Wildwater Kingdom to close for good Sept. 5th

[Creed Bratton]

http://www.auroraadvocate.com/news%20local/2016/08/19/wildwater-kingdom-in-aurora-to-shut-down-for-good-effective-sept-5

Not really a surprise.

Sent from the cellphone Zach Morris used in Saved By The Bell using Tapatalk

[BoddaH1994]

I'm surprised it lasted nearly 10 years without Geauga.

[rhyano]

beat me too it by one min, yep, no surprise, I switched plans from Holiday World next week to go here..

[King Ding Dong]

Are there any other water parks in the Cleveland burbs or is that it?

[malem]

It's still strange to thing about how the park went from this

 
To this:

 
To nothing.

[Steph88]

Sad, but not surprised. Such a shame for those who live there. I'm sure it'll be another dilapidated vacant lot wasting beautiful lakefront space.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CP Maverick]

Are there any other water parks in the Cleveland burbs or is that it?

Pioneer Waterland outside Chardon, OH. They have 5 slides and a lazy river.

[King Ding Dong]

Are there any other water parks in the Cleveland burbs or is that it?

Pioneer Waterland outside Chardon, OH. They have 5 slides and a lazy river.

Well at least they have something. I have only been to Zoombezi once this year but not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to reguraly drive to a" full service" park. In my kids perspective a waterpark is just as big a thrill as the dry.

[RollerNut]

About time, I guess Cedar Fair finally decided they got their money's worth out of it. Hate to be mean but maybe the Big Dipper will finally get to RIP.

[Imperial79]

Sad to hear about this, I know some people wanted the whole park to return, but I figured that would never happen. At least it lasted this long.

[Beasttamer]

So are they going to sell the water slides or move them to other parks? The letter on their website wasn't very clear about the equipment.

[Creed Bratton]

Not sure, nothing has been stated. I'm sure we will know soon.

I personally don't think they'll be relocated.

Sent from the cellphone Zach Morris used in Saved By The Bell using Tapatalk

[malem]

They're newer than most of the slides at KI & CP's waterparks. The main slide complex was installed new at Hurricane Harbor when the park was SFWoA, moving across the lake when Wildwater Kingdom was constructed on the former SeaWorld site.

[rcwizard13]

I think the funnel slide would be popular relocated at a new park. Those slides at KI and KD are among guests' favorites and always have long lines. Surprisingly, though, Knott's is removing theirs in favor of a more tame looking slide.

So that's two Cedar Fair funnel slides without homes now. For reasons stated above, I personally think they would fit right on in at Cedar Point Shores, Carolina Harbor, or any park that doesn't have one; well, any except Knott's, I guess.

[CP Maverick]

Bulldozers coming soon...

[King Ding Dong]

Would make a good drone park.

[BavarianBeatle]

Cedar Fair's destruction of its competition is complete!   The City of Mason needs to change their zoning to designate KI's land as "amusement park only" so CF can never do the same thing here.

[CoastersRZ]

I think it is safe to say, that Cedar Fair will never do that to KI.  The park makes them a lot of money.  WildWater Kingdom suffered from a lack of investment.  And I think part of it was that they wanted people to visit Cedar Point from Cleveland and stay in hotel rooms.  Competition was just too close.  

 

Now I wonder if they will ever be able to do anything with the land to get some money from it. 

[stashua123]

What a sad and tragic ending for a historical amusement park...... 

 

Even if I was not old enough to really remember the events, I will ALWAYS hold Dick Kinzel and the Old Cedar Fair accountable for essentially killing off this park, Six Flags is not out of blame here as they built the park entirely too quickly for them and employees to handle, however Cedar Fair put the final nail in the coffin when this park could have just been downsized. 

 

What a shame to see so much history and at one point the worlds largest amusement park is now reduced to an abandoned razed and overgrown mess.... with an abandoned rollercoaster sitting there, never to operate again.... its tragic.

[IBEW_Sparky]

As I see it, this now creates a bit more motivation for CF to become more reasonable and fluid in its requirements/restrictions on the sale and future development of the land.  With SC permanently closed, the parcel of land is now generating zero income, and is officially nothing but a tax and insurance liability.  The issue, of course, is the feasibility of any possible redevelopment in today's continued financial and economic climate.

[The Interpreter]

...and, perhaps more relevant, its location both geographically and ehtnographically.

That area is not the easiest to do business in. The local governments and residents make some very unrealistic demands for an area with not the brightest potential (hmmm, connected?).

[IBEW_Sparky]

Those facts played into my thoughts as well, when considering the possibilities.  My initial thought was the ability for a developer to now come in and build all around the lake, but said economic and governmental/local restrictions  could certainly make that an undertaking that would not be financially beneficial.

[CP Maverick]

I certainly find it interesting that retail stores keep showing up across the street from an empty plaza. Without the park there, what are those businesses doing to drive traffic to the area? Adding a superstore won't create more people.

[Creed Bratton]

To be honest, I personally think it was time.... 

The annual attendance probably didn't help the property either. 

I get that some people are upset, but I've been cracking up at posts I've seen like "I've written and sent Cedar Fair a strongly worded letter about this terrible decision and I will never step foot on property to any Cedar Fair parks..." 

[CP Maverick]

It was time because a business can only survive so long without needing further investment. It's been 10 years since anything was invested in the park, and even that was only a fraction of the investment they had planned. That community is not growing, so these "new" businesses are only going to be pulling from a very small local community, when in the past they had an extra million people come through every summer.

[Outdoor Man]

At least they gave notice before closing this time.

[CP Maverick]

True. I was there closing day in 2007 and there was no indication that the park would never open again. Even after I spoke to Shrek about the rides being moved and the park being downsized.

[The Interpreter]

(Silly AutoCorrect?)

[IBEW_Sparky]

Had to be, the decision makers at that time were more like Donkey, than Shrek.

[The Interpreter]

That was a comment I'd shied away from, for fear of a hell big response.