What has ten water slides, a wave pool and a children’s museum dedicated to teaching students about the power of water? Its Evergreen Wings and Waves, the nations newest water park at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon and that 747 is there to stay.
Called “the only water park that comes with an aviation and space museum” Wings and Waves opened this week with rides like the Nose Dive inner tube ride and the Mach 1 slide that descends 60 vertical feet.
That Boeing 747 mounted on the roof of that 60 foot-tall building? Four different water slides start inside including the Sonic Boom offering an “outdoor water park” feel with a view of most of the park. Above the roof, the top section of the slide is transparent to allow glimpses of the shape of the plane and building. Inside the park the top section of the slide is removed and the top is open.
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“To get kids’ attention these days you need to more interactive. It’s all ‘Been there; done that; got the T-shirt.’ So we built an aviation and water museum with slides it in,” explained Evergreen Aviation museum’s executive director Larry Wood to StuckAtTheAirport.
Unlike other water parks, this one has a museum attached. The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum is best known for housing the original Spruce Goose but is also the is home to over 200 aircraft and exhibits including military aircraft, helicopters, commercial and private aircraft with an entire building dedicated to space flight.
Add in an IMAX theater, restaurants, cafes and shops and this water park looks to be flying high for summer fun…the kind of summer fun we might find when Traveling the American Road, a project running right now and you can keep up with us here on Gadling, at travelingtheamericanroad.com or on Facebook, Twitter and Gowalla.