Wild Waves Theme & Water Park is an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

and

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 ...

Federal Way, Washington Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Fe ...

. Opened in 1977 as The Enchanted Village (with its accompanying water park, Wild Waves, opening in 1984),''Washington State's Enchanted Parks Announces Plans to Add Two World-Class Roller Coasters by 2003''. PR Newswire. October 5, 2000. the park is a popular summer destination in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

and is one of three waterparks in Washington state. The park's name was reverted to Wild Waves Water Park and Enchanted Village Amusement Park in April 2016, and once again changed to Wild Waves Theme and Water Park in November 2016, as a result of the park's acquisition by EPR Properties.

History

Founding through today.

The Enchanted Village theme park was first opened in 1977 by Byron Betts. The initial park site held only a half-dozen rides. In 1984, Wild Waves Waterpark was built adjacent to Enchanted Village;ThrillNetwork.com - Wild Waves/Enchanted Village page the combined amusement complex became known as Enchanted Parks. In 1991, co-owners Michael Moodenbaugh and Jeff Stock paid $8 million for Enchanted Parks. In 1993, Moodenbaugh traded his share of Enchanted Parks, Inc., for shares in their jointly owned amusement park in

Amherstburg Amherstburg is a town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. In 1796, Fort Malden was established here, stimulating growth in the settlement. The fort has been designated as a National Historic Site. The town is ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

called Boblo Island Amusement Park, Inc. In 1993, Jeff Stock purchased several rides from Boblo Island. Stock then sold his shares of Enchanted Parks, Inc., in late 2000 to Six Flags for $19.3 million.''Six Flags buys Enchanted Parks''. Associated Press Newswires. December 8, 2000. In 1997, the park purchased the Loop Corkscrew roller coaster from the defunct

Rocky Point Amusement Park Rocky Point Park was an amusement park on the Narragansett Bay shore of Warwick, Rhode Island. It operated from the late 1840s until it closed in 1995. In 1996, the park officially filed for bankruptcy. History Rocky Point Park was first conce ...

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, sout ...

and renamed the ride the Wild Thing. In 2000, the park had grown to over , with more than 20 rides, and was the Northwest's largest waterpark. In 2002 and 2003, major expansion took place, with the addition of several new attractions, many manufactured by

Zamperla Antonio Zamperla S.p.A. is an Italian design and manufacturing company founded in 1966. It is best known for creating family rides, thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The company also makes smaller coin-operated rides commonly found in ...

and S&S Power. Also in 2002, approximately 1000 seasonal workers were employed for positions as rides operators and food service workers. Many of these seasonal workers are also students of local high schools.''Six Flags to Add 10 New Rides at Federal Way, Wash., Amusement Park.'' KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: Tacoma News Tribune. February 22, 2002 The park's name was reverted to Enchanted Village and Wild Waves Water Park for the 2016 season to once again split the park into two separate parks instead of one. This was accomplished by having a second entrance at the top of the parking lot to enter Enchanted Village and the main entrance was used to enter Wildwaves Water Park. Ticket holders could purchase a pass to just Wildwaves or just Enchanted Village. they could also purchase a more expensive park hopper pass. Season Pass Members got park hopper access free with their purchase. In the 2017 season, this system was removed and the entire park became Wildwaves Theme and Water Park. This change was due to many complaints that the park hopping ticket system was too complicated. In 2020, the park did not open due to Covid-19. Tickets and season passes were rolled over into 2021. During the 2021 season, there were many covid mitigation strategies in place such as reservations, distancing, and masks.

Ownership changes

In April 2007,

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 ...

sold the park to Orlando-based

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of commercial real estate, including office and apartment buildings, warehouses, hospitals, shopping cente ...

CNL Income Properties CNL Financial Group (CNL), formerly Commercial Net Lease, is an Orlando, Florida based private investment management and commercial real estate company. It was started in 1973 by James Seneff. The company has been a major player in efforts to redev ...

, which leased the park to

PARC Management PARC Management, LLC is an operations company based in Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by are ...

