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WATER PARKS
---- THE LATEST WATER PARK NEWS ----
(12/5/2025) Premier Parks Signs New Leaseback Deal with EPR For Ocean Breeze
(8/30/2025) Denver's Water World To Close and Replace Calypso Cove
(7/16/2025) New Kalahari Virginia Resort On Track For 2026
(5/20/2025) Splish Splash Sets Opening Day For Stingray Bay
(4/16/2025) Raging Waters Prepares To Open For the 2025 Season Next Month
Bavarian Blast Indoor Waterpark (Frankenmuth, MI)
Bavarian Inn (New Park - Opened 2025)
2026 - Nothing is known at this time...
Big Kahuna’s (Destin, Florida)
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2025
Calypso Park (Ottawa, Canada)
2026- Nothing is known at this point in time, also nothing added for 2019 - 2025
CaliBunga (San Jose, CA)
Calfornia Dreamin’ Entertainment
Formerly: Raging Waters San Jose
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2025
Camelback Waterpark & Lodge / CamelBeach - (PA)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time, also nothing added for 2019 - 2025
 Cowabunga Bay (Utah)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2023 - 2025
Cowabunga Bay (Las Vegas, NV)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2023 - 2025
Cowabunga Canyon (Las Vegas, NV)
- Formerly Wet ‘n’ Wild Las Vegas
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2023 - 2025
Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark (Grand Prairie, TX)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time, also nothing added for 2019 - 2025
Grand Country Resort / Splash Country Indoor Waterpark (Branson, MO)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2023 - 2025
Great Wold Lodge Resorts News - (3/12/2023) I missed this earlier in the year, but apparently Great Wolf Lodge has an eye on building a new indoor waterpark resort in Canada. To be more specific, they are looking into plan to build a new $350 million location in Cornwall, Ontario. Currently, I believe the only current GWL location in Canada is located at Niagara Falls, with Cornwall located about a 5 and a half hour drive away, seated conveniently between Ottawa and Montreal.
Great Wolf Lodge Florida -
Opened 2024
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2025
Great Wolf Lodge Houston -
Opened 2024
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2025
Great Wolf Lodge Maryland
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2025
Great Wolf Lodge at Mashantucket / Foxwoods - (New in 2025)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
Great Wolf Lodge Poconos
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2025
Great Wolf Lodge Tennessee
2026/2027 - New Resort - (11/2024) The local government confirmed that Great Wold Lodge did close on the deal to purchase the property in Jackson, TN for the new waterpark resort. Details about the plan for the resort are apparently still being worked out, so they aren’t ready to announce a timeline yet.
(3/17/22) The land sale for the proposed Great Wolf Lodge resort in Tennessee has been approved by the city council and development board. This will see 258 acres handed over to an Industrial Development Board who will then sell 36-acres to Great Wolf Lodge for the new resort project. According to the article, Great Wolf Lodge would like to break ground on the new project sometime this Fall. Based on past project timelines, it usually takes at least 18 to 20 months to build a GWL Resort, so the earliest we might see it open would be Spring or Summer 2024.
(2/7/20) According to a local news report, Great Wolf Lodge is eyeballing a site in Jackson, Tennessee as a possible home to a new indoor waterpark resort. According to the local “Jackson Chamber and Visit Jackson” groups, the city is 99% of the way there on a deal for Great Wolf Lodge to build a $150 million new resort off I-40. Construction could start by Summer 2021 and it should be ready to open 18-20 months after that. Jackson is located about a 2 hour drive west of Nashville, or about 90 minutes east of Memphis, putting it fairly in the middle between west Tennessee’s two biggest cities.
H2OBX (Outer Banks, North Carolina)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2022 - 2025 either
Kalahari Resort (Pocono Mountains, PA)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2022 - 2025 either
Kalahari Resort (Sandusky, Ohio)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
Kalahari Resort (Round Rock, TX)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... nothing added in 2023 - 2025
Kalahari Resort (Outside Fredericksburg, VA)
2026 - NEW RESORT - (7/16/2025) According to Yahoo News, the newest Kalahari waterpark resort under construction in Virginia is now on track to open in November 2026. The resort will then be home to the largest indoor waterpark in the state at 175,000 sqft, along with a 10-acre outdoor waterpark that will be open as well in the warmer months of the year.
In addition the resort will offer a 90,000 sqft “Top Foolerys Adventure Park” that feature an arcade, ropes course, zip-lines, laser tag, mini golf, bowling, climbing walls and more. This new Kalahari Resort will have over 900 guest rooms to offer in various layouts and sizes to suit your party. You’ll find it off I-95 just about 21 miles north of Kings Dominion.
