In just a matter of days, the first true water park in the world, Wet 'n Wild Orlando, will close forever. There aren't a lot of "world's first" type things of this magnitude out there that anyone can experience in the theme park industry: The world's first true roller coaster fell over a century ago. Same with the first true ferris wheel. But being a much more recent invention, the water park was bound to have better odds of surviving. Those odds have run out.
Older water slides still operate, but there aren't many of them. Competitor claimants to the "first water park" throne are all long deceased. River Country at Disney World is overgrown and a classic My First UrbEx adventure having closed 15 years ago. Similarly, Water Boggan in Myrtle Beach (also opened in 1976) has been out of action since the 1990s and is nothing but flattened land now. Wet N' Wild will soon join them. Proposed changes to the property seem to cite it becoming new hotels for the expanding Universal Parks empire. New development has always been the bane of amusement park existence. In this case though, the real killer is Universal's desire to not compete with itself as Volcano Bay opens in Mid-2017.
Wet 'n Wild has no original opening day attractions aside from the Wake Zone or its Wave Pool, and so much of the park has been altered as to make it nearly unrecognizable from the opening day pictures and video. The berm that housed the park's concrete terrain slides was replaced by fiberglass mat slides in the 1980s, and the Kamikaze was replaced by the Bubba Tub (itself now replaced by the Aqua Drag Racer) in 1992. Most of the slides now present are modern Proslide attractions given a little extra: Brain Wash has a humorous and subversive queue spiel quite unlike anything else in Orlando. Disco H2O's soundtrack of classic disco and in ride lighting is a rarity for the water park world. Black Hole has one of the most impressive "stations" of any water slide on the continent.
For locals, Wet 'n Wild was one of the closest things to an affordable day option available. For tourists, this was often one of its biggest turnoffs, as the great unwashed masses came to join them. Stylistically, Wet 'n Wild was also a very traditional water park in terms of decor design. So many regional water parks went up after Wet 'n Wild that most people have been to something roughly equivalent to it in their lives. Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach's massive mountain complexes are so much different than the mean water park that Wet 'n Wild, even with the plus'd up water slides. Even foreign guests had very likely encountered massive water parks that competed well with Wet N'Wild. Brazil is home to several large water parks, including ones from the original Wet 'n Wild brand. The UK's Alton Towers is now home to an indoor water park. There's even an Australia firm with a chain of Wet 'n' Wild parks. Yes, just one additional apostrophe got them free and clear in many parts of the globe.
The need for a more unique water park has thus led Universal to shutter Wet 'n Wild. But no matter what Volcano Bay has, no matter the pricing, it won't have that one most unique of qualifiers: "World's First".
Ahhh, Hawaii. The 50th and perhaps final state in our great union. A chain of Polynesian islands over 2,000 miles from our continental shores, Hawaii has the fine history of having been an independent kingdom who's royalty were overthrown to allow it to become an American territory during a fairly dark period in Western History. Hey, look, that's what happened! Don't blame the messenger.
Like with Delaware and Alaska, there are some challenges to discussing stuff like theme park attractions in Hawaii because....there isn't much? One might suggest there is nothing. I will not be that person, but I can assure you that there is indeed little. But why? Aren't there people there? Don't a lot of tourists go from all over the world? Don't military personnel want to have fun?
YOUR CONCISE HISTORY OF HAWAIIAN AMUSEMENTS
The first traditional permanent amusement park in Hawaiian history opened near Waikiki Beach in 1922. While the transient military population enjoyed it, locals were far less enthusiastic, finding it counterproductive to how a distinctly Hawaiian style of living was supposed to be. Surrounded by enormous physcial beauty, Hawaii has always offered a vast array of year round recreational opportunities to those seeking them in the natural world. Deeply exotic on its own, Hawaii kinda sorta doesn't require a lot of artificial escapes. The island of Kauai acted as Isla Nublar in Jurassic Park, which is literally an attraction theme parks attempt to mimic for guest experiences.
Hawaii also has some complications for the standard fairgrounds structure. Unlike anywhere else in America, the entirety of the state of Hawaii consists of islands way off the mainland. These islands do not have ferry service between them to make transit particularly easy, which makes the operation of a carnival extremely difficult. The man that changed everything was E.K. Fernandez. Fernandez and his eponymous company were founded in 1903 and began with showing motion pictures and booking of vaudeville acts. By 1915, Fernandez has acquired his first ride, a steam powered "Flying Ginny" carousel, which made its debut at the Maui County Fair. Unlike the team owning Aloha Amusement Park in Waikiki later on, Fernandez had the benefit of heritage on his side. His mother had been a close confident of Queen Lili‘uokalani and his parents were among the very first on the island to convert to the Mormon church. He was not an interloper: he was part of the Hawaiian social fabric.
Fernandez expanded his efforts following World War 2, becoming the major circus promoter throughout the Pacific Rim, running events in the Philippines, Singapore, Guam, China, and Japan.
In the 1950s, Fernandez is joined by a new competitor named Wally Yee. Yee, in addition to having his carnival business, also constructs a kiddie park in Honolulu called Joyland consisting of 10 rides, food booths, and ponies per the 1955 Billboard article about it. Yee would play a proud second fiddle until his retirement in the mid-1980s, and the kiddieland closed well before that. E.K. Fernandez himself died in 1970, but his name is carried on by his still very much operating company. Today, if you want to go on a ride when in Hawaii, you'll need to look up the route for EK Fernandez on their website and make plans. In spite of the geographic isolation, Fernandez keeps up a fairly modern midway. That also means they don't really have anything that is outrageously unique.
Joining EK Fernandez in the "something is better than nothing" category is the "4D Adventure Ride," an 3D simulation motion base theater attraction in a strip mall. There's also bumper boats, Eurobungee, a rock climbing wall, and mini golf at Maui Golf and Sports Park in, you guessed it, Maui. Hey, you take what you can get, right?
It shouldn't be that great a surprise that water parks are better represented in this tropical climate than old fashioned steel rides. Wet N' Wild Hawaii is the class leader; in fact, they're really the only game in the state. For something a bit rarer, one should head over to the Grand Wailea Resort operated by Waldorf Astoria on Maui. Amongst the water park-like attractions in their pool area is the "water elevator" that takes guests from one pool to the next while still immersed in water. It is, to date, the only one ever built.
NIGHTMARES AND NIGHTMARE FUEL
Perhaps because they are far less secular than you might anticipate following heavy Mormon and 7th Day Adventist recruitment, there's not many Halloween events in Hawaii. One of the few is Honolulu's Nightmares Live, which also seems to be one of the longest going. Perhaps more terrifying, and also perhaps thankfully defunct was Teddy Bear World, an offshoot of the Korean Jeju Island facility. There were animatronic displays of animatronic teddy bears doing everything from Elvis songs to spacewalks. The doors closed for good in 2014.
HISTORY ISLAND STYLE
For a look back at both cultural and agricultural good 'ol days, there's a pair of fairly well know attractions. The Polynesian Cultural Center located near BYU's Hawaiian campus is the best open air museum present on the island, and not only details traditional Hawaiian culture, but that of other Polynesian groups like the Samoans as well. One of the top attractions on the islands is the Dole Plantation, where people can ride the narrow gauge Pineapple Express Train on the old grounds or enjoy one of the largest mazes on the planet.
