I totally understand it, you probably can make more money with a resort or shopping center, The reason you don’t need a waterpark in Vegas is because the pools attached to any big resort are already pretty water park like
@@careynikoley404 Gem? Hardly a gem lol. This park was a pain in the ass to get into because of the terrible spot it was in and wasn’t all that great to begin with lol.
@@careynikoley404 Yeah but locals don’t like to come to the strip unless it’s Christmas time when it’s empty and they could shop they would be better off putting this out somewhere the suburbs still relatively close to the strip so tourists could take a bus to it or something but most people come to Vegas to go get drunk at a club like pool not go to them parks of any type (The whole strip is basically a theme park in itself) waterslides are more of a Valencia ca Magic Mountain thing
@@careynikoley404 oh we tried-I was operations manager when the park closed. And the company owners knew it was coming and slow played us all about performance pay raises until oops no more job
Moved to Vegas as a teenager and you've now completed the trifecta of extinct attraction feels for me. Loved the horrible MGM theme park, loved Wet n Wild, and actually worked at Star Trek The Experience on it's opening day. I love my insane little desert city but it used to be so much cooler.
Wet and wild was so much fun especially when they did the casino employee days. They allowed the family to come along and even when they did the middle school days and they fed us. I remember the lazy river and just completely baking in the lazy river on a found raft. The ride that I hated but I would challenge myself every trip was the royal flush. It never failed that my top would come off or I would lose something once I hit the water.
You just know that the current property owner is kicking themselves right now; they had a steady stream of income from the property and now they have to pay immense property taxes with no profit.
I wonder if in ten years the property will still be empty i wouldnt be surprised if it is. This is like already a record breaker the Las Vegas strip hasnt had an empty spot for this long after a closure/demolition.
That's unfortunately the gaming corporation mindset. I would have kept it open until construction was ready to begin because we'd be making money on it as it's still an asset. The arena project may fly as Las Vegas recently acquired the Oakland Raiders and we have two hockey teams. An NBA team is the next logical step. The State, County and City are all for bring in as many sports teams here as possible. I suspect the current owner of the land who is a retired NBA player knows something is about to happen and this is about the time for Las Vegas to acquire another sports team. Because of UNLV, college basketball is very popular here. The only reason the project is on hold is because of C-19.
I've never heard anything but love and affectionate memories from LV natives who grew up with WW as part of their childhood. I wish the city infrastructure would do more for the locals.
@@frankiedinosaur4245 Yeah, but neither of them really hold a candle to the original Wet n Wild LV. Both of the new ones are pretty much just waterparks, and over-priced waterparks at that. One thing they lack that the original had is the fair-ground/concert stage/vip area that a lot of people got access to as a perk for working for the Wynn casinos.
As a Houston resident that misses Astroworld, I definitely feel for the residents of Los Vegas for the loss of this park that was closed down only to leave a vacant, unused lot.
This park closed for the same reason a lot of parks end up closed: Greed. I almost lost my former home park of Six Flags Magic Mountain for the exact same reason.
Magic mountain almost closed due to frequent mechanical problems and Colossus catching fire which was the straw that broke the camel's back. The only thing that saved magic mountain they had a landmark year and the summer Janet Jackson concert put them well into the black.
@@bigman72511 they also then changed their structure a bit by putting outside advertisements literally everywhere, including in the ride stations, to get more income
I Lived at Magic Mountain every weekend as a kid growing up in So Cal.. I remember riding so many of the "New Rides" like Viper and Roaring Rapids. The one I miss most was the barrel ride where it spun in a circle and riders had their backs to the wall. The floor would drop down, so you were stuck to the wall.. We would climb up and go upside down and stuff.. The ride operators always threatened to shut the ride down, but never did, because they would literally injure us if they did..
Myself and my sister practically lived at this Wet n' Wild. This was really the only place that our parents trusted us to be without them, and this is the first time I am seeing it since I move from Vegas back in 89, thank you for bringing back some awesome memories cause it was during those years that I was living my best life. Then we moved to Texas and enjoyed the Wet n' Wild just as much there and funny this the one in Arlington is actually still there.
@@ExpeditionThemePark Yep Six Flags bought them out and it is right across the freeway from Six Flags Over Texas, as for pics sadly no after I moved from Vegas we bounced back and forth from Texas to Colorado every 1-3 years up until 1999 and I ended up losing most of any pics I had from the strip and what not in Vegas from all of the many adventures my father kept us on.
@@ExpeditionThemePark I can def see how it is almost next to impossible to find things like this before 97 it is to bad there is not some online vault for these types of videos. But, yes it and Vegas was a very awesome experience back then considering it was a theme park for adults. Todays kids have no clue the struggles we went through trying to stay out of trouble and finding things to do back then. I do want to thank you though for posting things such as these as it def made my day.
Same..... my entire youth is filled with great memories from this park.... I even have a nice battle scar on the back of one shoulder from Der Stuka! Wet N Wild was such a Godsend for us.. We had nothing to do in Vegas back then except the midway at Circus Circus. Going to the waterpark was almost like an event for us in the summers, and when the season ended it was always such a disappointment. When they closed forever, it was so sad.
I grew up in Minnesota in the 90s. My dad and I flew to Las Vegas annually to go to this waterpark. It is by far the best water park I have ever been to. It still bothers me to this day that it shut down for no reason.
I do feel truly blessed to be a 90's Vegas kid. We really had the best stuff for us including this Wet'NWild. It was the perfect location too because the strip is exactly in the middle so everyone from around Las Vegas could travel the same distance and meet there. The newer one is so far down southwest that none of my friends or family have even been to it since it opened.
I've been to the newer one, but it just doesn't hold the same charm that this location did in the 90s. No wave pool or, more importantly to me, black hole. RIP
I was Aquatics Sup for 2 years and Food & Beverage Sup for the last 2 years-my kids ran the place like a personal playground. They would go through rides and report back on which lifeguards weren’t paying attention and ate their fill at all the food outlets. Great fun
when I was a kid me and my siblings all had the passes and we would be dropped off in the morning and picked up in the afternoon! This was where we spent so much of our summer vacations
i was convinced for YEARS that i had made up this place in my mind, but no. i went at least once as a toddler and have a very vivid memory of listening to get ur freak on in one of the pools.. great video as always, but the vegas ones will always hold a special place in my heart as a lifelong native :)
I’ll never forget going as a kid. I have a vivid memory of climbing up stairs to go inside a giant ship/submarine with water guns inside, where you could spray unsuspecting people down below.
Being a Vegas native, I felt like a water spark was a must have for the Valley. The last two times I went there was a thing my school set up and then my dad got us free tickets because his Union gave them to its members. I was in line for Der Stuka but it was starting to rain and they closed the park. Closed for good that same year. Wish I could visit it one more time.
As a Vegas kid of the 80s , WnW was the best part of the summer. We usually only got to go once maybe twice until we were older and started getting our own season passes. Then it became both me and my sister's first jobs. It was so sad to see it go. Thanks for putting this together.
This park was iconic. I have so many memories from there. One of the coolest things was when they’d do casino employee events and my aunt, who worked at Hard Rock at the time got us wristbands that allowed us to stay in the park until 11pm after they closed at 8. Many casino properties were involved in this and I think that’s why this was such a local hotspot.
When I was a kid in Vegas the City of Las Vegas had a summer day camp program that they ran as an extremely cheap daycare program out of the local schools. I remember at the end of summer all the day camp kids would have a day at Wet'n Wild and celebrate Jerry Tarkanian's birthday. (Jerry Tarkanian was the head coach of UNLV and very successful at the time so he was considered a major local celebrity) There was cake for the kids and free UNLV merch. We all had the run of the park and just went wild. It was always one of the highlights of our summer. My grandparents also would take us regularly. I think they had some kind of lifetime pass they bought and used for years. Man I miss that place.
