Abandoned Waterpark, Urban Explore, and Paranormal Investigation!!!
Benniloco Urbexer is Joined by Irish Whiskey Paranormal at an abandoned water park in the Deserts of Southern California, Lake Dolores Waterpark is an abandoned waterpark off Interstate 15 in the Mojave Desert in the community of Newberry Springs, California, United States. The waterpark had operated under numerous names in the past, including Lake Dolores, Rock–A–Hoola Waterpark, and Discovery Waterpark. The park was originally designed and built by local businessman Bob Byers for use by his extended family. Lake Dolores was named after Byers' wife.
The park saw its peak attendance between the early 1970s and the mid-1980s. After a downturn in popularity in the late 1980s, the park closed.
Rides and attractions
The park featured eight identical 150-foot (46 m) sixty–degree–angle steel waterslides mounted side by side on a man–made hill. Riders rode on small plastic floaties which skimmed 40 to 50 yards (37 to 46 m) across the lagoon when they hit the water at the slide's end.
Nearby were two V–shaped waterslides, also roughly 150 feet (46 m) long, which were ridden standing up. The slides ended about 15 feet (4.6 m) above the water, shooting the standing rider out of the end like a human cannonball.
On the Zip–Cord ride, riders hung from a hand–held device attached to a guide wire for approximately 200 feet (61 m) at a 30–degree downward angle. At the end of this wire the hand–grip would slam into a blocking mechanism and come to a stop about 20 feet (6.1 m) above the water, with the momentum thrusting the hanging rider 20 feet (6.1 m) forward into the lagoon.
In the middle of a smaller adjacent lake were three high diving boards, and three trapeze-like swings hanging from an A–frame structure mounted on a 20-foot (6.1 m) high platform. Riders launched themselves from these swings into the lake.
The Big Bopper was a fast, long group raft ride. The Lazy River was a slower and more relaxed raft ride. There were also bumper boats, an oval JetSki water racetrack, and a swimming pool.
Rock–A–Hoola Waterpark
Byers sold the defunct park in August 1990 to Lake Dolores Group LLC, a three–member investment group led by Oxnard, California businessman Terry Christensen, who envisioned a more polished park with a 1950s theme.
In 1995, the original waterslides on the hill were removed to make room for new installations. Advertising and promotion was contracted to Beachport Entertainment Corporation,[1] and the park reopened under a new name, Rock–A–Hoola, on July 4, 1998. The new park featured the constant playing of 1950s and 1960s rock and roll music throughout the park along with some compatible graphics. In its Rock–A–Hoola incarnation, the park included a river ride on inflated tubes.
On June 26, 1999, Insomniac Events held the annual Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), an all-night rave, at Lake Dolores Waterpark.
An on–premises RV park had been planned but its opening was delayed. In its three seasons the park amassed three million dollars in debt, one of the three investors experienced financial problems, and an employee crippled in a 1999 accident was awarded $4.4 million in damages (affirmed by the California Fourth District Court of Appeal in 2004).[2][3][4] The park filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2000.
The court–appointed trustee failed to find a buyer, and in August 2000 the bankruptcy filing was changed to Chapter 7 liquidation. The bankruptcy judge overseeing the case returned the property to Dolores Byers (husband Bob Byers died in 1996) with most debts discharged.
Dolores Byers sold the property in September 2001 to S.L. Investment Group LLC of the City of Industry, California. She died a month later.
Discovery Waterpark
After a US$400,000 renovation the waterpark reopened in May 2002 under a new name: Discovery Waterpark. In 2002 and 2003, the park was open on weekends. During the last season of operation in the summer of 2004, the park operated intermittently. The park has been closed since the summer of 2004.
Desolation and ruin
Lake Dolores waterpark in 2012
The remnants of Rock-A-Hoola Waterpark in the foreground, and Interstate 15 in the background.
In 2003, Olympic Gold Medalist and former professional football player Ron Brown and the Pro Players Network, a group of former and current professional athletes, formulated a proposal to purchase the park and turn it into a camp for disadvantaged youths,[5] but this effort failed.
In recent years the park's hardware has been sold piecemeal. The Big Bopper waterslide was dismantled and shipped to Canada. It became Colossal Canyon at Cultus Lake Waterpark near Vancouver, British Columbia.
The water slides and attractions are now gone. Repeatedly vandalized, much of the park is in ruins.
Irish Whiskey Paranormal
Irish Whiskey Paranormal's video from the Park