Schlitterbahn is an American brand of water parks and resorts owned by Cedar Fair. It was previously a company family-owned-and-operated by the Henry family that was based in New Braunfels, Texas. Schlitterbahn opened its first location, Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort, in 1979. At its peak, the company consisted of five outdoor waterparks, two indoor waterparks, and three resorts. Schlitterbahn's outdoor water parks are seasonally-operated, typically open from late April through mid-September, while its indoor locations operate year-round. Two parks are located in Texas. On June 13, 2019, Cedar Fair entered an agreement to acquire two of Schlitterbahn's properties in Galveston and New Braunfels for $261 million. The deal, which closed in early July 2019, gave Cedar Fair the option to purchase Schlitterbahn Waterpark Kansas City for $6 million within 120 days of the transaction, which Cedar Fair declined to do. Additionally, the rights to the Schlitterbahn name were included in the acquisition. Current parks New Braunfels, Texas The first of the parks was in New Braunfels and opened in 1979. The park was named Schlitterbahn ("slippery road" in German) because of the local area's German heritage. It originally consisted of four waterslides. The park expanded three times. Surfenberg was the first part of the expansion and had the world's first inland surfing ride, the Boogie Bahn, in 1992, created the first uphill water coaster, the Dragon Blaster in 1994. In 1996 the next section opened - Blastenhoff - and featured the world's first wave river, the Torrent, and the world's most award-winning uphill water coaster, the Master Blaster. In 2011, the park expanded again, adding The Falls, the world's longest tubing river, featuring rapids and tube chutes. As of 2022, the park has won Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Award for Best Waterpark for 24 years straight; the streak began with the inception of the award. In total, Schlitterbahn New Braunfels has received 42 Golden Ticket Awards. As of 2014, the park employed 2,000 seasonal workers. Galveston, Texas The 26-acre Schlitterbahn park in Galveston opened in 2006, and is open for part of every month of the year. The park features the most thrill rides of any of the Schlitterbahn parks and is home to the world's former record holder of the world's tallest water coaster, MASSIV, as it lost its record to Tsunami Surge at Hurricane Harbor Chicago at 86 feet tall. MASSIV opened in 2016 and features the most current