Wildwater Kingdom was a water park in Aurora and Bainbridge Township, Ohio, that opened on June 17, 2005, as the aquatic half of the Cedar Fair-owned Geauga Lake resort. It rose on the site once occupied by SeaWorld Ohio and later the marine-life section of Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, giving the 17-acre property a layered history stretching back to 1970.
Cedar Fair closed the adjoining Geauga Lake amusement park after the 2007 season, but Wildwater Kingdom kept splashing on its own for nearly a decade more. Known first as Geauga Lake’s Wildwater Kingdom before the name was shortened in 2011, the park drew regional crowds with its 15 slides and sprawling wave pool until Cedar Fair shut it down for good in 2016.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Aurora / Bainbridge Township, Ohio
- Operator: Cedar Fair
- Opened: June 17, 2005
- Closed: September 5, 2016
- Size: About 17 acres
- Water slides: 15
- Wave pool: Tidal Wave Bay, about 390,000 gallons
- Signature attraction: Thunder Falls, a 100-foot, 7-slide tower
The Ride Experience
The park’s centerpiece was Thunder Falls, a roughly 100-foot slide tower billed at the time as the tallest water-slide complex in Ohio, combining four inner-tube slides with three body slides. Liquid Lightning, a ProSlide Tornado funnel slide, added a 60-foot drop into a swirling bowl, while Riptide Run offered a more relaxed 1,100-foot lazy river float. Splash Landing gave younger visitors their own zone with seven scaled-down slides.
Tidal Wave Bay, the park’s 38,000-square-foot wave pool, was built in a second construction phase after the park’s 2005 debut and became one of its biggest draws, holding around 390,000 gallons of water across three total pools on site.
From SeaWorld to Redevelopment
The land had a long amusement history before it ever held a water slide: SeaWorld Ohio operated there from 1970 to 2000, and the site briefly became the marine-life section of Six Flags Worlds of Adventure from 2001 to 2003. Cedar Fair bought the property in 2004 and converted it into Wildwater Kingdom for the 2005 season, investing roughly $16 million in the first phase and $8 million in a second phase completed for 2006.
Cedar Fair announced the park’s closure on August 19, 2016, saying it was time to begin transitioning the land toward community redevelopment. The final operating day came on September 5, 2016, the remaining structures were demolished in November 2017, and ground broke in 2020 on a mixed-use project combining housing, commercial space, and parkland.
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Wildwater Kingdom FAQs
When did Wildwater Kingdom open and close?
It opened on June 17, 2005, and closed permanently on September 5, 2016, after Cedar Fair announced the shutdown that August.
Was Wildwater Kingdom connected to Geauga Lake amusement park?
Yes. It was built as the water park half of the combined Geauga Lake and Wildwater Kingdom resort, and it stayed open for about nine years after the adjoining rides-and-coasters park closed in 2007.
What happened to the site after the park closed?
The remaining slides and structures were demolished in November 2017, and the land was later redeveloped into a mixed-use project with residential units, commercial space, and public parkland.
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Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rollercoasterphilosophy/ / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.