I came across this channel about a week and have been binging all of the Vegas videos. Losing Wet ‘N Wild definitely hurt all of us Vegas locals. For years I asked myself why they bothered to build dragon’s den if it was only gonna get used for one season. This video gave me closure. Thank you!
Great video! It really takes me back in the day! Born and raised in Las Vegas during the 90s. The closing of Wet n’ Wild was the second great betrayal of my childhood. I was 14 when it finally closed. We were all so furious and quite literally grieved the loss. Thanks for speaking to the injustice. My family had been going since I was a baby. Plus, it was one of the few things for us kids. Only the Strip would pull something this unfair and idiotic.
Hah! The new one was a joke. It was NOWHERE near the size as the original. It had different rides which were incredibly boring. It was a completely different park with the wet n wild name slapped on it. Which is why it was sold. Now we have cowabunga parks which is the same as the new wet n wild. Small, and lame. I miss the old one so much and I agree it was a huge betrayal to us kids. All of our theme parks were taken from us because tourism. Yay.
As a vegas native my kid years at wet n wild was the most fun memories i have. We went all summer long!! It was devastating to locals when they closed it down!
I remember staying at The Sahara in 1984, and seeing them building the park. 1990 I moved to Vegas for college, and I lived near Wet n’Wild. It was such a great place to cool off.
Grew up in the 90’s in Las Vegas, went to wet n wild all the time. So sad what happened to it. I went back to Vegas recently for vacation and went to the new wet n wild. It’s not bad, but the original was amazing. Great video!
A minor postscript: the two spiral-ramped towers from this waterpark were re-used, and stand today at Cedar Fair’s Schlitterbahn Galveston resort. The short tower now hosts dueling uphill water coasters, and the tall one hosts a single Der Stuka-type free fall slide, two mat racers, and a re-imagined Blue Niagara-style set of body slides called Screamin’ Serpents.
This is the one that got away. I went to Vegas all the time in the 90s when I was a kid, and never managed to make it to Wet 'n Wild. We were supposed to go one trip, even got dressed in our swim suits when we went to breakfast, but for some reason we didn't make it.
I am so happy I got to visit this park as a teen back in 2002, I loved this water park it had many unique water slides and a great atmosphere ... Too bad greedy people destroyed something so great.
Thanks for this! I am a Vegas native and it's truly a forgotten gem! My first time going was unfortunately my last time going. My step dad got my sister and I, all-day passes and it's still THE BEST MEMORY I HAVE! No more than 3 days later they closed down. 😑😣
I grew up in Las Vegas but moved away after high school in the early 2000s. I’ve gone back quite a bit to stay with family over the years but don’t recognize the city anymore. Everything I loved to do as a kid is basically gone. The city is twice the size. It just feels like the city doesn’t have the heart it had back then. I don’t know how else to explain it. It was already getting like that when I left. It’s hard to explain how different living in Las Vegas in 1990 was from 2000. I went to Wet ‘n Wild probably 50 times. I can walk around the park in my mind. I remember being a little kid playing with the water canons in the kids area. I remember the first time I went in the deep part of the wave pool when I was a little older and I remember when I finally worked up the courage as a teenager to go down Der Stuka and Bomb Bay. I went there for some event night once and met a couple of kids who lived near me but I’d never met because I was zoned for a different school. They’re still my best friends almost 25 years later. I was sad when it closed. Same with MGM Grand Adventures and Star Trek Experience, both of which I went to at least a dozen times and could share similar memories of. All closed to make room for more hotel rooms and slot machines. When people ask what it’s like to grow up in Las Vegas or if I’d ever move my family back I say the same thing: I loved growing up there when I did, but I wouldn’t want to live there with my family now.
As a native born in Vegas in 1968, at Sunrise Hospital, and growing up during the mob years, and the corporations taking over, I fully agree. I actually don't care to visit much ( have been back twice since 2000 ), and I'd never move back. What you said about the heart being gone from the city, you nailed it. It's a huge, impersonal cash grab now. I always tell folks to watch the movie "Casino" and they'll see the Vegas I grew up in. (Side note, I actually met Joe Pesci while they were filming at the Desert Inn! I worked graveyard there. Super nice guy!) I'm glad I got to experience THAT Vegas. This new one isn't appealing.
I worked at Wet and wild from 1994 thru 2004 in Park Rentals and the Gift Shop. That place saw me finish high school, go through college, and start my career as a teacher while I returned every season. That last season was the only year I left early due to family issues and it was very bittersweet to know that was the last time it would be open.
I was waiting on this one, didn't disappoint. I miss this place Vegas was such a weird place to grow up, we had so many things that just suddenly ended and nothing to replace it
Did you hit The Nickelodeon arcade across from UNLV? Crystal Palace pool table rental, or Wizard's Lair? Did you ever go to a midnight showing of "Rocky Horror Picture Show"?✌🏻🐱 edit: Northtown gal, here.
This was one of the few places we had to go to living in Vegas as a kid. The park was packed almost every day all the way up to closing day. It was really sad to see it go.
This place a mainstay in my childhood. I remember the summer nights themes, company parties, and even having high school graduation celebrations there. I can’t believe they have not rebuilt the park (in its original form/space) or another attraction in that space. This generation needs their version of Wet ‘N Wild.
9:21 “Tourists were more interested in gambling, shows and alcohol.” If Howard Hughs was still around, he would have put in all three in the park, along with showgirl mermaids.
Between the videos on this, Lake Delores and the old MGM Adventure Theme Park you know how to make Southern Californians get nostalgic if they were children or teenagers growing up in the 80’s and 90’s. It’s amazing that you get all this info and images of these places. Previous bloggers had to ask the public for these items because info, video and pictures are so scarce. Thanks a bunch for these videos.
Born in Vegas, moved in 99. I definitely have fond memories of Wet 'n' Wild; it's one of the only places on the Strip I'd actually been in. I was never able to go to the Adventure Dome, but Wet 'n' Wild was always a fun field trip in school. I went twice while I lived there, and have fond memories of it. That commercial that you showed from when the Black Hole opened...Whoo boy, the nostalgia wave when I saw that one again, lol! Now I live in Central Texas, so the water park of choice is, of course, Schlitterbahn. But Wet 'n Wild (with one apostrophe) will always have a fond place in my memories.
I use to love going to Wet'N Wild when I was a kid. They had a huge thermometer on the side of the Sahara, so you could see exactly how hot it was. Sooooo many sun burns.
Funny, at night, the water would get cold, and without the sun, we would be freezing, yet look at the thermometer saying 99 degrees. We’d warm up quick after getting out of the water, but it was such a trip to be shivering and reading the temperature!
I feel like the mid-2000s was the end of an era for the classic water parks in general. Water Mania in Kissimmee, FL is another one that immediately comes to mind that closed then as well.
You probably don’t know of this park in my home country of Canada but it was an outdoor park right off the highway called Riverside Waterslide the park consisted of 13 water slides hot tubs lazy river and a wave pool go carts and miniature golf. Opened in the late 70s and closed down for good in 2007. The park was fun it was nice too have somewhere too goo cool off and have fun. Sadly the park was aging and needed lots of upgrades the cold Canadian winters have took there toll on the park. The slides were in very bad shape lots of rust the sidewalks had lots of cracks in them the hot tubs weren’t hot anymore the lazy rivers walls were in very bad shape chunks of concrete were falling off. Now where the park was on the hill next too the highway is now dead open field you never know there was a park there.
I grew up in Vegas in the 80’s and 90’s. Only went to the original Wet ‘N Wild a few times as a kid/teen, but I knew many people that got season passes every summer. I remember going shortly after Black Hole opened up and being disappointed that the ride wasn’t quite like the commercials made it out-mostly pitch black with a couple colored LED light in places...I can definitely recognize the overuse of CGI looking back at the commercial now. And I was there shortly after Royal Flush opened too. (Still kick myself that I never rode Bomb Bay...was a bit more chicken in my youth.) It was extremely short sighted to close it when they did, given the land is still vacant nearly two decades later. To think the original park could have operated all this time...especially the way ‘beach nightclubs’ are a thing now, they could’ve had some great revenue from that. But I see that developer greed...which came about in an era of Vegas history where redevelopment plans nearly always came to pass. Since the recession, many more announced projects have fallen through or gone dormant for extended periods, so the Wet ‘N Wild property was a precursor of things to come. Anyway, thanks for this video. It definitely brought up the nostalgia feels.
