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. Today the former resort land is split between a housing development and a public park the city of Aurora is racing to open by the end of this fall.
Quick Answer
Wildwater Kingdom operated from June 17, 2005 to September 5, 2016 on the former SeaWorld Ohio site in Aurora, Ohio. Cedar Fair demolished the slides in November 2017; part of the land is now the Renaissance Park at Geauga Lake housing community, and the city of Aurora is on track to open the first phase of a new public park along the lake itself by the end of October 2026.
Stats at a Glance
Location: Aurora / Bainbridge Township, Ohio. Operator: Cedar Fair. Opened: June 17, 2005. Closed: September 5, 2016. Size: about 17 acres, with 3 pools and 2 dedicated kids’ areas. Water slides: 15. Wave pool: Tidal Wave Bay, roughly 390,000 gallons across 38,000 square feet. Signature attraction: Thunder Falls, a 100-foot, 7-slide tower billed at the time as Ohio’s tallest water-slide complex.
Every Slide and Attraction at Wildwater Kingdom
Thunder Falls was the park’s centerpiece: a roughly 100-foot slide tower combining four inner-tube slides with three body slides. Liquid Lightning, a ProSlide Tornado funnel slide, sent riders in four-person tubes down a 60-foot drop into a six-story, 253-foot-long swirling funnel, while Riptide Run offered a calmer 1,100-foot lazy-river float.
Younger visitors had their own zone in Splash Landing, a four-story play structure with seven scaled-down slides, water cannons, and a 1,000-gallon tipping bucket that doused the structure every couple of minutes. Coral Cove, an activity pool with basketball hoops and interactive sprays, and the Little Tikes Town toddler area rounded out the family attractions, alongside a giant lawn chessboard added in 2010.
Tidal Wave Bay, the park’s wave pool, was built during a second construction phase after the 2005 debut and became one of its biggest draws, producing two-to-four-foot waves across roughly 390,000 gallons of water — the largest of three total pools on site.
From SeaWorld to Wildwater Kingdom: A Layered Site History
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 after Six Flags bought both Geauga Lake and SeaWorld Ohio and merged them into one resort.
Cedar Fair bought the property in 2004 and converted the former marine-life park into Wildwater Kingdom for the 2005 season, investing roughly $16 million in the first phase and another $8 million in a second phase completed for 2006 — about $24 million total. The dry-rides side of the resort, Geauga Lake, closed after the 2007 season amid falling attendance, but Cedar Fair kept the newer, better-performing water park running on its own for nine more seasons.
Why Wildwater Kingdom Closed
Cedar Fair announced the park’s closure on August 19, 2016, saying it was time to begin transitioning the land toward community redevelopment rather than continuing to run a standalone water park on a resort footprint that had already lost its adjoining rides park nearly a decade earlier. The final operating day came on September 5, 2016, and the remaining slide structures, including Thunder Falls, were demolished in November 2017.
What’s on the Site Now: Housing and a New Public Park
The former resort land split into two distinct redevelopments. Pulte Homes broke ground in 2020 on Renaissance Park at Geauga Lake, a residential community of roughly 308 townhomes and single-family homes built across the old amusement-park side of the property, with close to half of its roughly 246 acres set aside as woodlands, trails, and pocket parks.
Separately, the city of Aurora purchased 48 acres that include Geauga Lake itself and the surviving SeaWorld-era gatehouse pavilions, paying about $5.3 million to acquire the parcel. The city broke ground on October 23, 2025, on Aurora Park at Geauga Lake, and as of late summer 2026 crews have been refurbishing the old gatehouse pavilions and boat dock and laying out lakeside lawns and a plaza for non-motorized boat rentals. The city has targeted the end of October 2026 to open this first phase to the public; later phases planned over the next five to eight years call for a swimming beach, pool, and bathhouse.
Visiting the Site Today
There is no working water park left to visit — Wildwater Kingdom’s slides, pools, and buildings were fully demolished in 2017, and no tickets, hours, or admission exist for the old park. What you can see today is the site itself: the Renaissance Park at Geauga Lake homes on the former amusement-park grounds, and, once Phase 1A opens, the renovated lakefront pavilions, dock, and lawns of Aurora Park at Geauga Lake on the old SeaWorld side.
Because construction schedules and opening dates can shift, check the City of Aurora Parks and Recreation Department’s official site for the current status of Aurora Park at Geauga Lake, including any updates on the Phase 1A opening and future amenities like the planned swimming beach and bathhouse.
Not to Be Confused With: Dorney Park’s Wildwater Kingdom
The Wildwater Kingdom name lives on at a different, currently operating park: the water park attached to Six Flags’ Dorney Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which has no connection to the Ohio resort beyond sharing a name. If you’re looking for current tickets, hours, or slide lineups for that still-open water park, check Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom’s official site — the Ohio park covered here has been closed and demolished since 2016, and no tickets or hours exist for it.
Wildwater Kingdom Geauga Lake 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.
How many water slides did Wildwater Kingdom have?
It had 15 water slides in total, headlined by the seven-slide Thunder Falls tower and the funnel-style Liquid Lightning, plus three pools and two dedicated kids’ play areas.
Is Wildwater Kingdom still open?
No. The park has been closed since September 5, 2016, and its slides and buildings were demolished in November 2017. There is no way to visit or buy tickets to the Ohio park today.
What replaced Wildwater Kingdom and Geauga Lake?
The old amusement-park side is now Renaissance Park at Geauga Lake, a Pulte Homes residential community. The old SeaWorld/water park side, including the lake itself, is being redeveloped by the city of Aurora into Aurora Park at Geauga Lake, a public park whose first phase is set to open by the end of October 2026.
Is the Wildwater Kingdom at Dorney Park the same place?
No. Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is a separate, still-operating Six Flags property that simply shares the Wildwater Kingdom name with the closed Ohio water park.
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