Congratulations to Spot Scholarship Winner Andrew Reiff!

Penn State University senior Andrew Reiff is this year’s Spot Experiential Scholarship winner! The annual Spot Experiential Scholarship challenges college students from US universities to design a destination based upon one of seven unique environmental concepts, and Andrew’s water park design has netted him an all-expenses-paid trip to PGAV-designed Busch Gardens Williamsburg this September.

Scroll down to visit Andrew’s really cool water park, and read the release here for more details about the program!

“Appalachian Creeks was a community of inventors, scientists, and dreamers. The town was founded with one goal: to find the most efficient ways to move fresh water to those who don’t have access to it. Because they did a lot of inventing but couldn’t sell their technology, the community went bankrupt. Their technologies and land were scooped up by various tourism companies, who in turn converted the pipework, tanks, and machinery into water park attractions.

Water park attractions are very much isolated experiences – there’s a distinct separation between the people experiencing the attraction and the people watching the attraction, with guests usually only being able to see their friends and family at the attraction exit. The idea behind Appalachian Creeks is to bridge that gap, giving riders and spectators a chance to interact and experience the attractions together. It’s all about getting guests excited to be a part of the water park experience even if they’re not the riding or sliding type!

My design is not necessarily the “craziest” or “wettest” idea. As said before, my design revolves around exciting and engaging guests through attraction interaction. I think that this design is a perfect solution to the water park challenge because it uses its attractions to redefine the water park experience. By coming up with creative ways to seamlessly make the attractions part of the surrounding environment and by carefully incorporating areas of interaction, I believe that I have successfully created a great themed water park experience that entertains everyone who steps on its pathways. Appalachian Creeks not only brings guests into another world: it makes them an integral part of it as well.”