Product type | Water park |
---|---|
Owner | Cedar Fair |
Country | United States |
Introduced | 1979 |
Markets | Texas |
Previous owners | The Henry family [1] |
Website | schlitterbahn |
Schlitterbahn is an American brand of water parks and resorts owned by Cedar Fair. It was previously a company family owned and operated by the Henry family that was based in New Braunfels, Texas. Schlitterbahn opened its first location, Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort, in 1979. [2] At its peak, the company consisted of five outdoor waterparks, two indoor waterparks, and three resorts.
Schlitterbahn's outdoor water parks are seasonally operated, typically open from late April through mid-September, while its indoor locations operate year-round. [3] Two parks are located in Texas.
On June 13, 2019, Cedar Fair entered an agreement to acquire two of Schlitterbahn's properties in Galveston and New Braunfels for $261 million. [4] The deal, which closed in early July 2019, gave Cedar Fair the option to purchase Schlitterbahn Waterpark Kansas City for $6 million within 120 days of the transaction, which Cedar Fair declined to do. [4] [5] Additionally, the rights to the Schlitterbahn name were included in the acquisition. [6]
The first of the parks was in New Braunfels and opened in 1979. The park was named Schlitterbahn ("slippery road" in German) because of the local area's German heritage. It originally consisted of four waterslides. The park expanded three times. Surfenberg was the first part of the expansion and had the world's first inland surfing ride, the Boogie Bahn, in 1992, created the first uphill water coaster, the Dragon Blaster in 1994. In 1996 the next section opened - Blastenhoff - and featured the world's first wave river, the Torrent, and the world's most award-winning uphill water coaster, the Master Blaster. In 2011, the park expanded again, adding The Falls, the world's longest tubing river, featuring rapids and tube chutes. [7]
As of 2022, the park has won Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Award for Best Waterpark for 24 years straight; the streak began with the inception of the award. [8] In total, Schlitterbahn New Braunfels has received 42 Golden Ticket Awards. [9] As of 2014, the park employed 2,000 seasonal workers. [10]
The 26-acre Schlitterbahn park in Galveston opened in 2006. The park features the most thrill rides of any of the Schlitterbahn parks and is home to the world's former record holder of the world's tallest water coaster, MASSIV, as it lost its record to Tsunami Surge at Hurricane Harbor Chicago at 86 feet tall. MASSIV opened in 2016 and features the most current technology including water and power saving features never used before. Although it had lost its record for the tallest water coaster, MASSIV still holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for the Tallest Water Coaster and is 81 feet 6 inches (24.84 m) tall. [11]
The park in South Padre Island opened in 2001. [12] An indoor section opened in 2012. [13] The park featured Transportainment - a system where guests can ride through the majority of the park's attractions while floating in their tubes. In fact, this park had floating queue lines for three of the four uphill water coasters. When the Henrys sold the company to Cedar Fair, they retained the ownership of this property and rebranded it. [6] The park was rebranded as Beach Park at Isla Blanca in December 2019. [14]
In May 2012, Schlitterbahn announced that it would move forward with plans to begin construction of a new water park in the Corpus Christi-Padre Island area. [15] It was announced that it would open during the summer of 2013, but due to various delays, groundbreaking didn't take place until February 2013. A 574-acre (232 ha) plan for the city included a marina, the Schlitterbahn water park with lodging, and a golf course. [16] Vendors complained, and then sued, Schlitterbahn over $500,000 in unpaid bills on the Corpus Christi project. After several months, Schlitterbahn paid the vendors and threw them a party. [17] Schlitterbahn Corpus Christi opened on June 20, 2015, with a full-service restaurant, the Veranda, two kids' areas, the Krystal river system, the Sky Blaster, and the Aquaveyer. In 2016 the southern end of the park opened along with a resort. Christened Schlitterbahn Riverpark - Corpus Christi, the park featured nearly two miles (3.2 km) of river and multiple blasters.[ clarification needed ] In 2017, Padre's Plunge, a SkyTrans Manufacturing Shoot the Chute, opened in the southern end of the park. It had previously operated as "Buzzsaw Falls" at Alabama Splash Adventure. This park featured four types of rivers,[ clarification needed ] two children's areas, a massive swim-up bar, a stage for concerts, a resort with several event spaces, and a full-service restaurant.