I had the best summer of my life working there in the summer of 94’. And of course we spent all of our summers there as kids from the time that it first opened. The new wet and well that’s in Vegas right now sucks so bad compared to the original one.
Thanks for the video. As a tourist I was at the park just once, back in August of 1991, and got some good memories to keep for the rest of my life. I hate hearing that such an iconic park is now gone.
LOL. I went twice. Both times, the wave pool was shoulder-to-hip with people, and the lazy river was arse-n- elbows with bodies. My friend rode Der Stuka a couple times, and I won't say how long it took her for those two runs. Seeing Der Stuka towering above the Strip was a cool sight, though. ✌🏻🐱
SO happy you did an episode on this i remember going there so well and hidding my head on the interweaving ones lol. lots of nostalgia I have for 90s vegas theme park trips
I am so glad I got the chance to go to this place multiple times before it closed. My teenage years spent floating that lazy river and taking girls back to their hotel rooms have been great to relive through this video. Thanks!!
They closed down the Wet n Wild here in Orlando, Fl also after all those years! It was one of the best water parks we’ve ever had always packed full of ppl!🥰
This opened 8 days after I was born and still is a huge part of who I am. If there’s a heaven, it has to be going back in time and spending the day at Wet ‘n Wild Vegas.
This brings back such good memories! I was there on the grand opening of the dragons den ride, waited for like 2 hours or something crazy to go on it and it was awesome. I went there quite a lot when I was a kid, and it's really too bad they closed it down, and after watching this video seeing they closed it down for no reason at all... I've lived in vegas my entire life, and one sucky thing about vegas is they don't care about locals all that much, they spend most of their time catering to tourist, which makes sense, but when the city is getting more and more people living here, I believe they need to actually start thinking about the people that actually live here... rest in peace wet'nwild
As someone too young to remember or even have experienced most of the attractions and parks you talk about, I love grilling my parents on whether or not they were there, if they rode it, do they remember it, etc. I love theme park history and it makes it so much more special to know someone loved these attractions.
@@ExpeditionThemePark my mom moved back and forth from California to Michigan, so she remembers going to knotts, cedar point, Disneyland, and of course disney world. My dad grew up in Massachusetts so he has far less theme park related memories. He mostly went to Disney world and Busch gardens Williamsburg once. Also, thanks for feeding my special interest with amazing content. Edit: my mom remembers when magnum xl 200 first opened. She waited a long time, like 2 hours but when she got to the front she had to use the bathroom and got out of line, so she’s never been on. She also remembers going on disaster transport with her brother and being really confused.
I used to go there all the time in the late 90's early 00's, so many good times. I remember that bubble never had deep enough water around it and would sprain your ankle, haha. Also I still have the water squirter that they would sell, it was a rubber tube covered in fabric (like those expanding hoses) and had a nozzle with a clamp on one end; you would fill it up at stations they had around the park and clamp it off, then just release the clamp and water would shoot pretty far out the small nozzle. Thanks for all the great videos!
I remember seeing that skit at his show years and years ago. I believe that rollercoaster was at Circus Circus' Adventuredome. Lance Burton was super influential to me as a kid.
I do miss growing up in the 80s having wet and wild but it did have one major super glaring flaw......the entire park had little grass and what not so to go from ride to ride you had to WALK ON CONCRETE THAT WAS 5000° DURING THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER!! Other than that it was awesome.
The water park existed in better times, compared today the park never saw the blight of social distancing, global problems like today it only had a 19 year run from the mid 80s to early 2000s and escaped the bad times.
As a kid I had a season pass almost every year. I loved everything, the bad pizza, the soft serve ice cream, the arcade, burnt feet from the ground lol and obviously all the rides. I bought a season pass to the new place and just walked through it and I was like nah. Never went back
I used to frequent Wet N Wild in Arlington as a kid, and I remember dreaming about one day using my Season Pass to visit the one in Vegas. Unfortunately I never made it... Luckily I still frequent Hurricane Harbor in Arlington, now with four kids of my own, and the older Wet N Wild rides are still the best ones. Summer Nights at Wet N Wild were *crazy* fun as a teenager.
I remember the Arlington location lol. Back when it also had Pepsi products I also vaguely remember back when Pepsi had that stupid Pepsi gotta have it card you got for that Coke vs Pepsi Challange there one Summer.
Wet & Wild is a fond memory. I was born and raised in Las Vegas in the late 1960's. With all I've seen come and go over the decades, I am confident in stating that the end of the 1980's were the death knell for the true legendary era of the city. As the mafia was rounded up and pushed out, the corporations strolled in and took over. Everything changed, and not for the better. I left and moved to the East coast in 2000. I miss the Vegas that was, I am saddened by the Vegas that is.
I left Vegas for San Francisco in 2004. Born & raised in Vegas as well (70s) Had to come back to help out my mother. It is truly terrifying what has happened here 😔 It is so disturbing. Filthy, every single neighborhood's trees are gone or dead. So much massive neglect in every commercial area. And in 90% of all residential areas. So so much homelessness. Everything is truly ugly. Intersections unrecognizable. Zero landscaping, or busted up rocks & nobody cleans. Trash everywhere. When my mom passes I will leave but the damage has been done. The damage to my soul from having to be here the last couple years. I try really hard to be grateful for what I had, what we had. It was a fantastic life. There were alot of parks (that are no longer) there was alot to do, it was alot of fun. I have to figure out a way to be grateful & let it go 💔 Remember the huge cocoroaches on the big white building on Charleston Blvd across from the bread factory? 🙂 dunno why, maybe comic relief but I thought I'd ask(?) I miss passing the enormous cocoroaches & joking around about them lol
@@Elhastezy888 I DO remember the cockroaches! They always made me laugh, and creeped me out at the same time. I feel so bad for you, I understand the hurt of seeing that wonderfilled city turned unrecognizable. I'm sure in the last 12+ years since the last time I was there it's just gotten worse. (Went for a friend's father's funeral.) Seeing the growth crawling up to Red Rock, Spring Valley (where I grew up mostly) has just gotten horrible from what I understand. It sickens me every time I see the "new" Vegas. I'll say this, the mob had it right. Keep yourself straight, do your job, they took good care of their employees! They try to make it seem like it was awful, but those were the best times. Men and women DRESSED for dinner in the casinos! If you played somewhere specific, they DID know your name.. what you liked to drink... offered tickets to shows... rooms.. got to play at the pools of them. I worked at the Dunes from about 1985 until 1989. I CRIED when they tore it down. Like a baby! I had stories of how my grandma would sit at her tiny kitchen table, watching the lights go up and down the Dunes sign, crying because she missed Buffalo, NY. When I was a baby, my grandparents managed a small motel near where the Glass Pool was on S LV BLVD. So many really good memories that I can't revisit ever again. I know they say you can't go home again, but on the case of us Vegas GenX babies, it's really true. I'm sorry for your situation. I hope you get to spend precious time with your mom. Cherish that much. Oh... do you remember ever driving back into Vegas on the I-15, and we'd see the HUGE Genie that lived in the back corner of the Dunes golf course? Oh, and my graduation (Bonanza 1986) was at the Alladin. Went to so many concerts there, then later at Thomas and Mack. Odyssey Records, Tower Records, weekends cruising the strip or heading to Lake Mead. (Don't get me started on the lake!) See... we can still hang on to what still lives in us. My very best to you and yours! ❤️
Greed, shame, I went to the Orlando one in 92, loved it. This one looked even better. I have to say I would have thought a water park in Las Vegas was a no brained (I’m not a gambler though).
