Six Flags Splashtown
Encyclopedia
SplashTown is a water park
located north of Houston
in the Spring
CDP of unincorporated
Harris County
, Texas
, United States
.
. Splashtown purchased the land and converted it into a water park facility. The original name was "Splashtown USA" but the "USA" was dropped after the first year. Around the same time as Splashtown USA opened, another park Splashtown San Antonio
was also opened. Some people incorrectly assume these two parks are related or owned by the same company. They were owned by the same limited partnership until 1994 when SplashTown Houston was purchased by the Morris Family. The park was sold to Six Flags in May of 1999. Incredibly, Six Flags bought the park without ever touring or inspecting it.
Following the closure of Six Flags Astroworld
in October 2005, Six Flags
engaged in a restructuring of Six Flags Splashtown, which resulted in the termination of the park's General Manager, Operations Manager and Food Service Manager in early November 2005. In January 2006 it was announced that the former Operations Manager of Waterworld would be the new Splashtown Operations Manager.
The park underwent a "facelift" as well as general cleaning to prepare it for its opening day, April 28, 2006. The entrance received a new sign, with the addition of renovated buildings and ticket booths.
On January 11, 2007, Six Flags announced it sold seven parks to PARC Management
for $312 million to help the company's debt burden. Six Flags will receive $275 million cash and a note for $37 million for four theme parks and three water parks. PARC 7F, of Jacksonville, Fla., is expected to sell the parks to CNL Income Properties
Inc., a real-estate trust based in Florida, and then lease them back. Six Flags sold Darien Lake, Elitch Gardens
, Frontier City
, SplashTown
, Waterworld USA, White Water Bay
, and Wild Waves Theme Park. The company decided not to sell Magic Mountain and its adjacent water park. Spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg said that upon further evaluation, the company decided that the Los Angeles parks remained too valuable to let go as season passes and sales were up. Since Splashtown has been sold, Six Flags has thus been ousted from the Greater Houston Area.
RipQurl: Built in 2008. A cross between the Tornado and the Big Spin, in a way. It was put where the Hydra used to stand. Height requirement 48"
Tornado: A waterslide involving a tube that fits four people that makes 360°s around a blue-and-yellow checkerboard "tornado". Height requirement 48".
Thunder Run: Experience wild twists and turns as you speed down this inline tube slide. Height requirement 42".
Texas Freefall: The flagship ride, a very tall slide. Height requirement 48".
Water Works/Big Spin: Slide around and down this unique round slide. Height requirement 48".
Zoom Flumes: Slide down the 95 feet (29 m) flume or try one of the two semi-enclosed slides. Height requirement 42".
Wild Wave Pool: A half-million gallons fill this huge pool of wild, wave-floating fun.
Shotgun Falls: Challenge a friend and race each other down two thrilling 30 feet (9.1 m) slides. Height requirement 48".
Blue Lagoon Activity Pool: Play in the sun with tons of water fun including swings galore, geysers, a diving rock, water stairs and a glorious waterfall. Cool off from your day of play!
Space Rapids: Travel through "space" as riders float through this enclosed tube ride. With three flumes, Space Rapids offers a different adventure each time you ride. Height requirement 42".
Treehouse Island: Three stories of highly interactive fun! Climb net ladders, slide down slippery slides and blast your friends with water cannons. Height requirement of under 50".
Crystal Creek: A lazy river attraction.
Crocodile Isle: An interactive children's play area equipped with a pirate ship, water cannons and slides. Height restriction of under 50".
Leaky Pipes: A smaller kid's play area. Height requirement of under 50".
Water park
A waterpark is an amusement park that features waterplay areas, such as water slides, splash pads, spraygrounds , lazy rivers, or other recreational bathing, swimming, and barefooting environments...
located north of Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
in the Spring
Spring, Texas
Spring, Texas is a census-designated place within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston in Harris County, Texas, United States, north of Downtown Houston. The population was 54,298 at the 2010 census...
