It was not only the last summer hurrah for patrons at Wildwater Kingdom, but also literally the last hurrah.
Monday was the last day of operation for the water park that was once home to the former Sea World theme park.
Owner Cedar Fair announced on Aug. 19 that the park in Aurora would not reopen in 2017.
That’s on top of the already closed Geauga Lake.
Many customers walking in and out of the park on Monday were sad about the permanent closure of the water park. It was once part of what was billed as the biggest amusement park in the world when Six Flags opened Worlds of Adventure, merging the former Sea World property with Geauga Lake to create a single park.
But others were downright mad, blaming Cedar Fair for closing Geauga Lake in 2007 and now closing Wildwater Kingdom.
“They don’t want the competition,” said Danyelle Grund, 31, of Kent, referring to the recent news that Cedar Fair was giving its Cedar Point Soak City a total makeover for next year. That came the day before the news that Wildwater Kingdom was closing for good.
“I’m just sad that it’s the only community pool that’s left and they’re closing it and it’s going to sit here and rot like Geauga Lake did, like Sea World did,” she said.
Grund was taking a break from the park for lunch with her son, Issac Benjamin, 11, and their friends, Christine Belinger, 28, of Streetsboro, her 9-year-old daughter, Ellie Tulino, and two kids Belinger baby-sits, 8-year-old Josiah Clark and his brother, Mikey, 1.
The women said they would buy season passes every year for Wildwater Kingdom.
And Belinger has many memories growing up at Geauga Lake.
“It was like my nanny. When my parents went to work, this is what we did all day,” Belinger said.
When she heard about the closure of Wildwater Kingdom, “I bawled,” she said.
Other patrons also lamented the end of a favorite childhood destination.
“I’m kind of in shock,” said Mark Blankenship of Streetsboro, who was also a season-ticket holder with his wife, Lauren, and their 4-year-old twins, Morgan and Madelyn.
“It’s going to be sad to drive by Geauga Lake [and Wildwater Kingdom] and see bits and pieces of the remains,” he said.
The family’s season passes were paid for after two trips each summer and the family would come often for a swim.
“We didn’t want to leave. We’re going to have to find another place,” Blankenship said.
But many patrons said the area doesn’t have community pools and the nearest water park is Water Works Family Aquatic Center in Cuyahoga Falls — 45 minutes away — or the drive to Sandusky.
Being a single mother, it’s not easy to afford the more expensive tickets or upgraded season passes to include Cedar Point’s water park, Belinger said.
And without Wildwater Kingdom, Grund said she thinks Cedar Fair is hurting its chances for more platinum season memberships, which included both Wildwater Kingdom and Cedar Point, as well as other parks.
Family-oriented
Arturo Del Rio, his wife, Christina, and children Alba Christina, 5, and Santiago, 2, had just bought season tickets this year to Wildwater Kingdom after living in Aurora for the last three years.
“We’re very, very sad not to have this park. It’s very family-oriented,” Arturo Del Rio said.
The family tried to soak up as much of the park as they could before it closed for good.
“We’ve been here the last three days,” he said.
But Del Rio said he noticed that the water park was not as crowded compared to other water parks he and his family have been to around the country.
Jon Seymour, 40, of Aurora, said this summer seemed to be the busiest for the water park.
Seymour said he’s saddened not just by the water park’s closure, “but Sea World and Geauga Lake. The lake isn’t going away, but I just don’t want it to be houses.”
The property has been the focus of redevelopment initiatives, as Meijer makes plans to build a new store on 41 acres of the Geauga Lake side of the park. Bainbridge Township officials had asked for — and Meijer agreed to — a nod to the property’s nostalgic past, with a mural depicting the amusement park inside the store.
Belinger said it was always sad to be at Wildwater Kingdom and look across the lake at the remnants of Geauga Lake.
“It’s disgusting to look across the lake and disgusting that everything is going to be gone,” she said.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty