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Noah's Ark Water Park

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Coordinates: 43°36′13″N 89°47′11″W / 43.603578°N 89.786282°W / 43.603578; -89.786282
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Noah's Ark Water Park
Slogan"America's Largest Waterpark"
LocationLake Delton, Wisconsin, United States
Coordinates43°36′13″N 89°47′11″W / 43.603578°N 89.786282°W / 43.603578; -89.786282
OwnerPalace Entertainment
Opened1979
Operating seasonMay through September[1]
Area70 acres (280,000 m2)
Pools2 pools
Water slides47 (currently) water slides
Websitenoahsarkwaterpark.com

Noah's Ark (officially Noah's Ark Family Park Inc.) is the largest water park in the United States. It features 51 water slides and dozens of various attractions. The park is located in the village of Lake Delton, Wisconsin.

History

In 1979, the Waterman family purchased 205 feet (62 m) of frontage property on U.S. Route 12 in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin and created a bumper boat ride and built a go-kart track.[2] The park opened as "Noah's Incredible Adventure," which became the name of a Noah's Ark attraction in 2003.[3] In 1994, the Gantz family of Dubuque, Iowa, purchased Noah's Ark and added the "OctoExplorer", a yellow submarine with moving periscope, water guns and soft-surfaced waterslides.[4] In 2003, Noah's Ark Waterpark celebrated 25 years of operation. In 2012, the park was purchased by Palace Entertainment.[5] While under ownership of Palace Entertainment, six attractions have been closed and three have been added. Other changes include fencing the park's perimeter, removing of per-use lockers, and instituting a fee for parking.

The iconic ark structure at the front of the park was destroyed by an electrical fire in 2012. Originally a ticket office, the ark was being used as a museum and storage facility at the time of the fire.[6]

On March 17, 2020, the park was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Rides

The park uses over 2 million gallons of water on its rides every day. Its lifeguards earned the Platinum Award from Jeff Ellis and Associates Inc. (2006, 2017), the highest waterpark safety rating possible.[7]

Waterslides

  • Toucan Twister (1985) – 5 twisting bodyslides. Previously named Slidewinder (1985–2017)
  • The Bermuda Triangle (1988) – Three tube slides
  • Monkey Rapids (1989) – Three tube slides that empty into Adventure River. Previously named Bahama Falls (1989–2017)
  • Congo Bongo (1991) – Family raft ride with turns
  • Kowabunga (1993) – Family raft speed slides that go down without turns.
  • Flying Gecko (1995) – Family raft ride in the dark. Previously named Dark Voyage (1995–2017)
  • Black Thunder (1997) – Two-person or single tube slides in the dark.
  • Point of No Return (2001) – 10-story-tall speedslide that take riders three to five seconds to descend. However, one of the slides was taken down and replaced with Scorpion's Tail.
  • Sting Ray (2002) – Two large halfpipes
  • Black Anaconda (2005) – America's third longest watercoaster.
  • Time Warp (2006) – The world's largest bowl ride. It is a clone of the former Disco H2O at Wet n Wild (which closed in 2016).
  • Scorpion's Tail (2010) – America's first upside-down looping body slide that drops riders down a drop from a trap door in a capsule into an almost inverted loop.
  • Quadzilla (2012) – Four braided head-first slides.
  • Raja (2018) – World's largest King Cobra dual slide.

Wave pools

  • The Wave (1987) – Wave pool
  • Big Kahuna (1989) – Large wave pool, once the largest wave pool in Wisconsin Dells, now eclipsed by Mt. Olympus's Surf Pool

Lazy Rivers

  • Endless River (1985) – Simple Lazy River
  • Adventure River (1989)

Other Attractions

  • Paradise Lagoon (1984) – An activity pool featuring slides and zip-lines
  • OctoExplorer (1994) – Children's play area
  • Flash Flood (1999) – Hopkins Rides Shoot the Chute. One 20-passenger boat that descends a 50-foot (15 m) drop into a large pool; includes bridge observation area which gets hit by the subsequent wall of water.
  • Noah's 4-D Dive-In Theater (2007) – Midwest's Largest 4-D Theater featuring the movie Rio[8]4-D Summer 2014 [9]
  • Tadpole Bay Kiddie Kingdom (2008) – Children's play area featuring Noah's Ark theme, 4 kiddie waterslides, over 50 water features, and an 800-gallon bucket dump.[10]
  • Surfing Safari (2013) – FlowRider stationary surf attraction.

Former attractions

  • Bumper Boats (1979) – First Attraction Built At Noah's Ark Taken out in 2018, replaced by Raja.
  • Jungle Rapids (1980) – Tube mat slides. (The parks oldest water attraction) Mostly closed as of the 2012 season. Two of the four of the highest slides remained open for the 2012 season but for the 2013 the entire complex was demolished, replaced by Surfing Safari.
  • Miniature Golf (1980) – 18 holes. Reopened in the 2019 season.
  • Thunder Rapids (1982) – Three interweaving hillside concrete waterslides that were later replaced by Black Anaconda.
  • Tank Tag (1989) – a game where participants shoot tennis balls at targets for points from stationary guns, and mobile tanks. Later taken down and replaced with the Sting Ray.[11]
  • Noah's Incredible Adventure (2003) – A high-capacity, dry amusement ride which involved a large "Mystery Swing" and special visual effects to recreate a journey on Noah's famous ark. It was replaced by Curse of the Crypt in the same building in 2009.[11]
  • SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D (2007) – featured at Noah's Dive-In Theater from 2007 to 2011. Was replaced with Pirates 4-D. Pirates 4-D replaced by “Ice Age 4-D” in 2015. In 2017 the ride was made into “The LEGO Movie The 4-D Experience”.
  • The Plunge (1984) – two belly-down, face first racing mat slides. Replaced by Quadzilla in 2012.
  • Go Gator Kiddie roller coaster. Closed in 2012
  • Curse of the Crypt (2009) – Closed in 2012. Still standing but does not appear on park maps. (Visitors at the park may recall a sign located near the ride stating 'Closed For Renovations')

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2012-04-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ 1979. Noah's Ark opens with just bumper boats and go kart Archived 2008-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ 2003. Noah's Ark Waterpark 25 years Archived 2008-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ 1994. Gantz family purchase Noah’s Ark Archived 2008-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Wisconsin Business (2 March 2012). "Noah's Ark waterpark sold to California investment company". Pierce County Herald. Retrieved 3 March 2012. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ James, Kay; Novak, Bill (October 29, 2012). "Fire destroys building at Noah's Ark Waterpark". Baraboo News Republic. Capital Newspapers. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  7. ^ Lifeguards earned the Platinum Award from Jeff Ellis and Associates Inc.[1] Archived 2008-02-09 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Noah's Ark's Newest Ride Makes Waves In 4-D Theatre May 2007 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-09. Retrieved 2007-07-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) July 7, 2007
  9. ^ "Fun Things To Do in Wisconsin Dells – Attractions – Noah's Ark Waterpark". Noah's Ark Waterpark.
  10. ^ "What's New in 2008". Archived from the original on 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  11. ^ a b "Noah's Ark Timeline". Archived from the original on 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
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