Wild Waves/Enchanted Village-5/22/01
Associated parks:
None
On Tuesday, May 22nd 2001, I made my first trek to this recent Six Flags acquisition in Federal Way, Wa, about 20 minutes south of Seattle along I-5. I was curious to see the park as it is now, reletively untouched by the new management, before it goes through whatever metamorphosis there will be. All the attendants I talked to said there will definately be changes, adding they were told that the park was going to be "modernized".
This wouldn't be a bad thing.
There is actually more room to expand than I was aware, even though if fully utilized it will never be huge. I saw plenty of room to add the two new coasters the park had gotten permits for before when it changed hands, although one employee stated there was no guarantee that Six Flags would continue them (why not; I assumed it was the procurement of these that enticed Six Flags to bite). But more than a few employees mentioned new rollercoasters coming in, although not a one has any specifics.
Looking around, there were a few small things that hinted that Six Flags was moving in. First, I spotted Sylvester and Tweety adorning what appeared to be a frog hopper, which was not on the map ( which, by the way, appeared to be a year old). Second, the web site makes multiple mentions of sponsors for some of it's tubes and rides, with pictures showing Skittles sponsoring their Wild Thing coaster; however, all of this has been removed from the park. And of course, a Subway is being built. Some painting was going on, I noticed a few rides were removed, and now the two areas are under one price.
Also it was apparent the new owners will soon drop references to "enchanted" as it was obvious that a lot of themed stuff in the forest part ( ride area) had been or was in the process of being removed. One employee said that Six Flags didn't have a lot of time to make changes, due to the changeover happening late last year ( as with La Ronde), and did what they could. It also looked like the outdoor amphitheatre was undergoing major changes, possibly being done away with. Even if they kept it, there is still a lot of room for additions to this park. Whole areas are undeveloped, and there is already ample parking.
As for the way it stands, it needs blood. The rides are all older, with nothing that has come out in the last few years, save for the skycoaster. You will find more up to date rides at your local fair this summer. The place looks in fair shape, and the staff was friendly enough.
The waterpark part also needs a little SF TLC. It's speed slides aren't steep enough, or tall enough, and a lot of it's other slides are way too rough, if still enjoyable. Last year's expansion effort, the Konga River and tube slides, are much better. The Konga River is a little lame, but the four new tubes are quite fun. The wave pool is solid, and the river raft ride was actually a lot of fun. They have an adult activity pool/hill that has cable runs, slides, tubes that end with a 10 foot plunge, cargo nets, ahot tub at top, a 12 ft cliff to jump/dive from, etc., which actually is quite the workout, not for the out-of-shape.
My main complaint, and other water parks suffer from this as well is the asphault they use to pave the area!! Sandles and such are not allowed on most attractions, and they use mini golf type plastic green only for a major hill. They and other parks should either add a river that goes around the park for transportation, or use more fake grass on walkways. As for the Wild Thing rollercoaster, it is too short to be truly enjoyable, even though you can go twice in a row w/o getting off of it. All in all, it was worth it to see how it compares to next season. I will visit monthly and make mention of any further developments. If, like me, your within 3 hrs, it's a decent day of fun, but more than that, and it isn't worth the bother,yet.
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The Northwest will Join the Best-in 2003!!! *** This post was edited by Coasterbob on 5/26/2001. ***
This wouldn't be a bad thing.
There is actually more room to expand than I was aware, even though if fully utilized it will never be huge. I saw plenty of room to add the two new coasters the park had gotten permits for before when it changed hands, although one employee stated there was no guarantee that Six Flags would continue them (why not; I assumed it was the procurement of these that enticed Six Flags to bite). But more than a few employees mentioned new rollercoasters coming in, although not a one has any specifics.
Looking around, there were a few small things that hinted that Six Flags was moving in. First, I spotted Sylvester and Tweety adorning what appeared to be a frog hopper, which was not on the map ( which, by the way, appeared to be a year old). Second, the web site makes multiple mentions of sponsors for some of it's tubes and rides, with pictures showing Skittles sponsoring their Wild Thing coaster; however, all of this has been removed from the park. And of course, a Subway is being built. Some painting was going on, I noticed a few rides were removed, and now the two areas are under one price.
Also it was apparent the new owners will soon drop references to "enchanted" as it was obvious that a lot of themed stuff in the forest part ( ride area) had been or was in the process of being removed. One employee said that Six Flags didn't have a lot of time to make changes, due to the changeover happening late last year ( as with La Ronde), and did what they could. It also looked like the outdoor amphitheatre was undergoing major changes, possibly being done away with. Even if they kept it, there is still a lot of room for additions to this park. Whole areas are undeveloped, and there is already ample parking.
As for the way it stands, it needs blood. The rides are all older, with nothing that has come out in the last few years, save for the skycoaster. You will find more up to date rides at your local fair this summer. The place looks in fair shape, and the staff was friendly enough.
The waterpark part also needs a little SF TLC. It's speed slides aren't steep enough, or tall enough, and a lot of it's other slides are way too rough, if still enjoyable. Last year's expansion effort, the Konga River and tube slides, are much better. The Konga River is a little lame, but the four new tubes are quite fun. The wave pool is solid, and the river raft ride was actually a lot of fun. They have an adult activity pool/hill that has cable runs, slides, tubes that end with a 10 foot plunge, cargo nets, ahot tub at top, a 12 ft cliff to jump/dive from, etc., which actually is quite the workout, not for the out-of-shape.
My main complaint, and other water parks suffer from this as well is the asphault they use to pave the area!! Sandles and such are not allowed on most attractions, and they use mini golf type plastic green only for a major hill. They and other parks should either add a river that goes around the park for transportation, or use more fake grass on walkways. As for the Wild Thing rollercoaster, it is too short to be truly enjoyable, even though you can go twice in a row w/o getting off of it. All in all, it was worth it to see how it compares to next season. I will visit monthly and make mention of any further developments. If, like me, your within 3 hrs, it's a decent day of fun, but more than that, and it isn't worth the bother,yet.
-------------
The Northwest will Join the Best-in 2003!!! *** This post was edited by Coasterbob on 5/26/2001. ***
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