I remember going there in the 90s it was fun times. I also remember after it closed when they first had the Deuce busses on the strip you could get a real good look at the waterpark and its state of decay. and for the longest time you could see the old Sign that was in the middle of the park, until it was finally demolished. Honestly that whole area of the strip is a ghost of the issues of the late 2000's. but at least that seems to be changing with the opening of the resort world hopefully the area gets some much needed love because that area on the north strip is alot of construction walls very little actual construction .
The Closure of the Stardust, and later The Rivera looked to be pretty big blows to the North end of the strip. Those were two places I wished I could have seen when they were operational. The economic crisis didn't help conditions either, leaving the eyesore that is Fountainbleu. Resorts World certainly is a big step in the right direction.
Resort World was needed so badly on the north side.... You're right.... nothing but dead and unfinished projects around there... The whole area around the Stratosphere is super sketchy, too.
I absolutely love this channel and the wonderful content presented in such entertaining way. Another great video!! Any chance of a live stream with q & a?
Great video. Loved it. Spent so much time at Wen n Wild Vegas. I personally would love to see an expedition on the three interconnected rides that shared one plotline inside the Luxor.
I remember going here as a kid a few times. Schools would occasionally offer discounted tickets. It was a fun park especially because their wasn't a ton for a kid to do in Vegas. I dislike that it closed and I don't really care for the water parks we have now. The lot where the original sat is currently vacant almost like the universe is punishing people for being greedy.
for 5 years in a row we took a vacation to vegas with the kids, always around the Labor day holiday and spent at least 1 day at this park. Great memories and my kids who are in the 40 s now still talk about Bubble UP. Sadly we were there on the last day
Man Wet'n Wild's got all kinds of stories. The one in Grand Prairie Texas had the pipes filled with concrete to prevent a buy out from Six Flags from what I hear.
Six Flags did buy it out thou. It became Hurricane Harbor. Have not been to Arlington in a few years. But the last time I went Black Hole was still up. I remember going on that when it was new as a kid in the early 90's. Also remember Lazy River being called Pee River lol.
I hit play, immediately thought "ahh, a Vegas Expedition - let the gratuitous Lance references commence!".... 25mins later I've been so caught up in the story & bemoaning the stupid loss of what looked like a truly awesome (and profitable!) park that you caught me completely by surprise sneaking Lance in at the very end! LOL Well played sir 🧐👍
I remember going there as a kid when I was visiting family in Vegas before and after the rocket was added to der stuka, so much fun such an amazing time, it's so sad I can't take my kids there. 😥
We used to go to the wet n wild in Orlando FL all the time, in fact I was there with my family in 1993 when they had a huge chlorine leak and had to evaluate the entire park..
I remember when it closed.... That lot sat there untouched afterwards for years....we have 2 Waterparks now including one with the Wet n Wild branding, but neither is anything close to the original.... Just small and boring.
Not to mention it's surrounded by houses. Yes. I agree. Very small and boring. I bought a season pass the first year thinking I would go often with my kids since I loved the one on strip and I lived a half mile away from the new one. I did not. The water was absolutely freezing 🥶 and there was NO shade anywhere. The food was too overpriced. I went 3 times to get my monies worth and never went back. My kids never asked to go back either.
@@kebarosUK My kids made me watch that movie recently and I was so excited to see Wet'nwild. They were slightly impressed that their mom had been there once.
I basically lived on churros and nachos at that Wet N' Wild. I did the Pepsi challenge there back in the early 90's. Always had a blast there!!!! Thanks for the memories and nostalgia!!!!! Edit: I also remember when they filmed a part in the movie; 'Honey! I Blew Up The Kid!' with Rick Moranis. The son had a job there pushing a snack cart around.
Where would you like to see covered on Expedition Extinct? Let me know!
Geagua Lake
Barney's Day at the Park at Universal.
Truly, it doesn’t matter, you could make a dentist appointment interesting to listen to.
Did you ever do Action Park in NJ?
Have you ever done one on the old MGM Grand Adventure Park? If not it would be awesome if you were able to.
“location was too valuable for a water park” yet the lot has been empty ever since they shut down the park lol
I totally understand it, you probably can make more money with a resort or shopping center, The reason you don’t need a waterpark in Vegas is because the pools attached to any big resort are already pretty water park like
@@careynikoley404 Gem? Hardly a gem lol. This park was a pain in the ass to get into because of the terrible spot it was in and wasn’t all that great to begin with lol.
@@careynikoley404 Yeah but locals don’t like to come to the strip unless it’s Christmas time when it’s empty and they could shop they would be better off putting this out somewhere the suburbs still relatively close to the strip so tourists could take a bus to it or something but most people come to Vegas to go get drunk at a club like pool not go to them parks of any type (The whole strip is basically a theme park in itself) waterslides are more of a Valencia ca Magic Mountain thing
When ever you see an emtpy lot like that some billion dollar corp is getting a tax break
@@careynikoley404 oh we tried-I was operations manager when the park closed. And the company owners knew it was coming and slow played us all about performance pay raises until oops no more job
Ah yes, let's close what's on the site before all the funding is secured for the replacement and contracts signed. Sounds like a great idea...
That's Vegas real estate for you. The town was founded by the mob.
typical CA NY and Vegas for you
Moved to Vegas as a teenager and you've now completed the trifecta of extinct attraction feels for me. Loved the horrible MGM theme park, loved Wet n Wild, and actually worked at Star Trek The Experience on it's opening day. I love my insane little desert city but it used to be so much cooler.
Had so much cool stuff over the years
where are u now
You probably saw me as a kid. I went to star trek experience around when it first opened. 😯
@@ankida me to lol
Wet and wild was so much fun especially when they did the casino employee days. They allowed the family to come along and even when they did the middle school days and they fed us. I remember the lazy river and just completely baking in the lazy river on a found raft. The ride that I hated but I would challenge myself every trip was the royal flush. It never failed that my top would come off or I would lose something once I hit the water.
You just know that the current property owner is kicking themselves right now; they had a steady stream of income from the property and now they have to pay immense property taxes with no profit.
Yeppp
Serves them right. Their greed came back to bite them. You know what they say about Karma!!!!
I wonder if in ten years the property will still be empty i wouldnt be surprised if it is. This is like already a record breaker the Las Vegas strip hasnt had an empty spot for this long after a closure/demolition.
That's unfortunately the gaming corporation mindset. I would have kept it open until construction was ready to begin because we'd be making money on it as it's still an asset. The arena project may fly as Las Vegas recently acquired the Oakland Raiders and we have two hockey teams. An NBA team is the next logical step. The State, County and City are all for bring in as many sports teams here as possible. I suspect the current owner of the land who is a retired NBA player knows something is about to happen and this is about the time for Las Vegas to acquire another sports team. Because of UNLV, college basketball is very popular here. The only reason the project is on hold is because of C-19.
They can declare it as a loss and save on taxes
I've never heard anything but love and affectionate memories from LV natives who grew up with WW as part of their childhood. I wish the city infrastructure would do more for the locals.
A shame really
There are two new water parks in LV. Wet n Wild and the 50’s themed Cowabunga Bay in HENDERSON.
@@frankiedinosaur4245 Yeah, but neither of them really hold a candle to the original Wet n Wild LV. Both of the new ones are pretty much just waterparks, and over-priced waterparks at that. One thing they lack that the original had is the fair-ground/concert stage/vip area that a lot of people got access to as a perk for working for the Wynn casinos.
We had harry reid for 30 years doing nothing for us but he sure did get rich so let's name our airport after him🤮
@@vegastjg of course you get rewarded for being a useless politician…
As a Houston resident that misses Astroworld, I definitely feel for the residents of Los Vegas for the loss of this park that was closed down only to leave a vacant, unused lot.
Thanks for this great documentary! I was a manager at the park during its final season and you got all of the facts absolutely right.