. In January 2010, PARC Management had defaulted on its lease with CNL for Wild Waves and a majority of its other parks. Wild Waves was then placed under the new management of Norpoint Entertainment (owned by previous Wild Waves owner Jeff Stock). Stock implemented many changes to the park in 2011 including a new water ride for that season. With the CNL Income Properties acquisition, the park was named Wild Waves Theme & Water Park. Other parks owned by CNL included Darien Lake Theme Park Resort,

Elitch Gardens Elitch Gardens was a family-owned seasonal amusement park, theater, and botanic garden in the West Highland neighborhood in northwest Denver, Colorado, United States, at 38th and Tennyson streets. For more than a century Elitch's was one of the m ...

Frontier City Frontier City is a western-themed amusement park in Oklahoma City. It is owned by EPR and operated by Six Flags. The park originally opened in 1958. Frontier City is the third-oldest Six Flags park behind Six Flags New England and Six Flags Grea ...

, SplashTown Waterpark,

White Water Bay White Water Bay may refer to: * Whitewater Bay, inlet of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern Florida in the United States * White Water Bay (New York), now operating as Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor Waterpark * White Water Bay (Oklahoma), no ...

, and Waterworld California, all of which were bought in a $312 million purchase from

. In November 2016, Wild Waves and the other CNL properties were sold to EPR Properties, based in Kansas City, Missouri. The total price of all the properties was $456 million, although there was no specific price disclosed for Wild Waves. The parks were placed under the management of

Premier Parks, LLC Premier Parks, LLC (formerly Rapids Holdings, LLC and Premier Attractions Management, LLC) is a limited liability company based in the United States. The company owns and operates several amusement parks and water parks across the country and ...

August 2016 drowning accident

On August 20, 2016, a 33-year-old man died in the Activity Pool due to drowning. A police report noted multiple missed chances to attempt a rescue. According to the report, children reported a body at the bottom of the pool to a lifeguard, who "believed that they were pranking him and did not think anything of it." In a statement released by police, Wild Waves said they actively reviewed the accident, their safety protocols, and the actions taken by staff.

Rides

Roller Coasters

Water rides

*Konga Slides *Konga River *Wave Pool *Hooks Lagoon *Activity Pool *Zooma Falls *Raging River Ride *Riptide *Pacific Plunge Slide Complex (formerly called Mountain Dew Slide Complex)

Thrill rides

Family rides

Kiddie rides

Former Rides

* Warming Tubs (Closed 2020) * Ring of Fire (Closed 2020) * Space Racer (Closed 2020) * The Paratrooper (Closed 2020) * Falling Star (Closed 2011) * Tip Top (Closed 2018) *Downhill Tubin' (Closed 2020) * Speed Slides/Hydro Slides and Green Slides (Closed 2014) Later replaced by Pacific Plunge Slides in 2015

Rides announced but never built

* The Enterprise (construction began but was halted for a unknown reason, does not operate today, planned to be in the ride area below Soarin' Eagle Zip Line, Announced 2016, as of 2021, has not opened) * Shark Frenzy (Announced 2020, but was halted due to covid. May return in 2022 season or later) * Wave Pool: There is a wave pool, but in 2020, it was supposed to get a new wave system and a new screen. It has since revived both items.

Services

* Cabana rentals *

Locker A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as locker rooms, workplaces, elementary schools, middle and high schools, tran ...

rentals * Tube rentals *

Lost and found A lost and found (American English) or lost property (British English), or lost articles (also Canadian English) is an office in a public building or area where people can go to retrieve lost articles that may have been found by others. Frequen ...

First aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...

* ATM

Gallery

File:Wild Waves slide tower.jpg, Hooks Lagoon File:Lounge chairs at Wild Waves Water Park.jpg, Lounge chairs (have since been replaced)

References

External links

Wild Waves Official WebsiteWild Waves & Enchanted Village on Ultimate Rollercoaster
* {{Six Flags Amusement parks in Washington (state) Western (genre) theme parks Federal Way, Washington Buildings and structures in King County, Washington Tourist attractions in King County, Washington CNL Lifestyle Properties Former PARC Management theme parks Former Six Flags theme parks Premier Parks, LLC Amusement parks opened in 1977 1977 establishments in Washington (state)