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OdySea rebranded as expanded ‘boardwalk’
BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
Goodbye, OdySea in the Desert; hello, Arizona Boardwalk.
As of Feb. 13, the premier 35- acre, multi-level entertainment complex near Scottsdale off the 101 and East Vía de Ventura announced not only its name change but also the addition of an on-site hotel, new attractions, site expansion and more.
“We called it ‘Arizona Boardwalk’ because a boardwalk is fun,” said spokesman Ran Knishinsky. “The name ‘Arizona Boardwalk’ is reminiscent of family-fun, adventure, and excitement — and helps set the stage of what to expect in this type of destination.”
The new name, according to the company, better reflects the diverse offerings of the entertainment destination – home to eight marquee attractions, numerous restaurant and shopping options and outdoor special events.
“The name ‘Arizona Boardwalk’ also eliminates the confusion OdySea
Arizona Boardwalk next month will host a variety of Superheroes for kids to meet and get authographers from.
(Arizona Boardwalk)
Aquarium is the property’s sole attraction,” Knishinsky said. “We needed a name that puts the emphasis on fun – and ‘Arizona Boardwalk’ delivers.”
The name change does not affect the aquarium’s name, OdySea Aquarium, which opened 2016.
For guests who’d like to extend their Arizona Boardwalk stay, a Hyatt Place hotel will be built on property. The 155- room hotel is slated to break ground in May.
Other new Arizona Boardwalk features include interactive exhibit The Science of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, which is expected to open late 2020. “This is a new exhibit we will be debuting here soon after the Titanic is set to expire in November,” Adi said. “We are working on having this last for up to two years and potentially longer depending on the demand we’re seeing.” Arizona Boardwalk will also soon be home to “the world’s largest inflatable,” which will span more than 10,000
seeBOARDWALK page 29
March 7 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free Family Fit Fest This year’s theme is Superhero and people are encouraged to dress accordingly. Kids and parents can pass the Superhero Academy training, be part of the superhero dance parade, judge the Dino dance-off, get a free haircut and sign up for the ice cream eating contest. The event includes face painting, music, family contests, games, giveaways and shopping.
March 14 5 p.m. “The Lion King” will be shown in the Arizona Boardwalk courtyard. Free. Bring a folding chair. Other attractions include
COMING ATTRACTIONS
a Lion King photo booth, temporary tattoos, games and prizes.
March 21 noon-4 p.m. Super Spring Festival Free. Meet Superman, Captain America, Wonder Woman and other superheroes. Watch the Super Hero Stunt Team BMX Show. Live entertainment, bounce houses, slides, face painting, coloring contest and crafts.
March 22 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Dino Day Free. Dinosaurs, live reptiles, face painting, fossil digs, inflatables, educational
talks, games, Jurassic Park motor pool and other activities.
March 28 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Parenting Camp & Summer Expo Free. A $3 activity band is required for unlimited rock wall, zip-line, EuroBungee and bounce house. Parents can meet representatives from STEM, performing arts, educational, sports, traditional day, animal-related day and/or overnight camps while kids play.
March 29 6 a.m.-noon Stride for Sight 5K and Walk Register: raceroster.com/events/2020/ 25405/foundation-for-blind-childrenstride-for-sight-5k-and-1-mile-runwalk This event for all ages and abilities, with blind and sighted runners, features a competitive or recreational 5k and a more relaxed 1-mile walk. Proceeds help fund the life-changing programs at the Foundation for Blind Children. Step up your game by competing in the 5k blindfolded run with a sighted guide. Each teammate must register separately. Blindfolds are provided. There also will be a silent auction, therapy animals, entertainment and food as well as a blindfold obstacle course.
square feet.
The inflatable park will include giant obstacle courses, pop-ups and mazes. “I want you to imagine your kid’s bounce house and multiply it by thousands – in this case, nearly 10,000,” Adi said. “The idea behind this is basically doing American Ninja Warrior in an environment very safe for kids anywhere ranging from the age of 3 all the way up to 90, depending on your knees and joints.”
Also new to Arizona Boardwalk is VR Xtreme, which will open early March. The 3,000 square-foot attraction will feature 24 virtual reality immersive experiences, including everything from haunted mansions and roller-coaster ride off the top of a skyscraper to popular games such as racing game Project Cars 2 and VR shooting game Raw Data. The development team will also create a grand entranceway and add activities to the courtyard, like rock climbing walls, play structures, zip lines, more seating and shade.
The grand entranceway, Adi said, will
Among the March events at the rebranded Arizona Boardwalk is the popular Dino Day. See below for details. (Arizona Boardwalk)
help create a sense of arrival.
“Imagine you’re walking under a giant arch showcasing our name and having a river you would walk down, which are the entry areas that are landscaped, beautiful shading and opportunities to take photos and look at all of it: All of this is part of the new redesign,” Adi said.
The new redesign also expands the footprint of Arizona Boardwalk by an additional 50 acres.
“We’re very excited about this,” Adi said. “On this 50 acres, we’re looking to do additional family-friendly attractions; nothing we want to announce at the moment, but we do have quite a bit of interest from third parties as well as our own concepts we’ve been brewing and we’re working on debuting soon.”
Adi added it’s likely they’ll add additional office space and office use, as well.
“That’ll help with some of the density we have here in the center,” he said. “We’re very excited about what we have in the future development for Arizona Boardwalk.”
Arizona’s Boardwalk is the vision of founder and CEO Amram Knishinsky. The destination’s current attractions include OdySea Aquarium, Butterfly Wonderland, Laser + Mirror Maze, Pangaea Land of the Dinosaurs, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit, Polar Play Ice Bar and Surprise Your Eyes.
Arizona Boardwalk also has seven shopping and activity options and nine food options on-site.
“I’m passionate about what we are creating here at Arizona Boardwalk,” Adi said. “We know families are looking for special places to spend precious time together; a place to bring out-oftown guests or somewhere to make an entire day of it! We decided to build just the right place for that.”
Information: arizonaboardwalk. com.
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