CDP of unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
Harris County
Harris County, Texas
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 4,092,459, White Americans made up 56.6% of Harris County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 33.0% of the population. Black Americans made up 18.9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.7% of Harris County's population...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
In the early-1980s, the land that Splashtown now occupies was another theme park known as Hanna-Barbera LandHanna-Barbera Land
Hanna–Barbera Land was a theme park based on the cartoons of the Hanna-Barbera animation studio. It was located in the Spring CDP of unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States, north of Houston. It was open in the 1984 and 1985 seasons....
. Splashtown purchased the land and converted it into a water park facility. The original name was "Splashtown USA" but the "USA" was dropped after the first year. Around the same time as Splashtown USA opened, another park Splashtown San Antonio
Splashtown San Antonio
Splashtown San Antonio is a water park located in San Antonio, Texas. Its most recent name was "Splashtown USA," and it was affiliated with Six Flags SplashTown in Houston at some point....
was also opened. Some people incorrectly assume these two parks are related or owned by the same company. They were owned by the same limited partnership until 1994 when SplashTown Houston was purchased by the Morris Family. The park was sold to Six Flags in May of 1999. Incredibly, Six Flags bought the park without ever touring or inspecting it.
Following the closure of Six Flags Astroworld
Six Flags Astroworld
AstroWorld was a seasonally operated theme park located on approximately of land between Kirby Drive and Fannin Avenue, directly south of Loop 610 in Houston, Texas, USA...
in October 2005, Six Flags
Six Flags
Six Flags Entertainment Corp. is the world's largest amusement park corporation based on quantity of properties and the fifth most popular in terms of attendance. The company maintains 14 properties located throughout North America, including theme parks, thrill parks, water parks and family...
engaged in a restructuring of Six Flags Splashtown, which resulted in the termination of the park's General Manager, Operations Manager and Food Service Manager in early November 2005. In January 2006 it was announced that the former Operations Manager of Waterworld would be the new Splashtown Operations Manager.
The park underwent a "facelift" as well as general cleaning to prepare it for its opening day, April 28, 2006. The entrance received a new sign, with the addition of renovated buildings and ticket booths.
On January 11, 2007, Six Flags announced it sold seven parks to PARC Management
PARC Management
PARC Management, LLC is an operations company based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. which operates various parks, attractions, recreation and entertainment venues throughout North America.-History:...
for $312 million to help the company's debt burden. Six Flags will receive $275 million cash and a note for $37 million for four theme parks and three water parks. PARC 7F, of Jacksonville, Fla., is expected to sell the parks to CNL Income Properties
CNL Income Properties
CNL Lifestyle Properties is an unlisted Real Estate Investment Trust . The Trust is managed by CNL Financial Group. The company buys resort properties across the nation, but has no day-to-day management involvement in the properties it owns.-Properties:...
Inc., a real-estate trust based in Florida, and then lease them back. Six Flags sold Darien Lake, Elitch Gardens
Elitch Gardens
Elitch Gardens was a family-owned seasonal amusement park, theater, and botanic garden in the West Highland neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, United States at 38th and Tennyson streets. For more than a century Elitch's was one of the most popular entertainment destinations in Colorado...
, Frontier City
Frontier City
Frontier City is a western-themed amusement park in Oklahoma City's Adventure District. It is currently owned by CNL Lifestyle Properties and operated by former Six Flags executives Kieran Burke and Gary Story. The park is the subject of the song "Frontier City" by the Nashville band Kings of...
, SplashTown
Splashtown
Splashtown is a name used by the following water parks in the United States:* Splashtown at Darien Lake, a water park in Darien, New York* SplashTown Waterpark Houston, a water park north of Houston in Spring CDP, unincorporated Harris County...
