Wild Rivers Waterpark is set to open in the summer of 2022 in Irvine at the Orange County Great Park. Construction on Wild Rivers began July 7, 2021.
The popular Southern California water park was located in Irvine, operating for 25 years from 1986 to 2011. The park was located on land that was originally home to Lion Country Safari, a drive through zoo that opened in 1970 and closed in 1984. When Lion Country went bankrupt, they subleased the land to Wild Rivers, Camp Frasier (a youth summer camp, now Camp James), and Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. The Irvine Co. chose not to renew the lease for Wild Rivers past 2011.
The original water park was a favorite among locals, with wave pools, lazy rivers, and a variety of slides to offer a place to cool off during the warm summers. In 2007, Great Park officials voted against setting aside land for the water park, but Wild Rivers advocates never gave up. After a series of talks and negotiations, an agreement between the water park and city officials set the stage for a newer, bigger Wild Rivers to come back to Irvine.
When and Why did Wild Rivers close?
The lease with the Irvine Co. ended in 2011 and Irvine Co. elected not renew its lease. After the closure the park was demolished.
Wild Rivers Map
Wild Rivers Rides & Attractions
Anaconda (6 person ride)
The last of an unprecedented string of four six-person raft rides is the Anaconda. This ride is a family favorite, featuring loads of wall time, speeds of up to 20.5 mph, surprise drops, twisting turns, and the ability to create a shared experience with family and friends.
Bombay Blasters (body slides)
One of two iconic rides brought back from Former Wild Rivers, Bombay Blasters guests will slide down dueling enclosed tubes that start high, fall steeply and shoot each fast-moving rider into the air to drop four feet into a waiting receiving pool.
Boomerango (6 person ride)
Sure to have the longest wait times in the park, the Boomerango is a timeless guest favorite with a mix of sensations that will leave a huge impression on riders. The gravity-defying journey begins by boarding a six-person raft and entering the slide’s vibrant, striped open flume. The ride quickly builds speed as the raft makes a sharp right turn towards the open drop, building suspense. Here rafts make a heart-racing plunge that is quickly followed by an ascent up a nearly vertical wall, creating a feeling of weightlessness at the apex before rushing down and over one last “zero-grav¬-ity” hump before gliding into the pool exit.
Bora Bora Boomerango (6 person ride)
Since this attraction was introduced to the waterpark industry, it has rapidly become one of its most popular and family friendly attractions. Rafts, each accommodating up to six guests, shoot through a 15-foot-wide flume at the inception, drop 25 feet and then speed up a rapid, near-vertical incline. At the top of the incline, gravity forces the riders to change direction, building momentum as they speed down the incline through more twists and turn as they gradually decelerate into a receiving pool.
Castaway River (Lazy River)
Guests can enjoy a relaxing, scenic ride on an innertube over the course of a 34,000 square foot, 1,700-foot-long closed-circuit winding river with multiple entrance and egress points. Guests can float on tubes and enjoy relaxing while moving with the current.
Cook’s Cove (kid’s play area)
Central to the kid’s play area and essential in any new waterpark, this will be one of the largest rain fortresses in the world with 77 activities that are safe and fun for young children, including an 800-gallon tipping water bucket and several slides into a shallow zero entry pool. This will engage the younger kids for hours with tons of fun.
Five Inner Tube Body Slide Complex
This four-story body slide complex includes an exciting variety of twists, turns, and drops that can be enjoyed by customers of all ages. The rattler produces exciting back and forth downstream velocity and includes the Master Blaster® uphill water coaster, which uses advanced water jets to power riders up slopes for a gravity-defying experience. The tower also features a superbowl, a constrictor and for a more relaxed experience, two traditional serpentine innertube slides featuring translucent sections and enclosed AquaLucent sections that harness sunlight to create colorful patterns and dazzling lighting effects that shine through the slide.
Kontiki Cove (tots pool)
This tots pool has five slides for the little tikes to ride. Each one ending into a shallow pool for non-intimidating fund.
Open & Enclosed (Family Raft)
Standing at a whopping 61 feet high, the Open & Enclosed slide tower features impressive views of the park and surrounding attractions. Visitors will be able to enjoy these sights as they board the raft and begin to travel down the open flume. Just like day turns into night, the ride quickly shifts from open to enclosed, creating an element of surprise as riders are left unsure of what’s ahead. As the raft traverses the darkness, guests’ senses are quickly overwhelmed by color as the slide reveals vibrant AquaLucent rainbow polka dots! Inside of the otherwise dark flume, the polka dots create a kaleidoscope of color before the slide opens up again for three more twists and turns before the raft exits into the pool.
Shaka Bay (wavepool)
This 25,000-square-foot wavepool creates gentle waves two to five-feet high, providing guests with a spot for body surfing, inner tubing, swimming or just cooling off. The wave machine cycles throughout the day between periods of stillness and varying sizes of waves, depending on the time of day.
