Six Flags Enthuseast Posted July 19, 2010 Posted July 19, 2010 I've said it before, and I'll say it agian: Sure, it isn't exactly ghettto, and it has a 'decent' selection of rides, but compared to the other very well kept PARC parks, Wild Waves feels pretty neglected. This year, however, I heard about a few changes being made. So naturally, I had to check them out. When Tacoma traffic gets you bored out of your mind.... ....there is relief just up I-5 in Federal Way! Please note that if you're on I-5 and you want to go to Wild Waves, (in either direction) you want to take Exit 142-B and not 142-A. Wild Thing with its sexy new paint job! Apparently, parking is free during the beginning of the season, or on bad days. Perfect for a quick credit-whore visit! I was surprised to see how many rides were operating for such a cool day! I walk right into the park, and I have 30 minutes to do whatever I want. According to WW's Facebook, this kiddie playhouse (known for its 24/7 frigid water) got a heater. So now it's more kid (and me) friendly! The beaches are *STILL* not Elissa friendly.... They took the old fence off the water fountain, returning it to its once-when-SF-owned-the-park state of ugliness. =( The fresh new concrete you see once housed very bad looking midway games. Thankfully, they took them out and combined some of them with the already-existing game stands adjacent to Wild Thing. It really makes it feel a lot less claustrophobic. 'Sup, duck? If I-5 Dive had an Index Page, this would be the 'overall ride' shot. A present for Larry! Sadly, WT was closed because invisible people got 2 hours of ERT. Wild Waves even went as far as to paint the train completely invisible for them! So I wasn't able to get my ride on it today. I did, however, manage to get the invisible train in the 'Classic Looping' shot. Time for Zamperla Ride #1. Added in 2008, Disk'O Flashback is WW's newest ride. Note the Zamperla lables on the front of each seat. Something's missing.... MUCH better! Disk'O Flashback has an old-school wooden exit gate. Cheap replacement for metal or 70's theming? You decide! Kiddie Coaster and this fence have been repainted (although I didn't even notice until I was on my way back to the entrance!). The ride-ops here looked bored, so I decided a broken rib on Zamperla Ride #2 was worth the smiles on thier faces. Thanks to this corner, my next ride is an ambulance to the hospital! After several days in the hospital, I return on an amazingly similar day, and finally get on Zamperla Ride #3, The Timberaxe. Timberaxe is very similar to Hammerhead Shark at SFDK, but with a few minor differences. Firstly, there's the fact that it isn't dueling. Not exactly 'minor', but it's still a difference. Secondly, there are the restraints. If these girls were on Hammerhead Shark, they'd be crushed to death, because the restraints on it are automatic and have weird pokey bits around the chest and shoulders. But because it has more comfortable, non-automatic restraints, they aren't. 2002 model Zamperla Inverter > 1998 model Zamperla Inverter. Thirdly, there's the theming. Hammerhead Shark is themed to.... well.... dueling Hammerhead Sharks. Timberaxe is themed to.... well.... an axe made for cutting timber (pretty self-explanatory, if you ask me). The amount of theming differs, too. On HS, theming = some blue paint and a fin-shaped top. For this, you get a wooden axe-handle, this bear.... .... and this hawk! Finally, there's the ride program. Did those girls enjoy the ride? Based on the expressions on their faces, it's impossible to tell! Proof that this is indeed one of the many Zamperla rides added to the park in 2002. Exiting from Timberaxe, you get a nice view of Lumber Jack Falls. LJF sign. Random wooden bird. One of the little theming touches in this area. If only all of WW was themed this nicely... =( Before.... After! Quite a bit of water sloshing around, don't you think? Here's the point where I realized that Kiddie Coaster was repainted red. Along with that, I noticed that the thingy that makes it a powered coaster was being worked on. ZOMG! PAINTED FENCE! (Seriously, I am very glad these were painted! They were all rusty and ugly and bleh! before, and now they're actually pretty decent! ) Map, in case you were wondering. Note how quite a few of the rides on here are either colored