Noah's Ark Water Park
| Noah's Ark Water Park |
| Location |
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, United States |
| Address |
1410 Wisconsin Dells Parkway, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965 |
| Website |
http://noahsarkwaterpark.com/ |
| Owner |
Noah's Ark Family Park, Inc. |
| Opened |
1979 |
| Operating season |
May 24 through September 1 |
| Area |
70 acres (280,000 m2) |
| Attractions |
|
| Slogan |
"America's Largest Waterpark" |
|
| Amusement Parks Portal |
Noah's Ark (officially Noah's Ark Family Park Inc.) is America's largest water park, with 49 water slides and dozens of other various attractions. Located in the city of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin (the "Water Park Capital of the World," with 18 indoor water parks), Noah's Ark is a popular tourist attraction. The Travel Channel hailed Noah's Ark as "the place for water in the Midwest."[1]
History
In 1979, the Waterman family purchased 205 feet (62 m) of frontage property on U.S. Highway 12 in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin and created a bumper boat ride and built a go-kart track.[2] 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.[3] In 2003, Noah's Ark Waterpark celebrated 25 years of operation. The park opened "Noah's Incredible Adventure",[4] The park uses over 2 million gallons of water on its rides. Its lifeguards earned the Platinum Award from Jeff Ellis and Associates Inc. (2006) This is the highest waterpark safety rating possible.[5]
Rides
Waterslides
- Jungle Rapids (1980) – Oldest slides; opened with three slides and added two more in 1981
- The Plunge (1984) – Two mat racing speed slides
- Slidewinder (1985) – 5 twisting bodyslides
- The Bermuda Triangle (1988) – Three tube slides
- Bahama Falls (1989) – Three tube slides that empty into Adventure River
- Congo Bongo (1991) – Family raft ride
- Kowabunga (1993) – Family raft speed slides
- Black Thunder (1995) – Two-person or single tube slides in the dark
- Dark Voyage (1997) – Family raft ride 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) – The second-longest water coaster in the United States at over 0.25 miles (0.40 km) long (longest is Wildebeest at Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN which is 0.33 miles (0.53 km) long.[6]).
- Time Warp (2006) – The world's largest bowl ride.
- 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 upside down loop.
Wave pools
- The Wave (1987) – Wave pool
- Big Kahuna (1989) – Large wave pool, once was the largest wave pool in Wisconsin Dells, but has been beaten by Mt. Olympus's Surf Pool
Lazy rivers
- Endless River (1985) – Simple lazy river
- Adventure River (1989) – Lazy river
Other attractions
- Bumper Boats (1979)–First attraction built at Noah's Ark
- Miniature Golf (1980)–18 holes.
- Paradise Lagoon (1984) – An activity pool featuring slides and ziplines
- OctoExplorer (1994) – Children's play area
- Flash Flood (1999) – 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 created from the drop.
- Noah's 4-D Dive-In Theater (2007) – Midwest's Largest 4-D Theater featuring the movie Pirates 4-D[7]
- 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.[8]
- Curse of the Crypt (2009) A new attraction for 2009.[9]
Former attractions
- 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.[10]
- 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 2009.[10]
External links
References