As part of the research for this article, I was in contact with several different people, including Donna Smith from E.K. Fernandez. As a result of that contact, I was able to get a new carousel added to the NCA Database. The Hawaii Children's Discovery Center is now home to a Allan Herschell carousel from the 1950s, donated by the Fernandez company in 2003. This is a great historical find, and I'd like to thank them again for their kindness and quick replies.
AND EVERYTHING ELSE
Sea Life Park Hawaii isn't that well themed, I suppose, and almost doesn't fit. It's a Sea World like facility with captive animals and some performances. No rides, just a splash pad otherwise.
In 2017, Universal Orlando Resort will open Volcano Bay, a water park so advanced that they've taken to call it a full bore "theme park" with a price equivalent to its dry park brethren. It will incorporate numerous technologies previously seen outside Orlando, but does so in an integrated fashion that will be unlike any other water park in history. Teaser videos show interactivity utilizing the queue management bracelets, and it has already been tagged as "queueless"; something no other traditional water park has ever attempted. It targets the water park market with a similar sort of coalescing of advancements and refinements to bring about major change in that industry. Volcano Bay may actually be "disruptive" and change the entire future course of the Water Park industry and aquatics design.
This is a lot of hyperbole to take in, and it can end up sounding a lot like press release speak. To better understand where Volcano Bay is taking the water park industry, it is really necessary to understand how it even came to be. Unlike amusement parks, there aren't really comparable watershed facilities for most of the aquatics industry's existence that it bursts forth from in the distant past. There's no St. Bartholomew's Fair, no Vauxhall Gardens, no Coney Island, no 1893 Columbian Exposition. None of those things happen. What happened was a combination of fairly organic factors crossed with government spending and bad feelings with prior investors. In truth, the full history of what we know today as "water parks" is the very sordid history of American aquatic recreation. We must go back. Way back. Back to the very beginning....
IN THE YEAR 4000 BAL (BEFORE AQUA LOOP)
Almost since mankind found his way to regions with seismic activity or swimmable surf, water recreation followed. Records of recreational and therapeutic hot spring use have been found by archaeologists dating back upwards of 20,000 years ago. The Romans loved their baths and made them into some of the earliest recreational developments that we could compare to water parks. The fall of the Roman Empire led to the Middle Ages and a general loss of knowledge in things like plumbing, sanitation, and hygiene, and that meant the baths slowly crumbled away. Western Europe just straight up didn't know how to swim for a period of roughly 1300 years even if it seemed like it should be a necessary job skill. Sailors from merchant to military vessels couldn't tread water, and thought all it would do is prolong death. With attitudes like that, it isn't surprising that they didn't bother to have fun in wet stuff either. Yes, there were some hot springs elsewhere that were still being visited, especially in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia/Finland. Outside of the US and Europe, Japan certainly never shied away from aquatic fun with the parallel development of the "onsen" public bath. Fun fact: they were fully integrated by sex until the Meiji Period when the country was opened up to white folks.
As Europeans conquered their way through the Americas and Africa, the spa idea (revisited beginning in the Renaissance and expanded on in the 18th century) came with them. Here in the United States, resorts built up around hot and mineral springs in places like West Virginia and New York. Iconography from Europe often came with this: The name "Carlsbad" was often used in tandem as an anglicized variation of Karlovy Vary, a famed spa town in the Czech Republic. Many of these continued their development right into the 20th Century, and you can see it in places like Saratoga Spa State Park, French Lick Resort in Indiana, and Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. Pools were often constructed through which water would be channeled, promoting health and well being for all who had the funds to enjoy them.
Paralleling the spas was the movement towards use of lake and ocean beaches as places of recreation and resorts. It seems somewhat strange that the vast coastlines of Europe were not always thought of as places for rest and relaxation, but indeed, this was a novelty that came about in 18th Century Britain. Ocean water, it turned out, was filled with all sorts of minerals, just like spa water, and was quickly cited as a panacea to a variety of ills in the early-mid 1700s. Brighton Beach became the first truly recognized beach resort in modern western history thanks to a kingly visit in 1783. "Modern" and "Western" do have to be specified here: The Romans had no aversion to surf, nor the Byzantines that followed. And Amerindians? One popularly held theory on Tulum's location is that it not only served as a good port for Mayan traders, but was a resort for royalty.
THE FIRST PILLAR: SIMON BARUCH
Class separation became the first real conflict related to aquatic recreation. With beaches being plentiful, but Victorian age industrialization sparking waves of urban migration, space along the water front was still limited both by ease of access and pollution. The British tackled this via creating rail links to potential resort towns. Even today, places like Blackpool and Skegness are seen as being working class retreats. America, with its vast size, had real geographic hurdles to clear for beach going when it came to wide swaths of the population. Enter Dr. Simon Baruch. Born in modern day Poland, Baruch came to America and acted as a surgeon for the Confederate Army before heading north post-war and practicing on the poor and working class of Midtown Manhattan. It is there that he began to investigate the healing power of water. Baruch's popularity with the unwashed masses seeking to be washed spread upward, and led to the push for public baths not only in New York City, but nationally in urban centers.
(credit: New York City Parks and Recreation, link here)
So popular in New York City were the new public baths that "floating pools" were developed for individuals to take dips in the cold waters of the Hudson on buoyant platforms. This construction may have done much to change the bathing habits of people who often still did not have the benefit of running water in their homes and apartments, but it was not necessarily loved by the upper crust. An attempt to build a pool in Central Park in 1910 ran into stiff opposition, as those living nearby preferred the lower castes stay out. All the while, rich New Yorkers began to demand expansive pools at private facilities such as the New York Athletic Club. Expansion of rail to the New York beaches (Coney, Rockaway, and others) ultimately solved this issue, more or less, within the parameters of the free market model. The most extravagant bathing facilities ever were now open to all. This competition led to more and more grandiose designs right up until the stock market crash of 1929.
Amusement parks weren't blind to this development either. If they hadn't started along a bathing beach (and a great many did), swimming pools were added beginning in the 1920s. Name a park and you'll find history of a swimming pool or beach. Kennywood, Palisades, Glen Echo, and others all featured large pools. None of these pools was larger or more impressive than the one still existing today at Coney Island Cincinnati. Early metal slides and water swings offered something extra beyond just swimming and diving for activity. There can be little doubt as to how deeply connected the amusement industry was to aquatics.
THE SECOND PILLAR: FDR'S NEW DEAL
As private clubs and amusement facilities pushed across the country to build ever larger and more impressive pool facilities, the economic base of the United States fell out from under them. In the aftermath, most private clubs were able to sustain on the basis of their rich industrialist clientele, but amusement facilities began to feel serious economic pressure, and closures were common. Riding to the rescue turned out to be the new Works Progress Administration (WPA), who were tasked with much more than just putting Americans to work. Many of the nascent towns and cities of the Midwestern and Great Plains regions simply hadn't attracted enough external capital for significant investment in recreation. Roosevelt's plan of federal spending changed this forever.