On May 1, 2018, IBC Bank took over ownership of the park at foreclosure auction. [18] [1] Schlitterbahn continued to operate it while a new owner was sought. The property was rebranded as Waves Resort Corpus Christi. After not operating during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the park was closed. In 2021, the park was demolished. [19]
The first phase of the park opened in July 2009. [20] The park opened each year in May. [21] After a fatal accident in 2016, Cedar Fair elected not to purchase the property along with the other Schlitterbahn parks. The park did not open in the 2019 season and was completely demolished in 2021.
A long-stalled project in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Schlitterbahn received final approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to construct a 64-acre water park at the old Fort Lauderdale Stadium. [22] The initial project would have used portions of the old stadium to construct a castle-like entrance to include lodging, dining and shopping facilities. Other projects included incorporating the neighboring Lockhart Stadium into the plan by expanding the park around that stadium.
A lawsuit between Fort Lauderdale and nearby Rapids Water Park delayed the project. On March 29, 2017, federal U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez ruled against the City of Fort Lauderdale in the case stating they "did not follow their own charter" in awarding the property lease to Schlitterbahn without conducting a competitive bid process and declared the lease "invalid, null and void." [23]
Premier Parks, LLC eventually won the bid for the project with plans to build a Wet'n'Wild brand water park on the site. [24] However, in September 2018, the CEO of Premier, Kieran Burke, cancelled the deal. [25]
While the Henry Family owned and operated the chain, there were plans for a waterpark in Cedar Park, Texas. [26] [27]
The Ewing family had a day out at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in New Braunfels, Texas in an episode of Dallas titled "Shadow of a Doubt", which originally aired on November 2, 1984. [42]
Cedar Point is a 364-acre (147 ha) amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point, which is owned and operated by Cedar Fair, is the flagship of the company's amusement park chain. Known as "America's Roller Coast", the park features 16 roller coasters, which ranks third among amusement parks in North America behind Six Flags Magic Mountain (20) and Canada's Wonderland (18). Cedar Point's normal operating season runs from early May until Labor Day in September, which is followed by weekend-only operation through Halloween during an annual event known as HalloWeekends. Other amenities and attractions featured within the park include a one-mile-long (1.6 km) beach, an outdoor water park named Cedar Point Shores, an indoor water park named Castaway Bay, two marinas, and an outdoor sports complex called Cedar Point Sports Center.
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Schlitterbahn Waterpark Kansas City was a water park that opened on July 15, 2009 in Kansas City, Kansas. It was announced in September 2005 by Schlitterbahn Waterparks. What was to be a 370 acres (150 ha) $750 million development included a nearly 40-acre (160,000 m2) waterpark, which was Schlitterbahn's fourth waterpark and its first outside Texas.
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is an American amusement and water park located in Dorneyville, Pennsylvania with an Allentown mailing address. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park features 64 rides, including six roller coasters, other adult and children's rides, and a waterpark, Wildwater Kingdom, with 19 water rides.
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Scott Joseph Schwab is an American politician serving as the 32nd Secretary of State of Kansas. He served as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing the 49th district, from 2009 to 2019. He also served as Speaker pro tempore of the Kansas House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019. He received national attention when his son, Caleb, was killed in an accident on the Schlitterbahn Kansas City, Kansas water park's Verrückt water slide. In November 2018, he was elected Kansas Secretary of State.
NRH2O Family Water Park, stylized as NRH2O, is a water park located in North Richland Hills, Texas, owned by the City of North Richland Hills.
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The Golden Ticket Award for Best New Ride is presented by Amusement Today to the best new attraction in the water park industry. The award was presented for best new attraction in both water parks and amusement parks since its inception in 2005 until 2018.
Verrückt was a water slide located at the Schlitterbahn Kansas City water park in Kansas City, Kansas, United States. At a height of 168 feet 7 inches (51.38 m), Verrückt became the world's tallest water slide when it opened on July 10, 2014, surpassing Kilimanjaro at Aldeia das Águas Park Resort in Brazil. The ride was designed at the park, led by John Schooley with assistance from park co-owner Jeff Henry. It was featured on an episode of Xtreme Waterparks on the Travel Channel in June 2014 shortly before the ride opened. Verrückt permanently closed in 2016 following a fatal incident involving the decapitation of Caleb Schwab, the 10-year-old son of Kansas state legislator Scott Schwab.
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