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NEWS: Wild Rivers Water Park to relocate to Temecula


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I'm so sad that this park went under...

I don't think the park actually "went under." I think it was more of an issue with the Irvine Company who owned the land not renewing their lease. If you read the link I posted on the first page, it sounds like the park was actually doing "ok", and they are looking to open again in a new location.

 

This is also what the guys at Wet N' Wild Las Vegas said when that park closed, so I'd "believe it when I see it", and given that all the old slides are currently being destroyed, the park would be something completely new and different.

 

But I don't think the park actually "went under" as you say.

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While I completely agree that new water park and slide technology is awesome and amazing, I always had a soft spot for some of these "old school" unique waterpark attractions that feel like they were literally carved out of the side of a hill or built out of plywood and concrete.

 

I think you need both nowadays. I agree, I love the old style tube shoots. Anyone remember the old Barratuba at Adventure Island? It was awesome! We're losing more and more of these around the country and it's a lawsuit issue. More people got hurt on these type of slides which is why you see more parks getting the safer (and easier to maintain) new slides. There is obviously a way to take care of these old slides and not kill guests but very few parks are willing to do that.

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^Speaking of Adventure Island, that's why you can't do the hike through the canyons up to the Canyon River Rapids anymore. That was such a cool thing to just get off a slide and go up through the exit pool up through a twisting canyon pouring water down on you. There was so much water and concrete it was somewhat easy to slip and hurt yourself I guess.

 

Sad to see this place go, looks like it would have been fun.

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I am rather sad about this park finally giving the demolition crew the "OK" to destroy this park. I do like demolition and blowing stuff up but to see this park go like this is rather sad. I really enjoyed this park as a kid and teenager but I don't think I visited it in the past 7 years. I hope Wild Rivers plans on putting in something awesome to take place. I wonder what the slides would feel like if you went down them now?

 

Jimmy "Bombay Blasters!" Bo

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So, is it true that Wild Rivers will be reopening in a new location summer 2013 (as it says on their website)? If they do, where do you guys think the park will be located at? As metrock was saying, they were looking at land by the old marine base, is there any other land they can get to build a new Wild Rivers, or whatever they decide to call the new park.

 

But either way it is really sad to see this park finally go. Even though I only went there once, it was one of the best water parks in Southern California, it easily beat Knott's Soak City in Orange County, to me at least.

 

K.M.

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I've never been there but it looked like a cool place to check out, especially some of the old school slides and underground slides. It's a shame to see a place of enjoyment go, only for more housing to built to accommodate our already overpopulated state. I wonder if this new Wild Rivers will have the same feel as the old one, especially with the lack of the old slides built on the ground, lined with the blue rubbery coat.

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So, is it true that Wild Rivers will be reopening in a new location summer 2013 (as it says on their website)? If they do, where do you guys think the park will be located at? As metrock was saying, they were looking at land by the old marine base, is there any other land they can get to build a new Wild Rivers, or whatever they decide to call the new park.

 

But either way it is really sad to see this park finally go. Even though I only went there once, it was one of the best water parks in Southern California, it easily beat Knott's Soak City in Orange County, to me at least.

 

K.M.

 

Doubtful. They haven't signed a deal to move to the Great Park yet.

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also what is sad is that this park had the scariest most intense slide ever built called The Edge they had to build a platform so people could watch the crazy few who dared ride the slide with a 40ft 45 degree drop people would catch massive air when they came flying out of that thing I have looked all over and can not find pics of the slide at all and if you go way back like 1995 both sides had the huge drops if anyone has pics of those slides please post them

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For all you west coasters who need a bombay blaster fix come to NY we still got the same ride same name and everything at Water Safari in Old Forge http://www.watersafari.com/attractions/index.cfm?fn=Bombay_Blasters I think the parks may have been designed by the same people as they have aton of similar rides.

 

 

yea i think this park was built by the same people very similar rides it even has a mountain, bombay blasters was built in 87 or 88 so right at the same time as this

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It is really sad to see this place go in its current form. I went on an epic theme park/waterpark trip this summer and went to all the top rated places. Wild Rivers was much better than most and should easily be in the top 5 in America.

 

I spent 7 years working at Wild Rivers and believe me the place was extremely popular and had a huge season pass base.

 

Unfortunately as stated previously the irvine company had other plans. With the original lease ending in 2001, the irvine company would only renew for 1-2 years extensions. This came much to the irritation to both Camp James and wild rivers as Verizon wireless amphitheater/irvine meadows, the neighoring concert venue, had a long deal going in to the late 2015-2120... Something like that.

 

Every year wild rivers had to renegotiate to extend another year or so... It doesn't take an MBA to realize the owners/partners of the park did not want to invest in any new rides... Causing bazooka bowls to be the last major investment. Surprisingly the park managed to do great despite this and It is due to all the great people who worked there.

