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[[File:History-of-waterslides.jpg|thumb|Figure 1. Image showing perhaps the first build water slide.]]__NOTOC__For many children, and even those young at heart, water parks are a key pastime of summer and, increasingly, winter, with . With indoor parks , it is now developed possible to play year-round in many areasplaces. The history of water parks is generally relatively recent. In particular, particularly it is after World War II when they became popular, but . But they have evolved rapidly in the last few decades from simple places of amusement to complex parks that compete for status symbols such as the 'largest water park' or 'tallest waterslide.'.

In the late 1940s, with the country recovering from World War II and beginning to contemplate more fun as normal life resumed, the United States began to look for new amusements. Many outdoor pools and lidos had existed already but only a few had diving boards. Even fewer had slides. However, by the late 1940s more pools began to integrate slides and even began to include water being incorporated into the slide to ease movement down towards the pool. Although this is often seen as the beginning of water parks, the waterslide appears to have first developed in New Zealand during the 1906 International Exhibition (Figure 1). There could be earlier versions of such slides but the slide in New Zealand was the first to attract major attention. In an exhibition called "Wonderland," a chute was installed that allow swimmers to slide right into the pool. The chute moved people down in a wooden ramp that then allowed them to briefly skim across the surface of the water, as it came in a slight angle. In fact, almost all early waterslides mostly skimmed riders rather than directly inserting them into water. Already in 1906, even government officials, such as the speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, was impressed and gave the slide a try. In the 1910s and 1920s, similar slides were created, with most being features at fairs and special summer events.<ref>For more on the earliest slides used for water amusement, see: Patrick, B. K., & Thompson, J. M. (2009). <i>An uncommon history of common things</i>. Washington, D.C: National Geographic, pg. 164.</ref>

Perhaps the first document waterslide in the United States was in FaribaultIn an exhibition called "Wonderland, Minnesota, created by furniture maker Herbert Sellner in 1923. He created what " a chute was a water toboggan installed that allows swimmers to slide that would have riders going on right into the pool. The chute moved people down in a wooden sled and ramp that then slide into allowed them to briefly skim across the surface of the water, skimming the surface as it came in a similar manner as the New Zealand slide. It was given a patent, number 1,737,032, later influencing waterslide designslight angle. In fact, similar slides were being built throughout the late 1920s and a few parks in the United States began to have slides built in almost all early waterslides mostly skimmed riders rather than directly inserting theminto water. In all these casesAlready in 1906, even government officials, water slides were not such as the main feature but just one feature among other, mostly land-based amusements. Most speaker of the slides New Zealand House of Representatives, were based on Sellner's original design but soon some began to do away with impressed and gave the sledslide a try. Most slides simply allowed one to go to In the top1910s and 1920s, get on a sled or simple down without a sledsimilar slides were created, with most being features at fairs and then go off in a slight angle towards the waterspecial summer events.<ref>For more on the slide developed by Sellnerearliest slides used for water amusement, see: AndersonPatrick, B. K., & Thompson, NJ. DM. (19922009). <i>Ferris wheels: an illustrated An uncommon historyof common things</i>. Bowling GreenWashington, OhioD.C: Bowling Green State University Popular PressNational Geographic, pg. 230164.</ref>

[[File:HistoryPerhaps the first document waterslide in the United States was in Faribault, Minnesota, created by furniture maker Herbert Sellner in 1923. He created what was a water toboggan slide that would have riders going on a wooden sled and then slide into the water, skimming the surface in a similar manner as the New Zealand slide. It was given a patent, number 1,737,032, later influencing waterslide design. In fact, similar slides were being built throughout the late 1920s and a few parks in the United States began to have slides built in them.  In all these cases, water slides were not the main feature but just one feature among other, mostly land-based amusements. Most of-waterslidesthe slides were based on Sellner's original design but soon some began to do away with the sled.jpg|thumb|Figure 1Most slides simply allowed one to go to the top, get on a sled or simple down without a sled, and then go off at a slight angle towards the water. Image showing perhaps <ref>For more on the first build water slidedeveloped by Sellner, see: Anderson, N. D. (1992). <i>Ferris wheels: an illustrated history</i>. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, pg. 230.]]</ref>

