NEWS: Wild Rivers Water Park to relocate to Temecula

^ As of two weekends ago, nothing was left. Just some trees and busted up concrete where the lazy river was. I'm sure with how fast things are going, there is nothing left at this point. On Christmas weekend everything to the right of the park entrance was gone. Half of the hill remained. The following weekend the hills was gone and was a giant hole. Everything to the left of the entrance looks almost the same (except the summer camp was totally gone). Two weeks later, everything was how I described it earlier.

I have a lot of pictures that I've been meaning to post here. I'll get around to it shortly.

I had never been to Wild Rivers, I even went to UC Irvine from 1997-2002. I didn't even realize they were still open. I always remember in the 80's seeing their commercials though. Now I wish I had gone there before. It seemed so cool to the the commercial with the tubes coming out of the ground and shooting people into the pool.

Also on another note, it's been a long time since I have been to Raging Waters, and I can't believe Raging Rivers is gone. That was the best water ride ever. That multi path and being almost like a lazy river was so fun.

I am a Civil Engineer and had sort of lectures from people at the Irvine Company, and those people seemed so evil. I remember I wasn't the only one in the classes who thought so. No idea what anyone is thinking building out in that area right now, as there is a lot of other vacant land ready to go, I think at least a 5000+ unit development, that has been on hold since the depression started.

Wild Rivers is rebuilding!

They are planning on reopening 2014 at a county owned land area.

So awesome!

Link To News Article on Wild Rivers

Wild Rivers Waterpark is on track to reopen in two years on county-owned land next to Irvine's planned Great Park. The water-ride amusement park was forced to close down after 27 years at its previous location in Irvine to make way for housing development. But after several months of discussions and planning, the county and Wild Rivers Irvine LLC are closing in on a final agreement, public records show. The county Board of Supervisors last month gave government staff the authority to negotiate a lease agreement.

 

"We are negotiating terms and hope to bring a lease to the board for approval next month," said James Campbell, manager of land development with the county. The park would be on 17 acres of a 100-acre parcel the county owns that is nestled between the Metrolink/Amtrak rail and the Great Park's southwest border, just east of the I-5 Freeway between the 133 Toll Road and Alton Parkway. The area is the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

 

The new Wild Rivers park will feature all new water slides, attractions, themes and layout, company president Mike Riedel said. All of the slides, attractions and structures at the former park were demolished, aside from a few novelty items such as an iconic clock.

 

The initial lease for the county land would likely be for 20 years. It will cost about $30 million to $35 million to build the park, and Riedel said the financing is already lined up. The park will operate about 110 days a year, starting with weekends in May, full weeks from June through early September and weekends again into October.

Wild Rivers has agreed to contribute $3 million up front, some of which the county would use to demolish buildings and grade the property, Riedel said. The structures include a mess hall from the 1940s and '50s.

 

Five Points, which is responsible for building the roads and access on the former air base it is developing, has "graciously" agreed to accelerate its infrastructure schedule to accommodate the park, Riedel said.

 

Construction of Wild Rivers would begin in May of next year and the plan is to open the park in May of 2014.

 

The previous Wild Rivers was 14 acres on nearby land owned by The Irvine Co. off the I-405 freeway. The amusement park shared a parking lot with Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Both venues originally subleased the land from Lion Country Safari, a drive-through wild animal park that closed in 1984.

 

Wild Rivers provided about 1,200 summer jobs for Orange County, many of them being filled by local teenagers, before it closed. The new park will employ slightly less than that because of new design efficiencies being implemented, Riedel said.

 

The water park operated for 27 years, with several lease renewals, until The Irvine Co. finally gave it the boot in September to start construction on 1,750 apartments.

 

The amphitheater's lease ends in 2017.

 

Irvine City Council zoned the Wild Rivers area for residential development when it updated the city's master plan in 2006.

 

Wild Rivers is also negotiating to buy city land in Temecula to build a new water park there.

 

Southern California water parks include Raging Waters in San Dimas, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Valencia and Knott's Soak City in Buena Park, Palm Springs and San Diego and Legoland Water Park in Carlsbad.

This is great news. From the sounds of it everything is going smoothly and there should be no snags, so this might actually be ready by their desired opening season. Hopefully they incorporate the same type of slides like Bombay Blasters that they had at the old location, move some land around and make it a big hill!

So glad they're going to make an option other than Soak City and Raging Waters for us So Cal people to pick from.

Good news for the area. Now we just have to wait another year for the construction to start.

I just wanna point out did any one else look at that TR and notice Dan in a water park!!

anyone remember this??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpV4DDy6wbQ

So it looks like they're building a Wild Rivers in Temecula.

Yay? I live ten miles from this location, yet I don't go to water parks.

I'll be sure to get pictures though.

temecula.patch.com/articles/land-sold-for-temecula-water-park

This should be "interesting" to watch. As Temecula is over an hour away from Irvine, they certainly do not service the same group of people. So it's not like this will really be a replacement for the Wild Rivers that used to be in Irvine. I really hope the park can survive. Just seems to be a bit out in the middle of nowhere for a 20-acre park.

Especially considering that Orange County already has two options for decent water parks (Soak City & Raging Waters), Palm Springs has their own Soak City, and so does San Diego. Can the area around Temecula really support a water park? We watched Lake Delores fail out in the middle of nowhere...I hope the same doesn't happen to this property.

--Robb "Just seems like an odd choice to put the waterpark" Alvey

It will definitely be interesting. I know there have been rumors of a Temecula water park for years, so I'm glad to see something come to fruition.

As for Temecula, there are a lot of Orange County transplants here.

But you've also got a lot of surrounding areas where they rely on Temecula for commuting, certain shops, big box stores, etc. The area where this park is going has A LOT of traffic and is easily accessible from the freeway.

