Wild Waves Theme Park Review, Seattle's Amusement & Water Park | Too Many Ride Closures Unless...

Wild Waves Theme Park is the main amusement and water park in the Seattle metro area. Located in Federal Way, this park is currently owned by Premier Parks, but for a short stint it was owned by Six Flags. This park has a solid ride lineup, but it's plagued by ride closures. This video talks about how to avoid this issues and reviews the park as a whole.
Video Credits
Classic Coaster (Airtime Thrills)- • Classic Coaster at Was...
Fright Fest (Wild Waves)- • Fright Fest 2022
Fun Forest (Menachem Piekarski)- • fun forest seattle was...
Background Music
Motivational Uplifting Corporate by Infraction [No Copyright Music] Podcast- • Motivational Uplifting...

[@MelissaAndAlex]

I have so many memories of going to enchanted village as a kid. I remember the six flags update thinking it was so cool. It’s sad that it’s had nothing done for years

[@CanobieCoaster]

It's unfortunate the park has been stagnant.

[@thesledgehammerblog]

Your video actually makes this park look it's in a lot better shape than it was the last time I was there (My wife and I had season passes in 2021 but we moved out of the area in 2022.) Back then even the weekends had short queues and lots of closures with the possible exception of Wild Thing due to its slow operations, and the only time I ever really saw it crowded was during Halloween. This park feels like it could be somewhat decent if they added a few more rides (replace the incredibly painful Klondike Gold Rusher with an RMC Wild Moose, and add a couple more decent flat rides to fill in some of the holes) but it just feels like the current ownership is just waiting until they reach the point where the land is worth more than the park so they can sell it to someone to tear the whole place down and turn it into townhouses.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I'd love to see a new owner come in and maximize this park's potential.

[@mitchellries256]

The problem I had with this park wasn't only that there were so many rides closed but also that there weren't enough rides in general. That, along with some weird operations, makes this my least favorite park I've personally been to.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I think the quantity of rides is ok. It's the closures that hurt most.

[@mitchellries256]

@@CanobieCoaster It is if you include the waterpark. But I personally would rather have spent another full day exploring Seattle over this.

[@jordanolafson]

I have so many great memories of the old body slides- the black and white speed slides, and the green twisting slides. It's a real shame they got rid of them without replacement. With what they have on offer nowadays, and with how dilapidated everything feels, I'd rather do the roadtrip to Silverwood.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I much prefer Silverwood.

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

[@CanobieCoaster]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@danielthayer8713]

I live near this park and I have only gone once and don’t intend to go back until they add something new. I might have been spoiled growing up in between Cedar Point, Six Flags Great America, and Michigan’s Adventure but I miss a park that makes me want to come back.

[@CanobieCoaster]

This park really needs more investment.

[@kylec.2075]

As someone who has lived here for my whole life, the main problem with the park is the climate. I've visited this park since I was 3 years old, loved the wave pool, worked my way up to various rides, and just genuinely grew up having a season pass every so often. The only issue with the park is that it rains here for 3/5 of the year, and the park really is stuck operating from like May to August, with a small opening again in October. It's hard to staff because a lot of seasonal jobs in malls have better offerings and better pay for a longer period of time. I honestly love this place because of the memories I've made and it honestly has a significant place in my heart when I pass it every day for work. I hope it gets some TLC, because a lot of Washingtonians care deeply for it. Also, Ring of Fire had to go. That thing was a shaking deathtrap that was rattling apart.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I don't mind visiting parks in rain. It just frustrates me when parks use it as a reason to close early.

[@benkizer9509]

So much potential with this park. It has good bones. The problem is they have changed ownership so many times that it's just kind of a mess. The water park gets most of the focus, and it's good, but the theme park side is a lot of closed rides and a lot of empty spaces. It's too bad, I see it all the time when I go up to visit Seattle from Portland, and it looks so cool, but it's just blah. With a little TLC and investment, this could give the PNW a much needed thrill ride theme park that isn't just Oaks or Enchanted Forest, which both have their charm, but aren't known for their roller coasters. Seattle has the population and money for this to happen. Silverwood is awesome, but it's not that close.

