Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL
You’ve seen the commercials. The ones where a bikini-clad woman, arms across her chest like a mummy, drops down a waterslide that looks like an ancient Mayan ruin, and into a bright turquoise aquarium dome full of sharks and manta rays and other impossibly exotic marine life.
That’s Atlantis. Not the fabled sunken island of folklore, but the mega resort of all-you-can-eat buffets, Piña Coladas, sunburnt Americans, and extravagant waterslides in the Bahamas.
The same company behind that synthetic fairyland, and others like it in Dubai and China, have plans to open their next luxurious super hotel on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. With the deal nearing a close, according to Hawaii News Now, building will begin on a 15-acre parcel of land in Ko Olina on the Diamond Head side of Disney’s Aulani Resort.
And the reported cost for the project boasts a record-breaking $2 Billion. Reports claim it will be the most expensive resort ever.
Among the proposed amenities is a seemingly signature move from the Atlantis company – an immersive aquarium.
Back in 2005, when developer Jeff Stone announced the project, he said: “This aquarium will look as the ocean looks. It’ll look as the sea looks today. You’ll be able to view it underneath. You’ll be able to interact with it, actually swim through it, and you’ll be able to learn from it in a natural setting.”
No word on the waterslide situation yet.
