What a hit -- until it rained

Sun-N-Fun Water Park in North Naples opened its gates Wednesday afternoon to a triumphant flood of crowds and compliments.

And 20 minutes later, the gates were closed.

The park suffered the fate of most Florida summer activities — it was rained-out.

“I wanna go in there,” pleaded Alexis Whelan, 6, dressed in her bubble gum pink bathing suit and sprawled out on the concrete behind the park’s ticket booth.

“I wanna go in the kiddie pool,” she said, pointing past the row of lifeguards blocking her path into the park. “I took lessons.”

Alexis and her brother Dylan, 3, arrived at the park just in time to put their things into the locker room with grandpa, Jim Whelan, and watch the rain trickle into the elusive kiddie pool.

But the villains keeping the doll-faced swimmer and her brother from frolicking in the squirts of chlorinated water were not the lifeguards or park and recreation officials.

They were thunder and lightning.

The park comes equipped with lightning sensors, which send out an automatic warning when trouble approaches, according to Collier County Public Services Division spokeswoman Camden Smith. Once the alarm clears, officials have to wait 20 minutes before re-opening.

The first alarm rang at 4:20 p.m.

It rang twice before the park officially shut down, a little more than an hour after it had opened.

“The storm’s not gonna pass,” said lifeguard Nichole Antilla, 16. “At least we’ve learned from this experience for future reference. We learned different crowd control methods and how to keep everyone back.”

The park re-opened from 6:10 p.m. until 7:05 p.m., according to Smith. But by then most of the crowd had called it a day.

The park is issuing free admission rain checks this afternoon for Collier County residents with identification. The free entry will be available from 4 p.m. to closing at 7 p.m., but is contingent on capacity restrictions. To avoid late afternoon storms and maxed-out facilities, parents who have the option may want to arrive earlier and pay admission: $5.50 for kids shorter than 4 feet and $10 for anyone taller.

The admission fee, which only applies to the water park, stirred some concern in residents.

“I’m glad that they did this, but what they need to do is offer a one-year pass and make it affordable for every Joe,” said Graham Ginsberg, who was at the opening with his two children, Mia, 3, and Max, 6. “The tourists may use it once or twice a year, whereas I’ll use it three times a week.”

Smith said that she is sure an annual pass is on the way.

“That’s actually in consideration to begin after Oct. 1,” she said. “We don’t have a set fee yet. But we’re definitely going to have an annual pass. We know families have to conserve costs.”