The story
2002–2003
The Hawaiian Falls chain began with the groundbreaking of Hawaiian Falls Adventure Park in Garland, Texas on December 18, 2002, by David Busch of Horizon Family Inc., a California-based company. Mr. Busch has built and operated other water park properties in several states, including the park located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Hawaiian Falls' mission is: "Serving the Lord by Bringing Families Closer Together." The City of Garland City Council and the Parks and Recreation Board provided the land on which the water park was built. Construction for Hawaiian Falls Garland began in January 2003 and opened in May of the same year. In late 2003 Hawaiian Falls made a similar agreement with The Colony, Texas. Also in 2003, Hawaiian Falls entered into a lease agreement with the city of Dallas to manage what would become Bahama Beach Waterpark.
2004-2007
In late 2004, Busch experienced financial problems and he had to sell his company to Herschend Family Entertainment. Under the Herschend management, Busch continued to operate the waterparks.
In 2005, the Dallas aquatic center opened as Bahama Beach Waterpark in Dallas, Texas under the management of Busch once again. Bahama Beach is known as "the first inner-city waterpark" in the entire country since it was "built to serve its community" and moreover, the launch of this park was considered a risky endeavor since the waterpark was not built near a wealthier, highly populated area, which is the traditional areas that waterparks tend to be located within.
In December 2006, after Bahama Beach's second operating season, David Busch informed the city of Dallas that the park was operating at a loss of over $178,000 over the course of two years
"Low discretionary income in the park's market area," was one of the main reasons given for the loss.
Among other things, Busch suggested that re-branding the park to Hawaiian Falls might solve the problem. Also in 2006, Busch had repurchased his company from Hereschend Family Entertainment and sold the parks in Garland and the Colony to CNL Lifestyle Properties.
In 2007, the city of Dallas allowed the renaming of Bahama Beach to Hawaiian Falls Dallas. yet the re-branding did not sever the operations loss. This led to the city of Dallas and Hawaiian Falls agreeing to allow the termination of the eleven-year contract with the city. Today, the park is still open today and operates under its original name, Bahama Beach.
Also in 2007, the company acquired its first non-waterpark property, Aloha Adventure Park located in Lewisville, Texas.
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2008-2014
In 2008, the chain expanded by adding Hawaiian Falls Mansfield in Mansfield, Texas.
In late 2010, the city of Roanoke, Texas, entered into a Letter of Intent with Harvest Family Entertainment to build another Hawaiian Falls waterpark in Roanoke. They later broke ground on November 22, 2010. Hawaiian Falls Roanoke opened Memorial Day weekend 2011 with the Mega WaterWorld attraction, the World's largest water playground.
In October 2011, Hawaiian Falls entered into an agreement with the city of Waco to take over the former Waco City Water Park. Hawaiian Falls Waco, opened Memorial Day weekend 2012.
In December 2011, Hawaiian Falls announced plans for a $2 million expansion for the Roanoke waterpark and another $4.3 million in expansions for the other three North Texas parks to be completed by Memorial Day 2012.
For the 2014 season, Hawaiian Falls opened two new locations in Pflugerville and White Settlement, Texas. Each of the new parks featured an adventure park that were projected to be open year-round. On August 6, 2013, the city of Pflugerville agreed on a development deal with Harvest Family Entertainment to build the sixth and largest Hawaiian Falls water park just south of the intersection of Texas State Highway 130 and Texas State Highway 45 in the city. The plan for the Pflugerville location consisted of a 15-acre water park along with a 5-acre adventure park, the largest water park in the company. In early November 2013, the city of White Settlement finalized with Hawaiian Falls to build their seventh location in the city in western Tarrant County, Texas where it features an adventure park, water park, event center, and an arcade center near Interstate 820. Both Pflugerville and White Settlement locations opened in summer 2014.
Busch promised the city of Pflugerville “year-round revenue," stating, "We will fill that place up all winter long." The adventure park did not prove viable enough to stay open through the coldest winter months, and Hawaiian Falls closed the adventure parks in White Settlement and Pflugerville in December 2014 until spring 2015. Eight year-round employees at Pflugerville were let go. Austin television news station KXAN ran a story about the lay-offs in response to Facebook comments of Pflugerville residents.
2015-present
In 2016, the Pflugerville location's owners fell behind on payments and the park was sold and renamed Typhoon Texas Austin.
From Wikipedia’s article on Hawaiian Falls, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4