Python (6 person ride)
Up to six guests can ride together for a shared adventure through a series of dark and light sections as the Python switches between an open and enclosed flume. Beginning with an open series of right turns, the slide path captivates guests as the raft gains height on the slide’s walls, creating big splashes and bigger smiles. Guests then travel into the enclosed portion of the ride, sending riders into suspense as they wait for the steep drop into the Python’s 20-feet diameter flume. Once inside the Python’s vast mega-tube, riders will need to hold onto their stomachs as the raft oscillates across the slide’s walls create a zero-gravity sensation that will leave guest’s laughter echoing into the pool run-out.
Tahitian Toucan (body slides)
The other of the two iconic Former Wild Rivers rides, Tahitian Toucan is a remake of the very popular Sweitzer Falls ride, will be a tall, straight, open-topped slide that shoots guests out over and drops them 4 feet down into an 8 foot deep splash pool. Younger guests will likely attempt Tahitian Toucan before graduating to the faster Bombay Blasters.
Tala and Mano (body slides)
Wild Rivers needed some tradition serpentine body slides and that is where Tala and Mana come in. But these side by side slides aren’t typical body slide. Tala has both open and enclosed sections while Mano is completely closed…but Mano has multi-color aqaulucent rings as you start the ride translucent sections at the bottom where so you friends can see you just before you finish your ride.
Tomcat Racers (body slides)
The last of an unprecedented string of four six-person raft rides is the Anaconda. This ride is a family favorite, featuring loads of wall time, speeds of up to 20.5 mph, surprise drops, twisting turns, and the ability to create a shared experience with family and friends.
Torguga (6 person ride)
Guests in six-person rafts take high speed twists and turns down an enclosed serpentine flume and are injected into large Aquaspheres with exciting oscillations around 90-degree corners. But that’s not all – after the Aquaspheres, guests shoot though the tight corners and high-banking turns of the Constrictor before concluding their ride by splashing into a pool.
Typhoon (6 person ride)
This six-person rafting experience offers a multitude of sensations with tighter turns, higher banks and steep drops into the 20-foot diameter MEGAtube™. Typhoon will be a guest favorite.
Wild Rivers Restaurants
Dippin’ Dots Kiosks
If it is Dippin’ Dots you crave there are two locations where you can indulge your sweet tooth. One on the island and one near the wavepool entrance. Come check out all the new flavors!
Island Sweets
After lunch where else would you go but to Island Sweets? Churros, funnel Cakes or ice cream treats will all be found here.
Mustang Bar
That’s right at the new Wild Rivers we have a bar where adults can come and have a refreshing beer or cocktail while your kids are playing in the park. We will even deliver the drink of your choice to your cabana for you!
Pacific Grille
Get all your favorites at the Pacific Grille. From kid’s choices like chicken tenders, pizza and burgers to adult favorites like salads and sandwiches the Pacific Grille has them all.
Anticipated Park Hours
Monday – Sunday: 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
The New Wild Rivers Theme Park
The new and improved $60 million Wild Rivers Water Park (privately funded) will be located at the Great Park in Irvine. The new design will be a total of 26 acres – an almost 50% increase from the original park’s 14 acres – and will include an uphill water coaster, a longer lazy river, a bigger wave pool, water play structures, the original Wild Rivers’ popular Congo River Rapids, a reimagined version of Bombay Blasters, and of course, more water slides.
The water park will be built on 20 acres across from the sports complex along Skyhawk and Great Park Blvd instead of the originally planned location along Marine Way. The agreement includes a 30 year lease in which the city will receive either 4.5% of gross revenue or $550,000 per year, whichever is higher.
The city maintained 14.7-acre parking lot includes precise grading, landscape planting and irrigation plans, lighting plans, striping plans, and utility plans. The parking lot is to provide spaces for the future Wild Rivers Water Park and for visitors to the Cultural Terrace during Wild Rivers’ nonoperating season. The design budget is $11.7 million.
The park is expected to be open during the late Spring, summer and early fall seasons. Wild Rivers also hopes to keep the park open for events during the other months of the year.
The water park will be within the Cultural Terrace portion of The Orange County Great Park. The Cultural Terrace is the final piece of the Great Park’s Master Plan to be developed and may include a veteran’s cemetery, library, California fire museum, a permanent amphitheater, and a lake.
Wild River’s fans can follow the water park on Facebook and Instagram for regular updates and to suggest names and color schemes for the new rides.
Related Articles
| Orange County Great Park | Orange County Great Park Sports Complex |
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| City of Irvine | Orange County Guide |
Heidi Deal is the author of the Newcomers Handbook to Living In Los Angeles & Orange County, an expert at exploring all that Orange County has to offer, and a children’s book author specializing in history and human rights.
