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[[File:History-of-waterslides.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Figure 1. Image showing perhaps the first built 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.'.

==Early HistoryWhere was the first waterslide built?==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 easy 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). 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 There could be earlier versions of the watersuch slides, as it came in a slight angle. Already in 1906, even government officials, such as the speaker of the but New Zealand House of Representatives, 's slide was impressed and gave the slide a tryfirst to attract major attention.

Perhaps In an exhibition called "Wonderland," a chute was installed that allows swimmers to slide right into the first document waterslide pool. The chute moved people down in a wooden ramp that then allowed them to briefly skim across the surface of the United States was water as it came in Faribaulta slight angle. In fact, Minnesota, created by furniture maker Herbert Sellner in 1923. He created what was a water toboggan slide that would have almost all early waterslides mostly skimmed riders going on a wooden sled and then slide rather than directly inserting them into the water. In 1906, even government officials, skimming such as the speaker of the surfaceNew Zealand House of Representatives, were impressed and gave the slide a try. Similar In the 1910s and 1920s, similar slides were built through the late 1920s created, with most being features at fairs and a few parks in special summer events.<ref>For more on the United States began to have earliest slidesused for water amusement, see: Patrick, B. K., & Thompson, J. M. (2009). Most <i>An uncommon history of the slides were based on Sellner's original designcommon things</i>. Most slides simply allowed one to go to the topWashington, get on a sledD.C: National Geographic, and then go off in a slight angle towards the waterpg. 164.</ref>

[[File:History-of-waterslidesPerhaps the first document waterslide in the United States was in Faribault, Minnesota, created by furniture maker Herbert Sellner in 1923. He created 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.jpg|thumb|Figure It was given a patent, number 1,737,032, later influencing waterslide design. Image showing perhaps In fact, similar slides were being built throughout the late 1920s, and a few parks in the first build water slideUnited States began to have slides built in them.]]

==Later Developments==George Millay, who famously founded Sea World in San Diego and later Florida, took Water slides were not the idea developed by Sellner and also increasingly noticed main feature in the 1960s and 1970s incorporating splash pads and the first wavepool opening in Alabama. Waterslides became very popular within existing parks, so much so long lines were always evident. All all these gave Millay the idea that a purpose-built water park might be enough to be profitable. He needed a warmcases but just one feature among other, yearmostly land-round place to have such a park to keep revenues steadybased amusements. As Orlando, Florida already hosted well known amusement locations and had Most of the weather that Millay neededslides were based on Sellner's original design, Wet n’ Wild was founded there as but soon some began to do away with the first purpose-built water park in 1977sled. When it opened, Most slides allowed one to go to the first year proved disappointingtop, loosing about $600get on a sled or simple down without a sled,000. However, Millay did not fret and from then go off at a slight angle towards the second year it began to make a profitwater. Although <ref>For more on the park closed in 2016slide developed by Sellner, it became the blueprint for most other parks in the United Statessee: Anderson, Europe, South America, and AsiaN. D. Demonstrating the success of the park, Wet n'Wild averaged about 1(1992).3 million visitors a year in its later years<i>Ferris wheels: an illustrated history</i>. Millay took the Wet n' Wild brand to many areas and other countriesBowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, expanding the brand and building new ater parkspg. 230. </ref>

==What was the first waterpark?==[[File:Wet-wild-aerial.jpg|thumb|left|250px|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 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, took 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, losing about $600,000. However, Millay did not fret, and from the second year, it began to make a profit, never looking back. The 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 park's success, 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 created 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 realized 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>

As cold regions struggled to build Other innovations included developing faster waterslides, new types of water parks features, including tubes, rides with mounted crafts, and large rafts that could attract new tourists, different ideas emergedwould be sent hurtling down large themed slides. The first indoor water park was built Verrückt, located in EdmontonKansas City, Alberta in 1985 at became the West Edmonton Mall. This soon proved successful, inspiring other locations to create their own indoor tallest water parks. In 1994slide at 168 feet, the first indoor water park built although it closed down in the United States was in Wisconsin Dells at the Polynesian Resort Hotel2016 due to a tragic accident. The success of indoor and outdoor water parks made business investors realize that water parksled to a few trends. First, incorporated within hotels, allowed places many existing community pools began to cater to extend the tourist season. The Great Wolf Resorts/Great Wolf Lodge developed as the first company to build hotels around indoor desire for water parksby adding slides and features such as wave pools.

Other innovations included developing faster waterslides, new types of water features including tube 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>