Universal Orlando Closing Wet 'n Wild at the End of 2016

After the recent announcement of Volcano Bay, a new water park that will be on-property at the Universal Orlando Resort, many speculated about Wet 'n Wild Orlando's long term future.  Turns out there was good reason for that, as the resort announced today that the water park will be closing for good on December 31, 2016.  That gives fans of the park more than a year and a half to get in their final splashes, so no one can say this caught them by surprise!

© Wet 'n Wild Orlando

Wet 'n Wild Orlando is often called the first real water park in the U.S., and opened in 1977.  It was privately owned for decades along with the other Wet 'n Wild parks until being purchased by Universal in 1998.  A couple years ago Universal purchased the 50 or so acres of land that the park sits on, previously only leasing the property.  With the closing of the water park, Universal will have some prime real estate open, located just across I-4 outside the entrance to the resort.

Universal isn't saying anything about what will become of the water park once it closes, when there will be a lot of large water slides sitting unused.  Wet n' Wild Orlando has several large Proslide built rides, a very new water play structure, and even newer mat racing slides added last year.  It might make sense to move some to Volcano Bay, however I'm not sold on the 'look' of these slides being right for what Universal is going for in the new "water theme park."  Instead I think other external water parks might get a chance at some used slides at a good price.

More long term, I'm very interested to see if Universal builds more hotel rooms on the site.  They've openly said they want thousands of additional rooms, but are simply running out of space.  This could be their first step to off-site lodging, one would guess with transportation over to the resort included.  Amazing how Universal isn't afraid to make bold moves to continue to shake up Orlando!

CNL Lifestyle Owned Parks to Soon Have New Owners

CNL Lifestyle Properties is an investment company that has owned several amusement and water parks for years now.  A recent filing with the SEC by the company points out that their are nearing the end of their investment cycle, which means that they will begin selling off their investments (for a profit, one would hope).  For instance, they just finished an agreement to sell a ton of golf courses they also owned.

Here's a list, created by CNL, of the parks they currently own:

This is quite a mix of properties, but there are several of note.  Those include Darien Lake, Elitch Gardens, Frontier City, Magic Springs, Pacific Park, and Wild Waves Theme Park.  There are also a lot of water parks, with bigger names like the North American Wet 'n' Wild parks, and two of the Hawaiian Falls parks.

CNL doesn't operate any of these parks, since they are investments, with different firms handling that portion under contract.

Darien Lake is managed by Herschend Family Entertainment, and has seen modest additions in recent years.  I have to wonder how tightly CNL held the purse strings, limiting what Herschend could really do.  It would make sense to me for them to purchase the park, but you never know.  If they do it could mean a whole new chapter in the park's life, and one that could be exciting.

Elitch Gardens, Frontier City, White Water Bay and the Wet 'n' Wild Parks are currently operated by Premier Parks, LLC - a company that has changed names several times already but was founded by former Six Flags executives.  I would also think that if they can get the loan, they would go for purchasing these parks as well.

Magic Springs is managed by AMP, Wild Waves by NorPoint Entertainment, and Pacific Park by Santa Monica Amusements LLC, so it is not clear if these entities could/would purchase those parks or if another operator would swoop in.

As for all the other smaller water parks and fun centers, well your guess is a good as mine right now.  I'm not sure I see any of the big operators - like Six Flags or Cedar Fair - going after and of CNL's parks, but it would be interesting if they did - for sure!  Either way I'm sort of glad to see the parks leave CNL ownership since I think they stifled them a bit.  I'll be excitedly on the lookout for news of sales.

Wet 'n Wild Orlando Announces Aqua Drag Racer

© Wet 'n Wild Orlando

Visitors to Orlando's Wet 'n Wild water park will be racing each other to the finish line this Summer on the all new Aqua Drag Racer, the park has announced.  The park released the above image of the attraction on their Facebook page today, promising additional details at a later date.  News of the addition has not been added to the park's website as of yet.