(1/27/2024) Construction is now proceeding on the new Kalahari location in Virginia, which you can see in a new preview video from Happily Ever Novak below.
(10/24/2023) A groundbreaking ceremony took place on Friday to begin work on the latest Kalahari waterpark resort complex located about 80 miles outside of Washington DC, in Virginia, about 13 miles south of Fredericksburg.
According to news articles the new resort will feature 907 rooms as well as a massive 175,000 sqft indoor waterpark, a 90,000 sqft “Tom Foolerys Adventure Park”, plus an assortment of other outdoor attractions. According to the official timeline, they expect it to be ready to open sometime in 2026.
If you are suffering from a bit of Deju Vu, then you aren’t alone, as back in 2007 Kalahari announced plans to spend around $200 million at the time to build a new waterpark resort in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area. Of course we all remember the big financial crash in 2008/2009 that scuttled a lot of projects, or in the case of others that did open (like Hard Rock Park) left them unable to secure more lines of credit to help them stay financially afloat through those troublesome years. In the case of the previous Kalahari plans, those were quietly shelved, but it is nice to see that the company has returned once again to the area.
Kalahari Resort (Wisconsin Dells)
2026 - Expansion Planned - (1/10/2025) Kalahari has posted an updated / revised press release about the new expansion for the Wisconsin Dells resort. The size and opening timeline remain the same (75,000 sqft and Fall 2026), but the price tag has increased from $76 million to $85 million. Other than that, I’m not noticing any further major changes.
(1/9/2025) The Kalahari Wisconsin Dells waterpark resort has announced a $76 million expansion plan for the indoor waterpark. The plan would include a 75,000 sqft glass-enclosed structure that would feature a retractable roof, that they hope to have ready to open by Fall 2026.
The expansion would feature three major new waterslides, Wild Wildebeest (6-person raft slide), Green Python (6-person raft slide) and the Cheetah Mat Racers (a 4-lane Mat Racer slide), as well as the Lost Lagoon Spa Pool, the Watering Hole Pool, and Coral Cove Kiddie Slide Pool… and for the adults… The Grotto, an adult swim-up bar.
Construction on the expansion is said to have already begun.
(11/22/2024) WhiteWater reports that the Kalahari Resorts in Wisconsin Dells will open an expansion in 2026 featuring a new kids area and family waterslide complex, featuring the world’s first covered Boomerango slide.
Massanutten Resort & Waterpark - (Massanutten, VA)
2026 - New Hotel and Indoor Waterpark Expansion - (4/14/2024) The Massanutten Resort has announced plans for a large water park expansion along with a new 144-room 5-story hotel. The new hotel will be connected to the existing Massanutten Indoor Waterpark. In addition to the atrium area that will connect the waterpark to the new hotel, the waterpark itself will be expanded with a new 22,000 sqft building. The exact list of what new attractions that will be included here as part of the expansion has yet to be finalized at this time, but they do say to expect a new wave pool, family raft slide, a mat racer, adult pool, a water play structure and more.
Construction is expected to begin this Spring and be ready to open sometime between Late 2025 and Early 2026.
Myrtle Waves (Myrtle Beach, SC)
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... Nothing added in 2025
Nashville Shores (Tennessee)
Premier Parks
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2022 - 2025 either
Noah’s Ark (Wisconson Dells)
Palace Entertainment
2026 - Nothing is known at this time...
NRH2O (Texas)
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... Nothing added in 2025
Ocean Breeze (Virginia)
Owned by EPR Properties
Managed by Premier Parks, LLC
Park News - (12/5/2025) EPR Properties announced a new $113 million Leaseback deal to add more leisure properties to their portfolio. The deal included a group of five championship golf courses as well as the acquisition and leaseback of the Ocean Breeze Waterpark in Virginia Beach, VA.
Prior to the deal Ocean Breeze was owned and run by Premier Parks, though according to my brief records, it doesn’t look like they’ve been able to add anything new to the park since before the pandemic. Typically when a park makes a leaseback deal like this, the property may not be on their best financial footing, so often a deal like this comes at a point where the owners are faced with the options of closing the park or selling the park, or making a leaseback deal in the hope that an influx of cash from the deal will allow needed capital improvement projects to be made to try and save the park.
According to the press release, “Ocean Breeze waterpark will be leased and operated by an affiliate of Premier Parks, a long-time strategic partner of the Company.” However, they do not name who this partner who is taking over the park actually is.
