Wild Waves Theme & Water Park is an amusement park and water park in Federal

Way, Washington. Opened in 1977 as The Enchanted Village,[1] the park is a

popular summer destination in the Pacific Northwest and it is Washington's only
water and amusement park. The park's name was reverted to Wild Waves Water
Park and Enchanted Village Amusement Park in April 2016, and once again changed
to Wild Waves Theme and Water Park in November 2016, as a result of the park's
acquisition by EPR Properties.

Contents [hide]

1 History

1.1 Founding and early years

1.2 Ownership changes

1.3 August 2016 drowning accident

2 Events

3 Rides

3.1 Water rides

3.2 Thrill rides

3.3 Family rides

3.4 Kiddie rides

4 Services

5 Gallery

6 References

7 External links

History[edit]

Founding and early years[edit]

Hooks Lagoon

The Enchanted Village theme park was first opened in 1977 by Byron Betts. The
initial 12-acre (49,000 m2) park site held only a half-dozen rides. In 1984, Wild
Waves Waterpark was built adjacent to Enchanted Village;[2] the combined
amusement complex became known as Enchanted Parks. In 1991, co-owners
Michael Moodenbaugh and Jeff Stock paid $8 million for Enchanted Parks. In 1993,
Moodenbaugh traded his share of Enchanted Parks, Inc. for shares in their jointly
owned amusement park in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada called Boblo Island
Amusement Park, Inc. In 1993, Jeff Stock purchased several rides from Boblo Island.
Stock then sold his shares of Enchanted Parks, Inc. in late 2000 to Six Flags for
$19.3 million.[3] In 2000 the park had grown to over 70 acres (280,000 m2), with
more than 20 rides, and was the Northwest's largest waterpark.[1] In 2002 and
2003, major expansion took place, with the addition of several new attractions,
many manufactured by Zamperla and S&S Power. Also in 2002, approximately 1000
seasonal workers were employed for positions as rides operators and food service
workers. Many of these seasonal workers are also students of local high schools.[4]
The park's name was reverted to Enchanted Village and Wild Waves Water Park for
the 2016 season to once again split the park into two separate parks instead of one.

Ownership changes[edit]

Aerial view, with the large Wave Pool visible to the right

In November 2016 Wild Waves was sold to EPR Properties, based in Kansas City, Mo.
EPR scooped up the 70-acre Federal Way attraction and more than a dozen other
theme parks and other properties from Orlando-based investment company CNL
Lifestyle Properties. The total price of all the properties was $456 million, although
there was no specific price disclosed for Wild Waves. The park is now being run by
Premier Parks.

In April 2007, Six Flags sold the park to Orlando-based real estate investment trust
CNL Income Properties (which leases the park to PARC Management).[5]

In January 2010, PARC Management had defaulted on its lease with CNL for Wild
Waves and a majority of its other parks. Wild Waves was then assumed under the
new management of Norpoint Entertainment (owned by previous Wild Waves owner
Jeff Stock). Stock implemented many changes to the park in 2011 including a new
water ride for that season.

As of the CNL Income Properties acquisition, the park was named Wild Waves
Theme & Water Park. Under new ownership, the park has also since adopted a new
logo. Other parks owned by CNL Income Properties include Darien Lake Theme Park
Resort in western New York, Elitch Gardens, Frontier City, SplashTown Waterpark,
White Water Bay, and Waterworld Concord, all of which were sold in a $312 million
purchase from Six Flags.[6]

August 2016 drowning accident[edit]

On August 20, 2016, a 33-year-old man died in the Activity Pool due to drowning.[7]
A police report noted multiple missed chances to attempt a rescue.[8] According to
the report, children reported a body at the bottom of the pool to a lifeguard, who
believed that they were pranking him and did not think anything of it."[9] In a
statement released by police, Wild Waves said they are actively reviewing the
accident, their safety protocols, and the actions taken by staff.[10]

Events[edit]

Wild Waves Theme & Water Park holds an annual Fright Fest halloween celebration
which is a staple in the Federal Way and Washington community.

In 2013, Wild Waves Theme & Water Park held it's second ever Holiday with Lights,
an event featuring more than one million Christmas lights. This event comes back
every year now.