[[File:Wet-wild-aerial.jpg|thumb|Figure 2. Wet n' Wild in Orlando was the first purpose-built water park.]]George Millay, who famously founded Sea World in San Diego and later Florida, took the ideas of waterslides and increasingly noticed in the 1960s and 1970s that pools began to incorporate splash pads and even the first wavepool wave pool opening in Alabama had proven to be major attractions. People often wanted to enjoy the water without having to get directly deep into the water. Waterslides also became very popular within existing parks, so much so long lines were always evident. All these gave Millay the idea that a purpose-built water park might be enough to be profitable. He needed a warm, year-round place to have such a park to keep revenues steady.  As Orlando, Florida already hosted well -known amusement locations, taking advantage of an existing tourist market, and had the weather that Millay needed, this allowed Wet n’ Wild to be founded there as the first purpose-built water park in 1977 (Figure 2). When it opened, the first year proved disappointing, loosing losing about $600,000. However, Millay did not fret and from the second year , it began to make a profit, never looking back. The wavepool wave pool and its large waterslides became key features in the park. Although the park closed in 2016, it became the blueprint for most other parks in the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia.  The industry largely considers it the inspiration for all modern water parks. Demonstrating the success of the park, Wet n' Wild averaged about 1.3 million visitors a year in its later years. Millay took the Wet n' Wild brand to many areas and other countries, expanding the brand and building new water parks.<ref>For more on George Millay and the development of Wet n' Wild, see: O’Brien, T. (2005). <i>The wave maker: the story of theme park pioneer George Millay and the creation of Sea World, Magic Mountain, and Wet’n’Wild</i>. Orlando: Ripley Pub. </ref> Since the 1970s, there has been a rapid expansion and often competition among parks to develop new types of slides, rides, pools, and even novel features within water parks. For instance, for northern regions of the United States, where the weather is too cold for much of the year for water parks, a novel feature has been creating an ice skating rink in the main plaza by placing underground cooling pipes.

Since the 1970s, there has been a rapid expansion and often competition among parks to develop new types of slides, rides, pools and even novel features within water parks. For instance, for northern regions of the United States, where the weather is too cold for much of the year for water parks, a novel feature has been creating an ice skating rink in the main plaza by placing underground cooling pipes. By the early 1980s, communities around the United States began to realize that they could make their area more appealing to tourists by building water parks. This was the case for Wisconsin Dells in southern Wisconsin, not far from Chicago. In that case, five major water parks were built near each other, allowing the town to claim itself as the '"water park capital' " of the world. This inspired not only new water parks to be built across the country, where today there are more than 1000 water parks in the United States, but ideas to best competition continued to grow. Routinely, water parks became ranked across the United States, with other countries sometimes following. This has also helped to inspire the explosion of innovation in waterslides, rides, attractions within water parks.<ref>For more on how water parks spread, see: Hamilton, S. L. (2016). <i>Water parks</i>. Minneapolis, Minnesota: A & D Xtreme, an imprint of Abdo Publishing. </ref>

[[FileRoutinely, water parks became ranked across the United States, with other countries sometimes following. This has also helped to inspire the explosion of innovation in waterslides, rides, attractions within water parks.<ref>For more on how water parks spread, see:Wet-wild-aerialHamilton, S. L. (2016).jpg|thumb|Figure 2<i>Water parks</i>. Wet n' Wild in Orlando was the first purpose-built water parkMinneapolis, Minnesota: A & D Xtreme, an imprint of Abdo Publishing.]]</ref>

Despite the the success of places such as Wisconsin DellsIn effect, cold regions still struggled to build they became small water parks that could attract enough profits and continue to have new tourists come catered to them throughout local communities during the yearsummer months and holidays. Given such challenges, the first indoor water park was built in Edmonton, Alberta in 1985 at the West Edmonton Mall. This soon proved successful, inspiring other locations, including in the UK, Water parks began to create their own indoor water parks. In 1994amusement areas, the first significant indoor water park built in the United States was such as in Wisconsin Dells at the Polynesian Resort Hotel. The success of indoor water parks made business investors realize that water , where new amusement parks, incorporated within hotels and as indoor resorts, allowed places began to extend the tourist season. The Great Wolf Resorts/Great Wolf Lodge developed develop as the first company Dells tried to build hotels keep tourists around longer. Local recreation centers even began to develop miniature indoor water parkspark features, such as lazy rivers and slides.<ref>For more on recent trends in water parks and indoor water Water parks, see: https://www.wisdells.com/media/facts/fun-factstoday, bring in about 3 billion dollars annually.htm & Hamilton 2015: 12 </ref>

Other innovations included developing faster waterslides, new types of water features including tube rides with mounted crafts, and large rafts that would be sent hurtling down large themed-slides. The Verrückt, located in Kansas City, became the tallest water slide at 168 feet, although it closed down in 2016 due to a tragic accident. The success of indoor and outdoor water parks led to a few trends. First, many existing community pools began to cater to the desire for water parks by adding slides and features such as wavepools. In effect, they became small water parks that catered to local communities during the summer months and holidays. Water parks began to create amusement areas, such as in Wisconsin Dells, where new amusement parks began to develop as the Dells tried to keep tourists around longer. Local recreation centers even began to develop miniature indoor water park features, such as lazy rivers and slides. Water parks, today, bring in about 3 billion dollars annually. Indoor parks and municipal water parks or water parks incorporate within community recreation centres centers are perhaps the fasted growing segments of the water park industry.<ref>For more on water park trends and industry, see: https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-trends/specialized-market-research-reports/consumer-goods-services/sports-recreation/water-parks.html</ref>

Water parks continue to be very popular, where they are now found perhaps in over 100 countries. Water parks have also proven to be great economic engines for communities, generating tourist revenue in areas that struggled economically. Water parks have also generated new forms of tourism, with year-round indoor water parks, hotels and resorts built around water parks, and new amusement attractions incorporated in areas that feature water parks. Although water parks have come a long way from the first waterslides, the core thrill of combining speed, water, and excitement have has allowed waterslides and water parks to be highly successful.