Six Flags Enthuseast Posted February 25, 2010 Posted February 25, 2010 If you really knew me, you'd know that I'm not eating a bacon cheeseburger right at this second, but I'm in a little town in Washington State. You should then assume that I have no theme parks around me, except for Wild Waves Theme Park in Fedaral Way, of course. The next closest theme parks that are any good are Playland PNE (requires me to get a passport) and Silverwood (requires me to sit in a car for 6-7 hours, and that's when traffic on I-90 is pretty good). Being an avid theme park enthusiast, I have no other choice but to go to Wild Waves on a good day and hope I can get at least a little bit of exitement out of it. July 25th, 2009 was one of those days. It was a nice, sunny, warm day and we needed to get our season's passes processed. It would be our first visit of the year (but it's a PARC park, so I wasn't really expecting anything to change ). If you're coming from the west side, you either take the Seattle-Bremerton Ferry (expensive for a carload of TPR credit whores) or take the Tacoma Narrow's bridge, like we normally do to get to WW. Tacoma. The slide complex, just one of the many visable-from-I-5 attractions @ WW. Others include Zooma Falls, Wild Thing (the green Arrow corkey), the 125ft tall I-5 Dive Skycoaster, and Ring of Fire. Klondike Goldrusher, the park's Zamperla mouse coaster. (you are very quickly going to discover how many Zamperla rides this park has) The newishly remodled WW sign and Lumberjack Falls, the park's 2002 Zamperla splash boat ride. Timberaxe (2002 Zamperla inverter) and some more of KG. Driving down the side of the park, you can get some nice shots of Wild Thing and some of the other rides. Wish it had something to do about Xcelerator roller coaster! Then again, nothing above 150ft is allowed at this park. Thanks, City of Federal Way! Today in particular was busy, being one of the hottest days of the year. As usual, parking was $10, VIP Parking (closer spots to the entrance) was $15, and RV parking was $20 this year. Timberhawk: Ride of Prey isn't very visable from outside the park; the only thing you can see of it is this turnaround here! You can see some of the park from the top level of parking. Ring of Fire and the 1906 carousel. The 2002 Zamperla flying thingy ride, one of my favorite ones because of its placing right on the hillside. Wild Thing making its turnaround to the drop and loop. The season pass coupon book (or, this year, coupon paper with 6 coupons, 2 of them already out of date) should have some discount pricing for I-5 Dive! It's a fun skycoaster (rode it for onlly $10 during Fright Fest on the last day of operating season), but it's not worth $25, $35, or $45 for 1, 2, or 3 people. We get down to the entrance.... ...look in to make sure no nuclear bombs have hit during the off season and damaged attractions... ...go down to season's pass processing.... ...get our passes printed... ...and read the rules. Soon to be Safari Elephant Ears.... or did they used to be elephant ears? Or is this a different stall?? Funny, we just got an e-mail for being able to get a season's pass for $40.00 The wavepool/hot tubs look pretty busy today. Sports bottle pricing. The pirate-head kid playhouse, with frigid water 24/7! Pretty relaxing on a day like this, though. The restroom complex I complained about in my Fright Fest 2008 update. Still the dirtiest of all the ones in the park. Another shot of the pirate-head complex. Lots of green in this picture, even the lake! WT ascending its lift. Behind-the-corkscrew shot. The activity pool seems to be pretty dead today. Hey Elissa! You're never safe when Elissa's on the prowl! You'd have to be dared to hell if you wanted to go swimming in this water! Look at it, it's green! The Canadians seemed to be enjoying their day. WW is genius: they put little food dispensers with a price of 25 cents per turn, and you get to throw food out to these carp. It's entertaining to watch because they all flop about violently and occasionally get food stolen from them by hungry birds. These fish seem to be crowded up to this place night and day. WW has effectively made profitable slaves out of us guests and of those fish! Fun? Hardly (You may have noticed the red scaffolding on the left in this and some WT pics. That's the original supporting for the old rock climbing wall, which was taken down shortly after my first visit in 2004). NOTED! WT pulling out of the station. The WT sign. Going through the loop. (a shot just like this is on the WW website) The very quick, rough brakes on WT make it one of the reasons why I don't like it that much. I only ride it because I'm a little bored. The I-5 Dive Skycoaster sign. Looking up at it from about the WT sign. WT's turnaround to the corkscrews, the defunct rock-climing structure, Zooma Falls, and the speedslides. Those Zamperla gliders again. The park map. Stay tuned for more Wild Waves updates! Thanks for reading!
