Washingtonians will have one more season to hurtle down the slides and rides at Wild Waves in Federal Way: The theme and water park off Interstate 5 will close after the 2026 season.
In a news release published Wednesday on its website, park leadership said attractions will open as planned next year on May 23, with a final day of operations scheduled for Nov. 1, 2026. The park will throw one last Fright Fest Halloween celebration next fall — and all previously purchased 2026 group events, season passes and ticket packages will be honored next year.
Per the release, the park employs approximately 35 full-time workers and 800 seasonal ones.
In a statement, Premier Parks President and Owner Kieran Burke pointed toward significant financial losses as the reason for the closure, thanking those who visited the park over the years.
“Unfortunately, the rising cost of ongoing operations since reopening after the COVID shutdown has generated millions in losses, which forces us to discontinue operations at the end of our 2026 season,” Burke said in the statement.
Park leadership could not be reached for further comment before publication Wednesday evening.
Operated by Premier Parks, the theme park debuted in 1977 as Enchanted Village. Today, the 70-acre Wild Waves is the Seattle area’s only theme park and water park — home to some of the Northwest’s precious few roller coasters — and its towering attractions are a familiar sight off I-5 for commuters and for millions of guests who have visited the park over the years.
The park is home to more than 30 rides and slides, including Timberhawk, a 75-foot-tall wooden coaster, The Wild Thing, a looping steel coaster, and the triple-tube Pacific Plunge Slide Complex.
Wild Waves has changed hands multiple times over the past several decades. The 2000s in particular brought a carousel of ownership.
Byron Betts, who operated the Point Defiance Park merry-go-round in Tacoma, opened his Enchanted Village theme park in 1977; an attached water park, Wild Waves, opened in 1984, and the whole operation was sold to former Seattle Sounders player Jeff Stock in 1991 for $8 million.
Stock expanded and invested in the combined park, adding acreage and new attractions, before selling the park to Six Flags for $19.3 million in 2000. Stock maintained ownership of the land.
Six Flags pumped more than $25 million into the park before offloading the park and six others to a pair of Florida companies for a combined $312 million in 2007.
New bosses CNL Lifestyle Properties brought Stock back aboard in 2011 for a second spin managing the park. About five years later, in fall 2016, Missouri real estate investment firm EPR Properties bought Wild Waves and several other parks for $456 million in another sweeping acquisition.
Premier Parks, which operates theme and water parks around the United States, took over management of Wild Waves at that time.
(No price was disclosed for Wild Waves specifically in either sale.)
Stock — who could not be reached for additional comment before publication Wednesday evening — said in the Wild Waves statement that he recognized the “deep history and emotional connection many residents have with the park.”
As the land owner, he looked toward a path forward for the space that “(ensures) a respectful transition while planning a project that will bring meaningful, lasting benefits to the area.”
“Plans for the site are currently in preliminary stages, with goals beneficial to the city and surrounding areas,” Stock said in the statement. “Additional details will be released as the project moves through planning and community review processes.”
Information from The Seattle Times archive was used in this report.
Chase Hutchinson: [email protected]. Chase Hutchinson is a freelance writer based in Western Washington.
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