[@CanobieCoaster]

Their operations need the most work. The amount of ride closures on a daily basis is really frustrating.

[@jgriff22]

I rode that water ride while I visited Opryland in 1995!! It was named the Old Mill Scream. I know the water ride is nothing special, and watching your and other channels the 2 roller coasters saved from Opryland USA (Kong - Six Flags Discovery Kingdom and Canyon Blaster - Great Escape) aged very badly, but I still think of the years that I rode them at Opryland and have great memories of them ❤️.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I'm glad parts of Opryland have lived on.

[@CivilianSatellite]

I had fun on my visit, but all of the closed rides hardly made it worth the cost of admission. I do like the setting of the park though, it made for a relaxing walkthrough when lines at the Washington State Fair started getting too long.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I'm guessing you went around Labor Day if the fair was open? Which is sad they struggle to staff at that point.

[@CivilianSatellite]

@@CanobieCoaster It was Labor Day weekend 2021. So I'm guessing the park was either still hamstrung by covid restrictions, or were using the pandemic as an excuse to save on staffing.

[@aaronsanislo8420]

Last time I went was about 10 years ago. We were there for 4 hours and only managed to go on 4 rides. I live in Federal Way, I have no desire to go back.

[@CanobieCoaster]

Busy or ride closures?

[@urbex_coasters]

I went today. It's comicly bad. I biked to the park from my hotel, to avoid paying the $20 to park. They were so unprepared for a bike! Like, one employee said "put it here" and his supervisor hunted me down to say "it can't be there, the health department says people can use that to jump the fence" (and why is that their jurisdiction anyways?). Mind you, I had been standing in the park for 45 minutes already as they let us through security and ticketing before opening the park. He couldn't bother himself to say something sooner? And that's not the only instance of a supervisor being objectively terrible at their job, the girl standing there saying "I can't let you back without my supervisor" didn't even know what time she was allowed to let us back. She was very friendly, this is a failure on the supervisor to be clear. Like, 2 horrendous instances of them not knowing how to communicate and I'm not even really in the park yet! Once I got in the park I wanted to make Timberhawk my first ride, as it's the main reason Wild Waves was worth going to for me. Guess what? Closed for maintainance and not listed online anywhere. I recognise that maintainance is necessary but you'd think they would be able to bother themselves enough to post online that their star attraction is closed. Following that the day was pretty uneventful, I got the other credits and left basically. Glad I didn't sink $80-$100 into it like many do. That said, Wild Thing is pretty good for a relocated loopscrew. Their kiddie "coaster" (in quotes because no reliance on gravity=not a coaster) is actually pretty good, single position lap bars and no seat divider and the laterals are pretty crazy on the helix. If you want to class that as a coaster I genuinely would put it over Klondike Gold Rusher (was open for me, no laterals were presenr at all on Gold Rusher). A kiddie coaster over a Wild Mouse shows how pathetic that Wild Mouse is.

[@CanobieCoaster]

Sorry you had a rough experience. I've heard quite a few enthusiasts find Timberhawk closed in recent years. I have been lucky in my visits.

[@PumpkinBear]

i'm hoping but doubtful that wild waves gets a new coaster for its 50th anniversary in 2027 because its my home park maybe a rmc raptor because it would be a cheap ride with lots of airtime and inversions but it might be too close to silverwood

[@CanobieCoaster]

I wish they'd add something like that.

[@MrSRArter]

I wish Six Flags reacquired the operating rights to this park at the same time they reacquired the operating rights to Darien Lake and Frontier City. Wild Waves pretty much is the Darien Lake of the western US.

[@CanobieCoaster]

That would have been nice.

[@urbex_coasters]

Sad to hear that. I'll be going opening weekend as part of my journey south for my job this summer. If it's anything like Darien Lake, that is the worst park I've been to, having been legitimately stalked by a man with a pocket knife because...oh no...I dared to tell the ride op he had whipped out a knife while in line. He obviously wasn't kicked out over the knife if he could stalk me over it. And on top of that we're talking a lineup that's mostly a lineup of bad clones.

