Wet 'n Wild Orlando

Wet 'n Wild Orlando was the flagship water park of Wet 'n Wild owned by NBC Universal, located on International Drive in Orlando, Florida. It was founded in 1977 by SeaWorld creator George Millay.[1] It closed on December 31, 2016.

Wet 'n Wild Orlando
Wet 'n Wild Logo
Slogan	"The Recognized Name in Family Water Fun!"
Location	Universal Orlando Resort, Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Coordinates	28.460943°N 81.464841°W / 28.460943; -81.464841
Owner	NBCUniversal (Comcast)
Opened	March 13, 1977 (1977-03-13)
Closed	December 31, 2016 (2016-12-31)
Previous names	Wet n' Wild FunPark
Operating season	Open all year long (water heated in winter)
Status	Closed
Area	30 acres (120,000 m^2)
Pools	A single pool
Water slides	17 water slides

History

Development and ownership

While developing SeaWorld, George Millay realized the need for a water park, later recalling "being in Florida, with all its heat and hot sun, you naturally think about cooling off in water". In the mid-1970s, he directed his time and money towards the project. The idea of it stemmed from the splash pad at Ontario Place in Canada and the wave pool at Point Mallard Park in Alabama. His desire was to combine these two elements and build upon it in order to achieve a good return on investment. Due to his prior success with SeaWorld, he was able to form a team of investors to fund the project.[2]

The park opened in Orlando, Florida on March 13, 1977. Although it opened to rain and suffered a $600,000 loss in its first year of operation, Millay kept it open. He later claimed it "started making money the second year and never looked back".[2] The success of the park spawned several other Wet 'n Wild-branded parks across the Americas.[3] He was given the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Waterpark Association who named him the official "Father of the Waterpark".[4]

In 1998, Millay sold off his interests in his parks. The Orlando location was purchased by Universal Studios Recreation Group, who continued to lease the land on which it is located.[5] In mid-2013, Universal purchased the 50 acres (20 ha) of land for $30.9 million.[6]

Expansion and later years

Brain Wash

In 1998, the Hydra Fighter was added to the park.[7] Riders were able to control their suspended gondola through the use of high-powered water guns.[8]

In 2000, the park renovated their Kids Park children's area. The original aviation theme was converted into a sandcastle theme. The renovation saw three ProSlide Technology "Kidz" slides added as well as a castle with a tipping bucket which dumped 250 US gallons (950 l; 210 imp gal) of water every three-and-a-half minutes. With the exception of the three slides, it was manufactured entirely by Integrity Attractions.[9][10]

In 2001, the park began a multi-year expansion plan with Canadian water slide manufacturer, ProSlide Technology.[11] It added The Storm, a pair of ProBowls, in 2001;[12][13] The Blast, an inline tube slide, in 2003;[14] Disco H2O, an enclosed Behemoth Bowl, in 2005;[15][16] and Brain Wash, an enclosed Tornado, in 2008.[17][18]

In 2011, the Kids Park was demolished. In 2012, it was replaced by Blastaway Beach, a larger children's water play area, also themed around sandcastles.[17]

In 2014, the Bubba Tub was removed and replaced with the Aqua Drag Racer, a four lane race slide.

On June 17, 2015, it was confirmed that the park would close on December 31, 2016, to be replaced by a Universal Orlando Resort water park named Volcano Bay.[19][20]

Attendance

The park was the most-attended water park in the United States until 1999, when Walt Disney World Resort's Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach surpassed it.[5][21] At the time, it was averaging around 1.3 million visitors for several years.[3][22]

Attractions

Final Attractions

The Storm

Disco H2O

Name	Type	Manufacturer	Opened	Notes	Ref.
Aqua Drag Racer	Four racing mat slides	ProSlide	2014	Replaced the Bubba Tub. It only operated for two years when the park closed in 2016.
Black Hole	Two enclosed inline tube slides		1990	Replaced the original Corkscrew	[23]
Blastaway Beach	Children's area	ProSlide	2012	Replaced the Kids Park.	[24]
The Blast	Inline tube slide	ProSlide	2003	Replaced Raging Rapids.	[14]
The Bomb Bay	Freefall body slide	Surf Coaster	2001		[25]
Brain Wash	Enclosed Tornado	ProSlide	2008	Replaced the Hydra Fighter and Hydra-Maniac/Blue Niagara.	[17][18]
Der Stuka	Freefall body slide	Surf Coaster	1984		[26]
Disco H2O	Enclosed Behemoth Bowl	ProSlide	2005		[15][16]
The Flyer (originally Fuji Flyer)	Two inline tube slides	ProSlide	1996	Replaced the original Mach 5 Beta.	[24][27]
Lazy River	Lazy river		1984
Mach 5	Three mat slides	Surf Coaster	1986	Formerly Mach 5 Alpha	[26]
The Storm	ProBowls	ProSlide	2001		[12][13]
The Surge	Mammoth	ProSlide	1994		[28][29]
The Wake Zone	Water sports		1977
Wave Pool Surf Lagoon	Wave pool		1977

