Alright so with the rumors of a new ride coming in 2014 (and the confirmation that it actually is coming) I looked up a good bit of info about the rides and the history of the park. Gavin and his seemingly limitless fountain of knowledge also provided some other facts about the park pre-dating the days of Anheuser Busch, InBev, and Blackstone. This doesn't cover absolutely everything since there isn't much information about the park predating 1993, especially concerning the opening years of quite a few water slides.
Water Country USA opened in 1984 on about 700 acres of property. Yeah that sounds like a lot, and it is. As of today the park's property currently stands at 222 acres, much smaller than what it once was. The reason why it shrunk so much in size simply was because Anheuser Busch sold chunks of the property (and still are) between their purchase of the property in 1990 to today. The shopping center right next door was once apart of the property, along with the presidential heads attraction and the Days Inn hotel across the highway.
When Water Country opened in 1984 it wasn't all that large, especially considering the property the owners had. The only confirmed ride to have existed between 1984 and 1990 is Jet Screamer, which once was actually a body slide complex but was later changed to a single-rider tube slide complex at some unknown date. This is pretty much all of the information about WCusa I could find predating 1990, and I do not know if any other slides were built between 1984 and 1994 (that year will be explained soon).
Anheuser Busch purchased Water Country USA in 1990 for $8 million USD, and started expanding rapidly between 1993 and 2000 to bring WCusa's name to the forefront of one of the best water parks in the country. In an article from the New York Times in 1994, the journalist mentions that the water park is 40 acres large and that Malibu Pipeline recently opened. Other interesting facts are that tubes can be rented for a fee ($5 single, $8 double), food cost $5 and it was 'standard fast-food fare,' single day admission cost less than $20, and a 3-day pass for WCusa and BGW was $42.95.
Other rides and attractions that were around in 1994 that were mentioned in the article were the park's famous high dive show, the wavepool, Adventure Island with Peppermint Twist, Lemon Drop, and its Lazy River, Rampage, Runaway Rapids, and a slide similar to Malibu Pipelines called 'Amazon.' I do not exactly know which slide was previously called Amazon but I have reason to believe it's Wild Thang since both it and Malibu Pipeline are two-person tube slides. The other slide named Runaway Rapids likely is the now defunct Atomic Breakers (which is still my favorite slide) based on the writer's description detailing a slide "where visitors alternatively float and then cascade down a waterway."
Malibu Pipeline was built in 1993, and is currently the first known slide built during WCusa's "AB-era." After Malibu Pipeline came a slew of attractions that I'll list by the year they were added:
-Big Daddy Falls in 1995
-Aquazoid in 1997
-Nitro Racer in 1998
-Meltdown in 2000
-Hubba Hubba Highway in 2003
Volleyball courts also existed in front of Jet Scream (now the lockers) and where Hubba Hubba Highway resides now.
Nothing much changed between 2003 and 2007, and in 2007 and 2008 some aesthetic changes happened in the park. Atomic Breakers was closed in 2007, while Adventure Island went through an overhaul into Rock n' Roll Island. Peppermint Twist and Lemon Drop were removed in 2007 and replaced with Jammin' Jukebox and Little Bopper, respectively. Little Bopper was previously across from Lemon Drop and known as Little Twister but got moved into Lemon Drop's spot, and Jammin Jukebox uses the same tower as Peppermint Twist.
The only attractions that currently do not have confirmed opening dates are Jet Screamer, Atomic Breakers, Rampage, Adventure Island, the Wave Pool, and Wild Thang. All of these attractions basically fall into the rift between 1984 and 1994, where only Jet Screamer is confirmed to have operated before the year 1990. If anyone else can confirm the opening dates for these attractions please post them with any source of information that can confirm it or a closer range of an opening year or specific date.