Among the targets for massive development by the WPA were major renovations and expansions to Zoological parks (as detailed in "American Zoos During the Depression"), amphitheaters, fairgrounds, golf courses, and pools. 805 new pools were constructed in everywhere from major cities to county seats. It is important to note that these pools were not always simply rectangles with gradually increasing depth. Some were works of art featuring tile mosaics, zero depth entry, fountains, rock walls, waterfalls, and art deco bath houses. While often smaller communities would receive more basic variations, these were significant upgrades over the previously existing nothing that was often found. (1)
While this greatly expanded recreational opportunities beyond just the reach of city folk to those who were living more rural lifestyles, it did not mean that everyone was able to participate. Along with dance halls, pools were often cited as places requiring the strongest defense for segregation. African Americans were generally banned from public and private pools even well north of the Mason-Dixon line, just as they were from amusement parks. Following World War 2, black men returning from war to a separate and very unequal began to revolt against societal norms. Ignoring pleas from pro-segregationist forces who claimed to be "protecting" them, civil disobedience began to take place at aquatics facilities around the country.
THE THIRD PILLAR: THE BATTLE FOR EQUAL RIGHTS AND LBJ
It is sometimes surprising to park fans who don't necessarily associate amusement parks with big bands and swimming pools to fully grasp the shift that took place beginning in the 1950s. Traditional amusement parks were highly resistant to integration, and were forced into it. Parks often chose to fill and pave their pools and close their dance pavilions rather than risk any perceived threats from ending the prohibition on non-whites from partaking in those activities. Fights broke out, and multiple parks throughout the country became scenes of racial violence. Very often, this violence began with a desire to participate in swimming activities.
While full integration did finally take place, it came at the toll of many public pool facilities and pools at traditional amusement parks. The denial of access to such facilities and prompt implosion of them once access was forced has had a terrible effect on multiple generations of African Americans (and Latinos) that are now disproportionately more likely to lack swimming skills than their Caucasian counter parts (2). Only in recent years as cities have chosen to reinvest in aquatics facilities and seek money for restoration of the historic WPA facilities has any glimmer of hope that this might be rectified appeared. Still, cost concerns keep many low income families out if facilities are present. In many regions, they simply aren't available, as government has contracted its services in favor of lower taxation and support of theoretical capitalist/altruist intervention.
What happens beginning in 1955 and continuing into the 2000s can be interpreted in two distinct, but not exclusive, ways. The first is that the decline of aquatic recreation in urban spaces was a reflection of "white flight" to the suburbs via the freshly minted interstate highway system and vast new residential complexes. Americans were leaving the cities behind, and with them, the services they provided. In turn, many new housing and apartment developments offered their own amenities, up to and including pools. This was previously the sort of lifestyle unavailable to most until suburban expansion in the post-war era. The second interpretation is a bit more complex, and brings us what was the most recent paradigm shift for aquatics.
THE FOURTH PILLAR: THE NEW ARTIFICIAL
The first book ever written on the history of permanent attractions was William Mangels' "The Outdoor Amusement Industry: From Earliest Times To The Present." Mangels, a ride designer and manufacturer based in Coney Island, NY, published this tome in 1952, and it provides rare insight on everything from roller coasters to water rides and fireworks. As the only living source from the era to offer in depth analysis with a background specific to the business, Mangels' offers an opinion about the closure of amusement parks post-1929 that is significantly different than most other historical takes. Rather than pointing purely at the vast loss of income, Mangels chose to examine the relationship of man to the automobile, which had by the 1920s reached almost critical mass.
Expansion of road systems and automobile ownership, Mangels concluded, had a deleterious effect on trolley parks. Amusement parks in America tended to be built by light rail firms, often at the end of the lines, to provide an attraction for individuals to use the lines on weekends and off periods. They doubled as recreational grounds for local businesses to have outings, and they exploded across America. Literally hundreds of these parks were built. By the 20s, technology had changed significantly in the amusement park industry. Most notably, John Miller's 1919 invention of the "Under Friction Wheel" allowed designers to break out of simplistic ride layouts with linear drops. These rides cost over 10 times what the old style side friction figure 8's did, making them very serious investments. For trolley companies, those sorts of investments were often tough to seriously make as ridership began to drop due to - what else? - increased automotive traffic. Those cars also allowed the people who once were limited to merely the local picnic park to travel far distances and experience much larger, wilder rides. This negative feedback loop led to financial collapse for many of the smallest parks. The era of the first super parks was born.
That long preface brings me to the second interpretation of the aquatic industry evolution: new expensive advancements bring about new consumption pattern. Here on Parkscope, I've been writing a series of posts about rides and attractions which often don't appear on people's radar around the US and Canada. One of the two key innovations to the water park revolution was covered in the Arizona and Alabama portions of that series: the wave pool. Two separate entities claim to have the first in America. The one who is categorically earlier was, without question, Big Surf in Tempe, AZ. However, it is Point Mallard Park's wave pool that is the true technical predecessor of the ones we see across the country. Rather than producing large single waves capable of being surfed on, Point Mallard's system produces smaller, quickly repeating waves. These were both safer and for waders, generally more fun.
Raging Rapids slide at Water Safari in Old Forge, NY, built by Dick Croul
The second parallel development was that of the water slide. The generally accepted viewpoint is that it Dick Croul invented the first thing approximating a modern water slide in 1971. (3) His method was to follow topography and build a channel from gunite (a form of concrete), thus approximating many of the natural flumes he saw when vacationing in Hawaii. Concrete slide construction boomed for much of the 1970s, but sadly few existing examples remain of these early attractions. Mont Saint-Sauveur Parc Aquatique in Quebec, Enchanted Forest/Water Safari in Old Forge NY, Mountain Creek Waterpark (the former Action Park) of New Jersey, and Cool-Off Water Chute in Branson, MO feature the best surviving examples of these attractions. (4)
Central Florida completely revolutionized everything in the late 70s. Disney was first to market with River Country in 1976, providing a leap forward in water park construction every bit a significant as John Allen's roller coaster undercarriage was to amusement parks. While small, River Country's Whoop 'n' Holler Hollow was the first slide complex to be built of fiberglass rather than concrete. By creating a much lighter base for the slide, the ride could be elevated and positioned on structural supports, allowing for construction of extremely tall slides without tremendous amounts of earth moving. Disney was also certainly at the high end of theming with the park, producing a facility that resembled the sorts of natural aquatics facilities that had served people of the South for multiple generations prior, but with state of the art attractions and the "Disney Magic" that only truckloads of corporate money can provide. However, "magic" has limitations; like any other lake fed water park south of the Mason/Dixon, amoeba are a threat to swimmers, and it led to the death of a guest in 1980. Whether you see River Country as a tribute or "hyperreal" imitation, the innovations brought by Disney led to similar attractions being constructed at those very real pre-existing facilities.
Going full circle, the second interpretation of the post-war collapse of urban/New Deal aquatic centers. With tax revenue fleeing, cities began to thrash about. Upgrading aquatics facilities was near the absolute bottom of the priority list as crime skyrocketed in the 1970s. In fact, many cities simply chose to let them decay or close them almost immediately after segregation was ruled federally unconstitutional. As amusement parks were popping up in suburbia, water parks soon followed. These more modern, more exciting facilities with outrageous amenities compared to the more simplistic recreational pools of the cities virtually guaranteed that white families would have no reason to go downtown again and effectively re-segregated aquatic recreation along class lines.
