Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown is a

water park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other baref ...

located north of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Spring, Texas Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston in Harris County, Texas, United States, part of the metropolitan area. The population was 62,559 at the 2020 census. While the name "Spring" is popu ...

, United States.Spring CDP, TX
." ''

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

''. Retrieved on May 5, 2009.

History

The land that Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown now occupies was, in the early 1980s, home to a

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

known as

Hanna-Barbera Land Hanna-Barbera Land was a theme park based on the cartoons of the Hanna-Barbera animation studio. It was located in the Spring, Texas, United States, north of Houston, and operated for the 1984 and 1985 seasons. After the park's closure followin ...

. Hanna-Barbera Land only operated for two seasons before its owners,

Kings Entertainment Company Kings Entertainment Company (KECO) owned and/or operated six theme parks around the world. The company was originally owned by Taft Broadcasting and in 1984 was purchased for $167.5 million by senior executives and general managers of Taft's Amus ...

, sold the park to private investors. The amusement park had all its

rides Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people especially kids to create fun and enjoyment. Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This ...

removed, with the new owners installing a

with several

water slide A water slide (also referred to as a flume, or water chute) is a type of slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size. Some slides require riders to s ...

s. Much of the park's Victorian buildings, street lights and landscaping remained. Splashtown USA opened to the public shortly after. In the 1990s, the park changed owners twice: first to the Morris Family in 1994, and then to

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any a ...

in May 1999. The acquisition was made by Six Flags to eliminate the park from being a competitor to its

Six Flags WaterWorld Six Flags AstroWorld, also known simply as AstroWorld, was a seasonally operated amusement park in Houston, Texas. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park was situated between Kirby Drive and Fannin Street, directly south of I-610. The park op ...

water park, also located in Houston. The park was renamed Six Flags SplashTown in 2000. Following the closure of Six Flags WaterWorld and the adjacent

Six Flags AstroWorld Six Flags AstroWorld, also known simply as AstroWorld, was a seasonally operated amusement park in Houston, Texas. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park was situated between Kirby Drive and Fannin Street, directly south of Interstate 610 (Te ...

in October 2005, Six Flags engaged in a restructuring of Six Flags SplashTown, which resulted in the termination of the park's General Manager, Operations Manager and Food Service Manager in early November 2005. In January 2006, it was announced that the former Operations Manager of WaterWorld would be the new Splashtown Operations Manager. Several of WaterWorld's attractions were relocated to SplashTown. The park underwent a "facelift" as well as general cleaning to prepare it for its opening day, April 28, 2006. The entrance received a new sign, with the addition of renovated buildings and ticket booths. In January 2007, Six Flags announced that SplashTown, along with six other parks, would be sold for a total of $312 million. The agreement saw Six Flags sell the properties to

PARC Management PARC Management, LLC is an operations company based in Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by are ...

, who in turn sold the properties to

CNL Lifestyle Properties 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * ''O1'' (Hiroyuki Sawa ...

. CNL would then lease the properties back to PARC Management under a 52-year triple-net lease. However, after less than three years into the 52-year contracts, CNL terminated their agreements with PARC Management in November 2010. In early 2011, CNL appointed Premier Attractions Management, LLC (now Premier Parks, LLC) as the new operators of the park. At the time, the limited liability company was led by former Six Flags employees Kieran Burke, the former chairman and CEO, and Gary Story, the former president and chief operating officer. In November 2013, CNL Lifestyle Properties acquired rights to the Wet'n'Wild brand in the United States from Australian firm,

Village Roadshow Theme Parks Village Roadshow Theme Parks is a division of Village Roadshow Limited which operates theme parks and attractions in Australia and the United States of America. The Sydney Attractions Group Pty Ltd was formerly part of Village Roadshow Theme Pa ...

. In the months to follow CNL rebranded several of its properties to Wet'n'Wild water parks, including SplashTown Houston, which became Wet'n'Wild SplashTown. The park itself received a multimillion-dollar renovation. In late 2016,

announced that it was selling ownership of fifteen attraction properties, including Wet'n'Wild Splashtown, along with five small family entertainment centers to EPR Properties for approximately $456 million. The transaction was completed in April 2017. Premier Parks LLC remained as the operator. On May 22, 2018, Six Flags acquired the leasing rights from Premier Parks LLC to manage several parks owned by EPR Properties. Splashtown was renovated in the offseason and in 2019 changed its name to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown. Due to the growing concerns of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Six Flags announced a suspension of operations across the company on March 13, 2020. Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown was scheduled to open for the 2020 season on May 22, but released a new opening date of June 29. On June 26, three days prior to the new opening date, the water park announced that its reopening was delayed indefinitely in order to follow local county government guidelines. In early August, park officials announced that the 2020 operating season had been canceled and that Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown looks forward to open again in 2021. This would be the first season for the water park to not operate since its inception in 1984. The water park reopened again, the following season on May 1, 2021. Two months after reopening for the 2021 season on July 17, 2021, over 60 park visitors were exposed to an airborne chemical leak and decontaminated. Six Flags officials stated that a third-party service company improperly installed the water filtration system for an outdoor kiddie pool. After the incident, the park remained closed for inspections until August 5, 2021.

References

CNL Terminates agreement with PARC

External links

* {{PARC Theme & Water Parks 1984 establishments in Texas Buildings and structures in Harris County, Texas Former PARC Management theme parks Six Flags water parks Tourist attractions in Harris County, Texas Water parks in Texas