Water World, Colorado

Infobox Water park
name = Water World


caption =
location = Federal Heights
location2 = Colorado
location3 = United States flagicon|USA
coordinates =
address = 88th & Pecos StFederal Heights, CO 80221
phone_numbers = 303-427-7873
homepage = http://www.waterworldcolorado.com/
owner =
general_manager =
opening_date =
closing_date =
previous_names =
season = Late May through early September
area =
pools =
slides =
slogan =

Water World is a water park that is part of the Hyland Hills Park and Recreation District and located in Federal Heights, Colorado, roughly 10 miles north of downtown Denver, Colorado. The park first opened in 1979 and is generally open from Memorial Day through Labor Day but may be closed some school days.

The park occupies 67 acres (259,000 m²) making it one of the largest water parks in the U.S. in terms of acreage, and as of the 2008 season, has over 44 attractions including a multitude of water slides (one of which is called the "Flat Line", featuring a 70 degree speed drop down the 80 foot tall slide), a "lazy river" (a circular artificial river with a slow moving current), inflatable tube rides, multi-passenger inflatable raft rides, and a water-themed fun house. The park has two wave pools which include the older and tamer Captain Jack's Wave Pool, as well as the newer and more intense Thunder Bay wave pool, which shocks park guests with a single giant wave of water (reaching 8 feet in height) approximately every five minutes.

The park has several more unique water attractions as well, some of the most notable being the "Screamin' Mimi" a ride where guests take board-type vehicles down a roller coaster like track, reaching speeds of 30 mph before landing in a pool and bouncing across the water. The space bowl sends riders down an enclosed body slide before entering an enclosed circular bowl and dropping out into a pool of water. One of the park's newest attractions is similar to the space bowl, "Revolution" sends guests down a slide into an open bowl as well, however riders ride on rafts instead of it being a body slide. Also notable is the popular pitch black inflatable raft slide, "Storm" which includes lighting and sound effects. The park's newest attraction is the "Turbo Racer" opened in 2007, a racing slide attraction, which features eight side by side lanes and an open air finish.

However Water World's trademark attraction is a unique raft water slide that takes place completely inside. It's called "Voyage to the Center of the Earth", and riders ride in small circular multi passenger inflatable rafts, and travel through an artificial cavern. It is themed to a newly discovered cave that reportedly has creatures from the prehistoric era still inhabiting it. It includes steep downward spirals, sudden drop offs, and various dinosaurs, including a "T. rex" encounter at the end of the ride. The ride is unusual for a water park attraction, in its extensive theming, and in that it can take in excess of 5 minutes to complete, making it one of the longest rides at any water park. Some footage of the ride can be viewed on the park's website. [http://waterworldcolorado.com/pages/voyage2.html] .

New for 2008 is the Big Top located immediately adjacent to Turbo Racer. Big Top is a family fun zone including a completely renovated FunHouse, a small pool and two water slides for younger children, new concessions, restrooms, shade structures and more - all with a Circus theme.

The park is ranked number 7 by a 2006 Travel Channel list of the top 10 water parks in the United States. [http://travel.discovery.com/fansites/worldsbest/waterpark/waterpark.html]

External links

* [http://www.waterworldcolorado.com Water World Official Website]
* [http://www.hylandhills.org Hyland Hills park and recreation district]