wrong or not as they should be in real life. I-5 Dive, for example, has a different structure, is silver instead of white, and is a 2-cable Skycoaster. I noticed this was operating (a rare thing), so I took advantage of it. Yet another gift for my best-bud, Larry! Being a permanent one, this ride is able to set all vehicles down at once, and lift them up/down randomly during operation. I would've ridden Falling Star, but the vehicle was not mounted. I'll have to try it next time. One of the few non-Zamperla rides at this park, Pirate is a Huss Pirate Ship that was installed in 1995. Deck: the Ride wasn't very popular today. Nor was Fence: the Ride. Does anybody remember this trash can from a previous update? It was stuffed and seemed pretty depressed. But it got repainted, and now it's all happy and clean! Not exactly a Cedar Fair park, in terms of amount of and distribution of trash cans. A view across Malaria Lake (as Crazy_Behemoth_Lady_Jess says). Hook's Lagoon sign, if this counts as another present for Larry. Puyallup Fair > WW, even though it's more expensive. I also realized that the exit gate is only used during 'busy season', just like parking. Cost cutting, or win-win for park and guest? You decide! I picked up a lot of WW 2010 maps while I was there. If you're into map trading, let me know, and some of these can be yours! Thanks for reading!
Foxy Roxy Posted July 19, 2010 Posted July 19, 2010 This park looks barren in both people and rides... But you have a Disk'O, an Octopus, and a fence, therefore I'm instantly jealous.
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted July 19, 2010 Author Posted July 19, 2010 ^Your local park must be pretty bad in order to make you say you're jealous of WW! Personally, I'd be more jealous of the S&S Woodie, the Disk'O, and the Inverter. But that's just me.
Foxy Roxy Posted July 19, 2010 Posted July 19, 2010 ^Your local park must be pretty bad in order to make you say you're jealous of WW! Personally, I'd be more jealous of the S&S Woodie, the Disk'O, and the Inverter. But that's just me. My local park... is an actual park. I have like 3-4 (maybe) parks in my general area but I don't know which to call "local"
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted July 20, 2010 Author Posted July 20, 2010 ^I'd say the one that is most fun for you to go to. Which parks are they?
robbalvey Posted July 20, 2010 Posted July 20, 2010 This park looks barren in both people and rides... But you have a Disk'O, an Octopus, and a fence, therefore I'm instantly jealous. I've always thought that Wild Waves, for having kind of a water park-centric name, actually has a LOT of rides! And at one point I used to remember if having even more. In that woods area there used to be an old Looper ride, and I seem to remember some kind of kiddie train or vintage cars ride with some scenic stuff. There was also the Enchanted Village area, but I believe that was removed when the Wild Mouse and other rides were put in.
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted July 21, 2010 Author Posted July 21, 2010 ^I agree. It does have quite a few rides for being a 'Watercentric' park. It's missing a high-thrill attraction, but it's still got the basics of family and kiddie rides covered. Was the Enchanted Village part of the park worth seeing? Because 2001 Wild Waves was much different from 2002 Wild Waves, and I almost wish I could've seen it.
Crazy_Behemoth_Lady_Jess Posted July 21, 2010 Posted July 21, 2010 "Malaria lake" and "malaria fountain" still looks as "infested" and neglected as it's always been. Is the same water being used for the flume as it looks like it? Also, I notice the ride signs being used are still the old "Six Flags" signs. No love for Timberhawk?
Six Flags Enthuseast Posted July 21, 2010 Author Posted July 21, 2010 ^Thankfully, no Malaria Water is used for LJF. SF really made the park unique; no chain names or rides, really. So no need for PARC to change them because of copyright issues. Sadly, I didn't have time to go to Timberhawk. I had 30 mins and I finished Timberaxe with only about 3 to spare. Just enough to run to the park entrance from the back of the park. It's a pretty amazing feat, running to the entrance in 3 minutes when you're in the floppiest of flip flops.
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