| Six Flags White Water Atlanta | |
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| Six Flags White Water entrance | |
| Location | Cobb County, Georgia, U.S. |
| Website | Official website |
| Owner | Private investors; managed by Six Flags Inc |
| Opened | May 1984 |
| Operating season | May through September |
| Area | 69 acres (280,000 m2)[1] |
| Rides | 20 total |
Six Flags White Water is a 69-acre (280,000 m2) water park located northwest of Atlanta, in unincorporated Cobb County. Originally opening in 1984 as White Water Atlanta, the park became part of the Six Flags family of parks in 1999. Today, it is marketed as a second gate to Six Flags Over Georgia, and the two parks often cross-promote each other.
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Six Flags White Water was constructed by Silver Dollar City, a theme park company known today as Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation, as a corporate sibling to their White Water park in Branson, Missouri, and first opened in 1984. In June 1998, the park was the site of an E. coli outbreak, which sickened at least ten children,[2] including the son of then-Atlanta Braves baseball player Walt Weiss.[3] In May 1999, the park was sold to the group of limited partners that own the nearby Six Flags Over Georgia theme park, with the park becoming "Six Flags White Water," and, like its sister park, being managed by Six Flags Theme Parks.[4] Today, the two parks operate together, despite being several miles apart, with each offering promotions for the other.
Six Flags White Water is one of four stand-alone Six Flags water parks, and the only one of the group to not use the "Hurricane Harbor" name.
In late 2010, Six Flags began the process of removing licensed themes from attractions. They terminated several licenses including their license with The Wiggles. Wiggles Water World was rethemed to Buccaneer Bay in time for the 2011 season.[5][6]
Six Flags White Water is made up of five separate sections, each with a number of attractions. When it first opened, the park consisted of what is today Wildwater Lagoon, Slippery Ridge and Pine Valley. Flash Flood Canyon was added in 1998, prior to the acquisition by Six Flags, and Buccaneer Bay was added in 2010 (formerly known as Wiggles Water World in the 2010 season and rethemed in 2011).
Wildwater Lagoon includes the park's main entrance and its primary services, including Guest Service and First Aid. It is built around an activity pool, which includes splashdown areas for the three Body Flumes, the two Rapids raft flumes and the two Bonzai pipe slides. The Mutiny Chute plunge slide and Lizard's Tail kids' slides are also located here.
Pine Valley is home to the park's wave pool, the Atlanta Ocean, and its lazy river, known as the Little Hooch, named in honor of the nearby Chattahoochee River. Children can play in the Captain Kid's Cove and Treehouse Island play areas, while their older siblings and parents can slide into the giant blue and yellow funnel of Tornado.
In Slippery Ridge, visitors can experience the high-speed Dragon's Tail speed slides, or "compete" on the six-lane 100-Meter Splash racing slides. Raft riders can enjoy the enclosed Black River Falls and Gulf Coast Screamer slides solo, or share the experience at the Caribbean Plunge. The Bahama Bob-Slide uses large round rafts with up to six riders at once, while the adjacent Tidal Wave body flume lands in a splash pool connected to the Little Hooch lazy river.
Flash Flood Canyon contains the park's tallest single slide, the Cliffhanger, which shares a tower with the Run-A-Way River family raft slide, and includes Buccaneer Bay added in 2010 (formerly known as Wiggles Water World in the 2010 season and rethemed in 2011).
First opened in 1990, the American Adventures family entertainment center operated next door to White Water, even using the same parking lot. This facility included a number of common carnival rides and other attractions geared towards families with small children. While the park was a separate gate from White Water, the two promoted each other often, to the point of having a connecting pathway between the two park entrances. When Six Flags acquired White Water in 1999, American Adventures was included in the purchase, and the park was considered one of Six Flags' minor parks. However, in May 2008, the park was leased to a new operator, Zuma Holdings, which no longer co-branded the park with Six Flags White Water. In 2010, American Adventures closed its doors for good, citing "circumstances beyond our control."
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