Water Country USA opened in 1984 on about 700 acres of property. Yeah that sounds like a lot, and it is. As of today the park's property currently stands at 222 acres, much smaller than what it once was. The reason why it shrunk so much in size simply was because Anheuser Busch sold chunks of the property (and still are) between their purchase of the property in 1990 to today. The shopping center right next door was once apart of the property, along with the presidential heads attraction and the Days Inn hotel across the highway.
When Water Country opened in 1984 it wasn't all that large, especially considering the property the owners had. The only confirmed ride to have existed between 1984 and 1990 is Jet Screamer, which once was actually a body slide complex but was later changed to a single-rider tube slide complex at some unknown date. This is pretty much all of the information about WCusa I could find predating 1990, and I do not know if any other slides were built between 1984 and 1994 (that year will be explained soon).
Anheuser Busch purchased Water Country USA in 1990 for $8 million USD, and started expanding rapidly between 1993 and 2000 to bring WCusa's name to the forefront of one of the best water parks in the country. In an article from the New York Times in 1994, the journalist mentions that the water park is 40 acres large and that Malibu Pipeline recently opened. Other interesting facts are that tubes can be rented for a fee ($5 single, $8 double), food cost $5 and it was 'standard fast-food fare,' single day admission cost less than $20, and a 3-day pass for WCusa and BGW was $42.95.
Other rides and attractions that were around in 1994 that were mentioned in the article were the park's famous high dive show, the wavepool, Adventure Island with Peppermint Twist, Lemon Drop, and its Lazy River, Rampage, Runaway Rapids, and a slide similar to Malibu Pipelines called 'Amazon.' I do not exactly know which slide was previously called Amazon but I have reason to believe it's Wild Thang since both it and Malibu Pipeline are two-person tube slides. The other slide named Runaway Rapids likely is the now defunct Atomic Breakers (which is still my favorite slide) based on the writer's description detailing a slide "where visitors alternatively float and then cascade down a waterway."
Malibu Pipeline was built in 1993, and is currently the first known slide built during WCusa's "AB-era." After Malibu Pipeline came a slew of attractions that I'll list by the year they were added:
-Big Daddy Falls in 1995
-Aquazoid in 1997
-Nitro Racer in 1998
-Meltdown in 2000
-Hubba Hubba Highway in 2003
Volleyball courts also existed in front of Jet Scream (now the lockers) and where Hubba Hubba Highway resides now.
Nothing much changed between 2003 and 2007, and in 2007 and 2008 some aesthetic changes happened in the park. Atomic Breakers was closed in 2007, while Adventure Island went through an overhaul into Rock n' Roll Island. Peppermint Twist and Lemon Drop were removed in 2007 and replaced with Jammin' Jukebox and Little Bopper, respectively. Little Bopper was previously across from Lemon Drop and known as Little Twister but got moved into Lemon Drop's spot, and Jammin Jukebox uses the same tower as Peppermint Twist.
The only attractions that currently do not have confirmed opening dates are Jet Screamer, Atomic Breakers, Rampage, Adventure Island, the Wave Pool, and Wild Thang. All of these attractions basically fall into the rift between 1984 and 1994, where only Jet Screamer is confirmed to have operated before the year 1990. If anyone else can confirm the opening dates for these attractions please post them with any source of information that can confirm it or a closer range of an opening year or specific date.
![$T2eC16R,!)QFIcQ(QMuSBSJhFF4h6g~~60_57[1].JPG](https://breakdance.parkfans.net/data/attachments/96/96947-93df100831f0e7dfff4d718af030c1d7.jpg)
![$(KGrHqF,!nUFIjRYl4!cBSJh!sfp)!~~60_57[1].JPG](https://breakdance.parkfans.net/data/attachments/96/96948-ce72783fdc703fd5b7c650a8d7acef7b.jpg)
![$(KGrHqF,!lcFIUbwBF0uBSJhDzMnyQ~~60_57[1].JPG](https://breakdance.parkfans.net/data/attachments/96/96949-6cfd455ca4299bb7dd7889e64e51d35a.jpg)