The concept art shows a four lane mat racing slide, with each lane starting in a brightly colored enclosed tube.  After twisting around one another, the paths will hit the daylight to race down a final hill and to the finish line.

© Wet 'n Wild Orlando

The Orlando Sentinel was able to get some additional details on the new slide, posted in this story.  The starting point of the attraction (manufactured by Proslide) will be six stories above the ground, and riders will hit a maximum speed of 15 feet per second on the way down.  Aqua Drag Racer will be replacing the park's Bubba Tub family raft ride, highlighted in a red rectangle above, giving it a prime location next to the wave pool.

This style of mat racing slide has become very popular at water parks across the globe, and is sure to find similar success at Wet 'n Wild Orlando.

Another New Wet 'n' Wild Water Park Opening in 2014

SplashTown water park, located 30 minutes from Houston, Texas, is being renamed Wet 'n' Wild SplashTown and receiving a significant expansion for 2014.

The park is operated by Premier Parks, LLC and owned by CNL Lifestyle Properties, which recently acquired the Wet 'n' Wild naming rights in America.  We previously saw the duo purchase and rename Soak City Palm Springs into Wet 'n' Wild Palm Springs at the end of 2013.  That park joined Wet 'n' Wild Phoenix and Wet 'n' Wild Hawaii as existing properties.

© Wet 'n' Wild SplashTown

The name change is by no means the only thing new at Wet 'n' Wild SplashTown in 2014.  Above is concept art of a whole new set of attractions at the park with a little of something for everyone.  Many will look forward to the Double FlowRider, "an innovative surfing experience that is both a visual spectacle and intensely fun as endless sheets of perfect waves roll out at 35 mph, moving 30,000 gallons of water per minute. The simulated wave system is designed for multiple riders to surf the perfect waves at the same time, doubling the fun."

A family raft slide named Big Kahuna will be built adjacent to the Tornado, appearing to utilize the same tower.  The partially enclosed ride will seat five riders at a time and use a conveyor lift so that guests need not carry the rafts up.  Big Kahuna will be designed by Proslide.

Kids will love Wet 'n' Wild Jr., a whole new area filled with kid-sized versions of the big slides.  Included in the area are "eight exciting water slides, including a double body slide and triple track racer; an extreme gushing spray tower; a continuously drenching waterfall as well as jumping spray fountains that little visitors can frolic through."  There will also be a toddler only play zone with safe and engaging activities such as floor bubblers and a clam shell slide.  A new family restroom building will be built adjacent complete with changing stations in private areas.

The whole property will also see changes, including a second parking lot, more parking toll booths, a total landscaping and entrance makeover, new Caribbean-style atmosphere, more shading, better food and beverage offerings, more cabanas and other amenities.

Wet 'n' Wild SplashTown has a brand new website as well, available to peruse at this link.

Soak City Palm Springs Receives Wet 'n' Wild Branding

The most recent water park to be sold by Cedar Fair, formerly known as Soak City Palm Springs, will now be know as Wet 'n' Wild Palm Springs.  The park is currently owned by CNL Lifestyle Properties, and managed by Premier Parks LLC. 

In addition to the new name, Wet 'n' Wild Palm Springs will also open a new attraction next year.  A Flow Rider surfing simulator will be opened, allowing for surfing to take place in the desert!  Popular at many other water parks, the surfing simulator utilizes a thin sheet of water under high pressure to create an artificial wave that guests can surf or board on.

“The property in Palm Springs, which we acquired this August, has been a great addition to our existing water park portfolio,” said Curt Caffey, senior vice president and managing director at CNL Lifestyle Properties. “By rebranding it as Wet ‘n’ Wild, we hope to both maximize our value for our shareholders and raise awareness of the park in Southern California.”

Wet 'n' Wild Palm Springs will join two other branded parks owned by the company, located in Arizona and Hawaii.  The new owners are pushing the value of season passes and adding additional entertainment next year, including Dive-In Movies.

