New Wild Rivers is a water park located in Irvine, California. It is the rebirth of the original Wild Rivers water park that used to be in Irvine. That however, was killed and destroyed by the Irvine Comp to build more expensive houses and apartments (BTW, these houses are NOT helping with the housing crisis in California). However, the owners wanted to rebuild and keep Wild Rivers going. So after a ton of trial and error including a time where they were considering rebuilding the park in Temecula, they finally found some land to build the park on in Irvine, only 5 miles away from the original location (It is f*cking CREEPY to see the land where the original water park was on Google Maps). And if you were hoping for an exact carbon copy of the original Wild Rivers, you're going to be dissapointed. However, if you're wanting a kickass water park to fill its shoes, then New Wild Rivers will certainly make you happy. Yeah. Some of the quirky charm that the original water park had is gone. None of the slides are made of rubber, which was unique feature that made Wild Rivers stand out. Also, not having Congo River Rapids is a real bummer (As is Bazooka Bowls. But at least New Wild Rivers has a Tube Toilet Bowl, there are plenty of other Body Toilet Bowls, and Bazooka Bowls itself found a new home. So less of a bummer). But at the same time, New Wild Rivers has a ton of great water slides, including one of the best water coasters ever. Is there room for improvement? Yes (Please bring Funnel Dogs to New Wild Rivers). But it's all in all a great water park that I really wish the best for. =)
The Major Waterslides
There is a link to a review of all the Major Waterslides at New Wild Rivers.
Here are the reviews of all the other water slides at New Wild Rivers. First up, we have Fiji Falls. This is a fun little water slide. It's got some nice turns in the dark. And of course, all the tantrums that make the ride have its own unique bite really give the ride some spice. So yeah. I strongly recommend riding this while at New Wild Rivers. The other water slide I rode without its own review would be Tahitian Toucan. This is essentially a modern version of the Switzer Falls from the original Wild Rivers. And yeah. Both are simple slides into water. This one however, was a little better. It just seemed a little faster and a bit of a higher drop into the water. That was nice. Hell, that drop is like half of a Cascade. Starting to get up into cliff jumping territory (I would LOVE to see a water slide that leads straight into cliff jumping). However, there are still plenty more water slides that I never got to ride due to my visit there being cut short by a thunderstorm. Most notably, Tortuga. A family raft slide that has a tantrum at top. That always makes for more fun. If this is the Mammoth of tantrum slides, that's perfectly fine with me. They also have Aquaconda, a big family raft slide. A tube slide, known as Samoa Serpent. A handful of standard slides, such as Tala and Mano, as well as Pipeline. I look foreward to riding all of those slides on a future visit to New Wild Rivers.
Another really fun water with some fun tantrum action. =)
Dining
I never ate at New Wild Rivers. However, I do have to make a suggestion. I strongly recommend bringing back the Funnel Dog. A funnel dog is basically a corn dog, except instead of the hot dog being coated in some corn bread, they get coated in funnel cake batter and deep fried. Now I know this sounds gross, but it kicked ass! To be fair, I think it was only temporarily at the original Wild Rivers in 2010. But adding this on their menu really would make them stand out. =)
Theming and Other Attractions
Here are the reviews of all the other stuff at New Wild Rivers. Well for theming, there's essentially nothing! The one thing they have would be the new signs and logos for their water slides. I know this isn't theming. But whoever they hired to do the graphic design for all the logos for their slides did a FANTASTIC job. But as for actual theming, there's NOTHING!!! There's also not much of a park setting. I know it's technically built on the Orange County Great Park. So all the other stuff that's part of that is nearby. But yeah. At least when we went, it looked very....just opened. But I'm sure the more the Great PArk is developed, the better the atmosphere will become. As for other things to do, there's the other standard water park attractions. Doing things such as a wavepool and a lazy river. Nothing special, but they are fun and water park goers will enjoy them.
Not a particuarly crazy lazy river, but these things are fun to just float in.
In Conclusion
Wild Rivers is a TOTALLY AWESOME WATER PARK!!! It has a FANTASTIC selection of water slides. Pelican Plunge is one of my favorite water coasters of all time (as well as one of my favorite water slides of all time). Bombay Blaster is a nice wink and a nod to the original that was one of my favorite slides at the original Wild Rivers. And there are so many other slides here that are just a ton of fun. Yeah. If you're looking for an exact clone of the original park, this isn't gonna do it for you since...it's clearly a different water park. None of the slides here are rubber. Which....that was a nice quirky touch of the original park. Also, it is a shame to not have Bazooka Bowls (But at least they have a Tube Toilet Bowl. Yeah. Tiki's Revenge isn't as good, but it's still something. Plus, there are plenty of other Body Toilet Bowls, including some in California. And Bazooka Bowls itself found a new home in Canada) and Congo River Rapids (This one still f*cking stings a lot). But it's still a great water park with a ton of great water slides. Is there room for improvement? Of course. But it's a brand new water park. I'm sure they will only continue to improve the park. Definately give this place a visit if you live in Southern California and love water parks.
Tips
*Get here early.
*Make sure there's no chance of thunderstorms when you visit.