, Waterworld USA, White Water Bay
White Water Bay
White Water Bay is a water park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma built in 1981. Originally built by the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation, White Water Bay was picked up by Premier Parks in 1991 and its name was changed from White Water to White Water Bay...
, and Wild Waves Theme Park. The company decided not to sell Magic Mountain and its adjacent water park. Spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg said that upon further evaluation, the company decided that the Los Angeles parks remained too valuable to let go as season passes and sales were up. Since Splashtown has been sold, Six Flags has thus been ousted from the Greater Houston Area.
Slides and Attractions
Stingray Racer: Built in 2010. A six lane water slide. Located near the entrance. Height requirement 42"RipQurl: Built in 2008. A cross between the Tornado and the Big Spin, in a way. It was put where the Hydra used to stand. Height requirement 48"
Tornado: A waterslide involving a tube that fits four people that makes 360°s around a blue-and-yellow checkerboard "tornado". Height requirement 48".
Thunder Run: Experience wild twists and turns as you speed down this inline tube slide. Height requirement 42".
Texas Freefall: The flagship ride, a very tall slide. Height requirement 48".
Water Works/Big Spin: Slide around and down this unique round slide. Height requirement 48".
Zoom Flumes: Slide down the 95 feet (29 m) flume or try one of the two semi-enclosed slides. Height requirement 42".
Wild Wave Pool: A half-million gallons fill this huge pool of wild, wave-floating fun.
Shotgun Falls: Challenge a friend and race each other down two thrilling 30 feet (9.1 m) slides. Height requirement 48".
Blue Lagoon Activity Pool: Play in the sun with tons of water fun including swings galore, geysers, a diving rock, water stairs and a glorious waterfall. Cool off from your day of play!
Space Rapids: Travel through "space" as riders float through this enclosed tube ride. With three flumes, Space Rapids offers a different adventure each time you ride. Height requirement 42".
Treehouse Island: Three stories of highly interactive fun! Climb net ladders, slide down slippery slides and blast your friends with water cannons. Height requirement of under 50".
Crystal Creek: A lazy river attraction.
Crocodile Isle: An interactive children's play area equipped with a pirate ship, water cannons and slides. Height restriction of under 50".
Leaky Pipes: A smaller kid's play area. Height requirement of under 50".
Defunct Slides and Attractions
- Hydra: A waterslide on the western part of the park. It had three difficulty levels and had a tri-head dragon sign. Today the dragons rest on the side of Crystal Creek. It had 3 slides: Screamicles: A free-fall cliff dive. (54-degree drop, 66 feet (20.1 m) tall, 223 linear feet), Weaknesicles: Speed Slide, (66 feet tall, 320 feet (97.5 m) long), Longdropicus: (66 feet tall, 320 feet (97.5 m) long). Built in 1985. Currently the three dragon heads are viewable from the lazy river.
- Blue Beast: A one-person body slide. It was accessible from the stairway to Texas Freefall. Due to its outmoded and very narrow design, it was later removed.
- Kids' Kountry: A kid's play area. It featured a large ship but was removed due to safety problems (see below). It was later replaced with Crocodile Isle.
- SoundWaves Amphitheatre: Existed until 2000, then was removed to make a more hospitable atmosphere for Crocodile Isle.
- Rampage: Replaced with Thunder Run. Thunder Run was actually built on the same platform as Rampage and you can see where the slides cutouts once were when climbing the slide tower.
Eateries
- Dippin' DotsDippin' DotsDippin' Dots is an ice cream snack, invented by Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduate Curt Jones in 1987. The confection is created by flash freezing ice cream mix in liquid nitrogen; consequently, Dippin' Dots contain less air than conventional ice cream...
are in several locations within the park. - Center Court contains places to buy pizza, drinks, ice cream, burgers, and funnel cakes.
- A McDonald'sMcDonald'sMcDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
and Wendy'sWendy'sWendy's is an international fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company decided to move its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. It has been owned by Triarc since 2008...
are located just outside.