located in the area. Wet n' Wild was a water park formerly located on International Drive, considered to be America's first water park until it closed on December 31, 2016 to make way for Universal's Volcano Bay, which opened on May 25, 2017. Public transportation The I-Ride Trolley system operated by the International Drive Master Transit & Improvement District provides bus transportation along the I-Drive Resort Area primarily for tourists, convention attendees, and locals alike. Several Lynx public bus routes also serve the I-Drive area with routes to Orlando International Airport, Downtown Orlando and other parts of the city. History The first section of I-Drive was laid out in the 1960s by attorney Finley Hamilton to serve his Hilton Inn South, opened in May 1970. He imagined that once Walt Disney World opened in October 1971, tourists would spot the hotel when traveling to the park along Interstate 4. "They called the hotel 'Finley's Folly' – everyone, all of my friends," Hamilton said. "They said it was in the boondocks. ...But it turned out to be highly successful. ...I came up with International Drive," he recalled, "because it sounded big and important." International Drive was eventually extended to its current north point (where Prime Outlets is now) and southward past the Beachline Expressway. The International Drive Master Transit and Improvement District was created in 1992 to provide growth management, transportation, and infrastructure development for the area with collaboration between the local governments and I-Drive businesses. One of the most critical projects presented to the organization is to create an efficient transportation system for tourists on the I-Drive strip; this prompted the creation of the I-Ride bus trolley system. Universal Boulevard Universal Boulevard runs roughly parallel to International Drive from the Beachline Expressway north, then crosses I-Drive and intersects I-4 via an overpass into the Universal Orlando Resort. Originally built as Republic Drive, it originally stopped at International Drive and fed into ramps onto and off I-4 eastbound. In 1998, the extension north into Universal Studios was opened (in preparation for the opening of Islands of Adventure in 1999), and the road was renamed to Universal Blvd. The intersection at I-4 still only has ramps onto and off I-4 eastbound; the ramps on westbound I-4 connect not to Universal Blvd., but to Hollywood Way, necessitating a right turn to get to Universal Blvd. Southbound, it originally fed into International Drive just