OUR PROTAGONIST, GEORGE MILLAY
Aerial view overlooking the Wet 'n Wild theme park in Orlando, Florida. 1982. Color slide. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Accessed 14 Dec. 2016.
In 1974, George Millay wound up being removed from power at SeaWorld. He had envisioned the park and basically birthed it and the facilities that opened in San Diego and Ohio. Historical accounts of Millay generally suggest that he also had quite the temper, undoubtedly a factor in his dismissal in this instance. Millay, however, was as a consummate a businessman as he was filled with internal rage. When he laid eyes on the centerpiece of Point Mallard Park, he knew he had something to put him squarely back in the game.
While development of the fiberglass slide cannot be denied as being integral for the future of the water park industry, it is also impossible to ignore the fact that Disney never again utilized the technology themselves for anything revolutionary. The 1977 opening of George Millay's Wet N' Wild on International Drive is considered by everyone in the water park industry to be the real start of the genre rather than Disney's more "thematic" predecessor the year prior. There are three truly significant differences:
A) Wet N' Wild featured, like River Country, a mix of concrete and fiberglass slides. Unlike River Country, Wet N' Wild chose to take the fiberglass slides vertically to a place they had never been before with attractions like the Kamikaze. Speed slides are staples in just about every water park since Wet N'Wild.
B) While River Country chose a "sand bottom pool" fed by lake water, Wet N' Wild opted for the all concrete wave pool system installed at Point Mallard in Alabama. Wave pools are almost standard issue now at water parks, with both subsequent Disney parks having them.
C) River Country was based around a lake for sourcing of water and as a focal point for all of the attractions to dump into. Wet N' Wild was designed with the idea of the park and the individual attractions being separable from a body of water. While the Orlando park features a water skiing zone, it was not integrated in the center of the facility, nor did the park necessarily draw in water from that to run. Like most any urban aquatics center, Wet N' Wild's slides and pools used chlorinated water drawn from city sources. (5)
the first lazy river by Millay at the now Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, Arlington, TX
After a substantial loss of money in the park's first year, Wet N' Wild turned a profit. Millay began expanding water parks across the United States under the Wet N' Wild name. Along the way, Millay also managed to create another staple of the water park world - the artificial lazy river - which he credited to seeing a non-moving variation of at the still existing Ancol Dreamland in Jakarta, Indonesia. Millay's idea of completely dominating the market though came to a crashing halt. While the idea was popular, and interest was universal across the country to obtain water parks, the cost of entry to market was much lower than traditional amusement parks had been in generations. Fiberglass and foam slides could be produced at exceedingly low cost and quickly. Long before Millay had a chance to completely control the market, developers across the country had already invaded. Hundreds, if not thousands of water parks were constructed during the 1980s.
The necessity of consistently good product and quick fabrication in the water park market led to a hyper-maturation of the market. Within a matter of merely a few years, water slide manufacturing was almost entirely dominating by two firms: ProSlide and Whitewater West. By the time Michael Eisner had decided to get Disney back into the water park biz, there was no point in using his Imagineers for anything but figuring out where to place the decorative foam. Whitewater West and Proslide were contracted to build virtually everything at Typhoon Lagoon, and Proslide was again contracted to virtually all the slides at Blizzard Beach as well. Wet N' Wild Orlando ultimately moved away from in-house development, and became heavily connected with ProSlide, especially following the the sale of the park from Millay to Universal Studios Recreation Group in 1998. The "Big Two" were and still are the primarily supplier for everyone that's come since, from municipal governments to the traditional and regional theme park players who found themselves needing to re-institute aquatic attractions in 90s.
UPHILL STRUGGLE
Almost entirely divorced from Imagineering or other theme park creatives, slide design has dramatically changed from the early fiberglass body slides of the 1970s. Perhaps no one was as key to advancement of slide technology than Jeff Henry. Henry was the mind behind the expansion of Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, TX to a regional attraction, and recognized early on the potential of the water sheet technology of the early Flowrider wave simulators as a propulsion system for slides. In 1996, Schlitterbahn completely revolutionized the water park industry with the opening of Master Blaster, the first ever true "water coaster". By using sheets of compressed water, rafts could travel up hills, allowing slides to be built that were dramatically longer and with much more creative layouts.
As the history of water parks is nowhere near as well developed or recorded as that of theme parks, many details are difficult to source. There are some things which are generally agreed upon: NBGS International, which was the development/construction wing of Schlitterbahn, created what we know as the "water coaster". In turn, the other water slide companies spent significant time trying to develop their own models by improving existing patents or creating entirely different launch systems. ProSlide made changes to the nozzles and then developed electromagnetic launches. Whitewater West utilized conveyor belts for their own rides while alternately helping to sell the Master Blaster rides to the larger market. Ultimately, Whitewater West bought the rights out entirely to the Master Blaster. Anyone who's ever been to Typhoon Lagoon has even seen and likely been on one in the form of Crush N' Gusher. Thank the good folks of Hill Country, TX.
Slide design has under this period undergone an incredible change. Water parks across the world now feature shapes previously unheard of: cones, funnels, half pipes, bowls. Proslide recently rolled out a new product line called the "Flying Saucer" combining linear synchronous magnetic launches with compound dipping curves in new ways. Unlike the theme park world, which often sees these developments take place at global destination parks, water park innovation has often taken place at the regional level. Take for example Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, KY: This drag strip/amusement park/campground was the first place in the US to open one of the new Proslide Rockets. Not Disney, not Universal, not SeaWorld. In fact, water slide tech in Orlando is often of a different era. For Disney, that era is almost entirely the early 90s.
Water park design has also undergone significant change. Disney's first real take on a modern water park was Typhoon Lagoon. Just as it had with the support structures of roller coasters, Disney opted to hide the support structure by covering it in a mass of concrete. As trees and foliage has grown in, it has provided additional shade, but the nature of the beast was always going to make the actual slide area a bit "hard" in look. Disney would go with snow in the followup park, Blizzard Beach. Snow is always a bit of a tough sell in an environment like Florida as a theme, but by and large most guests were accepting given the amount of effort and money spent. There are, however, challenges to this approach. Most obvious of these is the inherent difficulty of renovation or expansion. Blizzard Beach has received no updates since opening in 1995, and Typhoon Lagoon's Master Blaster slides were placed away from the main slide complex.
Taking cues from Disney's "put a mountain at the center and fill it with slides" philosophy, but then advancing past that were a series of water parks that opened throughout the global market in the 2000s. Atlantis in the Bahamas is likely the most well known of these; its theme to the mythic vanished continent was every bit as detailed as Disney's parks, but featured new and often more advanced technology. Following shortly after was Wild Wadi in Dubai, constructed by the Jumeirah Group and designed by Atkins Group. Wild Wadi pushed the envelope in every way imaginable: it was they who first rolled out RFID wristbands for payment of food/souvenirs and use of lockers a decade before Magicbands. Their signature attraction was the White Water Wadi, a massive, sprawling complex of Master Blaster slides that completely encircled the park. Much like Volcano Bay, Wild Wadi was built in the center of large scale development. Volcano Bay will not have the challenge of trying to hide the massive towers of the Jumeirah Beach Resort, nor the 1000 foot peak of the Burj Al Arab next door. In spite of both of these interlopers, Wild Wadi feels very separate from the world around it.
