Wet 'n Wild (brand)

Wet 'n Wild is a name used by various water parks across the United States, Brazil and Mexico, originally owned by SeaWorld creator George Millay. It is not to be confused with the Wet'n'Wild brand owned by Village Roadshow Theme Parks and CNL Lifestyle Properties or the stand-alone waterpark Wet 'N' Wild Waterworld in Anthony, Texas.

History

The name was first used for a water park when SeaWorld founder George Millay opened his first water park Wet 'n Wild Orlando in Orlando, Florida in 1977. Millay went on to open six more water parks under the same name in the United States, Brazil and Mexico. In 1997 and 1998, Millay sold the water parks to various owners including Universal Parks & Resorts,Palace Entertainment and private companies for a total of $77 million.

Locations

Wet'n'Wild (brand)

Wet'n'Wild is a brand used for many water parks across the world owned by Village Roadshow Theme Parks and CNL Lifestyle Properties. It is not to be confused with the Wet 'n Wild brand originally owned by SeaWorld creator George Millay or Wet 'N' Wild Waterworld, a stand-alone water park in Anthony, Texas.

History

The Wet'n'Wild brand originates from Wet'n'Wild Water World on the Gold Coast, Australia. It first opened in 1984 as Cade's County Waterpark, before being renamed to Wet'n'Wild in 1987 after a licensing agreement was reached with chain of Wet 'n Wild water parks overseas.

In 2008, Village Roadshow Theme Parks, the owners of Wet'n'Wild Water World, began to explore opportunities to expand the brand. One proposal was to acquire Aussie World and redevelop it into Wet'n'Wild Aussie World; however, these plans were cancelled. Internationally the company acquired the Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park in the United States. The park was rebranded to Wet'n'Wild Hawaii the following year. At around the same time, the company also purchased WaterWorld Safari, investing $30 million in the park relaunched as Wet'n'Wild Phoenix. Village Roadshow's ownership of Wet'n'Wild Hawaii was short-lived, as the park was sold to CNL Lifestyle Properties for an undisclosed sum in 2009. Village Roadshow Theme Parks, however, continued to operate the park.

Wet 'n Wild

Wet 'n Wild, Wet'n'Wild, Wet N Wild (or other variation) appears in the names of a variety of water parks around the world, including:

Wet N Wild (North Shields)

Wet N Wild is an indoor water park situated in North Shields, Tyne and Wear, England. It was the United Kingdom's largest indoor water park when opened in 1993, a title subsequently claimed by Sandcastle Waterpark. The park is situated in the Royal Quays complex, and features numerous slides, a wave machine, and rapids. It was confirmed Wet N Wild would reopen following a takeover by Moirai Capital Investments;

Slides & Facilities

Wet N Wild has several main, large water slides, The Kamikaze which includes an 80-foot drop, The Tornado which includes two slides that snake round each other on which you can race your friends.The Abyss which includes two large drops, The Black Hole, a double tire slide,Calamity Canyon which includes a number of small slides and whirlpools. All slides were supplied by Australian Waterslides and Leisure.

The Black Hole is a 2-Player tyre slide and was one of the most heard of slides at Wet N Wild. There has become many controversial moments where players has abused The Black Hole slide via staying stationary within the tube structures mid flow. These serious issues were dealt with professionally and efficiently.

Wet 'n Wild (Las Vegas)

Wet 'n Wild was a 27-acre (11 ha) water park located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. The park opened in 1977 and was owned by Wet 'n Wild Co and closed in 2004.

Ownership

The park was acquired by Universal Studios in October 1998, Ogden Corp in March 1999, and to Alfa SmartParks in March, 2000 and Palace Entertainment on July 10, 2002.

Notes