A water park 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 barefoot environments. Modern water parks may also be equipped with some type of artificial surfing or bodyboarding environment, such as a wave pool or flowrider.
Dubailand was an entertainment complex planned to be built in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which was owned by Tatweer. When announced in 2003 it was one of the most ambitious leisure developments ever proposed anywhere in the world costing $64.3 billion. The development was put on hold in 2008, due to the 2007–2008 financial crisis, Great Recession, and the Dubai housing crash in 2009, but resumed in mid-2013. Updates in 2013 showed that $55 billion had been raised towards the works.
Universal Orlando Resort, often shortened to Universal Orlando, is a 1,291-acre (522 ha) theme park and entertainment resort complex located in Orlando, Florida. Following the opening of Universal Studios Florida in 1990, MCA moved forward with plans to expand from a single park into a large resort hoping to compete with Walt Disney World Resort. In 1999, a second theme park, Universal Islands of Adventure, opened in addition to Universal CityWalk, a shopping promenade and nightlife district that incorporates a variety of themed hotels, restaurants, and retail outlets. The third and first ever 30-acre (12 ha) water theme park, Universal Volcano Bay, was added in 2017. A fourth theme park, Universal Epic Universe, is scheduled to open in 2025.
Disneyland Park, originally Euro Disneyland Park, is a theme park found at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. The park opened on 12 April 1992 as the first of the two parks built at the resort. Designed and built by Walt Disney Imagineering, its layout is similar to Disneyland Park in California and Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World in Florida. Spanning 56.656 ha —the second largest Disney park based on the original, after Shanghai Disneyland Park—it is dedicated to fairy tales and Disney characters.
Walt Disney Studios Park is the second of two theme parks built at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. The park opened on 16 March 2002, and it is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Upon opening, it was dedicated to show business, movie themes, production, and behind-the-scenes, but in the 2010s, in a similar manner to Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida, it began to distance itself from the original studio backlot theming and entered a new direction of attraction development inspired by iconic Disney stories. The park is represented by the Earffel Tower, a water tower with Mickey Mouse ears similar to the one formerly located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, which in turn was inspired by the water tower at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California.
Carowinds is a 407-acre (165 ha) amusement park primarily located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Owned and operated by Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, the park first opened to the public on March 31, 1973. Carowinds straddles the state line between North and South Carolina, adjacent to Interstate 77, with a portion of the park located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. The park has a sign telling guests where the state line lies. It was constructed at a cost of $70 million following a four-year planning period led by Charlotte businessman Earl Patterson Hall. Carowinds also features Carolina Harbor, a 27-acre (11 ha) water park that is included with park admission. Annual events include the Halloween-themed SCarowinds and the Christmas-themed WinterFest.
Hurricane Harbor is a chain of water parks that are part of the Six Flags theme park chain. Although the parks are not identical, common features include a variety of body slides, speed slides, tube slides, wave pools, lazy rivers, and shopping areas.
Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast is a water park situated in Oxenford, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, owned and operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks. In 2019, the park received 1,120,000 visitors making it the most visited water park in Australia and the 19th most visited water park in the world. Wet'n'Wild Gold Coast is located adjacent to Warner Bros. Movie World, a movie-related park also owned by Village Roadshow Theme Parks. The park remains open all year with some seasonal ride closures and maintenance periods in winter. It is one of several water parks operating under the Wet'n'Wild brand globally.
Busch Gardens Williamsburg is a 422-acre (1.71 km2) amusement park in James City County near Williamsburg, Virginia, United States, located approximately 60 miles (100 km) northwest of Virginia Beach. The park was developed by Anheuser-Busch (A-B) and is owned by United Parks & Resorts. The park opened on May 16, 1975, adjacent to Anheuser-Busch's brewery and near its other developments, including the Kingsmill Resort complex.
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.
SeaWorld Orlando is an animal theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Although separately gated, it is often promoted with neighboring parks Discovery Cove and Aquatica as well as Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, all of which are owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts. In 2022, SeaWorld Orlando hosted an estimated 4.45 million guests, ranking it the 10th most visited amusement park in the United States.
