Check Out the World’s First Cartoon Network Waterpark
The world has got its first Cartoon Network-themed waterpark.
Officially opened as of October 2014 in the coastal plains of Bang Saray, about 10 miles south of Pattaya on the Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard, Cartoon Network Amazone comprises ten themed entertainment zones spanning 14 acres where visitors can get soaked in the company of Finn and Jake, the Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, and more.
One entire section of the park is themed around the Ben 10 series. It features the Omnitrix (which drops riders into a giant sphere full of multimedia projections); the Humungaslide raft race ride; the XLR8-tor (billed as “one of the tallest and steepest rides in Asia,” plunging riders to a splash landing from a height of 60 feet); the Goop Loop (which sends riders free-falling through a trap door before propelling them around a 360 degree loop); and the 360-foot tube slide Alien Attack.
Elsewhere, visitors can enjoy the beach-simulating Megawave, the Banana Spin, and the Riptide Rapids, and hurtle up the face of Jake the Dog in the Jake Jump. There’s also Cartoonival, the world’s largest aqua playground, featuring 150 different water features, and Surf Arena, where the whole family can grab surfboards and hit the waves.
Inevitably, and terrifyingly, live entertainment starring people dressed as familiar Cartoon Network characters also features prominently at the park.
Cartoon Network Amazone isn’t the only place in the world where amusement park lovers have been able to get their Cartoon Network-branded kicks—though often these destinations remind us that nothing, even branding, lasts forever.
Visitors to Six Flags Great America in Illinois can enjoy the Yogi’s Yahoo River and Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine rides, though the zone in which they reside, once called “Camp Cartoon Network”, has been simply redubbed “Camp Cartoon”.
For a time, visitors to Kings Island amusement park in Ohio could enjoy a Scooby Doo-themed wooden roller coaster, before it was rebranded into Nick’s Fairly Odd coaster. (It is now rethemed into the Peanuts-inspired Woodstock Express.)
And, for some years, one of the zones of Australia’s SeaWorld was the Cartoon Network Cartoon Beach, where visitors could enjoy Dexter’s Time Machine and Toon Point Lighthouse. The zone was rebranded as Sesame Street Beach in 2007, and those rides became Zoe’s Sub Splash and Bert and Ernie’s Big Dive, respectively. SeaWorld now hosts Nickelodeon character meet-and-greets and a SpongeBob SquarePants live show.
For its part, the Cartoon Network World indoor theme park in East Al-Maqwa, Kuwait City, is apparently going strong and remains a popular venue for children’s birthday parties.
It may actually be worth holding out for IMG Worlds of Adventure, which will be the largest indoor amusement park in the world when it opens in Dubai later this year. The park will feature a Cartoon Network zone and another devoted to Marvel characters.
