Water slides were a relatively new phenomenon in the country. In 1971, a California campground owner named Dick Croul laid out the first one, a concrete trough covered in resin. People liked it, and soon slides were popping up on the West Coast, where the weather generally cooperated. George Millay, the guy behind SeaWorld, had opened Wet ’n Wild Orlando in 1977. No one thought much of doing anything similar on the East Coast except for my father, who again saw an opportunity to cede control to the guests.
