NEWS: Wild Rivers Water Park to relocate to Temecula

[COASTER FREAK 11"CACTUS SHARP!!"]

Was that the tandem raft slide next to the mat racers? (Pink tubes I think as well)

[ipatkI Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

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.

[silentabombI Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

Was that the tandem raft slide next to the mat racers? (Pink tubes I think as well)

that was called Watubee if you had enough speed you could go up the ramp at the end

[COASTER FREAK 11"CACTUS SHARP!!"]

Oh thats right, lol, thanks

[metrockthe ghost seems to think there is a "Donkey Fairy"]

... 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.

[DegoRedthe I-talian Stallion]

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!

[surfshysurfI Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

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

[GenatorSenatorI Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

... 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.

[BelizeIt"Excuse me, miss, may I pound my large rooster into your donkey?"]

^ 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.

[the ghostIt all started with a donkey]

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.