First ever water park?

When was the first ever water park made,and where is it?

That is a good question. I can recall, as a child, going to a park near Anaheim that had about fiver or six pretty good waterlides. You could actually see the park off of I-5. I am thinking that was probably in the late 70's or early 80's.

I think I have seen people say that River Country (at WDW) was the first Water Park but I cannot confirm that.

So nobody knows the answer? I thought it would be well known.

I think it was Schlitterbaun

I did quite a bit of surfing - no pun intended - the other day to find out some waterpark history. There was shockingly little. It looks like a good book opporunity.

I went onto the World Waterpark Association website and they don't have a history section either.

I am pretty sure that I have read or heard that River Country was the first "waterpark" (though other parks may have had waterslide elements) and that Wet 'N Wild followed shortly thereafter.

I think it was "Waterloo" in San Dimas. ;)

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

It depends on what you consider a "waterpark" to be. Lakes and large pools with manmade activities such as slides and toboggans go back to the late 1800s. The first fiberglass slides started appearing in the early 70s, but most of those were added to exisiting water playgrounds, and some of those are now called waterparks. I'm not sure when the first park with fiberglass slides was built from the ground up, but it was probably in the mid 70s.

I'm pretty sure it was River Country at WDW.

According to the "Since the World Began" Disney World History Book, it states that River Country opened in June 1976. (Sadly, Disney Closed River Country in 2002, with no plans announced)

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"The Mountain Slidewinder. Voted The #1 Non-Rollercoaster Ride in America Amusement Business Magazine, 1991"

The first gated themed waterpark was "River Country" at WDW, as most people can figure out.

The first major wave pool was at "Big Surf" in Arizona, the first 'tsunami' class pool ever built.

The first theme park with a waterpark section was Geauga Lake, with the Boardwalk Shores complex in 1984. I personally loved that area.

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The Empire will Strike Back....
"What do I know, I only work in an Amusement Park?"
"You are paying to get in. Period."

I'll also back up the River Country claim.

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- John

Here's something I am shure of, Oakwood Lake in Manteca Califronia ( about a mile from this keyboard) is the first true waterpark as we know it today. The owner Budge Brown, while in Hawaii went on a natural water slide and wanted to simuate it himself. So by his his man made lake on his farm he named Oakwood, he created the first waterslide, (which I believe last year closed) They have been open for a very long time, the very least 1976. Check out the website oakwoodlake.com!

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2002, PGA,SFMW,MK,MGM,AK, EPCOT,IOA, UNIVERSAL, SWO,and SFMM!
2003,?