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For the Season: Slide Into Summer – The Return of Wet ‘N’ Wild
By Heather Turk
There are plenty of great ways to cool off during those scorching Las Vegas summers: go for a swim, eat an ice cream cone, crank up the A/C. But if you’re looking for a fun way to beat the heat and add a big dose of nostalgia to go with it, Wet ‘n’ Wild is back in town and here to stay.
The Wild Side
Memorial Day weekend will herald the return of the world’s most famous water park brand as Wet ‘n’ Wild opens an all-new $50 million water park near the I-215 and Sunset Road. This updated edition of the iconic park, once a prominent fixture on the Las Vegas Strip, will feature more than twenty-five ingenious slides and attractions, promising a different experience from its previous incarnation that hopes to attract fun loving families from all over. “There has been a tremendous amount of evolution in the water park industry [since the Strip Wet ‘n’ Wild closed], and Wet ‘n’ Wild Las Vegas will have the opportunity to bring some of these innovative rides to our guests,” said Trevor Wilson, director of marketing and sales for Wet ‘n’ Wild Las Vegas.
The new Wet ‘n’ Wild combines some of the industry’s top rides with traditional water park favorites like the Colorado Cooler lazy river and Red Rock Bay wave pool, the latter of which was named by Las Vegas resident Ted Stringer in an online contest. Other innovations include the Constrictor, a fan favorite at other Wet ‘n’ Wild parks that was recently voted a Top 5 water ride by the Travel Channel show Xtreme Waterparks. Boasting the tightest and highest banking turns in the world, guests will rocket to speeds of up to eighteen miles per hour as they slip and slide their way down an enclosed flume into a series of corkscrew turns on a multi-person raft.
Other memorable attractions include Canyon Cliffs, a slide which sends riders on a gut-wrenching, free-fall drop from more than four stories in the air; and the Hoover Half Pipe, an adrenaline-pumping thrill ride that takes the notion of whitewater rafting to the next level. Guests drop fifty-seven feet before being shot up the side of the Hoover wall and back down again, experiencing the rush of sheer weightlessness before exiting into the calm waters below.
But the most eagerly anticipated fixture has got to be the Rattler: a three-person experience featuring forty-foot drops. The brainchild of leading water slide developers WhiteWater, it’s the first slide of its kind in North America. “What makes the attraction so unique are the two Rattlers riders will enter as they make their way down 360 feet of fun,” said Wilson. “Each Rattler will provide them with different sensations as they oscillate back and forth throughout the tube.”
While there’s no shortage of thrills for park guests, Wet ‘n’ Wild also boasts several tamer attractions for families. In addition to the 1,000-foot-long lazy river, there’s an interactive children’s area on Splash Island featuring five fun zones, nine slides and a huge timed tipping bucket that spills 300 gallons of water onto eager guests below. Young visitors can also avoid the three-foot waves of Red Rock Bay in the shallow end, which has lighter, gently rolling swells.
The hot temperatures and long days of summer can be unbearable here in the desert if you can’t find the perfect way to cool yourself off. Thanks to the return of Wet ‘n’ Wild, Las Vegas residents can escape the blistering sun while enjoying thrill-seeking, adventurous fun with the entire family!