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted February 26, 2010 Author Posted February 26, 2010 Part 2. A LOT of concrete seperates you from Disko Flashback, the parks 2008 Zamperla Disko ride. The newest ride at the park. Why, may you ask, is the smoking area right next to Ring of Fire? Themeing? Lack of space? Children? Do they not care if this ride burns to the ground? They replaced a kiddie pool here with this. More tarmac lies underneeth the edges of the fences. The crazily painted ride vehicle. Originally a Subway, now a corn dog stand. Kangabounce, the park's 2006 Zamperla.... Kangabounce? ride. Sorry I didn't have much time to update tonight. I'll be able to update more tomorrow. Thanks for reading!
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted February 27, 2010 Author Posted February 27, 2010 Part 3. The 'super mini' ferris wheel, the only smaller one that I know about being the one @ the Amusement Park Drive-In... and that one's damn tiny! The Kiddie Coaster, a simple powered coaster ride. You can get some mild force on this part of the kiddie coaster. This line looks like nothing, but, thanks to the fact that WW tends to run only 2 cars, it's at least 10 minutes! A little bit of lateral-hairforce. This is one of the turns that makes it beneficial to sit on the right. The super-mini transfer section, and the final brake-section-of-death. This is the other turn that encourages you to sit on the right. Seriously, these brakes hurt a lot! If you hate being pushed forward into your very tight lap bar, this ride is not for you! This certainly applies to that 'Index Report from Hell!' title. This is probably one of the better themed rides at WW. See what I mean? They even managed to fit a bear and an eagle on this thing! This thing indents pretty far into the ground, as this photo points out. Is it because this ride could've exceeded the 125ft height limit if it was on flat ground? Proof of Italian-raised-in-New-Jersey identity! You have to stand to the side on the bridge in order to feel the unacceptable-amount-of-wetness generated by the splash. The newish LJF sign. This burger stand is WAY too far away from LF to be considered apart of the themeing! Kangabounce from the other side. Dry Slide sign. The Dry Slide. When me and my friend Louie visited for the first time in 2004, he actually got stuck! The Fright Fest Wagon. Serves no purpose during the normal operating season other than to be a reminder to visit Fright Fest. Is just a theme prop during Fright Fest. Hmm.... Whoops, I accidentally forgot to put this pic of the S&S Frog Hopper near the Kiddie Coaster in. As you can see, this section of the park is relatively KidTums-friendly. Gambler sign. As you can tell by the name, it is one of the few not-Zamperla flat rides in the park.... because it's a Chance Trabant. But here's a ride that is: The Dodgems, the parks 2002 Zamperla Dodgems ride. (see what I mean by 'this park has a lot of Zamperla rides'?) Once again, more shall come soon. Thanks for reading!
Crazy_Behemoth_Lady_Jess Posted February 27, 2010 Posted February 27, 2010 Got any pictures of the "Malaria lake"? I'm surprized there's actually some areas of the park that are nicer. All I've heard about this park is how neglected and beat up it is!