 

It is sad to see the irvine company finally pulled the trigger, all I can hope for is that the new park they build will be better than ever, unfortunately some of the rides that were grandfathered in, that we're perfectly safe and amazing, simply cannot be built in the same way today.

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... unfortunately some of the rides that were grandfathered in, that we're perfectly safe and amazing, simply cannot be built in the same way today.

 

You know, that's one thing that I've been wondering...

 

Water parks built in the '70s and '80s had lot of rides built from concrete and foam (e.g. Surf Hill/Congo River Rapids). What I was wondering is if these rides are no longer built because of legal/code reasons or if it's just more economical to build the rides you see today with steel towers and fiberglass slides.

 

What was so nice about Wild Rivers is that most of the major rides were built on a single hill. Walking up concrete paths, with some stairs, and being surrounded by vegetation really gave the park a natural feel. It was nice to be out in the sun, just walking around and hop from ride to ride.

 

The water parks I see built today are usually on flat land with a bunch of steel towers. So much of your time is spent winding up stairs, surrounded by steel, in the shade, sometimes cold ... just very disconnected from everything else around you.

 

I really hope that the new park is able to do some of the things that the old one did. If anything, give me a new Bombay Blasters.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow, sad to see it being gutted like that. I too visited this park almost every summer when I was younger, and no slide has ever scared the crap out of me more than the Edge. Bombay was intense, but the Edge was just messed up. You got so much speed going down the straight away and helix that you were pretty much off the slide from the moment it dropped off to a few feet before hitting the bottom. For the last 2 years Wild Rivers teamed up with a sponsor that hosted an awesome event called Wet Electric at the park. This year it was the last operating day the park would ever be open, so it was a fitting way to say goodbye. They brought in world class DJs and set up stages and bars around the park and blasted house music all day/night. It was the biggest pool party/rave around. I was there for both years and it was bittersweet this year knowing it was the last time anyone would visit the park, but they sure went out in style!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I started taking my boys when Wild Rivers first opened(we used to watch the jets fly over waiting in lines)....The last 3 years I have been going with my boys and my grandsons....Lots of hours and days of awesome memories...lots of tears looking at these pictures rememerbing them and knowing we won't be going back this summer...sad

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... unfortunately some of the rides that were grandfathered in, that we're perfectly safe and amazing, simply cannot be built in the same way today.

 

You know, that's one thing that I've been wondering...

 

Water parks built in the '70s and '80s had lot of rides built from concrete and foam (e.g. Surf Hill/Congo River Rapids). What I was wondering is if these rides are no longer built because of legal/code reasons or if it's just more economical to build the rides you see today with steel towers and fiberglass slides.

 

What was so nice about Wild Rivers is that most of the major rides were built on a single hill. Walking up concrete paths, with some stairs, and being surrounded by vegetation really gave the park a natural feel. It was nice to be out in the sun, just walking around and hop from ride to ride.

 

The water parks I see built today are usually on flat land with a bunch of steel towers. So much of your time is spent winding up stairs, surrounded by steel, in the shade, sometimes cold ... just very disconnected from everything else around you.

 

I, too, love the concrete/foam built into hills waterslides of yesteryear. Where I grew up, there was a place in Vacaville, California called Blue Lagoon that had 4-5 slides built into a hill and then Manteca Waterslides had a ton. They always seemed so long and lush.

 

Are there any waterparks left that still have these type of slides? I'd love to go to some this summer if anybody can name a few for me.

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^ This reminds me of a great former attraction at Raging Waters in San Dimas. It was called the Raging Rivers, which was an innertube ride where you started at the top of a mountain and rode it all the way to the bottom.

 

What was great about this ride was that you could take multiple paths to reach the bottom so your ride could be different everytime you rode it. It was similar to a lazy river but with big drops and countless variety of twists and turns, with a great drop at the end of the ride. You could take as long as you wanted to get down the mountain, it was a blast.

 

I believe they eventually replaced it with one of those multilane racing slide rides called Ragin' Racer.

 

But Raging Rivers was there for many years, and was always my number one reason to visit the park.

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This is ESPECIALLY surreal to me because I worked there for three years. Growing up in the Irvine area I know TONS of people whose first job was working at Wild Rivers. I wasn't a huge fan of this place just because it got SO CROWDED and I went there SO MANY times my first year working there(2 to 3 times a week to play in the park) but this place will be missed. I also agree that Bombay Blasters was one of the best slides anywhere... although I was sort of an abyss fanboy.

 

On a semi unrelated note can anyone just poke around the deconstruction site? If so I would really like to go and take a look at this. I know the park like the back of my hand so it would be cool to get "up close and personal" with the park as I only live 10ish minutes or so away.

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