SeaWorld San Diego is a theme park in Mission Bay Park in San Diego, California. It is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, public aquarium, and marine animal rehabilitation center. SeaWorld, the theme park's proprietor, is owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts.
Legoland Billund Resort, the original Legoland park, opened on 7 June 1968 in Billund, Denmark. The park is located next to the original Lego factory and Billund Airport, Denmark's second-busiest airport. Over 1.9 million guests visited the park in 2011, and 50 million guests have visited the park since it opened. This makes Legoland the largest tourist attraction in Denmark outside Copenhagen. The Legoland parks that have since been built are modelled upon Legoland Billund, most noticeably the Miniland area, which is made up of millions of plastic Lego bricks.
Wet 'n Wild, Wet'n'Wild, Wet N Wild appears in the names of a variety of water parks around the world, including:
Raging Waters Sydney, formerly Wet'n'Wild Sydney, is a water park in the greater western Sydney suburb of Prospect, New South Wales, Australia, that opened on 12 December 2013. The park was announced on 11 September 2010 and was the third Wet'n'Wild water park operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks, after locations on the Gold Coast and Las Vegas. In 2018 the park was acquired by Parques Reunidos who renamed the park Raging Waters Sydney for the 2019 season. It is the only attraction outside the United States owned by Palace Entertainment.
Ray's Splash Planet is a Mecklenburg County, North Carolina funded water park located in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The aquatic facility is operated by the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation department. Ray's Splash Planet is considered one of the largest indoor water parks in both of the Carolinas and is the largest water park in Charlotte, North Carolina, with over 29,000 square feet of space and using over 117,000 gallons of water at 87 degrees. The water is cleaned and sanitized through the use of chlorine, filtration and an ultraviolet germicidal irradiation system. There are multiple attractions including the Blue Comet, a three-story figure 8 slide, and other family friendly attractions like the Orbiter, Saturation Station, the Vortex, Meteor Showers, Moon Beach and the Sea of Tranquility. The water park also features a fitness center and gymnasium shared with the Irwin Academic Center, an educational center of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system. The first floor of the facility includes the pool area, locker rooms, birthday party classrooms and concessions stand. The second story includes the fitness center with an aerobics/dance studio. Access to the indoor gymnasium is also located on the second floor. Ray's Splash Planet is located on North Sycamore Street near Johnson & Wales University and is just off Interstate 77 in North Carolina in the Third Ward section of Uptown Charlotte. The water park opened on October 15, 2002 with help from Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation's partnership with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Major competitors are Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, North Carolina and Wet 'n Wild Emerald Pointe in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Cowabunga Canyon Waterpark is a water park in Spring Valley, Nevada. The park was part of Village Roadshow Theme Parks' Wet'n'Wild chain of water parks located across the world, until it was purchased by Pyek Group in March 2022. Pyek Group also owns Cowabunga Bay and together these 2 water parks makeup the Cowabunga Vegas brand. The park is located at 7055 S. Fort Apache Road, southwest of the I-215 and Sunset Road interchange.
Palm Springs Surf Club is a surf club located in Palm Springs, California. The park operated under Cedar Fair's ownership as Knott's Soak City until 2013 when CNL Lifestyle Properties acquired it and changed the name to Wet'n'Wild Palm Springs. In 2019, the park was acquired by Pono Acquisition Partners I, LLC. The park opened in 2024.
Fun Spot America Theme Parks is a group of amusement parks. Since 1979, the group has owned and operated a number of small amusement parks over the years and currently has three locations in Orlando, Florida; Kissimmee, Florida; and Fayetteville, Georgia.
Universal Volcano Bay Water Theme Park, or Volcano Bay, is a tropical-themed water park at Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by Universal Destinations & Experiences, Volcano Bay replaced Wet 'n Wild as Universal Orlando Resort's only water park, the third theme park overall and it was the first water park constructed by Universal Creative.