Further refinements came with Atlantis Palm Island in Dubai, and then to Yas Waterworld in Abu Dhabi. Part of the massive Yas Island development, Yas Waterworld incorporates numerous design nods from other locations: the massive mountain in the center a-la Disney, but the souk entry pavilion is a separate beast. There's an integrated suspended roller coaster, updating the ideas that Setpoint and Caripro first introduced at Wet N' Wild Emerald Pointe and Hersheypark. There's multiple lazy rivers, giant Flowrider surfing simulators, pearl diving like at Sea World Orlando (in fairness, Abu Dhabi really was a pearl farming community), and lots of brand new fancy ProSlide attractions. But what Yas Waterworld did that no one else had done is use the integrated RFID technology of the wrist bands at Wild Wadi and turn them into points of interaction for guests.
PearlMasters wasn't the first time a theme park had created an interactive game element within the park. Disney, of course, had done this long before with Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. What was different about Yas Waterworld's system is that it allowed one to play a game much like Kim Possible and interact with objects throughout the park, but do so 1) in a wet environment 2) using a preexisting device. Guests already had the RFID bands on to begin with when entering the park for point of payment and lockers. Why not integrate it into a game? Operating not unlike the Muppet Midship Detective Agency aboard the Disney cruise liners, PearlMasters integrates video along with the ever popular "make things move/flash" scenarios RFID games at theme parks historically have produced.
Wristbands have been introduced to American water parks as well: Accesso offers(ed) a queue management system via band at several water parks in the United States, including Columbus' Zoombezi Bay and Long Island's Splish Splash. Wet N'Wild used the bands for a time as well. However, there were effectiveness issues in all of these places because the bands had to be integrated into a structure intended for traditional water slide operations. Staircases had to be compressed and additional personnel and device management had to be added to the already employee strapped lifeguard tasks. Aquatica Orlando (and several other parks) feature basic UPC scan wrist bands for things like dining plans.
As of now, the outdoor water park industry in the United States is fairly mature. That is to say that most major markets are served by water parks, often plural. Social migration and improvements to older aquatics facilities with newer slides has, to some degree, helped to "reintegrate" aquatics. By no means is it perfect, as access and cost are still certainly issues for many of the largest water parks in the country. However, it certainly has improved and is continuing to get better. With this maturation and the capacity concerns of water parks (slides are generally awful at throughput), new sources of revenue were sought after. One of the more universally adapted was the introduction of the private cabana. As a retreat from the masses and the confusion of beach chair roulette, cabanas in these increasingly integrated large scale water parks took off. Cabanas can be argued as having created a striation of class, much as for-pay "line cut" systems did in dry parks. This may still be an overall preferable scenario though to the scenario of years past when access simply was not granted or impossible due to distance.
BIRTHED FROM NECESSITY
In the 1970s, the motel market was seemingly peaking, oil prices were high, and competition was stiff. Looking for something to increase occupancy during off peak times of year, Holiday Inn executives brainstormed. Ultimately, a "eureka" moment came out of it: they would use the existing infrastructure of hotels in oppressively cold winter climates as the base for major renovations. By building an enclosed pool and supplementing it with a variety of other fun diversions (arcade games, bar, billiards tables, miniature golf), and then enclosing rooms in that same pool space, Holiday Inns could then sell themselves not merely as quality hotels for travelers on summer road trips, but as winter getaways for locals. The Holidome was born, and was promptly reproduced well over 100 times in hotels across the US. Some Holidomes even received themes: The Holidome in Kearney, Nebraska featured an Asian look, with Oriental bridge and pagodas. The Perrysburg, OH Holidome still retains its "New Orleans French Quarter" design even today (6).
The Holidome stayed the state of the art until the West Edmonton Mall opened the audaciously large World Waterpark in 1986. The largest purpose built indoor water park in history and the second largest operating behind Germany's Tropical Islands Resort (which occupies a dirigible hangar), the World Waterpark was more than just pools and small plastic slides. It featured full size & modern fiberglass slides, a bungee tower, wave pool, and more. However, while entirely appropriate for Edmonton, Alberta, the cost of the structure and the massive glass roof made duplication of this design far and wide simply unreasonable. Another 8 years would pass before the idea was revisited.
For the Polynesian Hotel in Wisconsin Dells, the intent was exactly the same as it had been for the entire Holiday Inn chain 20 years prior. The Dells boomed in the summer time, drawn by Noah's Ark water park, amphibious vehicle rides, natural beauty, water skiing spectaculars, and mini golf/go karts unparalleled in America. But in the winter, business was hurting. Other than casino gaming, what else could bring people into a barren, frozen wasteland? The gamble they made caused an explosion which reverberated across the country. Within a matter of only a few years, the Dells became synonymous with indoor water parks, with five resorts featuring indoor water parks exceeding 55,000 square feet, and many others featuring smaller ones.
Expanding from this were two of the largest players in the modern indoor water park industry, Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari. Much like with Wet N'Wild's attempts to completely control the market, the cost of entry and potential revenue stream meant that developer after developer chose to take the proverbial plunge. From Native American Casinos (Soaring Eagle in MI, Seven Clans in MN) to Ski Resorts (Camelback in PA), indoor water parks went from novelty to all-pervasive in about a decade. Sandusky, OH has 4 such facilities today exceeding 35,000 square feet, and one of them (Maui Sands) is in a merged mess of two hotels. Fittingly, one of those hotels was a Holidome equipped Holiday Inn. (7)
Since the expansion of indoor water parks came at a time of great technological upheaval, the resorts very often found themselves at the cutting edge of the theme park world. Great Wolf Lodge integrated a system beginning in 2006 that included hotel room entry, room charges, lockers, and arcade play into an RFID wristband. There was no inclusion of queue management, but most indoor water parks limit entry primarily to those staying overnight, preventing overcrowding. Still, the effectiveness of Great Wolf Lodge's system isn't that far off from the abilities of the Magicband, just done much more cheaply and many years prior. The lines were further blurred as Great Wolf Lodge partnered with the interactive game company behind Magiquest and installed it in many of their resorts as an additional attraction to go with the water parks, spas, arcades, mini golf, simulator rides, etc.
ALL TOGETHER NOW
The development of the modern water park and its association with amusement/theme parks can be traced all the way back to the dawn of aquatic recreation. Just as the idea of the modern theme park is not necessarily a wholly new invention, but rather an refinement and combination of many separate ideas as assembled by Disney and Wynne, George Millay did the same with the water park. Thematic elements were added to the slide complexes to make them more akin to the expensive dry parks, then as technology progressed, other advancements (interactivity, queue management/"pay to cut", water coasters) were introduced with varying results into existing parks and toyed with in new build facilities. An entire sub-classification even managed to pop up - the indoor water park - further providing test beds for the integration of new technology.
All that leads up to Volcano Bay. Volcano Bay is not the first park to merge these more modern slides with updated personal tech. It is the first park to have been designed taking into consideration how this technology was integrated and how it affected the overall enjoyment by guests. The end result is a water park that will be among the priciest in the world to visit, but will be the most advanced in every manner. Because this tech was not merely seen as a companion, but as a core part of the experience for all that visit, the framework of Volcano Bay has been built around it rather than the tech implemented within it. That the tech has come first is unbelievably important in making this idea even possible.