Ahhh thank you so much! Sure you have some stories to tell
This park closed for the same reason a lot of parks end up closed: Greed. I almost lost my former home park of Six Flags Magic Mountain for the exact same reason.
Unfortunately it's a common cause isn't it
Magic mountain almost closed due to frequent mechanical problems and Colossus catching fire which was the straw that broke the camel's back. The only thing that saved magic mountain they had a landmark year and the summer Janet Jackson concert put them well into the black.
@@bigman72511 they also then changed their structure a bit by putting outside advertisements literally everywhere, including in the ride stations, to get more income
@@ExpeditionThemePark You should make a video about that.
I Lived at Magic Mountain every weekend as a kid growing up in So Cal.. I remember riding so many of the "New Rides" like Viper and Roaring Rapids. The one I miss most was the barrel ride where it spun in a circle and riders had their backs to the wall. The floor would drop down, so you were stuck to the wall.. We would climb up and go upside down and stuff.. The ride operators always threatened to shut the ride down, but never did, because they would literally injure us if they did..
Myself and my sister practically lived at this Wet n' Wild. This was really the only place that our parents trusted us to be without them, and this is the first time I am seeing it since I move from Vegas back in 89, thank you for bringing back some awesome memories cause it was during those years that I was living my best life. Then we moved to Texas and enjoyed the Wet n' Wild just as much there and funny this the one in Arlington is actually still there.
Yep! It is a Six Flags water park now. That is awesome! Do you have any photos or video to share of either?
@@ExpeditionThemePark Yep Six Flags bought them out and it is right across the freeway from Six Flags Over Texas, as for pics sadly no after I moved from Vegas we bounced back and forth from Texas to Colorado every 1-3 years up until 1999 and I ended up losing most of any pics I had from the strip and what not in Vegas from all of the many adventures my father kept us on.
Ah that’s a shame but an awesome experience ! I really struggled finding footage of this park
@@ExpeditionThemePark I can def see how it is almost next to impossible to find things like this before 97 it is to bad there is not some online vault for these types of videos. But, yes it and Vegas was a very awesome experience back then considering it was a theme park for adults. Todays kids have no clue the struggles we went through trying to stay out of trouble and finding things to do back then. I do want to thank you though for posting things such as these as it def made my day.
Same..... my entire youth is filled with great memories from this park.... I even have a nice battle scar on the back of one shoulder from Der Stuka! Wet N Wild was such a Godsend for us.. We had nothing to do in Vegas back then except the midway at Circus Circus. Going to the waterpark was almost like an event for us in the summers, and when the season ended it was always such a disappointment. When they closed forever, it was so sad.
I grew up in Minnesota in the 90s. My dad and I flew to Las Vegas annually to go to this waterpark. It is by far the best water park I have ever been to. It still bothers me to this day that it shut down for no reason.
I do feel truly blessed to be a 90's Vegas kid. We really had the best stuff for us including this Wet'NWild. It was the perfect location too because the strip is exactly in the middle so everyone from around Las Vegas could travel the same distance and meet there. The newer one is so far down southwest that none of my friends or family have even been to it since it opened.
Yeah the location was so good!
Yeah they moved it to summerlin yet still call it wet n wild las vegas
Yeah we used to go there every summer
I've been to the newer one, but it just doesn't hold the same charm that this location did in the 90s. No wave pool or, more importantly to me, black hole. RIP
I was Aquatics Sup for 2 years and Food & Beverage Sup for the last 2 years-my kids ran the place like a personal playground. They would go through rides and report back on which lifeguards weren’t paying attention and ate their fill at all the food outlets. Great fun
My childhood I remember going on the last day crying my eyes out
Yeah.. same.... That sadness changed to anger when they just let it sit there and didn't even do anything with it... what a waste.
A real shame it was closed for nothing in the end.
Desert Inn: Sorry Howard, you’ve got to go.
Howard Hughes: Oh really………let’s have a chat……
Must be nice hahah
@@ExpeditionThemePark Could you imagine having that kind of money to throw around?!?
Howard Hughes, original mad lad
@@Shannondionleelee and he only got madder :C
Makes me think of Bruce Wayne buying that hotel just so his dates could swim in the decorative pool.
I’ll never forget when it first opened. Only the 4th graders at my school went and we had the whole park to ourselves. BLISS!!!!!!
when I was a kid me and my siblings all had the passes and we would be dropped off in the morning and picked up in the afternoon! This was where we spent so much of our summer vacations
The dream
i was convinced for YEARS that i had made up this place in my mind, but no. i went at least once as a toddler and have a very vivid memory of listening to get ur freak on in one of the pools.. great video as always, but the vegas ones will always hold a special place in my heart as a lifelong native :)
Thank you so much
We are lucky we get so many videos about vegas... I thiink redevelopment happens so much more often here that just about any other place.
Me too! My 2nd bday was there and I have such a distinct memory
I’ll never forget going as a kid. I have a vivid memory of climbing up stairs to go inside a giant ship/submarine with water guns inside, where you could spray unsuspecting people down below.
Awww I miss this place so much, thank you for making it! Would love to see Mutiny Bay in Treasure Island
I think he did review it.
Do anything just without that horribly forced vocal fry
Being a Vegas native, I felt like a water spark was a must have for the Valley. The last two times I went there was a thing my school set up and then my dad got us free tickets because his Union gave them to its members. I was in line for Der Stuka but it was starting to rain and they closed the park. Closed for good that same year. Wish I could visit it one more time.
That moment when you gotta pause a previous episode of Expedition Theme Park to watch the latest episode 💚
Ha which one did you pause !
@@ExpeditionThemePark Blood Mary
A classic!
Someone who understands
As a Vegas kid of the 80s , WnW was the best part of the summer. We usually only got to go once maybe twice until we were older and started getting our own season passes. Then it became both me and my sister's first jobs. It was so sad to see it go. Thanks for putting this together.
Thank you
I grew up in Vegas and loved going to Wet N Wild. Seeing the Black Hole again just hits me right in the nostalgia.
I had no idea the wet 'n' wild was different than wet' n wild!
Yep!
This park was iconic. I have so many memories from there. One of the coolest things was when they’d do casino employee events and my aunt, who worked at Hard Rock at the time got us wristbands that allowed us to stay in the park until 11pm after they closed at 8. Many casino properties were involved in this and I think that’s why this was such a local hotspot.
My dad worked at the hard rock as well and we always went to those events. One of the best memories I have of this water park. 😩
My best friend was a casino cage cashier at the Hard Rock, and always brought me to employee nights. Those were some great times. ❤️
When I was a kid in Vegas the City of Las Vegas had a summer day camp program that they ran as an extremely cheap daycare program out of the local schools. I remember at the end of summer all the day camp kids would have a day at Wet'n Wild and celebrate Jerry Tarkanian's birthday. (Jerry Tarkanian was the head coach of UNLV and very successful at the time so he was considered a major local celebrity) There was cake for the kids and free UNLV merch. We all had the run of the park and just went wild. It was always one of the highlights of our summer. My grandparents also would take us regularly. I think they had some kind of lifetime pass they bought and used for years. Man I miss that place.
I came across this channel about a week and have been binging all of the Vegas videos. Losing Wet ‘N Wild definitely hurt all of us Vegas locals. For years I asked myself why they bothered to build dragon’s den if it was only gonna get used for one season. This video gave me closure. Thank you!
Great video! It really takes me back in the day! Born and raised in Las Vegas during the 90s. The closing of Wet n’ Wild was the second great betrayal of my childhood. I was 14 when it finally closed. We were all so furious and quite literally grieved the loss. Thanks for speaking to the injustice. My family had been going since I was a baby. Plus, it was one of the few things for us kids. Only the Strip would pull something this unfair and idiotic.
What was the first betrayal?
I agree I was born and raised here and I remember how mad everyone was lol
But you were 23 when wet n wild reopened in Spring Valley. With only 4 years of childhood left when original closed.
