Wet 'n Wild, the longstanding International Drive water park, will close for good at the end of 2016, a Universal Orlando official announced Wednesday.
"We???re grateful to our countless fans and team members for making Wet ???n Wild such a special place for so very long," Universal Orlando spokesman Tom Schroder wrote on Universal's official theme parks blog.
The park opened in 1977. It has been owned by Universal since 1998. The company was leasing the land until 2013, when it purchased the 50 acres for $30.9 million.
Earlier this year, Universal announced it was building a water park called Volcano Bay. It is under construction on Turkey Lake Road near Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort, which opened last year.
"The groundbreaking spirit that has defined Wet ???n Wild will continue in the development of Universal???s Volcano Bay, a next-generation water theme park that reimagines what it means to be a water park," Schroder said.
credit orlando sentiel