Some consider the argument that Volcano Bay is "revolutionary" to be hyperbolic. Let me provide you with some unvarnished truth: Disneyland featured a number of "off-the-shelf" attractions and even a used ride. Examining rides and even entire sections of the park on an individual basis, there was little to nothing that Disneyland did in 1955 that was revolutionary aside from perhaps the preponderance of corporate advertising. Disneyland was very much a set of refinements to an existing and proven business model. It was how those refinements were integrated and pieced together that was what made it so dramatically different than everything else in the market. We cannot say with honesty that Universal has managed to do this same kind of paradigm shifting move in the water park industry. The park isn't even done being constructed. However, the aspiration is to accomplish precisely that.
The aspiration? No queue lines. How can it be fulfilled? Large, "endless capacity" style river attractions, conveyor belts, themed interactivity, and the smartest tech ever produced for queue management are what have been lined up to get the job done. If successful, Volcano Bay will revolutionize the water park industry in a way that hasn't been seen since Millay sought revenge for his exit at SeaWorld. What are the stakes? Many existing parks may be rethought and heavily renovated. Entirely new parks will eventually duplicate what Universal does, and they will probably cost more than the "traditional" water parks as we may come to know them. Any number of events are possible. Perhaps we see a re-segregation of aquatic recreation along class lines with new waves of suburban parks to replace the old? Or we may see an expansion of cheaper water park facilities which use technology to keep staffing costs low and provide a higher quality of experience to those living in newly revitalized/gentrified urban centers.
After 40 seasons, the park that is credited with the dawn of the modern water park will be closed for the theorized start of a new era. Wet N'Wild Orlando, as most reading know, will close after the operating day of December 31, 2016. The land will be redeveloped into hotels for the ever growing Universal Orlando Resort. Like Dick Croul's original water slide, it will soon disappear beneath earth movers.
(3) One of the interesting challenges I ran into when doing research was trying to find out precisely where the first water slide Richard Croul built was. A LexisNexus search provided the answer from the April 4th, 1972 issue of the Los Angeles Times (pg. H2) - the frontier themed Crazy Horse Campground in Shingle Springs, CA. The site of the campground would be roughly here, on what is now a residential development. Croul then started his firm, Surf Construction Inc, later renamed or reformed as Richard Croul Enterprises, to market slide construction. He was successful in either collaborating or outright operating multiple proto-water parks prior to Fiberglass becoming the de facto standard for construction.
(4) Gunite had a second recreational slide use too: In 1975, Patent # 3858517 was granted for the alpine slide, forever altering ski resorts' ability to generate revenue during the summer.
(5) The early water slides of Croul were primarily built at campgrounds leading into ponds/lakes (aformentioned Crazy Horse, Butterfield Country in Rancho, CA; Lake Myers in Mocksville, NC, the latter is still operational), not terribly different to the "swimmin' hole" of River Country with its predictably close proximity to Fort Wilderness campground. It wasn't until Croul worked with Dwight Myers to construct Myrtle Beach's Water Boggin (opened in 1976, same year as River Country) that his slides were constructed with the intent of being entirely separate commercial entities. Myers and his partners expanded the Water Boggin name throughout the south, and was given credit for the water slide in 1978 by the Chicago Tribune. Like lots of early pioneers in amusements, Myers was quickly forgotten. He since passed away in 2013.
(6) It may seem incredible now, but no list of Holidome properties has ever been generated. Considering that the history of just about everything else in the amusement world has been charted and analyzed to death, you'd think this would have a database to reference out there. No dice.
Nestled in the deep of the American south, Georgia is the 8th most populated state and home to one of America's minor cultural hubs (Atlanta). Historically, like much of the south, there were limitations to infrastructure that prevented the sheer volume of trolley parks from opening. Wildwood Park in Columbus, OH and DeSoto Park in Rome were rare variants of these, but many like Lakeside Park in Macon and Lake View Park in Augusta were actually extensions of social clubs for wealthy Georgian residents. Few of any of these parks actually expanded to the point of containing significant numbers of permanent amusement rides. In fact, for footage of the most significant pre-Wynne family construction effort in Georgia amusement/theme park history, we must delve deep into the video archives. Yes, it's true: we have to watch Smokey & The Bandit.
Yup - the Lakewood Park/Fairgrounds coaster known as Greyhound was the one shown in the first film and destroyed in the second. It was a bad time for wood coasters in movies, what with the Ocean View Rocket also being toppled for 1977's Rollercoaster. But in fairness, things were better in 1980 than they had ever been in the region, and it is worth stating that they are probably even better now than then. Six Flags Over Georgia is still owned by the Wynnes, and it shows with the awesomeness that is Monster Mansion still operating and a second dark ride (a Justice League) coming soon. Is it perfect? Nah. But there's a ton of really good rides there and stuff that other parks don't have (like the Von Roll skyride). But it also isn't unknown. Neither are:
-Legoland Discovery Center has another dark ride for the good folks of Georgia (a Kingdom Quest much like the others)
-Six Flags White Water is the other Georgia possession of the chain in Marietta. This is a standalone water park actually designed by Herschend, but was dispensed of to the Six Flags ownership cabal in 1999. Small amusement park American Adventures was also purchased, which shared a parking lot with the Six Flags park, but was actually sold during Six Flags' period of divestment in the mid 2000s to a team that managed to run it into the ground for good and sell it back to Six Flags.
-Did I say Herschend? Because Herschend also operates the amusements at Stone Mountain Park north of Atlanta and the Wild Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta (it has seven roller coasters! it used to have nine! yes that was a bad idea!)
MILITARY GRADE
Lake Winnie (Winnepesaukah) in Rossville is practically a Tennessee park serving the fine folks of Chattanooga, but falls on the Georgia side of the border. A great classic park, there's a number of highlights beyond the John Allen-designed out and back and skyride.
-Wacky Factory is a strange re-do of a Bill Tracy dark ride called "Castle" which kinda sorta was a flashback to the preceding dark ride at the park, another Bill Tracy creation called the Wacky Shack. It isn't a particularly scary ride and retains some new versions of the old stunts along with the re-imagined cars created by Bell's Amusement Park back in the 1970s.
-The Boat Chute turns 90 years of age next year, and has been the oldest operating flume attraction in the world since the Water Chute/Vikingar was demolished at Blackpool. The long dark ride out to the lift and subsequent splashdown is like little else in the world.
-The Eyerly Aircraft Company converted several platforms for flight training into actual rides, and many of these are still operational today at carnivals and small amusement parks. Attractions like the Loop-O-Plane and Rock-O-Plane are extremely common even today as they've managed to retain their extreme durability through the generations and be cost effective attractions. One that hasn't made it quite as long in the Eyerly catalog is the Fly-O-Plane. The last North American model of the ride operates here at Lake Winnie, providing guests a chance to control their vehicle's motion and get it to barrel roll consistently. The new Sky Roller and Sky Fly attractions from Gerstlauer are more modern interpretations of this World War 2-era design, but to see the original, you must go to Rossville.