Wet'n'Wild Sydney To Open December 12th

© Wet 'n' Wild Sydney

The giant new Wet'n'Wild Sydney is ready to open for Australia's Summer season for the first time on December 12th.  As seen above the park has been previewing some slides and attractions in preparation of the grand opening, but the general public will have to wait two more weeks for their turn.

The attraction offerings at the new water park are a bit like a showroom for both Proslide and Whitewater West, as each company has supplied some of their latest and greatest creations to the grounds.  Proslide's list includes a Tornado, Tornado Wave, Tantrum Alley, and kiddie slides while WhiteWater's includes Master Blasters, a Rattler and Constrictor, Boomerango, Whizzard, and AquaLoops - among others.

Wet'n'Wild Sydney has been built by Village Roadshow, the same company that just moved away from their holdings in the Hawaii and Arizona Wet'n'Wild parks.  Billed as one of the largest in the world, Wet'n'Wild Sydney is expected to draw over one million guests a year.

The park is also actively marketing itself as a nighttime destination as well, with dance parties and hours as late as 11 pm.  That's an interesting take, since most U.S. water parks close as the sun goes down.  It looks like some of the slides will have cool lightning, though!

For some recent photos of the park and its offerings, check out this story.

All The Details on Wet'nWild Sydney

To celebrate the first day of construction on Wet'n'Wild Sydney, developer Village Roadshow has released a new preview video of the park, seen above.

Things look pretty different than what was planned when the park was first announced two years ago; the new design takes full advantage of the latest and greatest the water park industry has to offer.

The ride catalog appears to feature some of the most advanced rides both WhiteWater West and Proslide are currently offering.  Above is a tower that appears to be from Proslide featuring Tornado, TornadoWave, and Tantrum slide options.  Any one of these slides alone would be a major addition for most parks!

Another complex shown looks to be from WhiteWater West, featuring a huge eight lane Whizzer mat racing slide, with four enormous AquaLoop slides on either side.  Between the size of this one and its color combination, this is one of the most visually impressive towers out there.

When the park opens in December of 2013, it will also have two wave pools, one for surfing and one for regular waves.  Several other slide towers are shown in the renderings, along with an extensive children's area that has miniature versions of the larger slides.

Weekly Rewind 6.2.12

Galveston Pleasure Pier has opened the Iron Shark to customers.  The custom designed Euro-Fighter looks intense!  Check out a video from the park.

There will be previews of Luminosity at Cedar Point all this week, leading up the grand opening on June 8th.  Check out a new behind the scenes video of the production from the Point.

The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has reopened after a rather lengthy six month refurbishment at the Magic Kingdom.  The ride looks great, like brand new.  Check out a report here.

The chain of Cedar Fair parks have debuted a new set of phone applications, and they're a vast improvement over the former ones.  Included are many handy tools for in park use, such as show times that are accurate.  The maps are also super detailed, the Dorney Park one features backstage buildings, correct coaster layouts, and even businesses across the street!

Hong Kong Disneyland is opening their new Grizzly Gulch area this Summer, which features the Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars coaster.  The area looks well done, and I'm sure the ride is going to be a blast... literally.

I love when Great Adventure History publishes a new story on a section of the park, and this past week they did that with Balin's Jungle Land, a kiddie area that had a short and weird life at Six Flags Great Adventure.

Check out the cute mini-funnel that is a part of Wet 'n' Wild Phoenix's new children's area!  The section includes small versions of the park's big slides.

Same name, different spelling - today Wet'n Wild Orlando opened their new Blastaway Beach interactive water structure.  I really like the sandcastle theming on it!  Looks like fun.

Six Flags Over Georgia is opening their new iLuminate show today, which features performers with glowing costumes set against a pitch black dark performance area.  Looks intriguing...

