2007 Top Waterparks

What makes the nation’s top waterparks tick? Aquatics International’s annual ranking of the nation’s top waterparks serves up the answers.

When you’re one of the nation’s Top 10 waterparks, you naturally want to maintain your position. So it’s no surprise most of the parks’ spokespeople shut like clams when asked to reveal their secrets to success.

Fortunately, our reporters were still able to tease out some telling details about why these 10 parks are so popular. Situated in core tourist destinations, visitors come from all over the United States and the world to experience these winding water wonderlands for themselves. For locals who live nearby, the waterparks often offer season passes or resident discounts, making them attractive alternatives to local municipal pools.

How attractive? With the help of the Economic Research Association, we ranked the top-performing parks by attendance and calculated the median revenue based on that number alone, bearing in mind that parks’ total revenues are likely much higher when food service and other vending purchases are factored in.

Regardless of those final numbers, these parks are giving the public what it wants. And in the following profiles, their representatives offer some reasons behind their success. They reveal how to capture higher market share, how to build a brand name and how to cater to a target audience.

Think you can compete with the frontrunners? Click on the links below to see what makes them pace setters — and what you can do to close the gap.

1. Typhoon Lagoon

Orlando, Fla.

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

2. Blizzard Beach

Orlando, Fla.

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

3. Wet 'n Wild

Orlando, Fla.

NBC Universal

4. Schlitterbahn

New Braunfels, Texas