Here are the differences I’ve noticed in three key areas since moving from the great outdoors of Wet n’ Wild in Orlando, Fla., to the sprawling indoors of the Wisconsin Dells.

1 Safety. Safety is paramount at any park, and the indoor waterpark offers some unique challenges not necessarily found in an outdoor park. For one, the building itself offers challenges. The placement of windows must be carefully considered. Windows offer natural light that’s found at outdoor waterparks, but it’s the window that causes a new obstacle. It can cause glare and shadows on the water, making a lifeguard’s job difficult.

In addition, these conditions change throughout the day as the sun and clouds move through the sky. Careful positioning of these windows, and what happens when they are opened and closed, must be considered. Managers should require indoor lifeguards to wear sunglasses when necessary.

Within the waterpark, different features can cause obstacles not ordinarily found at outdoor parks. Things tend to be on top of each other when square footage is at a premium. Because indoor waterparks are typically heavily themed, these elements can create blind spots for lifeguards. Theme elements also can cause difficulty in accessing the most desirable lifeguard positions. Managers should work with architects to ensure blind spots are avoided, during the initial building and as new rides and features are added to the park.

An afternoon thunderstorm with lightning may be the reason management decides to close an outdoor park for lightning. Inside, however, closing an outdoor spa for sub-zero temperature and dangerous wind chill is just as important to consider. Check weather reports not just for lightning, but also for temperature, ice storms and other conditions to keep guests and employees safe.

Finally, some resort guests act as if staying at the resort negates their need to follow the rules. This sense of entitlement can be challenging for all staffers when trying to enforce safety. Parents at indoor resorts have a tendency to allow their children to wander off without adult supervision.

Hotels should communicate with parents to encourage proper adult supervision through in room notices, registration card signature acknowledgement and posted signs.

2 Maintenance. Outdoor veterans may laugh at the notion that a controlled indoor environment can be as difficult to keep clean as an outdoor park, but indoor operators have found this to be true. The indoor waterpark is a harsh environment for equipment and building materials. Maintaining the building air temperature and balancing that with water temperature is critical for guest and employee comfort, as well as the life of the building itself.

Maintaining air quality is of equal importance and directly related to water quality. Indoor operations attractions often are linked and have shared access. Shutting down one pool or ride usually impacts several others. Even paint dries slower indoors, making quick touch-ups not so quick. If a leak sprouts, fast response is necessary because there is always something — seating, equipment, walkways or other attractions — under the flume.

Another eye-opening aspect of the indoor waterpark resort is the utility expense. Heating the water and air in an 80,000-square-foot building is not cheap. In the evening, indoor pools with exterior flumes entering them should be covered because the flumes that pass though the outside serve as large radiators and cool the air. Exterior flume insulation is one method to avoid loss of heat. Indoor and outdoor spas should be covered during off-hours. Resorts should constantly be looking at other ways to control utility expense.

Gaining access to certain areas inside the park can be impossible, including tops of flumes and duct work to dust, or upper windows to wash. In addition, there are new places to clean that don’t exist at outdoor venues: vacuuming the lobby carpet, keeping glass doors clean of wet handprints, dusting silk plants and artificial palm trees, and keeping algae and mold under control in the humid environment. Then there’s shoveling snow away from the front doors to the indoor waterpark necessary for cleanliness and safety during the winter months.

Even something as simple as towels has left many indoor operators at their wits’ ends. Providing towels for guests is certainly unique to the indoor resort and can create issues with inventory, laundry, cleanliness and staffing. Hundreds of wet towels lying around a pool area simply look bad.

Having someone available to pick the towels up, transport them, wash them, dry them, fold them and haul them back to the park is a daunting challenge. In addition, towel theft is a major and expensive problem.

3 Service. Providing friendly service presents new challenges in an indoor environment. While noise at any park is always a challenge for communication, it tends to reverberate at indoor waterparks. It is hard to sound friendly when attempting to be heard over the echoing park noise, particularly when correcting guest behavior.

In the Wisconsin Dells, international students are heavily utilized for staffing resorts adequately. Overcoming language barriers can be difficult anywhere. However, indoor employees have more face time with guests, particularly for those with multiple-day stays and with the resort environment itself. It’s important for employees to interact with these guests and engage in conversation.

This is sometimes a drawback with international employees, who may be less confident in their English skills and reluctant to speak with guests. This reluctance can be construed as unfriendly. It’s important to have friendly, personable employees of any language background, for it can make or break a waterpark resort.

Resorts should be encouraged to broaden their staffs to include people with exclusive outdoor experience. The crossover may have unique challenges, but the goal of operating a safe, clean, and friendly waterpark is consistent whether there’s a roof on the park or not.

Patrick Finnegan is vice president of aquatic development/operations at Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wis.