Premier Parks website currently states that they operate 14 parks, though they don’t specify directly which of these parks they actually own in comparison to which parks they act as the management company for someone else. As last check I believe Premier owned the Wet ‘n’ Wild Toronto and Nashville Shores waterparks, but I’m not sure about the other waterparks. As for the actual amusement parks, they serve as the operator/manager for Wild Waves and Magic Springs (who are owned by EPR Properties) as well as operate Elitch Gardens for Kroenke Sports and Entertainment.
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2022 - 2025 either
OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark (Oklahoma) New in 2025
2026 - Nothing is known at this time...
Raging Rivers (Grafton, IL)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... nothing added in 2023 - 2025
Raging Waters Sacramento
California Dreamin’ Entertainment
(Formerly: Six Flags WaterWorld)
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2025
Raging Waters San Dimas (San Dimas, CA)
Lucky Strike Entertainment
2026 - Nothing is known at this time...
Raging Waves (Yorkville, Illinois)
2026- Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2022 - 2025 either
Rapids Water Park (West Palm Beach, FL)
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2025
Roaring Springs (Idaho)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2024 - 2025
Sahara Sam’s (West Berlin, New Jersey)
IB Parks & Entertainment
2026 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing was known to be added from 2017 - 2025
Sandcastle Waterpark (Pennsylvania)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2023 - 2025
Schlitterbahn Waterparks - These parks have their own designated page. CLICK HERE.
 Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Concord
Operated By Six Flags for EPR Properties
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2022 - 2025 either
 Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Phoenix
(Phoenix, AZ)
Formerly: Wet ‘n’ Wild Phoenix
Owned by EPR Properties
Managed by Six Flags Theme Parks
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2022 - 2025 either
 Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Rockford
(Rockford, IL)
Formerly: Magic Waters
Managed by Six Flags Theme Parks
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2022 - 2025 either
 Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown
(Houston, TX)
Formerly: Wet ‘n’ Wild SplashTown
Owned by EPR Properties
Managed by Six Flags Theme Parks
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2022 - 2025 either
Soak ‘N Fun (Baton Rouge, LA)
Formerly: Dixie Landin’ & Blue Bayou
2026 - Expected To Open Under New Ownership - (8/6/2025) According to the local news, the Blue Bayou Waterpark will open next season under all new management. Apparently the operator of Gulf Island Waterpark (Mississippi) is taking over the operations of Blue Bayou and it will reopen next season under the “Soak’n Fun” brand name.
Splash Summit (Provo, Utah)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2022 - 2025 either
Splish Splash (Long Island, NY)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
SuperSplash USA (Missouri / Formerly Big Surf Waterpark)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time...
 Typhoon Texas (Austin, TX)
2026 - Nothing is known at this point in time... Nothing added in 2022 - 2025 either
Typhoon Texas (Houston, TX)
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... Nothing added in 2023 - 2025
Water Country (New England) -
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... Nothing added in 2023 - 2026
Water World Colorado (Denver, Colorado)
2026 - New Calypso Cove - (8/30/2025) The famous Water World waterpark in the Denver area has confirmed that the park’s Calypso Cove area has been shut down this week. The Cove area will be retired after 40 years to be redeveloped into something new. Apparently this also means the removal of the popular attractions there: Screamin’ Mimi, Pirate’s Plunge, Tortuga Run as well as the nearby Wally World kiddie area. (See videos below of the closing attractions)
According to Water World, an all new version of Calypso Cove will return for the 2026 season with “fresh attractions and modern amenities” that will better serve their guests for years to come. Labor Day Weekend marks the end of the park’s 2025 operating season.
Wet ‘n Wild Emerald Pointe (Greensboro, NC)
Lucky Strike Entertainment
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... Nothing added in 2023 - 2025
Wet ‘n’ Wild Hawaii (Oahu, Hawaii)
2026 - Nothing is known at this time...
Wet ‘n’ Wild Toronto (Toronto, Canada)
Formerly: Wild Water Kingdom
Owned by: Premier Parks LLC
2026 - Nothing is known at this time, nothing was known to be added from 2018 - 2025
Wicked Waves Cape Cod (West Yarmouth, MA)
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... nothing added in 2025
Wild Rivers (Irvine, CA)
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... Nothing in 2024 - 2025
Wilderness Resort (Wisconsin Dells)
2026 - Nothing is known at this time... Nothing in 2024 - 2025
Wilderness at the Smokies / Soaky Mountain Waterpark (Sevierville, TN)
Check out the Screamscape review of the awesome Wilderness at the Smokies Hotel & Waterpark Resort.
2026 - Nothing is known at this time...
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