Yes, one of the first waterparks, Wet n’ Wild Orlando, which opened in 1977, will close on December 31st, 2016. With the announcement of the Volcano Bay Waterpark, many were expecting Universal, the owners of Wet n’ Wild Orlando, to close the park. The rumors are confirmed. The real question is what will happen to the waterpark?
For the slides, I expect some of them to be used in the Volcano Bay park. I’d expect some of the larger slides to go there, but others to either be dismantled or sent to other waterparks.
For Wet n’ Wild’s Land, which is owned by Universal, the outcome is unknown. Above is the different chunks of land. The red zone is the known land owned by Universal. The green zone is the current parking lot, which is also owned by Universal. The blue area is a spot that I think is owned by Universal, but I’m not completely sure. The easiest possible use of the land of Wet n’ Wild is another hotel. Wet n’ Wild is surprisingly small. It’s much smaller than the Universal hotels. If they fill in part of the water or build a bridge across Universal Boulevard, they could fit in a hotel.
On the other hand, if Universal owns the entire lake, I could see Universal finally building their third park! This would make it large enough I really hope this is a possibility! I could see them heavily using the Nintendo characters within a third park.
There is one thing for sure, if Universal uses this land, these hotels are going to have a fantastic view! Thanks you for visiting Theme Parks and Travels! Be sure to follow us here on WordPress and share with the buttons below! Also, you can find us on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, and Tumblr!