Not to mention people living the area, like me in Hemet, don't have much else to do nearby.

This should be "interesting" to watch. As Temecula is over an hour away from Irvine, they certainly do not service the same group of people. So it's not like this will really be a replacement for the Wild Rivers that used to be in Irvine. I really hope the park can survive. Just seems to be a bit out in the middle of nowhere for a 20-acre park.

 

Especially considering that Orange County already has two options for decent water parks (Soak City & Raging Waters), Palm Springs has their own Soak City, and so does San Diego. Can the area around Temecula really support a water park? We watched Lake Delores fail out in the middle of nowhere...I hope the same doesn't happen to this property.

 

--Robb "Just seems like an odd choice to put the waterpark" Alvey

Just to add to that, this will actually be attempt #2 for the Wild Rivers ownership group to get a park built in Temecula. Attempt #1 failed. So we'll see what happens...

Hemet

I'm sorry.

I can see a lot of people from Escondido visiting the water park, as the Chula Vista Soak City is very far from them. If they build it, I'll go at least once!

I can see a lot of people from Escondido visiting the water park, as the Chula Vista Soak City is very far from them. If they build it, I'll go at least once!

No matter what happens, I'm sure there are water park enthusiasts out there, so I'll try my best to get construction photos. That's really a commercial area for Temecula so I'm still surprised that they're putting it there. It'll be just around the corner from a window manufacturer, and a contractor-only tile shop. Interesting.

Whatever brings tax revenue to Temecula is fine by me.

^Well I guess it's 30 mins away, but what other main cities are closer? My response was sort of a joke by the way.

Living in the area I have high hopes for this project. The population has grown drastically over the 10 years that I've lived here and as stated previously there is literally nothing to do under an hour drive in the area. If it creates jobs and gives me something local to do before I move for college I'm all for it .

So the City Council gave the ok for the sale of the land and the company was to put $1 million into an escrow account this week. Anyone know if they did?

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/07/31/oc-supervisors-approve-new-water-park/

"ORANGE COUNTY (CBS) — Orange County supervisors Tuesday approved a new water park on the old El Toro Marine Corps base across from the Orange County Great Park.

Wild Rivers will be rebuilt on 17 acres next to the Great Park, which is home to the Great Park Balloon that takes riders 400 feet in the air for a bird’s eye view of the county.

“This is an exciting opportunity,” Supervisor Bill Campbell said. “The new and improved Wild Rivers will be a complement to the Great Park and an asset for Orange County.”

The county expects to get $30 million or more over the 25-year lease.

The water park, which operated for 27 years next to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, is expected to open in 2014."

^Well, that's a promising step in the right direction. I was extremely sad when i heard the lease was going to be terminated for the original park, and was really sad to see almost nothing of the original "terrain slides" could be saved.

Bombay Blasters, Watube (or whatever the racing tube slide was called), the rapids, surf hill, cobra,etc were all such unique and original slides not seen much at other water parks. As much as people may have disliked it, we really lost something special...

Very heart breaking to see.

Why don't they try and move outside of Irvine where they can own the land? A 25 year lease ain't bad, but after that's up I would think they would be in a similar situation.

Why don't they try and move outside of Irvine where they can own the land? A 25 year lease ain't bad, but after that's up I would think they would be in a similar situation.

not this time because they are now on county owned land, the old park was on land owned by the Irvine Company which is a developer

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/temecula/temecula-waterpark-developers-push-back-opening-to/article_ea49b0c0-6365-5a92-a548-4d7ca1b06563.html

The Wild Rivers team that has been working to build a waterpark in Temecula is now shooting to open the attraction in 2014, a year that also could see the developers opening a sister park in Irvine.

 

On July 31, the Orange County Board of Supervisors approved leasing 17 acres of Orange County's El Toro 100 Acre parcel to Wild Rivers Irvine LLC for the development and operation of a waterpark.

 

Mike Riedel, Wild Rivers president, said Thursday that he thinks the two projects will create a synergy that will help the team attract investors looking to diversify their portfolios. "We're hoping that it's more complementary than it is competition," he said.

 

The Temecula City Council in May approved selling 19 acres of city-owned land at the northwest intersection of Dendy Parkway and Diaz Road to the team for $2.34 million. The hope was that the park would become a regional destination for families and boost the area's tourism industry, which is bolstered by the nearby wineries, the Pechanga Resort & Casino and numerous sports tournaments.

 

To make sure the park was built as soon as possible, the city included conditions that required the developers to put up a hefty deposit on the sale price of $2.34 million and pull building permits by October to hit the mark of a 2013 opening.

 

Riedel said Thursday that meeting those deadlines for a 2013 opening became too difficult in the current lending market, but he's feeling good about the plan coming together for 2014. "I'm still confident we're going to get it done," he said.

 

Councilman Mike Naggar, a city official who has made bringing a waterpark to Temecula a priority for years, said Thursday that if and when the Wild Rivers team is ready to move forward with the purchase, the council will determine how to proceed. "Is our appraised value still good? If not maybe we have to have it (the land) reappraised," he said. Talking about the development team's decision to target 2014, Naggar said the city put them on "a very aggressive schedule" to open by next year. "And it's very difficult to get financing for that," he said.

 

In 2006, a waterpark was slated for land on the east side of Interstate 15 near the Ynez and Winchester intersection, but that project was abandoned because of opposition from a neighboring business park and area residents.

 

In 2009, the council approved a deal to sell the land at Dendy and Diaz for $6.7 million to another company pitching a waterpark plan. That deal, however, was never consummated because the developers were unable to raise the money to pay the city's asking price.

 

The original Wild Rivers park, an Orange County institution for decades, closed last year after its landlord decided to put in apartment buildings on the acreage.