Hah! The new one was a joke. It was NOWHERE near the size as the original. It had different rides which were incredibly boring. It was a completely different park with the wet n wild name slapped on it. Which is why it was sold.
Now we have cowabunga parks which is the same as the new wet n wild. Small, and lame.
I miss the old one so much and I agree it was a huge betrayal to us kids. All of our theme parks were taken from us because tourism. Yay.
As a vegas native my kid years at wet n wild was the most fun memories i have. We went all summer long!! It was devastating to locals when they closed it down!
I remember staying at The Sahara in 1984, and seeing them building the park. 1990 I moved to Vegas for college, and I lived near Wet n’Wild. It was such a great place to cool off.
This was the best water park the southern Nevada area ever had. All day, everyday... a mis-spent youth full of good memories.
Agreed
I truly miss the original Wet n Wild. It’s a shame they had to close down. The new one doesn’t even compare in my opinion.
Grew up in the 90’s in Las Vegas, went to wet n wild all the time. So sad what happened to it. I went back to Vegas recently for vacation and went to the new wet n wild. It’s not bad, but the original was amazing. Great video!
A minor postscript: the two spiral-ramped towers from this waterpark were re-used, and stand today at Cedar Fair’s Schlitterbahn Galveston resort. The short tower now hosts dueling uphill water coasters, and the tall one hosts a single Der Stuka-type free fall slide, two mat racers, and a re-imagined Blue Niagara-style set of body slides called Screamin’ Serpents.
Great stuff, thanks for sharing
I guess the “Willy Willy” song was so catchy because it’s just new lyrics for the 60’s pop hit “Wooly Bully” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.
That's exactly what I was going to say.
Don’t you dare undermine the writers lyrical genius here! 😂
This is the one that got away. I went to Vegas all the time in the 90s when I was a kid, and never managed to make it to Wet 'n Wild. We were supposed to go one trip, even got dressed in our swim suits when we went to breakfast, but for some reason we didn't make it.
I am so happy I got to visit this park as a teen back in 2002, I loved this water park it had many unique water slides and a great atmosphere ...
Too bad greedy people destroyed something so great.
Yeah a real shame
Greed ruins everything.
Thanks for this! I am a Vegas native and it's truly a forgotten gem! My first time going was unfortunately my last time going. My step dad got my sister and I, all-day passes and it's still THE BEST MEMORY I HAVE! No more than 3 days later they closed down. 😑😣
Ahhh that’s such a shame
I grew up in Las Vegas but moved away after high school in the early 2000s.
I’ve gone back quite a bit to stay with family over the years but don’t recognize the city anymore. Everything I loved to do as a kid is basically gone. The city is twice the size. It just feels like the city doesn’t have the heart it had back then. I don’t know how else to explain it. It was already getting like that when I left. It’s hard to explain how different living in Las Vegas in 1990 was from 2000.
I went to Wet ‘n Wild probably 50 times. I can walk around the park in my mind. I remember being a little kid playing with the water canons in the kids area. I remember the first time I went in the deep part of the wave pool when I was a little older and I remember when I finally worked up the courage as a teenager to go down Der Stuka and Bomb Bay.
I went there for some event night once and met a couple of kids who lived near me but I’d never met because I was zoned for a different school. They’re still my best friends almost 25 years later.
I was sad when it closed. Same with MGM Grand Adventures and Star Trek Experience, both of which I went to at least a dozen times and could share similar memories of. All closed to make room for more hotel rooms and slot machines.
When people ask what it’s like to grow up in Las Vegas or if I’d ever move my family back I say the same thing: I loved growing up there when I did, but I wouldn’t want to live there with my family now.
As a native born in Vegas in 1968, at Sunrise Hospital, and growing up during the mob years, and the corporations taking over, I fully agree. I actually don't care to visit much ( have been back twice since 2000 ), and I'd never move back. What you said about the heart being gone from the city, you nailed it. It's a huge, impersonal cash grab now. I always tell folks to watch the movie "Casino" and they'll see the Vegas I grew up in. (Side note, I actually met Joe Pesci while they were filming at the Desert Inn! I worked graveyard there. Super nice guy!)
I'm glad I got to experience THAT Vegas. This new one isn't appealing.
Our middle school got the park to ourselves each year. After hours with no crowds at wet n wild on a hot Vegas night was sweet.
Did you go to Hyde Park?
@@andrewfujiki616 Burkholder Henderson
I worked at Wet and wild from 1994 thru 2004 in Park Rentals and the Gift Shop. That place saw me finish high school, go through college, and start my career as a teacher while I returned every season. That last season was the only year I left early due to family issues and it was very bittersweet to know that was the last time it would be open.
I was waiting on this one, didn't disappoint. I miss this place
Vegas was such a weird place to grow up, we had so many things that just suddenly ended and nothing to replace it
Thank you
Did you hit The Nickelodeon arcade across from UNLV? Crystal Palace pool table rental, or Wizard's Lair? Did you ever go to a midnight showing of "Rocky Horror Picture Show"?✌🏻🐱
edit: Northtown gal, here.
This was one of the few places we had to go to living in Vegas as a kid. The park was packed almost every day all the way up to closing day. It was really sad to see it go.
Jesus died for sinners.
@@johntrevett2944 what does that have to do with wet n wild?
The abandoned history of Schlitterbahn Kansas City would be an interesting video.
Onmy lift for the future!
There's a reason the family were forced to sell there brand and two parks to Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.
@@JeffreyPiatt *their brand
@@JeffreyPiatt The reason was they let a guy design a water slide without listening to anyone who actually understands basic physics.
This place a mainstay in my childhood. I remember the summer nights themes, company parties, and even having high school graduation celebrations there. I can’t believe they have not rebuilt the park (in its original form/space) or another attraction in that space. This generation needs their version of Wet ‘N Wild.
The TRUE Wet n’ Wild!!
(Sobs from kids growing up with this true childhood memory)
It’s true
9:21 “Tourists were more interested in gambling, shows and alcohol.”
If Howard Hughs was still around, he would have put in all three in the park, along with showgirl mermaids.
Could be Ha
100% 😆
Between the videos on this, Lake Delores and the old MGM Adventure Theme Park you know how to make Southern Californians get nostalgic if they were children or teenagers growing up in the 80’s and 90’s. It’s amazing that you get all this info and images of these places. Previous bloggers had to ask the public for these items because info, video and pictures are so scarce. Thanks a bunch for these videos.
Thank you so much
Born in Vegas, moved in 99. I definitely have fond memories of Wet 'n' Wild; it's one of the only places on the Strip I'd actually been in. I was never able to go to the Adventure Dome, but Wet 'n' Wild was always a fun field trip in school. I went twice while I lived there, and have fond memories of it. That commercial that you showed from when the Black Hole opened...Whoo boy, the nostalgia wave when I saw that one again, lol!
Now I live in Central Texas, so the water park of choice is, of course, Schlitterbahn. But Wet 'n Wild (with one apostrophe) will always have a fond place in my memories.
That’s awesome!
As a Central Floridian, I never knew there were other Wet N Wilds!!! These documentaries are so good.
I use to love going to Wet'N Wild when I was a kid. They had a huge thermometer on the side of the Sahara, so you could see exactly how hot it was. Sooooo many sun burns.
Haha I bet
Wow, I remember that lol. You’d see it while in line for Der Stuka.
Funny, at night, the water would get cold, and without the sun, we would be freezing, yet look at the thermometer saying 99 degrees. We’d warm up quick after getting out of the water, but it was such a trip to be shivering and reading the temperature!
The roof. And it told the time too. Loved that!
@@therealwilfreddierkes9980 ya, The Sahara Hotel
I grew up in Las Vegas and went there when I was a child. The company made a very big mistake by closing this water park
I feel like the mid-2000s was the end of an era for the classic water parks in general. Water Mania in Kissimmee, FL is another one that immediately comes to mind that closed then as well.
