The countdown begins. Three. Two. One.
Then the floor disappears beneath 13-year-old Brody Mack.
Inside Aspen Falls, the most thrilling of the new slides to debut at Water World’s Summit Canyon expansion this summer, brave riders stand inside a transparent capsule before a trap door suddenly drops away, letting gravity take over and sending them plunging down more than 425 feet through a twisting slide.
“It’s like a crazy adrenaline rush,” said Brody, who lives in Thornton and was among the first guests to experience the ride when it opened this week. “You fly through the whole thing, and you get super soaked. When you go through the clear parts, you get to see everyone looking at you.”
The new four-tower slide complex is the centerpiece of Summit Canyon, the 2.5-acre section that opened this week at the water park, 8801 Pecos St. in Federal Heights. It’s the largest renovation Water World has undertaken since the 1980s, transforming a longtime corner of the park into an area that caters to guests from thrill-seekers to toddlers — and even adults who simply want to relax at an adults-only pool with large shade umbrellas.
“Our goal is to hopefully check the boxes for everyone,” said Bob Owens, Water World’s director of enterprise operations. “We wanted to bring families together where we have different levels of play and interaction for guests of all ages.”
Towering above the new area is the 60-foot-tall Lookout Tower, now the highest point in the park. From there, guests can choose among four slides. Aspen Falls offers the dramatic drop capsule, while Columbine Cascade sends riders through more than 500 feet of twists, including long stretches enclosed in translucent fiberglass. Tube riders can participate solo or as a pair, choosing Runoff Rapids, with sweeping switchbacks, or Marmot Mayhem, which features Colorado’s first HIVE waterslide technology with tight, spiraling helixes that generate powerful G-forces.
Owens said the lineup was intentional.
“We were looking for a ride mix that appeals to all the different groups of guests and the thrills they’re looking for,” he said.
One of the biggest additions to Summit Canyon is Critter Cove, a sprawling 7,500-square-foot children’s play area with five miniature nature-themed slides, spray features and shallow water designed for younger visitors. Nearby, Creekside Crossing lets guests balance across floating lily pads with the help of rope vines, while Puddle Dunker adds in-water basketball hoops.
In the middle of it all is Emerald Lake, an adults-only leisure pool complete with pool floats, in-water seating and a gentle waterfall — a quieter escape tucked into one of Colorado’s busiest summer attractions.
For longtime season pass holder Monica Montez, that’s exactly what makes the redesign work so well.
“I’m so excited that there’s a kids’ area that is bigger than they had before,” said Montez, who lives in Thornton and has been a season pass holder since the 1980s, when she was growing up in the area. “Sometimes, as a mom, we just want to hang out in a lounge and not necessarily carry tubes and ride rides. So this is nice because they can stay entertained in this new area.”
The expansion replaces the former Calypso Cove area, where generations of visitors rode Screamin’ Mimi, Tortuga Run and Pirates Plunge or spent hours playing in Wally World, before it closed last season after more than four decades.
Montez’s connection to Water World stretches back decades. She remembers spending summers at Wally World, the beloved children’s area that once occupied part of this section of the park, and later bringing her own children there, riding Tortuga Run “as much as we possibly could” before the tube ride through chutes and whirlpools closed.
The new section strikes a balance between nostalgia and innovation, she said, preserving the spirit of the attractions families loved while introducing next-generation thrill rides. Now, Montez says, she’s watching a new generation create summertime memories. “I want my kids to make memories like I made when I was a kid.”
That sense of tradition is part of what has made Water World a Colorado institution since opening in 1979. While other states may boast Disney parks or sprawling resort water parks, many Front Range families have spent generations making annual pilgrimages here for funnel cakes, the dinosaur-themed Voyage to the Center of the Earth raft ride and afternoons bobbing in the wave pool.
The redesigned Summit Canyon also includes expanded food options, cabanas, shaded picnic areas and enough seating for about 700 guests. It also was designed to operate after normal park hours, allowing Water World to host adults-only Sunset Swim evenings, Glow Nights for teens and private events after the rest of the park closes.
A regular ticket includes access to Summit Canyon, but guests can also buy a less expensive ticket that just gets them into the new area. Resident pricing is $8.99, while non-resident tickets cost $13.99. The three-hour passes must be purchased through Hyland Hills Parks & Recreation rather than WaterWorldColorado.com.
Tickets are available now for visits beginning Monday, July 20, and can be purchased up to two weeks in advance. Visitors can choose either a 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or a 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. entry window.
Water World also opened a new pool dedicated to swim lessons this summer. The facility has its own entrance and is expected to eventually host about 1,200 individual swim lessons each summer. Owens said the dedicated space also allows the park to offer evening and weekend programming that better accommodates working families.
