Wild Rivers is a water park in Irvine, California, United States. It opened in July 1986 on the site of the former Lion Country Safari. Following the expiration of its lease with The Irvine Company, it closed on September 25, 2011. Since the closure, there have been plans to recreate Wild Rivers in Irvine on or near the Orange County Great Park, which have been under development. The developers secured full funding and commenced construction on July 1, 2021, confirming the park's reopening for Summer 2022. The new park has officially opened as of July 29, 2022 and is 50% bigger than the old park. Original park History Before Wild Rivers was built, the land was a drive-through zoo called Lion Country Safari, which went bankrupt and closed in 1984. The park's owner still held 13 years on the original 29-year lease for the land, which he then subleased to the operators of the Wild Rivers water park, the Camp Frasier (later Camp James) summer camp and the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Construction on Wild Rivers "Mountain Top" which would serve as the launch point for their largest rides, began in 1985 and the park itself opened in 1986. Congo River Rapids, Rattlesnake, and Python were the first large scale long form rides to open. In early 2011, Wild Rivers announced that it had lost its lease with The Irvine Company. Both the park and the adjacent Camp James were scheduled to close at the end of the 2011 season. The park was planned to be demolished with 1,750 apartments being built in its place. A new water park was planned to be built on public land near the Orange County Great Park, and was scheduled to open to the public in May 2014. New water park at the Orange County Great Park History Since 2012, there had been attempts to redevelop Wild Rivers on or near the Orange County Great Park. A new Wild Rivers park was originally slated to open in May 2014, but it was then delayed a year later to May 2015 before it was cancelled altogether due to financial and land approval issues. In March 2016, the plans were revived and three months later, on June 26, 2016, the Great Park Board proposed two sites: one 35 acres and the other 60 acres. In late April 2017, Wild Rivers successfully negotiated a contract with the Irvine