You probably don’t know of this park in my home country of Canada but it was an outdoor park right off the highway called Riverside Waterslide the park consisted of 13 water slides hot tubs lazy river and a wave pool go carts and miniature golf. Opened in the late 70s and closed down for good in 2007. The park was fun it was nice too have somewhere too goo cool off and have fun. Sadly the park was aging and needed lots of upgrades the cold Canadian winters have took there toll on the park. The slides were in very bad shape lots of rust the sidewalks had lots of cracks in them the hot tubs weren’t hot anymore the lazy rivers walls were in very bad shape chunks of concrete were falling off. Now where the park was on the hill next too the highway is now dead open field you never know there was a park there.
I grew up in Vegas in the 80’s and 90’s. Only went to the original Wet ‘N Wild a few times as a kid/teen, but I knew many people that got season passes every summer. I remember going shortly after Black Hole opened up and being disappointed that the ride wasn’t quite like the commercials made it out-mostly pitch black with a couple colored LED light in places...I can definitely recognize the overuse of CGI looking back at the commercial now. And I was there shortly after Royal Flush opened too. (Still kick myself that I never rode Bomb Bay...was a bit more chicken in my youth.)
It was extremely short sighted to close it when they did, given the land is still vacant nearly two decades later. To think the original park could have operated all this time...especially the way ‘beach nightclubs’ are a thing now, they could’ve had some great revenue from that. But I see that developer greed...which came about in an era of Vegas history where redevelopment plans nearly always came to pass. Since the recession, many more announced projects have fallen through or gone dormant for extended periods, so the Wet ‘N Wild property was a precursor of things to come.
Anyway, thanks for this video. It definitely brought up the nostalgia feels.
I had the best summer of my life working there in the summer of 94’. And of course we spent all of our summers there as kids from the time that it first opened. The new wet and well that’s in Vegas right now sucks so bad compared to the original one.
Thanks for the video.
As a tourist I was at the park just once, back in August of 1991, and got some good memories to keep for the rest of my life. I hate hearing that such an iconic park is now gone.
I was a Vegas kid in the 90s, and this park was always great for birthdays or the like.
LOL. I went twice. Both times, the wave pool was shoulder-to-hip with people, and the lazy river was arse-n- elbows with bodies. My friend rode Der Stuka a couple times, and I won't say how long it took her for those two runs.
Seeing Der Stuka towering above the Strip was a cool sight, though. ✌🏻🐱
A cool sight indeed
Man I miss that place. I worked there the last year it was open and met my now wife there...
Oh that’s amazing!
SO happy you did an episode on this i remember going there so well and hidding my head on the interweaving ones lol. lots of nostalgia I have for 90s vegas theme park trips
Man. Imagine being a teenager back then before cell phones and just going to a waterpark regularly with your friends and making fun memories.
Interesting how similar this was to the original Wet n Wild at the Gold Coast in Australia, which still has that enormous wave pool.
I am so glad I got the chance to go to this place multiple times before it closed. My teenage years spent floating that lazy river and taking girls back to their hotel rooms have been great to relive through this video. Thanks!!
They closed down the Wet n Wild here in Orlando, Fl also after all those years! It was one of the best water parks we’ve ever had always packed full of ppl!🥰
I just found your videos and I’m obsessed. Been watching a lot of these as background noise while I work. Thank you for making these videos.
This video has made me insanely nostalgic to a place I’ve never been, your love letters to these cultural gems are so awesome✨
This opened 8 days after I was born and still is a huge part of who I am. If there’s a heaven, it has to be going back in time and spending the day at Wet ‘n Wild Vegas.
Good times!
This brings back such good memories! I was there on the grand opening of the dragons den ride, waited for like 2 hours or something crazy to go on it and it was awesome. I went there quite a lot when I was a kid, and it's really too bad they closed it down, and after watching this video seeing they closed it down for no reason at all... I've lived in vegas my entire life, and one sucky thing about vegas is they don't care about locals all that much, they spend most of their time catering to tourist, which makes sense, but when the city is getting more and more people living here, I believe they need to actually start thinking about the people that actually live here... rest in peace wet'nwild
As someone that visited Vegas twice a year for 2 weeks at a time (bowling) -- it's INCREDIBLE how much that place BLEW UP.
As someone too young to remember or even have experienced most of the attractions and parks you talk about, I love grilling my parents on whether or not they were there, if they rode it, do they remember it, etc. I love theme park history and it makes it so much more special to know someone loved these attractions.
Aw that’s so nice! What places do they love?
@@ExpeditionThemePark my mom moved back and forth from California to Michigan, so she remembers going to knotts, cedar point, Disneyland, and of course disney world. My dad grew up in Massachusetts so he has far less theme park related memories. He mostly went to Disney world and Busch gardens Williamsburg once. Also, thanks for feeding my special interest with amazing content. Edit: my mom remembers when magnum xl 200 first opened. She waited a long time, like 2 hours but when she got to the front she had to use the bathroom and got out of line, so she’s never been on. She also remembers going on disaster transport with her brother and being really confused.
Thank you for watching!
@@ExpeditionThemePark ☺️
I used to go there all the time in the late 90's early 00's, so many good times. I remember that bubble never had deep enough water around it and would sprain your ankle, haha. Also I still have the water squirter that they would sell, it was a rubber tube covered in fabric (like those expanding hoses) and had a nozzle with a clamp on one end; you would fill it up at stations they had around the park and clamp it off, then just release the clamp and water would shoot pretty far out the small nozzle.
Thanks for all the great videos!
Thank you!
I had the comment written out , “Where’s Lance?” but you snook him in right at the end 😂
Ahah I’m glad someone asked! Had to have him
😂
I remember seeing that skit at his show years and years ago. I believe that rollercoaster was at Circus Circus' Adventuredome. Lance Burton was super influential to me as a kid.
@@ExpeditionThemePark I thought Lance would come in at the moment you said: 'profits that would never come', perfect time for 'that was stupid'!
This was the most hype shit possible as a kid who lived far away from the strip! Man so much nostalgia lol
I do miss growing up in the 80s having wet and wild but it did have one major super glaring flaw......the entire park had little grass and what not so to go from ride to ride you had to WALK ON CONCRETE THAT WAS 5000° DURING THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER!! Other than that it was awesome.
The water park existed in better times, compared today the park never saw the blight of social distancing, global problems like today it only had a 19 year run from the mid 80s to early 2000s and escaped the bad times.
I would love to see Expedition Extinct visit Wild Rivers in Irvine California. I spent my childhood summers there.👍
Hello from Phoenix Arizona!🔥
Oh I will!
As a kid I had a season pass almost every year. I loved everything, the bad pizza, the soft serve ice cream, the arcade, burnt feet from the ground lol and obviously all the rides. I bought a season pass to the new place and just walked through it and I was like nah. Never went back
Sounds right
ah memories. Spent every weekend here as a kid growing up in Vegas.
This was the first water park I ever went to in my life, I loved it
That’s awesome!
I used to frequent Wet N Wild in Arlington as a kid, and I remember dreaming about one day using my Season Pass to visit the one in Vegas. Unfortunately I never made it... Luckily I still frequent Hurricane Harbor in Arlington, now with four kids of my own, and the older Wet N Wild rides are still the best ones. Summer Nights at Wet N Wild were *crazy* fun as a teenager.
I remember the Arlington location lol. Back when it also had Pepsi products I also vaguely remember back when Pepsi had that stupid Pepsi gotta have it card you got for that Coke vs Pepsi Challange there one Summer.
Wet & Wild is a fond memory. I was born and raised in Las Vegas in the late 1960's. With all I've seen come and go over the decades, I am confident in stating that the end of the 1980's were the death knell for the true legendary era of the city. As the mafia was rounded up and pushed out, the corporations strolled in and took over. Everything changed, and not for the better. I left and moved to the East coast in 2000. I miss the Vegas that was, I am saddened by the Vegas that is.