Chattanooga has some other wacky stuff to check out, like the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, Ruby Falls, and a huge incline railway.
NORMAL IS A RELATIVE TERM
The NCA Census shows carousels in the spots you'd expect them; major amusement parks and zoos. And also at a facility owned by a dentist for patient parties.Wait, what? Yeah, so, Healey Family Dentistry serves the Atlanta area, and part of the deal is that a couple times every year, the kids who go to the practice get a free party to attend with all you can eat popcorn and carousel rides on a 1927 CW Parker. Seriously, look!
The construction of the Buford Dam created islands in 1956 located in the middle of a new reservoir named Lake Lanier. To manage these new islands as prospective recreation and residential real estate, the Lake Lanier Islands Development Authority was formed to parse out various bits and pieces for construction projects of all sorts. LanierWorld, the water park here, has existed in various forms since the late 1980s. Yes: there is a concrete slide here. Hallejuah, the one true slide style in our world. And because it is concrete, they even run this as an ice slide in the winter when the park opens. It's probably very gnarly. There are a few newer fiberglass slides too, but the wacky old ground hugging stuff is best.
Not far from the airport is Fun Junction USA, a small amusement park that's gone by more than one name in its short existence. Looks are deceiving from the outside: the Miler Hi-Miler model coaster inside is one of the punchiest attractions of its sort pound-for-pound on the planet. The portable one operated by Ray Cammack was the de facto best portable coaster in the US with the disappearance of Conklin's Doppel Looping in the early 2000s, but now that the Hi-Miler has been parked at winter quarters, Georgia has two of your best options for checking out Miler's more exciting adult models (the other is a Star Jet, almost identical to the coaster that plummeted into the Atlantic from Hurricane Sandy, at Wild Adventures).
FAIRGROUNDS WHERE STUFF DIDNT GET BLOWN UP
While the Greyhound went kablooey, that doesn't mean that there aren't any rides standing sentinel at fairgrounds in the state. Drew Expositions has parked a Schwarzkopf Wildcat bought off of Conklin Shows at the North Georgia County Fairgrounds now for several years. You may also run into the Seattle Wheel should you go during the 10ish day run of the fair; it is a duplicate of the minimalist ferris wheel that appeared at the Seattle Worlds Fair of 1964.
Cumming Fair in Forsyth County also hits the list with their sky ride. Very few state fairgrounds would have an attraction like this, much less a smaller county/metro one. But here it is:
GENERAL PURPOSE STUFF
Two AZA Zoos in the region have permanent rides in addition to their animal collections: Chehaw has a CP Huntington train from Chance & tractor pulled trailer safari of sorts. Zoo Atlanta also owns a CP Huntington & a modern carousel.
The Georgia Museum of Agriculture & Historic Village celebrated its 40th year of operation in 2016, though unfortunately as I write this, their 0-4-0 narrow gauge train is down for repairs, but is hoped to be up and running again in 2017. They do have a large historical village with period costumes.
Netherworld is the pinnacle of Atlanta haunts: huge, tons of actors and robotic/animatronic effects, actual thought put into set design. Within the haunt industry, it has achieved national acclaim.
Early Monday morning Nintendo of America tweeted out the first piece of concept art for the new Nintendo land at Universal Studios Japan, Super Nintendo World.
Super Nintendo World will be coming to Universal Studios Japan, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Universal Orlando Resort. Nintendo will open at USJ prior to the 2020 Summer Olympics and then shortly afterwards in the states.
Companies patent everything, and why not for when ideas come back around? Apple patents nearly every new idea even if it doesn't come to market. If a product does come to market this helps cover their asses, which is hinted at by Steve Jobs during the iPhone launch (after the patent lawsuits by Creative Tech sued over the iPod OS design).
Friend of the site Richard Bilbao from the Orlando Business Journal found several patent applications recently filed by Universal Orlando Resort's patent filing company Universal City Studios. Featured are five interesting, new ride system and water parks patents. All images are provided by OBJ and all rights reserved by Universal City Studios. Click an image for a larger version.
The 'drifting racers' patent covers a two guest cart ride system where one guest controls the speed while the second guest controls secondary functions. This completely matches up with consistent and reliable rumors of a next generation, interactive Mario Kart ride coming to the Nintendo areas at USJ, USH, and UOR.
Next is a "boom coaster" and no it's not a coaster that explodes. The boom is an arm that suspends a ride vehicle above a functional ride track to give the appearance of the ride vehicle moving on a fake ride track. This fake ride track could include jumps or other harrowing features not feasible with a typical coaster. This sounds familiar....
Yo dawg, you like water rides and Rip Ride Rockit, cuz we put Rip Ride Rockit on your water rides (my apologies to that meme)! A "functional mat racer" would add lights, sound, and a screen to enhance the standard racing mat water slide. Considering Volcano Bay does not currently feature this popular water slide option this is a prime candidate for the park's expansion pad. This tech would also probably link into the TapuTapu system.
This next one is... out there. Universal has already stated a ProSlide SkyBOX drop slide will be located inside Krakatau volcano, but this patent suggests the slide compartment might fill with water before releasing the rider. The water could be used for story purposes, such as lava from the volcano filling the chamber. I'm skeptical about this appearing in Volcano Bay due to the practical implications being an insurance nightmare.
Florida has anything hidden? Yes, somehow, there are still bits and pieces of the amusement park universe largely uncovered beneath the array of super parks. If you want to read about historical Disney or Universal information, you'll have better luck reading someone else's material. The same can be said about the modern day SeaWorld properties and Fun Spot. God bless Fun Spot, but everyone has seen a "It's Huge!" commercial and made their mind up on going to ride White Lightning or not (you should because it is great).
ARTISANAL AMUSEMENTS, FLORIDA STYLE
I-Drive and Route 192 have both obtained infamy among visitors as large drags filled with traffic and poorly maintained tourist traps. All of it has been priced at exorbitant levels as a result of Disney and Universal's own race to and past the $100/park mark. Of these locales, Magical Midway is a rare exception of still having anything particularly notable with permanent rides. There's an early model S&S Space Shot (you can tell the difference vs. later models by the pneumatic tubing inside the structure) and Florida's only Funtime Starflyer. The Funtime Slingshot present here has a nearly perfect safety record, much unlike the older style reverse bungee attractions and their reliance on elastic bands.
To really understand Florida and the background of the tourism industry, it is really necessary though to leave the Orlando area and head elsewhere. The artesian springs of Florida have been attracting people for a century; several are relatively close to the Orlando area such as Blue Springs and Silver Springs. The latter was operated as a theme park attraction by Palace Amusements (the American wing of Parque Reunidos) until being released from their obligations in 2013. Still operating full bore though is a park north of Tampa: Weeki Wachee. While a small water park operates on site, most come to see the legendary mermaid show. A huge underwater window allows visitors to watch as the "mermaids" swim beneath the waters, aided by a constant stream of oxygen provided via a tube carried with them. Of the human centric shows in the state, it is this one, even more than La Nouba or Blue Man Group, which may be most technically impressive.
