National Waterpark Day Date in the current year: July 28, 2024

A waterpark, also known as water park, aquapark or water world, is an amusement park that features water slides, swimming pools, water playgrounds, splash pads, lazy rivers, wave pools, and other areas for water play, swimming, bathing, and floating.

Humans have loved water-based relaxation and entertainment since ancient times, but waterparks with their water slides and other attractions are a relatively recent invention. Most historians agree that the first purpose-built water slide made its appearance at the 1906 New Zealand International Exhibition in Christchurch.

The person credited with opening the first modern waterpark is American businessman George Millay. His first business venture was Specialty Restaurants Corporation that operated more than 100 restaurants across the country. After selling it, Millay used the money to open SeaWorld San Diego in 1964. The park combined an aquatic zoo and leisure pools. It wasn’t a waterpark in the full sense of the word, but it can be considered a precursor to waterparks as we know them today.

Thirteen years later, Millay founded the world’s first modern waterpark, Wet ‘n Wild, in Orlando, Florida. The park was a huge success, and Millay went on to open six more Wet ‘n Wild locations in the United States, Mexico and Brazil. Although the original Wet ‘n Wild waterpark closed down in 2016, three locations are still in operation. Due to his contribution to popularizing waterparks, Millay is often referred to as the “father of the waterpark”.

The first indoor waterparks began to emerge in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and France. Unlike open-air waterparks that are affected by weather conditions, indoor waterparks can stay open all the year round. The world’s largest indoor waterpark is the Tropical Islands Resort in Krausnick, Germany. With an area of 710,000 sq ft, it is located in a 351 ft high hangar.

Today, there are thousands of waterparks around the globe. The United States has the largest number of waterparks, so it is not surprising that it also has a holiday dedicated to waterparks. National Waterpark Day was launched in 2017 by Kalahari Resorts and Conventions, an American chain of African-themed waterpark resorts with locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. The holiday is celebrated in July because it is usually the hottest month of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, and a lot of people like to spend hot days at their local waterpark.

The best way to celebrate National Waterpark Day is, of course, to spend it at the nearest waterpark or travel to a major water attraction for a quintessential summertime experience. Don’t forget to take some photos and share them on social media with the hashtags #NationalWaterparkDay and #WaterparkDay to spread the word about the holiday.