I left Vegas for San Francisco in 2004. Born & raised in Vegas as well (70s)
Had to come back to help out my mother. It is truly terrifying what has happened here 😔 It is so disturbing.
Filthy, every single neighborhood's trees are gone or dead. So much massive neglect in every commercial area.
And in 90% of all residential areas.
So so much homelessness. Everything is truly ugly. Intersections unrecognizable.
Zero landscaping, or busted up rocks & nobody cleans. Trash everywhere.
When my mom passes I will leave but the damage has been done. The damage to my soul from having to be here the last couple years.
I try really hard to be grateful for what I had, what we had. It was a fantastic life.
There were alot of parks (that are no longer) there was alot to do, it was alot of fun. I have to figure out a way to be grateful & let it go 💔
Remember the huge cocoroaches on the big white building on Charleston Blvd across from the bread factory? 🙂 dunno why, maybe comic relief but I thought I'd ask(?)
I miss passing the enormous cocoroaches & joking around about them lol
@@Elhastezy888 I DO remember the cockroaches! They always made me laugh, and creeped me out at the same time. I feel so bad for you, I understand the hurt of seeing that wonderfilled city turned unrecognizable. I'm sure in the last 12+ years since the last time I was there it's just gotten worse. (Went for a friend's father's funeral.) Seeing the growth crawling up to Red Rock, Spring Valley (where I grew up mostly) has just gotten horrible from what I understand. It sickens me every time I see the "new" Vegas. I'll say this, the mob had it right. Keep yourself straight, do your job, they took good care of their employees! They try to make it seem like it was awful, but those were the best times. Men and women DRESSED for dinner in the casinos! If you played somewhere specific, they DID know your name.. what you liked to drink... offered tickets to shows... rooms.. got to play at the pools of them. I worked at the Dunes from about 1985 until 1989. I CRIED when they tore it down. Like a baby! I had stories of how my grandma would sit at her tiny kitchen table, watching the lights go up and down the Dunes sign, crying because she missed Buffalo, NY. When I was a baby, my grandparents managed a small motel near where the Glass Pool was on S LV BLVD. So many really good memories that I can't revisit ever again. I know they say you can't go home again, but on the case of us Vegas GenX babies, it's really true. I'm sorry for your situation. I hope you get to spend precious time with your mom. Cherish that much.
Oh... do you remember ever driving back into Vegas on the I-15, and we'd see the HUGE Genie that lived in the back corner of the Dunes golf course? Oh, and my graduation (Bonanza 1986) was at the Alladin. Went to so many concerts there, then later at Thomas and Mack. Odyssey Records, Tower Records, weekends cruising the strip or heading to Lake Mead. (Don't get me started on the lake!) See... we can still hang on to what still lives in us.
My very best to you and yours! ❤️
Greed, shame, I went to the Orlando one in 92, loved it. This one looked even better. I have to say I would have thought a water park in Las Vegas was a no brained (I’m not a gambler though).
I remember going there in the 90s it was fun times. I also remember after it closed when they first had the Deuce busses on the strip you could get a real good look at the waterpark and its state of decay. and for the longest time you could see the old Sign that was in the middle of the park, until it was finally demolished. Honestly that whole area of the strip is a ghost of the issues of the late 2000's. but at least that seems to be changing with the opening of the resort world hopefully the area gets some much needed love because that area on the north strip is alot of construction walls very little actual construction .
I hope it changes soon!
The Closure of the Stardust, and later The Rivera looked to be pretty big blows to the North end of the strip. Those were two places I wished I could have seen when they were operational. The economic crisis didn't help conditions either, leaving the eyesore that is Fountainbleu. Resorts World certainly is a big step in the right direction.
Resort World was needed so badly on the north side.... You're right.... nothing but dead and unfinished projects around there... The whole area around the Stratosphere is super sketchy, too.
I absolutely love this channel and the wonderful content presented in such entertaining way. Another great video!! Any chance of a live stream with q & a?
One day maybe! Thank you
Took my son on holiday from the UK to vegas in 2003 and visited Wet & Wild and he loved it aged 11👍👍
Great video. Loved it. Spent so much time at Wen n Wild Vegas. I personally would love to see an expedition on the three interconnected rides that shared one plotline inside the Luxor.
Thank you so much
I remember going here as a kid a few times. Schools would occasionally offer discounted tickets. It was a fun park especially because their wasn't a ton for a kid to do in Vegas. I dislike that it closed and I don't really care for the water parks we have now. The lot where the original sat is currently vacant almost like the universe is punishing people for being greedy.
Yeppp
for 5 years in a row we took a vacation to vegas with the kids, always around the Labor day holiday and spent at least 1 day at this park. Great memories and my kids who are in the 40 s now still talk about Bubble UP.
Sadly we were there on the last day
Glad you got to go so much
I love this channel, the work you do to get all these old videos up and all this information is awesome to watch and listen to. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for watching
Man Wet'n Wild's got all kinds of stories. The one in Grand Prairie Texas had the pipes filled with concrete to prevent a buy out from Six Flags from what I hear.
Six Flags did buy it out thou. It became Hurricane Harbor. Have not been to Arlington in a few years. But the last time I went Black Hole was still up. I remember going on that when it was new as a kid in the early 90's. Also remember Lazy River being called Pee River lol.
I hit play, immediately thought "ahh, a Vegas Expedition - let the gratuitous Lance references commence!".... 25mins later I've been so caught up in the story & bemoaning the stupid loss of what looked like a truly awesome (and profitable!) park that you caught me completely by surprise sneaking Lance in at the very end! LOL Well played sir 🧐👍
I remember going there as a kid when I was visiting family in Vegas before and after the rocket was added to der stuka, so much fun such an amazing time, it's so sad I can't take my kids there. 😥
I LOVED this video so much, it brought back so many memories!!!
I miss this one, and river country the most.
Two classics for sure
Yeah... same
We used to go to the wet n wild in Orlando FL all the time, in fact I was there with my family in 1993 when they had a huge chlorine leak and had to evaluate the entire park..
Love that park
Damn auto correct
You brought back so many memories with this video. I forgot about some of these rides. Great work!
Thank you so much
It's amazing your content gets better every week. The Velocicoaster video and now this have been my 2 favorite episodes so far. Amazing stuff!
Thank you so much
I remember when it closed.... That lot sat there untouched afterwards for years....we have 2 Waterparks now including one with the Wet n Wild branding, but neither is anything close to the original.... Just small and boring.
Yeah it’s sad
Not to mention it's surrounded by houses. Yes. I agree. Very small and boring. I bought a season pass the first year thinking I would go often with my kids since I loved the one on strip and I lived a half mile away from the new one. I did not. The water was absolutely freezing 🥶 and there was NO shade anywhere. The food was too overpriced. I went 3 times to get my monies worth and never went back. My kids never asked to go back either.
@@rebeccaheuer3255 yep... Sounds about right... What a shame.
Disney Connection: Wet and Wild make a small appearance in Honey, I Blew up the Kid
The Orlando park?
@@ExpeditionThemePark Honey I blew up the baby [UK title] was set in Vegas if i remember correctly, been a good few years since I last saw it
You are right it was the Vegas park. The kid work there damn. Wish I had know and included it aha
@@kebarosUK My kids made me watch that movie recently and I was so excited to see Wet'nwild. They were slightly impressed that their mom had been there once.
@@aimsftw I hope it holds up, I’m waiting a few more years before I watch the original film with my daughter.
This place was so awesome. Its very upsetting that it was closed for no good reason.
I basically lived on churros and nachos at that Wet N' Wild. I did the Pepsi challenge there back in the early 90's. Always had a blast there!!!! Thanks for the memories and nostalgia!!!!!
Edit: I also remember when they filmed a part in the movie; 'Honey! I Blew Up The Kid!' with Rick Moranis. The son had a job there pushing a snack cart around.