Ohio's The Beach Water Park Closing

Citing "a challenging competitive and economic climate and changing patron entertainment habits," Mason, Ohio's The Beach water park has announced that it will not open for the 2012 season.   The decision came late in the game, as the park was just recently advertising job fairs for the upcoming season.

The park has been open for 27 years, and is located just down the road from Kings Island.  Between the expansion of Soak City at Kings Island this year, and even the existing Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park adjacent the the theme park, it seems The Beach found there was little room left in the market.

In a message posted by the park about the closure, they note that the park has been operating at a loss for several seasons now.  In the years it was open the water park has employed 15,000 people, and had approximately 7.5 million visitors.

Although the water park market seems to be booming this is a great example of just how precarious operations can be for even parks that have been around almost 30 years.  If you love a park, be sure to go out and visit it!