White Water Bay (Oklahoma)
| White Water Bay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Slogan | We Set the Stage! Come Be the Star! |
| Location | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States |
| Coordinates | 35°27′41″N 97°35′19″W / 35.461378°N 97.588506°WCoordinates: 35°27′41″N 97°35′19″W / 35.461378°N 97.588506°W |
| Owner |
Herschend Family Entertainment (1981-1991) Six Flags (1991-2007) CNL Lifestyle Properties (2007-2017) EPR Properties (2017-) |
| Operated by | Premier Parks, LLC |
| General Manager | David Riddles |
| Opened | May 23, 1981 |
| Previous names | White Water |
| Operating season | May to September |
| Area | Meridian Oklahoma City |
| Pools | 3 (Wave Pool, Activity Pool and Kids Pool) pools |
| Water slides | 12 (11 Operational) water slides |
| Website | www.WhiteWaterBay.com |
White Water Bay is a water theme park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma built in 1981. Built by the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation and originally known as White Water, the water park was picked up by Premier Parks (then known as Tierco) in 1991 and its name was changed to White Water Bay. Both White Water Bay and the nearby theme park Frontier City were sold again in a seven park package by Six Flags on January 11, 2007, for $312 million. White Water Bay is currently owned by EPR Properties and operated by Premier Parks, LLC.
Rides include
- 'The Acapulco Cliff Dive', Built in 2005, it is a 277-foot-long (84 m) speed slide that features a 64-foot (20 m) free fall. '52" Height Requirement (green)
- ' The Mega Wedgie' is a water slide that begins with a short drop, then levels out in a section with water flowing into the slide, and ends with a long drop to the splash area below. 52" Height Requirement (white)
- 'The Bermuda Triangle'*, is a set of three flume-style rides that allow single riders with inner tubes*. It is roughly seven storeys tall and reaches speeds of 35 miles per hour. The Bermuda Triangle's starting pools are atop the same tower as those of the "Mega Wedgie" and "The Acapulco Cliff Dive". This tower is clearly visible from Interstate 40, with an American flag that could be seen flying on a pole mounted at the top of the tower. 36" Height Requirement
- 'Cannonball Falls' is two slides, each with an 8-foot (2.4 m) drop into a splash pool. One of Cannonball Fall's slides is enclosed and features a long left turn followed by a short right turn before dropping into the pool. The other slide is not enclosed, and has no turns. Cannonball Falls's splash pool has two exits; one is a stairway onto the walkway at ground level, and the other is an entry into "Castaway Creek". 42" Height Requirement
- 'The Big Kahuna', Opened in 1995, this family tube ride takes up to four passengers down a 542-foot (165 m) flume slide and then into a 4-foot (1.2 m) pool for a splash landing. Sits on ground formerly occupied by the defunct "All American Plunge". 36" Height Requirement
- 'Swashbuckler Flumes'* is a single-passenger flume slide that requires single tubes only. 36" Height Requirement
- 'Lazy River' is a 4-foot-deep (1.2 m) canal that travels around the park by a slow-moving current.
- 'The Gangplank' is a rock face eleven-feet above the surface of the water at the north end of "Shipwreck Island". No Height Requirement.
- 'Shipwreck Island' is an activity pool with wobbly "Lily Pads", a set of high jump rocks known as "The Gangplank", and four body slides: "Calypso Cannonball", "Blackbeard's Revenge", and two SBNO rock slides.
- 'Keelhaul Falls' is a shallow water tube ride that floats from one pool to the next via short drops and slides. 36" Height Requirement
- 'Pirates's Plunge'*, Formerly called "The Black Hole", it is a tube flume slide that takes goes through a dark tunnel and then out into the west end of "Shipwreck Island". 36" Height Requirement
- 'Blackbeard's Revenge' is a body slide that follows a clockwise turn and then exits at water-level close to the middle of "Shipwreck Island". 36" Height Requirement
- 'Calypso Cannonball' is a short body slide that exits at water level into the north end of "Shipwreck Island". 36" Height Requirement
- 'The Wave Pool' is a large pool with depths ranging from the zero depth entry to roughly eight feet. The waves are on for five minutes and then off for thirteen minutes. Top of every hour the pool is cleared for cleaning.
- 'Barefootin' Bay' is a family attraction
- All rides and slides with a tube have three options: Child(small) '48" and under ONLY!', Adult(Big), and/or Double tubes.
Certain rides & attractions, including new rides, may not be open at all times due to maintenance, weather and other circumstances.
Rides on opening day
Every major water ride except one is in place when White Water opened in 1981 is still operational today. The only exception to the rule is the Caribbean Cruise which was replaced by The Big Kahuna in the mid 1990s. Some aspects of the rides (particularly changes at what is now Shipwreck Island) have changed over the years. Below is a list of the names of the rides on opening day, and what they are currently named.
- Great Sea Wave, now known simply as The Wave Pool.
- The Twister and The Sidewinder, now known collectively as Swashbuckler Flumes.
- Pirate's Cove, currently known as Shipwreck Island.
- The Rapids, now known as Keelhaul Falls.
- Little Squirts Island, now known as Barefootin' Bay.
Attraction and Special Events
Dive In Movies - An arrangement of movies from rated g-pg-13, The Bay hosts a movie in the wave pool area. They close the entire park except the wave pool and the guests who stay to watch the movie relax in chairs or enter the water to enjoy the movie. Movie starts at when it gets dark and finishes at the end of the duration of the film.
Defunct rides
- All American Plunge, A speed slide that stood where the Big Kahuna is today. Guests rode special kickboards through a small gate and down this slide facing forwards. Guests could either sit atop the kickboard or lie atop it on their stomachs and ride the All American Plunge head first into the splash pool.
Often riders would skip across the surface of the splash pool on their kickboards in the same way a stone skips across a pond. Due to this, inflated inner tubes were secured to the south end of the splash pool to prevent an impact with the concrete. Also to help prevent this, the kickboards were molded with ridges on the bottom.
For the first two years of this ride's existence, it was ridden without the kickboards...just laying on one's back. (Stomach riding was not allowed). After several injuries due to the way the people would hit the water, the kickboards were added for safety reasons.
There was also a miniature golf area present in the current area on the Northwest corner. The course is still there just no longer used due to the unpopularity of the attraction.
Notes
White Water acquired by Premier Parks