Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Rockford (formerly known as Magic Waters) is a

water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other baref ...

owned by the

Rockford Park District The Rockford Park District was formed in 1909 and is governed by an elected five-member board of commissioners who serve six-year terms without compensation. It is the third largest municipal park system in Illinois, serving the communities of Roc ...

and operated by

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any amu ...

. It is located in Cherry Valley, Winnebago County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and located next to the interchange between

Interstate 39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a highway in the Midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois, at I-55 to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) in the town of Rib Mountain, Wisconsin, which is approximately south of Wausau. I- ...

U.S. Route 51 U.S. Route 51 or U.S. Highway 51 (US 51) is a major south-north United States highway that extends from the western suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana, to within of the Wisconsin–Michigan state line. As most of the United States Numbered Highw ...

and

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

near

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...

History

Magic Waters, was built in 1984 under private ownership. Even though it was privately owned, the Rockford Park District was involved in planning. In 1986, Magic Waters private ownership filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to low attendance. Then, the property was seized by the now-defunct Amcore Bank. The Rockford Park District became involved with the park and increased park attendance by 50%. In 1988, Rockford Park District with marketing efforts by Midwest Marketing Inc, Magic Waters reached a peak attendance of 370,000. In 1993, Splash Magic River, a lazy river ride was added to the park. In 1997, 4 years after Splash Magic River was added, Splash Magic Island, now Tiki Island was added to the park. The attraction was geared towards families. In 2000, a water coaster named Splash Blaster was added. The ride was 80 feet tall. The ride cost $3 million to build. It would be removed in 2015 due to 12 lawsuits against the park from back injuries. In 2004, The Abyss, a dark tunnel tube slide 5 stories high was added to the park. The ride twists and turns multiple times before it splashes the rider into a pool of daylight. On May 23, 2009, a few years after The Abyss was added, a new water slide was announced. The ride would be called Typhoon Terror. The ride is a tube slide that is 65 foot tall and can fit 2-4 people in the tube. On May 30, 2012, Double Dare Drop, a

speed slide A water slide (also referred to as a flume, or water chute) is a type of slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size. Some slides require riders to s ...

ride was added. The name was picked after a contest in October 2011. The ride is 75 feet tall and was built by Rockford Structures Construction Co. In July 2014, a dozen lawsuits were filed against Magic Waters and the Rockford Park District due to the now removed ride Splash Blaster over back injuries. The Rockford Park District has settled the suits, totaling $2.53 million. This led the park to remove the ride on September 3, 2015. On February 15, 2017, Magic Waters announced that their AquaLoop water slide would be called Screaming Lizard. It would open the following summer. The ride features a 45 degree inclined loop. On October 9, 2018,

announced that they had reached an agreement with Rockford Park District to operate Magic Waters Waterpark starting in the spring of 2019 for 10 years. Six Flags will have to pay $425,000 to the Rockford Park District annually. On August 29, 2019, Six Flags renamed Magic Waters to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Rockford, and will enforce the

Hurricane Harbor Hurricane Harbor is a chain of water parks that are part of the Six Flags theme park chain. Although the parks are not identical, common features include a variety of body slides, speed slides, tube slides, wave pools, lazy rivers, and shopping ...

name for the 2020 season. It was also announced that Tidal Wave would be added to the park as the first "tailspin" slide in the Midwest by

WhiteWater West WhiteWater West is a manufacturing company based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1980 and manufactures a variety of products for water parks including water slides and water play areas. The company also owns FlowRide ...

. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Six Flags suspended all parks on March 13, 2020. Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Rockford was expected to open mid-May, but was delayed. It was announced on July 9, 2020, along with Hurricane Harbor Chicago, that the park would reopen on July 20, 2020. Tidal Wave was delayed to 2021. In 2021, Tidal Wave soft opened to the media on May 28 and officially opened on May 29. The ride is the parks' first waterpark addition under Six Flags' operation.

Slides and attractions

Dining

Season Dining Passes are available at most restaurants. *Beachside Funnel Cake,'' a funnel cake restaurant with funnel cake sundaes and root beer floats.'' *Hawaiian Hideaway, '' a snack bar with snacks such as pretzels and churros'' *Surfside Café, ''a restaurant with chicken sandwiches, Italian beef, hot dogs, chicken tenders and salads.'' *

Dippin Dots Dippin' Dots is an ice cream snack invented by Curt Jones in 1988."Curt Jones"
Dippin Dots Website, accessed ...

, ''Flash-frozen ice cream pellets. There are 2 Dippin Dots in the park.'' *Snack Shack, ''a snack bar with pretzels, churros and nachos.'' *Tiki Tacos, ''beef tacos, chicken tacos and chips and salsa.'' *Paradise Pizza, ''sells pizza, meatball sandwiches, and salads.''

References

External links

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Rockford
— official website {{Six Flags Interstate 39 Interstate 90 Rockford metropolitan area, Illinois U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 51 Water parks in Illinois Buildings and structures in Winnebago County, Illinois Tourist attractions in Winnebago County, Illinois Six Flags water parks

History

Slides and attractions

Dining

See also

References

External links