Wild Rivers Waterpark reopens in Irvine after 10-year hiatus
While a waterpark is a great way to beat the summer heat, many people flocking to the now officially open Wild Rivers in Orange County are searching for the old fun they remember from their childhood.
"I'm here for the rides because it's really hot outside and I think they cool me off," said 10-year-old Alex Soto.
In fact, it's cool enough that the young and the young-at-heart couldn't help, but ride, slide and wade all day long.
"I like the one that goes into the dark and just goes around and around," 10-year-old Matthew Spates said.
However, Wild Rivers didn't just get its start. It began back in 1986, a little spot in Irvine for locals splash on a hot day.
"We'd get dropped off in the morning, picked up at the end of the day. No cellphones, like we lived in that wave pool when we were kids," Huntington Beach resident Jon Pugh told CBSLA.
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In 2011, though, they paved over paradise and put up a parking lot, with apartments.
"Unfortunately, they developed all that land," Pugh said.
However, after a 10-year long hiatus, the rivers run again.
"They have loved it and they have missed it and it's something the community has wanted to see come back," said Eric Gieszl, director of guest experience at the water park.
The new Wild Rivers is built on The Great Park in Irvine, and it's bigger and better than ever before.
"We're going to have four, six person family-raft rides here," Gieszl said. "That's the first park outside the Orlando market to have four of them."
It also still has Cooks Cove, a massive wave pool and slides that look familiar.
"The nostalgia is just uncanny, to be honest," said one adult park goer. "It's my birthday and I'm going to do the reverse of 31 going on 13."
For those looking for a little less adventure, the new lazy river is more than a quarter-long, and for the fun aunt in every family, just so you know, adult beverages are coming soon.
The new Wild Rivers is giving a little piece of the past to the grownups and a new adventure for those sliding and splashing for the very first time.