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted February 28, 2010 Author Posted February 28, 2010 ^Hey, that's my nickname for it too! I have one toward the end of this update. Yes, as you get towards the back of the park there is actually some decent theming. It's in the area around Wild Thing and Disko Flashback that there is too much tarmac and too little theming (and, in the case of the DF area, irrelevant theming as well. Seriously, nothing in that general area is themed except for some disco music played through crappy speakers and a painted restroom, and nothing except for that has anything to do with disco!). Also, some of the waterpark area tends to have too much tarmac. It would be better on our feet if it had concrete, to keep our feet cool when it's a warm day. Part 4. Pretty much just a mini, kiddie version of Falling Star. A little bit more theming. What could be hiding behind this fence? Timberhawk: Ride of Prey, of course! In case you didn't know, this is one of the 3 (or 4) exclusive S&S woodies. So yes, that means that both of the parks major coasters originated from companies in Utah. Go Mormans! The TH sign 'through the trees'! The station. The kiddie plane ride. If you look carefully, you can see 4 planes of track in this picture! Proof of just how narrow this coaster can get in some parts. The parks 2002 (I think) Zamperla mini train. Ring of Fire 'through the trees' as I'm walking behind it. This little path connects the TH area and the pirate ship. This is the parks 1995 Huss Pirate Ship ride. It has a lot of airtime, especially in the back! TH's turnaround, the one that you could see from the parking lot. The area in between it, IMO, is perfect for expansion because it has enough room for a drop/launch tower and some queue. If they tried really hard, they might be able to fit a Screamin' Swing and a tiny bit of queue there. Looking back from where I'm standing, you can see a lot of the wooden support structure for TH. Honestly. I don't know what this is! This coaster has a particular rumble to it. This path wraps right around the back of the park and heads straight down to the lake area. A look at the waterpark. A shot with a little bit of Lake Malaria. I rarely see this thing operate! Falling Star and some of that 'Disco Themed' restroom I was talking about. This area could be good for expansion. Seriously, PARC, put a little bit of money into rides at this park that are NOT Zamperla! (Although all of the 2002 Zamperla rides were added by SF, PARC kept the tradition up) This area could easily house an Intamin Ball coaster... Or a Sky Swat. Are those over 125ft? Here's that shot I was talking about, Jess! Walking up over the hill by the Pirate Head playhouse thing. Asians have invaded the park! (I've been to a lot of parks where there were Asian tour groups visiting, so I wasn't wondering why there were so many) No other waterpark I've ever been to does this! IDK why they do it, though. Drowning prevention/rescue opportunity? I wouldn't do it for 5 minutes, in that case, or until the rescue is complete. I rushed through the park to take some pictures so that I would have the rest of the day to do stuff at the park. So when we were finished, we stopped at the Hooters in Tacoma, and I have a moist towelett to prove it! Thanks for reading! (and yes, the update is finally over)
Crazy_Behemoth_Lady_Jess Posted February 28, 2010 Posted February 28, 2010 "Seriously, PARC, put a little bit of money into rides at this park that are NOT Zamperla!" I would have to say the same for Playland and Huss. What's with the net over the octopus ride? Is it closed for repairs or something? "Money can't buy you friends but it can get you a better class of enemies!" That is so true.
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted February 28, 2010 Author Posted February 28, 2010 ^Actually, it wasn't covering the ride. The ride is indented into a hill, and the mesh netting serves as theming (and a fence). I took a picture from the top of the hill just above the ride.
DBru Posted March 1, 2010 Posted March 1, 2010 Wow, I had no idea this park was so large/had so much to do... Thanks for sharing this update. I personally think the flat ride selection looks great! How is the Timberhawk coaster?
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted March 1, 2010 Author Posted March 1, 2010 ^Timberhawk (IMO) is the standout of the park. It's a pretty good wooden coaster, in general. It isn't very rough, it has some airtime (you have to be in the back to get any, though), is pretty fast, has a few head choppers, and is fun to ride. It really is the main reason to visit the theme park part of Wild Waves.
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted March 4, 2010 Author Posted March 4, 2010 Also, for anybody who is interested, I have a crap load of Wild Waves maps sitting in my room that are in mint condition. If you'd like these (or Silverwood or Puyallup Fair) brochures, PM me and we can work out a deal
sixflagsguy5 Posted March 4, 2010 Posted March 4, 2010 It looks very similar to the day we went there this summer. Klondike Goldrusher must have just opened after I visited the park, because we went around mid-July and it was completely closed and still being worked on. Overall it was a really nice little park and I wish we would have had more than 2 hours there.
Goliath513 Posted March 4, 2010 Posted March 4, 2010 This is the first I have really seen of the park. The atmosphere is really nice and they seem to have a very well rounded selection of rides for not having many large coasters.
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted March 13, 2010 Author Posted March 13, 2010 ^^Yes, it is a good park when you can do everything. If you've never been, it can take at least 3 hours to check it all out. Also, Klondike Goldrusher is closed a lot. Being pretty unreliable, coupled to the fact that it can take months for Zamperla to make parts and send them to a park halfway around the world, causes a lot of downtime for it, as well as a lot of other WW rides. ^I can agree that it's a pretty well rounded park for not having many large coasters, but I personally think they could do a little better. A few simple thrill rides (like a Screamin' Swing and/or a Double Shot) could really improve the thrill value of the park. I've asked a lot of people I know that have been to the park, and many of them agree that it has a few too many kiddie rides and not enough of a good transition between family rides and highish-thrill coasters and a Skycoaster. Either way, I think its an enjoyable park when enough is open, but could just use a little more to make it great.
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