Aquatic Development Group (ADG), a leading water park and recreational design, construction, and manufacturing firm, has brought a former water park back to life with new attractions.
Wild Rivers Water Park in Irvine, California, originally closed in 2011 following 25 years of entertaining crowds of swimmers. Almost a decade later, ADG was approached with the prospect of bringing the space back to its original use, bigger and better than before.
The result is a new-look $60 million Wild Rivers park that spans 20 acres, 50% larger than its predecessor. ADG conducted the project intending to incorporate the latest technological advances while paying tribute to the park’s nostalgic roots.
By working with the owners and developers, ADG’s park design offers exciting new rides whilst retaining favourites from the original including replicas of popular slides such as Bombay Blasters and Switzer Falls.
By integrating attractions including a waterslide with virtual reality capabilities, with tried and tested water park staples, the new Wild Rivers offers a variety of options for swimmers surrounded by ample deck space and a multitude of food and drink options.
Slides and rides
Highlights in the park include Pelican Plunge, a 550-foot-long water coaster with water jets that power riders up slopes, Tomcat Riders, a six-lane mat racer slide which begins with a 360-degree spiral tube, and Tiki’s Revenge, a 225-foot-long tube slide with a super bowl element.
Slides for families include Tortuga, a raft slide that travels through oscillating spheres, Bora Bora Boomerang, a raft slide with a 25-foot-tall wave wall, and Aquaconda, A 600-foot-long slide utilising six-person circular rafts.
Children will enjoy Cook’s Cove, A 30-foot-tall rain fortress play structure with a giant tipping bucket and the tiny tots’ section of Kontiki Cove with a shallow pool and five kiddie slides.
The park also features a quarter-mile-long lazy river, a 25,000-square-foot wave pool and a variety of other body slides with varying intensities.
“The long-awaited return of Wild Rivers was met with much enthusiasm from the local community with season passes selling out well in advance of opening day, says an ADG representative.
“Despite delays due to the economic and transportation issues that affected virtually all construction projects taking place in the 2020-2022 seasons, the park opened its gates as planned with nearly every attraction up and ready to go.
“Thanks to some creative logistical planning, construction on a couple of the attractions and F&B outlets that were unable to be completed on time were able to be worked on throughout the summer with minimal disruption to guests.”
ADG has also brought its expertise to a range of aquariums in recent years, including Shedd Aquarium and Georgia Aquarium, as well as working on a sea lion exhibit at Columbus Zoo.
