SplashTown Waterpark Houston

SplashTown
Location	Spring, Texas, United States
Coordinates	30.070167°N 95.431935°W / 30.070167; -95.431935
Address	21300 IH 45 N Spring, TX 77373
Website	http://www.splashtownpark.com/
Owner	CNL Lifestyle Properties
Opened	1984
Previous names	Splashtown USA, Six Flags Splashtown
Operating season	April–September
Area	53 acres (210,000 m2)
Attractions	Wild Wave Pool, Blue Lagoon Activity Pool pools Stingray Racer,Thunder Run,Texas Freefall,Zoom Flumes,Big Spin,Shotgun Falls,Tornado water slides
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SplashTown is a water park located north of Houston in the Spring CDP of unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States.

History

In the early-1980s, the land that Splashtown now occupies was another theme park known as Hanna-Barbera Land. 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 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 that Splashtown was sold to PARC Management for $312 million to help the company's debt burden.

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-foot (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-foot (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 m) tall, 223 linear feet), Weaknesicles: Speed Slide, (66 feet tall, 320 feet (98 m) long), Longdropicus: (66 feet tall, 320 feet (98 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' Dots are in several locations within the park.
• Center Court contains places to buy pizza, drinks, ice cream, burgers, and funnel cakes.
• A McDonald's and Wendy's are located just outside.

External links

• Splashtown's Current Website