INSIDE (BOARDWALK &) BASEBALL
While there are a huge number of visitors to the parks, Florida itself is not really the center of the theme park industry. Sure, IAAPA has moved down there, and Universal Creative is centered there. Disney Imagineering is still based primarily in California along with most "themed attraction firms" not named after Jack Rouse. Most of the major ride firms are based outside the US, and those which are can often be found out west in states like Idaho (Rocky Mountain), Oregon (Miler), and Utah (S&S). The progenitor of the theme park industry though is the carnival industry, and there is no place in the world more associated with that industry than Gibtown. Look hard on Google Maps over Gibsonton, FL and you'll find more rides (defunct and operational) per square mile than anywhere else in the world. Unfortunately, virtually all of these are racked up for transport. Showmen tend to be collectors, and one can scarcely imagine what rarities are sitting in fields or under trees until someone can scratch together the money to do a full rehab and take some mystical piece of old steel back on the road.
(With all that carnie history and 5 fairs in the top 50 attended in the US, you might think the fairgrounds of Florida have some really great stuff. Well, for rides, just really the "Skyglider" skyride and giant slide at the State Fairgrounds in Tampa. Miami-Dade got rid of their skyride. Sorry!)
For the rest of us, there's the chance to visit the International Independent Showman's Museum and get hip to the history of the the american carnival. For something a little more permanent, there's also factory tours of the Sally Corporation facilities in Jacksonville, bookable just about any Monday-Friday. And while no tours or fun stuff is available to outsiders, Martin & Vleminckx has an office with a big ol' coaster painted on the side of it that those returning to Orlando from Legoland might run into along US-27.
ZOOLOGICAL APPROPRIATION
While there are no shortage of large theme parks in the state, one other impressive asset the people of Florida have are zoos. There are over 23 AZA accredited/certified facilities in the state, plus plenty of legitimate non-accredited facilites, offering a wide array of different experiences.
-Central Florida has a fairly long narrow gauge train ride aboard a diesel engine along with some zip lines
-Palm Beach Zoo has a newer "Conservation Carousel" along with what appears to be an Italian made kiddie train (expressly not of interest to adults).
-Jacksonville Zoo also has a train and a carousel, but their train is significantly larger than most at these sorts of facilities
-Marineland of St. Augustine is among the first enclosures for Dolphins ever and has a wild backstory involving Leo Tolstoy's grandson. Today, it is owned and operated by the renowned Georgia Aquarium.
-Lion Country Safari once had sister locations at the two US KECO parks; Kings Island and Kings Dominion. Many years later, and this park that birthed the "drive thru safari" craze is still going strong. There are water slides, kiddie rides, and boat trips in addition to the safari itself, but that is undoubtedly the main draw.
-Naples Zoo also brings a boat tour, but this one passes a number of artificial islands which are home to primate "enclosures".
The two most significant ride sets at a nonprofit zoo can be found in Miami and Tampa. Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa has guided "safari tram" tours, carousel, and several kiddie rides. A log flume called "Gator Falls" opened at the park in 2008, but has disappeared from their website and appears to have been closed for some time. Zoo Miami will be opening a new section called "Mission Everglades" featuring a family flume attraction with airboat themed vehicles. Logos on the vehicles suggest a name of "Lostman's River Ride," and will be constructed by Whitewater Rides using tech developed by O.D. Hopkins (similar then to rides at Columbus Zoo and Fort Wayne Children's Zoo).
FLEA MARKET REVIVAL
Almost as wild as the animals of Florida's many zoological parks are the swap meets. "Swap Meet Culture" is sometimes even referred to in rap and reggae music from the South Florida region, and they're so substantial that they often act as larger presences in communities than merely a place to buy junk. The less developed Kidstar Amusement Park at Port Charlotte's Sun Flea Market has few rides, but does have lazer tag, a large play structure, and go karts to go with an aging arcade. True enthusiasts of all things weird should make it a mission to get to the Swap Shop and Drive In Theater in Fort Lauderdale Florida, as there really is nothing quite like it in our great nation. Outside, almost anything you'd want from produce to knockoff electronics is available for procurement in a vast and undulating (seriously!) combination of lot spaces and tented storage spaces turned store fronts. Inside the large permanent building is a thing of wonderment. Not just cheap junk, but also a massive arcade (once center ring for the Hanneford Circus!) and food court (primarily selling food of Caribbean origin) and most incredible of all, a huge car museum showing off the Ferrari-intensive collection of the Swap Shop's octogenarian owner. But wait- there's more.
Back outside, closer to the street, lies Uncle Bernie's Amusement/Theme Park. A collection of used carnival rides in barely operable condition, it more or less resembles the small family entertainment centers that can be found throughout Central and South America near, what else? - shopping malls. RCDB lists both the gravity driven and powered coaster here, but there's a log flume and a Sartori Techno Jump (possibly previously owned by Playworld Amusements? if you know, hit the comments section!).
THE DIRTY SOUTH OF THE DIRTY SOUTH
As hard as it is to believe, Southeastern Florida's only permanent and publicly open amusement park is Uncle Bernie's. Perhaps because of all the attractions up north, there just hasn't been much action down south. The Dania Beach Hurricane, a renowned wood coaster from the Coasterworks/Martin & Vleminckx boys mentioned before is in the midst of being removed, along with the large FEC (Boomers Dania) that it was attached to. There was also a strange duck that operated for over 60 years. The City of Miami Police Benevolent Association maintained a nonprofit amusement park beginning in at least 1943, but it eventually succumbed to maintenance costs and was sold off/razed in the early 2010s with little fanfare. Southwestern Florida is little better, with only the opening of Zoomers in Fort Myers to even mention. That project took nearly a decade to be developed before finally opening in 2012, and looks nothing like you'd expect an 8 year development cycle to appear like.
PANHANDLING FOR COASTERS
The last great wave of amusement park closures hit Red State America extra hard: Six Flags Astroworld & New Orleans, Pavilion, Ghost Town In The Sky, Branson USA, Opryland, and Bell's are all gone, and it hurts even more thinking that the majority were cash flow positive. Joining the list of parks that were too big a success to stay in business was Miracle Strip Amusement Park, located on Front Beach Park in Panama City. Can you blame the owners for taking a sweetheart deal from real estate developers that wound up taking a bath later? Maybe you can't. But like with Myrtle Beach Pavilion, the space where the park once occupied is still an empty void, drawing no one and looking an overgrown mess instead of being a profitable and important anchor for the community. When people talk about the perfection of the market, this is what they actually mean: People borrowing money (your money!) from banks in seemingly outrageous ponzi-esque schemes, losing it, destroying communities, and the banks having the gall to demand you pay them extra in federal loans for their poor business acumen. The developers and bank managers/executives are richer, but everyone else sure as hell isn't.
An attempt by the collective responsible for Boardwalk Amusements in Daytona managed to not succeed at bringing back Miracle Strip in Panama City, and now both of those parks were put up at auction this past IAAPA. As time has gone on since the closure, many of the more unique attractions in the area have gone by the wayside. Cobra Amusement Park has, at various points in times, featured such weirdo attractions as the S&S Snowshot launched drag racing ride (atop snowmobiles) and later an electric go-kart drag racing attraction with speeds over 60 MPH. There's still a unique looking Goofy Golf location, and Race City PCB is now home to the only adult coaster in the area. Can it be that it was all so much better then? I regret to inform you: yes.