Wet'n Wild Orlando Heads to the Beach

Another part of yesterday's big Universal Orlando announcement was the addition of a gigantic new kid's play area to Wet'n Wild Orlando.  The new area will be perfect for both kids and kids at heart, using a beach theme to create tons of watery fun.

The structure will resemble a giant sandcastle, set among lush tropical landscaping.  Covering an acre of land, the new play area will be the largest of its kind in Florida and actually span over two separate pools of water.

Once guests enter the area and step onto the play structure they'll find over 100 soakers, jets, waterfalls, and cannons along with 17 different slides.  The slides will range in size so there is something for everyone.

The new area - which I'm expecting will receive a proper name later - will replace the current kids' area near the front of the park when it opens this Summer.

Announcing Wet'n'Wild Sydney

Village Roadshow, owner of Arizona's Wet'n'Wild, has announced a massive new water park, Wet'n'Wild Sydney, to be opened in the summer of 2013-14.

The $80 million park will be located in Western Sydney, Australia, and will feature state of the art attractions, rides, and amenities. First year attendance is anticipated to surpass 900,000, with the eventual goal of making Wet'n'Wild Sydney one of the top ten water parks in the world.

The amount of attractions planned for the park is staggering. Among them: Australia's largest wave pool, dueling master blaster water coasters, tons of thrilling body and tube water slides, an elaborate adventure river, and an interactive play zone for kids.

Looking at the concept art for the park you can also see a Tornado style ride, racing mat slides, family raft rides, and even dueling aqua loops. I'm not sure if all the attractions are to be opened with the park, but it's a very large selection of attractions.

More information on the planned park is available on the official website.

The Amusing Ads Archive - Wet 'n Wild Las Vegas

Wet 'n Wild's tag-line here couldn't have been more true - where else in Vegas can you get a full day's worth of entertainment for a single fee? Well, there are some, but it's still not easy to do.

The park operated on the Vegas Strip for 20 seasons, having opened in 1985. Though built to attract the tourist set, the water park was always a favorite of Vegas locals. Palace Entertainment, now owned by Parques Reunidos, was the operator of the water park which sat on leased land. The owner of that land wanted to build a mega resort, so it informed the park that it would have to close. And so it did, toward the end of 1994.

Now 15 years later the land that Wet 'n Wild sat on is still unused. I think big casino projects lease it out as storage when they need it. The developer's plans (like most on the Strip) fell through, and no other developments have occurred. What a shame!

Aerial Antics: Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas

I was snooping around some aerials when writing the article on Speed at the Sahara and noticed that if you work it just right you can get aerials of an open Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas, and ones of the property closed and abandoned.

Here's the park when it was open, the last year for it was the 2004 season. It opened in 1985 hoping to cash in on families in sin city looking for something to do, and quickly became a popular entertainment for locals attracting over a half million visitors annually at its peak. When it closed in '04 it had just completed it's 20th season of operations.

And here's the sad version of the above photo of the park after it closed. The slides are all gone, although I don't know where any of them were moved to. The pools and lazy river were not removed, but they're empty and quickly being overgrown.

There were plans for a giant Ferris Wheel to be built on the location with a casino hotel underneath, but those fell through. Then the western hemisphere's tallest building was going to be built there, but that never happened either. So for now, the park's former location still sits idle.

Orlando 1979

Here's another two images from the family trip to Orlando in the summer of 1979. This time we're moving out of Disney World and seeing what else is around.

It's Sea World! Where's Journey to Atlantis? Where's .... the rest of the park? I had no idea how much this park has expanded over the past two and a half decades. There's a whole other half of the park located now on the other side of the lake in the photo above. And there's even more rides and such behind the stadium in the bottom of the photo.

And here's the big water park of the time - Wet'nWild. It's gigantic now compared to the park in this photo. Kamikaze was the big new slide of the time. Well, honestly, theres not much in the way of slides to speak of at the park back then! They did have GoKarts, though.

I mean, look at the park now!