Families enjoy Sun-N-Fun Lagoon’s reopening after 15-month hiatus in Collier County

Sun-N-Fun Lagoon in Collier County reopened after a 15-month hiatus that began due to concern for the spread of the coronavirus. It then remained closed for a construction project.

Up until Friday, parents didn’t have the option to visit the water park.

“Once things kind of settled down, I called at least three or four times,” Katie Harmeling said. “And I was like, ‘Hi, you guys, when are you guys going to open?’ They didn’t know.”

Now, people know, and parents and kids are welcome back after more than a year-long shutdown. It gave people who run the park time to make some upgrades.

“This was a very big project,” explained Kelly Heinemeyer, the senior program lead at Sun-N-Fun Lagoon. “This pool was actually fully excavated. There was nothing left here. They redid concrete, redid all of our tile. The bottom of the slide actually got removed, and  brand-new slides were put in. This was about a 6 to 8-month job.”

It’s a job that works in parents’ favor now.

“It feels so good, especially for the kids to be back around other kids and be outside,” Kendell Regas said. “It feels really good.”

“The chairs are available; there’s a lot of spots open, so it’s pretty nice,” Dyana Sanchez said.

“A friend of mine posted on Facebook that they opened, and I’m like, ‘We got to go; they open Friday; let’s do it,’” Harmeling said.

For Harmeling, her husband and their two sons, going to the water park isn’t just for the kids. It’s also a break for mom and dad.

“Dad gets to sit down and chill for a little bit, and then, we have fun; we just have fun,” Harmeling said.

That’s what the summertime is all about for these families that are having fun together.

“It feels really good,” Regas said.