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The Lagoon Pool at Universal Orlando’s Royal Pacific Resort
is vast enough to have its own island – and its own ocean
liner.
At 15 times the size of the average backyard pool, the Lagoon Pool
is designed to blend South Pacific serenity with splashes and soak-able
fun. The island provides the perfect place to sit and lazily dip
your feet under cover of gently swaying palm trees. The ocean liner
– all 4,000 square feet of it – is the bridge section
of the Royal Bali Sea, a fictional ship that is the pool’s
water play area.
The Royal Bali Sea features a wheelhouse, complete with a ship’s
wheel and telegraph, a towering smokestack and lifeboats. Water
is everywhere. It gushes 25-feet into the air from the smoke stack.
It splashes out of the lifeboats onto those below. It drops in sheets
from water curtains. And it shoots out from nearly two-dozen water
cannons placed across the deck.
The Lagoon Pool area is at the heart of the hotel’s South
Pacific experience. It is surrounded with sand and includes dozens
of custom-grown palm trees, lush tropical plants, thatched-roof
open cabanas, a zero-entry beach, outdoor bars, the island and the
play area.
Nestled between buildings at the new Royal Pacific Resort at Universal
Orlando, a Loews hotel, the Lagoon Pool is designed to offer guests
an alternative to uninspired hotel pools. Its creators imagined
what it would be like to escape to a tropical island and built that
experience – down to the sunset.
“We wanted to offer guests an experience that was both fun
and relaxing,” said Steve Iandolo, Director/Creative, for
Universal Orlando Hotels. “We built an enormous pool so that
there was room for everything. We positioned it to capture the breeze
– and a spectacular view of the sunset each night. Then, we
added enough detail to make the pool an experience that will match
everything else the hotel offers.”
The pool has a surface area of 12,000 square-feet and holds more
than 300,000 gallons of water. Its zero-entry area lets guests wade
into the water. The pool was designed so that there seems to be
no barriers between the pool and a nearby lagoon so that guests
will feel as if they are swimming in a tropical oasis. The “Bula
Bar and Grill” offers guests a light menu and a selection
of drinks.
But if you’re a kid, your eyes will blow right through the
palm trees and focus on the half-sunken ocean liner, its bridge
and mast towering above the pool. Water will seem to explode from
everywhere at once. There are 14 water cannons, two lifeboats with
water being dumped or leaked onto those below, two deck “ventilator”
water guns with six separate water nozzles each, six water squirters
in the ship’s wheelhouse area, water curtains pouring sheets
of water everywhere and 18 “pop-jets” squirting water
from the ground.
While kids play, parents will relax – exactly the mix the
designers envisioned.
“We want the lagoon pool to be something the entire family
can enjoy,” Iandolo said. “Adults will feel as if they’ve
found their own private island. Kids will feel as if they’ve
found the play area of their dreams.”
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