Aquatica (water parks)
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| Industry | Water parks |
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| Founded | Orlando, Florida (March 1, 2008) |
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Number of locations
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Orlando, Florida; San Antonio, Texas; Chula Vista, California |
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Area served
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United States |
| Owner | SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment |
| Website | Aquatica Orlando, Aquatica San Antonio, Aquatica San Diego |
Aquatica is a chain of water parks owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. Aquatica parks are operating in Orlando, Florida, San Antonio, Texas, and Chula Vista, California.
SeaWorld Orlando originally announced plans to build a water park on July 15, 2005. The announcement stated that it would be a "natural" park and revealed the park's iconic Dolphin Plunge water slides. On March 5, 2007, SeaWorld held a press conference officially announcing Aquatica. It was expected the 59-acre (24 ha) park would cost US$50 million to build. Construction continued in earnest throughout 2007 and into early 2008. Previews for employees and holders of park annual passes were held in February. On March 1, 2008, the park opened to guests for the first time, with the official grand opening held on April 4, 2008. In its debut year, the park hosted approximately 950,000 guests, making it the fourth-most visited water park in the United States and eighth-most visited in the world. The park was an immediate success, reaching its opening-year attendance goal in just six months.
In early 2011, rumors speculated about Aquatica coming to SeaWorld San Antonio in the future. According to the park president, SeaWorld San Antonio would become a multi-day experience. SeaWorld officially announced plans to build a water park on May 24, 2011. The announcement called it, "a whimsical waterpark with up-close animal experiences, high-speed thrills and relaxing, sandy beaches". The water park replaced Lost Lagoon that opened in the early 1990s. Lost Lagoon closed on Labor Day weekend 2011. During October 2011 the construction of the new water park started with excavation for the new entrance, the new sandy beaches, and the structure for the new Wahalla Wave water slide. In early November 2011 the new water slides arrived in pieces at Sea World San Antonio's parking lot, waiting to get assembled. Aquatica San Antonio officially opened on May 19, 2012.
On November 20, 2012, Cedar Fair announced it had sold its San Diego Soak City park to SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The water park originally opened on May 31, 1997, under the name White Water Canyon. At the time it featured 16 water slides and a wave pool. In December 1999, Cedar Fair purchased the park for $11.5 million and renamed it Knott's Soak City U.S.A.. The water park had opened with a new beach theme in May 2000. The acquisition by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment will see the park transformed into a 32-acre (13 ha) water park named Aquatica San Diego. The refurbished park reopened on June 1, 2013.
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