Former Attractions

Name	Type	Manufacturer	Opened	Closed	Notes	Ref.
Corkscrew	Enclosed slide		1977	1990	Replaced by The Black Hole
Whitewater Slideways	Two open body slides		1977	1986	Replaced by the Mach 5
Banzai Boggan	Two sled slides		1977	1986	Replaced by the Hydra Maniac
Hydra Maniac	Two enclosed slides	WhiteWater West	1986	1994	Replaced by the Surge
Hydra Fighter	Suspended ride		1998	2007	Replaced by Brain Wash.	[7][8]
Blue Niagara	Two enclosed corkscrew slides		1988	2007	Replaced by Brain Wash.	[26]
Canadian Water Caper	Children's Area		1977	1992	Replaced by the Kids's Park
Kids Park	Children's area		1992	2000	Replaced by the new one of the same name (now Blastaway Beach).	[31]
Kids Park	Children's area	ProSlide, Integrity Attractions	2000	2011	Replaced the original one of the same name, closed and replaced by Blastaway Beach.	[9][10][17]
Mach 5 Alpha	Two inline tube slides	Surf Coaster	1986	1995	Replaced by The Flyer.	[26]
Kamikaze	Freefall body slide		1979	1992	Replaced by the Bubba Tub
Raging Rapids	Inline tube slide		1986	2002	Replaced by The Blast.
Bubba Tub	Family Raft Slide	ProSlide	1992	2014	Replaced by the Aqua Drag Racer.	[24][31]

In popular culture

The park was featured on Travel Channel's Extreme Waterparks and was also the setting for the music video for "Se A Vida É", by the Pet Shop Boys.

The park was featured for Puerto Rican band Menudo for their video Nao Se Reprima in Portuguese.

See also

• List of water parks

References

1. "Wet n Wild, Americas First Water Park closing". Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
2. O'Brien, Tim (November 16, 1998). "George Millay: From Sea World to Wet'n Wild, the father of the modern waterpark has definitely made a splash". Amusement Business. 110 (46): 19.
3. Guier, Cindy Stooksbury (November 16, 1998). "Wet'n Wild". Amusement Business. 110 (46): 23.
4. O'Brien, Tim (October 8, 2001). "Waterpark officials address variety of industry concerns". Amusement Business. 113 (40): 18–19.
5. Zoltak, James (October 12, 1998). "Universal dives into waterparks industry". Amusement Business. 110 (41): 1.
6. "Universal Orlando buys Wet 'n Wild land". Orlando Sentinel. June 27, 2013. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
7. Powell, Tom (July 6, 1998). "New ride, promos keep Wet 'n Wild at the top of waterpark industry". Amusement Business. 110 (27): 13.
8. Thomas, Rebecca (April 10, 1998). "Hydra Fighter Makes Splash". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
9. O'Brien, Tim (March 18, 2002). "Orlando Waterpark plans to let kids get 'Wild'". Amusement Business. 114 (11): 6.
10. Mooradian, Don (April 8, 2002). "M&S news". Amusement Business. 114 (14): 4.
11. O'Brien, Tim (October 29, 2001). "Riley talks 'Circle of Life' at WWA confab". Amusement Business. 113 (43): 21.
12. Zoltak, James (April 2, 2001). "Parks & fairs: Tourism season bodes well". Amusement Business. 113 (13): 21–22.
13. "The Storm (Wet 'n Wild Orlando)". Parkz. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
14. Swain Vadnie, Rebecca (April 25, 2003). "Watery Fun At Full Blast". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
15. Barbieri, Kelly (January 2006). "Waterparks catch a nice wave". Amusement Business. 118 (3): 12.
16. "Disco H2O (Wet 'n Wild Orlando)". Parkz. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
17. Bevil, Dewayne (June 7, 2012). "It's playtime at Wet 'n Wild's Blastaway Beach". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
18. "Brain Wash (Wet 'n Wild Orlando)". Parkz. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
19. "Thank You to All Our Fans for Decades of Wet 'N Wild Orlando". Universal Orlando Blog. June 17, 2015. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
20. Bevil, Dewayne (June 17, 2015). "Universal closing Wet 'n Wild Orlando at the end of 2016". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
21. O'Brien, Tim (November 6, 2000). "Waterparks growth rate leads industry". Amusement Business. 112 (45): 1, 20.
22. O'Brien, Tim (March 15, 1999). "Ogden Corp. purchases Wet'n Wild". Amusement Business. 111 (11): 1.
23. Weiss, Devi (February 16, 1990). "Black Hole Water Slide Makes Debut At Wet 'n Wild". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
24. "Rides on Every Continent". ProSlide Technology. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
25. "The Bomb Bay (Wet 'n Wild Orlando)". Parkz. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
26. Gilbert, Paul (August 3, 1986). "Wet 'n Wild Water Park An Orlando Oasis". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
27. Thomas, Rebecca (March 22, 1996). "Fuji Flyer: A Wild New Way To Get Wet". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
28. Shrieves, Linda (April 29, 1994). "Worth Wading For". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
29. "The Surge (Wet 'n Wild Orlando)". Parkz. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
30. Gilbert, Paul (April 6, 1986). "A Wild New Era In Water Thrills". Orlando Sentinel.
31. "The Bubba Tub". Orlando Sentinel. February 14, 1992. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.

External links

• Media related to Wet 'n Wild Orlando at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website (archive)
• Wet 'n Wild Orlando on Facebook