Wild Water & Wheels, 910 US-17 Business (Surfside Beach): November 2022 4 comments
I never got to go to Wild Water & Wheels in Surfside Beach next to the Flea Market. I would have been in my early 30s when it opened, which is a bit old to do a water park without kids in tow. I always figured maybe I would go with a family group sometime, but it never materialized. The official announcement that the place was closed came last November, but it was apparently pretty commonly assumed before that, as the land had been sold in April. According to the owner, it was a completely financial decision: He would have loved to keep it going, but it wasn't making any money with shorter summers and more competition, and he had to retire the operating debt by selling.
Currently, it appears the 17 acre site will go to housing, but that has not been completely finalized yet.
Here is The Post & Courier on the closing, here is The Sun News, WMBF and WBTW.
Here is a promo video, with plenty of shots of the park in operation:
I never got to go to Wild Water & Wheels in Surfside Beach. I would have been in my early 30s when it opened, which is a bit old to do a water park without kids in tow. I always figured maybe I would go with a family group sometime, but it never materialized. The official announcement that the place was closed came last November, but it was apparently pretty commonly assumed before that, as the land had been sold in April. According to the owner, it was completely financial decision: He would have loved to keep it going, but it wasn't making any money with shorter summers and more competition, and he had to retire the operating debt by selling.
Currently, it appears the 17 acre site will go to housing, but that has not been completely finalized yet.
Here is The Post & Courier on the closing, here is The Sun News, WMBF and WBTW.
UPDATE 10 June 2023: The Sun News reports that the plan to put up apartments here has fallen through, and we may possibly be looking at more commerical activity such as a car-wash or gas station if the town approves. Demolition of the water park itself starts this week.
4 Responses to 'Wild Water & Wheels, 910 US-17 Business (Surfside Beach): November 2022'
Subscribe to comments with RSS
-
Gypsie
19 Apr 23 at 10:29 pm
-
Went here many times as a kid growing up in the Grand Strand, sad to hear it closed.
Justin
20 Apr 23 at 8:21 am
-
I went there once when I was in cub scouts ages ago. It was my first water park experience, and I loved it (except for the bad sunburn I got after my sunblock had worn off more quickly than expected). The tube slides were something else! Some years later, though, after developing a bit of claustrophobia, I decided tube slides were not for me.
Not sure why the owner mentioned "shorter summers". All of the schools I'm aware of still follow the typical mid/late-August through end-of-May schedules, if that's what he's talking about.
Sorry to see this place go. I recall when they dropped the "Wheels" from the name...for some reason. I had noticed not too long ago that "Wheels" was back in the name. Perhaps there was an ownership change at some point and that current owner didn't want to maintain the go-carts.
-
Sunburns at theme parks were a given. Worn as badges of honor.
Joe Shlabotnik
22 Apr 23 at 2:51 am
This was always a favorite of ours as kids and as adults. It will be greatly missed.
Ted, I'm in my 50s and there's a group of us who regularly go to water parks with no kids in tow and we've been doing so since we were teens. We always have a blast!