Wild Waves Theme Park, Theme and water park in Federal Way, United States.
Wild Waves is a theme and water park in Federal Way, Washington, that covers more than 70 acres and combines mechanical rides with water attractions. The facility divides into several themed areas, including a traditional amusement section with roller coasters and a separate water section featuring slides, wave pools and lazy rivers.
The park began in 1977 as Enchanted Village, a small family attraction with a playground and petting zoo on the southern edge of the Seattle metro area. Water rides and pools were added in 1984, turning the site into a combined water and amusement park.
The name Wild Waves comes from the wave pool, one of the water park's original draws when it opened in 1984. The site began as Enchanted Village, a 12-acre park with a half-dozen rides, a playground, wading pool and petting zoo opened by Byron Betts on May 28, 1977. The two halves were run as separate parks with separate tickets for the 2016 season before being merged again in 2017.
The park sits about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Seattle and can be reached via Interstate 5 in roughly 25 minutes, though travel time depends on traffic. All vendors throughout the grounds operate on a cashless system, so visitors should bring cards or mobile payment devices.
The park's wooden roller coaster, the Wild Thing, was bought secondhand in 1997 from the closed Rocky Point Amusement Park in Warwick, Rhode Island, and renamed after the move. It is one of the rides that came to Federal Way as part of Jeff Stock's 1993 purchases of equipment from Boblo Island in Ontario.
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