U.S. company banks on wet and wild fun in T.O.
Premier Parks poured $25M into waterpark after it purchased the rough-looking site last year
A world-class city like Toronto should have its share of fun attractions, including a decent stand-alone water park.
That’s exactly what Premier Parks of Oklahoma City thought. They recently snapped up the defunct Wild Water Kingdom, invested more than $25 million and transformed it into the new Wet ’n’ Wild Toronto, located on Finch Ave. W. in Brampton.
The new park had a soft open with some attractions working in June and a full opening on Canada Day weekend.
The park dates back to the 1980s, when it was called Sunshine Beach. Later, as Wild Water Kingdom, it expanded with a huge wave pool and, later, saltwater attractions and a zip line.
But in recent years, the rides started to look a little rough. In 2015, the park closed.
Premier had been eyeing the attraction for some time. It runs 16 other amusement and water parks across the U.S. and knew there was demand in Toronto, despite the short warm season. “This is one of the last sizable markets in North America,” says Steve Mayer, general manager of the new park.
The purchase, which went down last summer, was unique. The land is actually owned by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TCRA), which rents it out to the water park. The site sprawls over 99 acres, half of it green space leading down to the nearby Claireville Reservoir. Some of the site hosts a sports complex.
With most of the water-park equipment of limited value, Premier negotiated a lease with the TRCA, took over management of the complex and got to work renovating the park starting last fall. (Mayer says much of the $25-million Premier says it spent went into construction costs.)
“We tried to salvage everything we could,” Mayer says of the work on the site. “It’s harder to tinker with the older ones than put in new ones, by far.”
He’s calling Premier’s work on the attractions an “extreme water park makeover.”
The biggest change is the removal of the minigolf near the main entrance.
It’s now been replaced with the massive and colourful Krazy Kanuck and Caribbean Chaos.
(The new slides were made in Ottawa by ProSlide Technology, a North American leader in waterslide manufacturing.)
Afew steps past that there’s the new Wet ’n’ Wild Jr., a water wonderland for the small set. For tired parents, 12 cabanas available for rent sit nearby.
Along with another huge water structure for youngsters — Bear Footin’ Bay — the new park is all about the thrill rides.
Those include Hurricane, Canada’s longest bowl ride; Typhoon; and Oh Canada!, the country’s longest and tallest capsule ride.
All in all, there are 12 attractions here and a total of 33 slides.
All of the facilities such as the food vendors, change rooms and lockers have either been rebuilt or upgraded.
Admission is $39.95 plus HST for an adult, $15 for parking and $89.95 for a season’s pass.