Lumina to light up the Dells
Moment Factory “Enchanted Night Walk” coming to Wilderness Resort
When I first experienced Astra Lumina at Anakeesta in Gatlinburg, Tennessee a couple of years ago, I was positively blown away. With the subtitle, “Enchanted Night Walk,” it is part avant grade art installation, part nature walk, part trippy light show, and part nighttime spectacular. It leverages the latest show design technology, including programmable LED lights, lasers, video, projection mapping, and sound design, to create a highly engaging and almost otherworldly experience. That’s why I am delighted to learn that a similar presentation, Aquavia Lumina, will be debuting this fall at the Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells.
As with other Lumina experiences, guests will walk along an outdoor path and amble through a series of multimedia-infused scenes. In this case, the route will take them through the forested “Wilderness Canyon,” a stretch of land that connects the Wilderness Resort’s main lodge and its nearby Glacier Canyon Lodge. Each of the Lumina presentations reflect their locales. Aquavia Lumina will incorporate the flora, fauna, landscape, and culture of Wisconsin Dells. According to the resort, the walk will highlight one of the vacation destination’s most prominent features, its sandstone cliffs. I’d imagine that the picturesque cliffs lining the path will be bathed in lights and possibly, projected imagery. The storyline will focus on a supernatural deer that will guide guests to “The Source,” a magical spring with the power to transform nature.
“Aquavia” likely refers to the presentation’s water theme. But it also probably reflects the Wilderness Resort’s primary raison d’être as one of the world’s largest indoor water park resorts. The Dells is the self-proclaimed “water park capital of the world” and the place where the concept of an indoor water park was born. It is the home of many indoor and outdoor water parks. One of the town’s major attractions, the rambling Wilderness Resort spans about 600 acres and features four indoor water parks as well as four outdoor water parks, a slew of themed hotel suites, and a bunch of other activities.
Moment Factory, the Montreal-based attraction design shop, creates the Lumina night walks, which are located around the world. Aquavia will be the company’s 21st installation. Astra Lumina in Tennessee represented its first walk in the U.S.
This isn’t the first time that the Wilderness folks have worked with Moment Factory. They also operate Wilderness at the Smokies in Sevierville, Tennessee and recently debuted Kaleidoscope Kavern at the resort’s indoor water park. The lazy river features a multimedia tunnel created by Moment Factory that envelops guests with splashes of psychedelic color and other engaging content.
“We first met Moment Factory at an industry trade show and were curious about their awe-inspiring creations. Then we found out that they were going to present Astra Lumina Night Walk at Anakeesta in Gatlinburg by our sister property,” says Joe Eck, chief operating officer for Wilderness Resorts and Waterparks. The company was so excited by the Anakeesta presentation, it partnered with Moment Factory to develop the lazy river in Tennessee and began planning its own night walk for its Wisconsin property. “We’re now so incredibly excited to be bringing Aquavia Lumina to the Dells,” Eck adds.
Like its indoor water parks, Wilderness Resort says that Aquavia Lumina will be open year round. It can get mighty cold in Wisconsin in the winter. Snow might provide an intriguing canvas for some of Moment Factory’s trippy visuals.
Have you experienced a Lumina night walk? Have you been to Wisconsin Dells?