[@BigNatesAdventures]

My first coaster was corkscrew at Rocky point 1985❤️✌️

[@CanobieCoaster]

Nice!

[@Carefull17]

I went there a lot in 2021 2022 and 2023. i just hope they can fix the place somehow

[@CanobieCoaster]

I hope they can improve it as well.

[@DukeDude129]

It’s pretty interesting how I keep hearing people complain about how half the rides are closed most of the time, but every time I go their, I can’t even find A SINGLE ride that is closed.

[@CanobieCoaster]

That's very fortunate.

[@Godzillafanboy89]

I went yesterday all rides were open and when I left timber hawk broke down lol also sadly fun Forest closed in 2009-2010 and it's rides were either shipped off or demolished

[@CanobieCoaster]

They were open on a Thursday?

[@Godzillafanboy89]

@@CanobieCoaster yeah for once

[@Godzillafanboy89]

@@CanobieCoaster I miss fun Forest tho sad it's gone

[@urbex_coasters]

@@Godzillafanboy89It's now playground equipment, any remains of the park are paved over.

[@nancyfarkas3592]

I can see why weekdays would not be that busy. People work. Even during the summer. But most people are off on the weekends. So it’s more crowded.

[@CanobieCoaster]

A lot of parks can staff parks with kids out of school on weekdays, but this one still seems to struggle.

[@rct3isepic]

Will you also be doing a video on the Miners Landing downtown?

[@CanobieCoaster]

The only video I'll have is the Great Seattle Wheel POV. I did Wings Over Washington, but couldn't get footage.

[@rct3isepic]

@@CanobieCoaster I know, we've recently lifted that ban. I have footage of it if you want to use it

[@caseyboron8300]

Wild Waves is (sadly) my home park. We haven't gone in about 4 years. Instead, my best friend and even my family have gone to Silverwood in Idaho. Wild Waves is absolutely terrible. The water park is okay but the dry park is STRUGGLING. They need to replace the rides they've taken out, get better staffing, better maintain the rides they have and simply revamp the park completely. Wild Waves needs some serious help. Hopefully they'll get it together and the park will turn it around (for the better of course.)

[@CanobieCoaster]

I much prefer Silverwood myself.

[@zacg_]

The Pacific Northwest ought to do way better than this. The best offerings are Enchanted Forest (which is very cool but still small) and Silver Wood (if you count Idaho as the PNW) but that's VERY isolated. Wild Waves is just not enough. It's my lowest ranked park and I grew up in the PNW.

[@CanobieCoaster]

Silverwood and PNE's Coaster are the region's 2 highlights.

[@urbex_coasters]

@@CanobieCoasterAnd Puyallup Fair's Classic Coaster down the road from Wild Waves (I literally drove past Wild Waves and it was closed when I went south for Puyallup Fair). It's too bad it's basically impossible to hit both in 1 trip.

[@Darkaxelgaming-tt7ip]

I heard that wild waves might add a new ride.

[@CanobieCoaster]

Hopefully!

[@seangallagher6698]

They've been saying that for years. I wouldn't hold my breath.

[@sdc5914]

Went on the busiest day and rides where still closed. Ops are terrible. Worst park I've ever been to

[@CanobieCoaster]

I really wish they could improve their ride availability.

[@sdc5914]

@CanobieCoaster I was there labor day weekend this year, and Timberhawk was down, Klondike was 1 train, all water slides had lines out the entrance, and the wave pool was full, and didn't look like it had enough water. Wild thing was fun though haha

[@Spongenadoaltaccount]

Every time I go there at least half of the rides are closed

[@CanobieCoaster]

Happens to me as well.

[@zacharyyamashita8554]

Let’s face it, the Pacific Northwest needs a new major theme park.

[@CanobieCoaster]

At least Silverwood is nearby.

[@thesledgehammerblog]

At this point I think the land near any of the major PNW cities is just too expensive and the zoning too restricted for one to be practical.