Wild Rivers is pumping with activity, rides and water.
This water theme park made a return to Orange County last year after an 11-year hiatus. The new waterpark, which is already open for its 2023 season, sits on 22 acres of Irvine Great Park land (the original park was approximately 14 acres), according to General Manager Kevin Kopeny. There are now over 25 rides and attractions with more planned for the future.
“It’s really, really a fun place,” says Kopeny.
He says the most popular rides are the Bora Bora Boomerango and Aquaconda, which are both six-person raft rides — the park has a total of four of these kinds of rides.
“It’s always more fun to be experiencing those things with other people not just solo,” he says. “You can plan on seeing more of these types of attractions. We’re going to continue to add things to the park where we’re encouraging group activities.”
While Bora Bora Boomerango and Aquaconda might appear somewhat intimidating to the uninitiated waterpark guest (stay tuned for our video), adults and children leaving both rides on a recent visit walked out drenched and happy.
On the less intense end of the watery spectrum is Kontiki Cove, which just opened for the littler kids unable to meet the height requirements of other rides.
“We’ve tried to have there be a little bit of something for everybody,” says Kopeny. “We want there to be something for the little kids to be able to feel like, ‘Hey I’ve got something that I can go do that’s just like what my brother is able to go do.’”
By Jessica Peralta
Leave a Reply