundWaves serves to check the boxes of visitors from any distance. With the customer experience being a main focus, the park’s goal is to set up an experience that everyone from people visiting for business to families visiting for vacation can enjoy.
“It’s about the really small things,” Wensinger said. “There’s so many people across our whole resort that go into making those moments and those memories for families. That’s a big part of what our mission is every day.”
