Thursday, 20 October 2011

Theme Parks: What's Hot Now: Las Vegas' Water Park Oasis

Theme Parks: What's Hot Now
These articles that had the largest increase in popularity over the last week // via fulltextrssfeed.com
Las Vegas' Water Park Oasis
Oct 20th 2011, 10:20

Wet 'n Wild Las Vegas closed in 2004. The company says that it may reopen in a different Las Vegas location. For now, you can read the About Theme Parks Guide review and overview of the shuttered park.

Previous page: Wet 'n Wild Overview

Las Vegas' Wet 'n Wild is more about the attractions than about lush landscaping. And what attractions! The most unique, and the one most likely to incite an acute panic attack, is Bomb Bay. Perched atop a 76-foot-tall slide alongside the famous Vegas Strip is a one-person capsule that looks like a bomb. But any person crazy enough to step inside this contraption becomes the projectile. After receiving some cursory instructions from the ride operator, guests enter the nearly vertical capsule, the doors close, their hearts race in anticipation, and the floor springs open for a hair-raising (and wedgie-inducing) almost freefall plunge.

The adjoining Der Stuka speed slide provides nearly the same experience minus the bay-door launch. It always cracks me up when water parks instruct guests to cross their arms (and legs) before heading down speed slides. I guess it prevents extremities from getting tangled in the slides, but riders look like they're striking funeral home poses. For Wet 'n Wild's heart-in-your-throat speed slides, the pose seems particularly appropriate.

Willy Willy is a most peculiar ride. Jets propel guests in tubes around a circular trough to create a kind of human pinball machine. The ride alternates between two speed cycles: mild for younger kids (and wimpy adults) and fast for daredevils.

As its name implies, The Black Hole is a two-person raft ride through an enclosed tube of near total darkness. This makes the long, fast ride, with its steep drops, all the more thrilling. Claustrophobics may want to steer clear of this one.

The Royal Flush is a funnel-like ride that has been gaining popularity at water parks. Riders shoot down a slide into one of two bowls that look like giant toilets. The "open-lid" bowl has no top, while the "closed-lid" bowl's cover makes the ride more disorienting. After swirling them around a few revolutions, the ride flushes guests out the bottom, where they drop into a basin. Sometimes, riders emerge in very awkward positions from the bowls.

It'll cost you to be lazy

Unlike the tropical paradises to which other parks aspire, Wet 'n Wild has more of an urban, utilitarian feel. Its slightly dated "futuristic" appearance seems a bit tired and in need of some cosmetic surgery. However, the views of the Strip, the opulent casino palaces, and the surrounding Spring Mountains from the tops of the slides are magnificent.

Some of the attractions are clunkers. The only people experiencing any kind of rage on the Raging Rapids ride might be the ride operators. Strategically placed every few feet, they have to push stuck riders' tubes along to avoid traffic jams. Since guests grind to a halt many times, they never attain any appreciable speed. With all of the "potholes," it takes an incredible number of employees to keep this bogus ride "moving."

The lazy river is a fairly boring oval-shaped course around the wave pool. Worse, Wet 'n Wild forces guests to rent tubes for an additional fee in order to use its river. I find this practice infuriating. Customers who have already paid admission should not have to pay an upcharge to use one of the advertised attractions. Wet 'n Wild has an odd policy for its wave pool. Not only does it cycle the waves on and off, it demands that guests vacate the pool when the waves stop. When the temperature soars past 100, that's tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment.

The food is pedestrian. Work up an appetite while riding the rides and head to one of Vegas' famous buffets instead of buying the same-old, same-old burgers and pizza.

The attractions for young children are fairly skimpy. Then again, Las Vegas is really a playground for adults. As such, Wet 'n Wild is a great place to cool down and get some thrills before heading back to the craps tables.

Wet 'n Wild Photo Gallery

Previous page: Wet 'n Wild Overview

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