Press coverage
News & media
Every article below is linked to its original publisher. Where a reporter is credited, they are named. This page exists so that nothing on this site has to be taken on trust — and so journalists covering the story can see what has already been reported.
The closure
Announced 10 December 2025 by Premier Parks LLC.
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Wild Waves property owners prepare for rezoning
Predates the closure announcement by two years and reports the property owners preparing for a rezoning of the site. Useful background on how long redevelopment has been under consideration.
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Wild Waves Theme Park to close in 2026
Reports that the park will close permanently after its 2026 season ends on 1 November. Operator Premier Parks LLC cited millions in operating losses since reopening after the COVID-19 shutdown, and the article notes the landowner intends to develop the site for “a project that will bring meaningful, lasting benefits to the area”, with details to follow through planning and community review.
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Wild Waves Theme Park in Federal Way announces closure
Regional television coverage of the closure announcement.
Byline not confirmed — KING 5 blocks automated retrieval, so no reporter is credited here rather than guessed at. -
Wild Waves, Federal Way theme park, will close after 2026 season
Statewide pickup of the closure, indicating the story carried well beyond the Puget Sound region.
The redevelopment
Application 26-101648, “Podium I-5”, filed with the City of Federal Way in May 2026.
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Giant warehouse planned for Wild Waves property in Federal Way
The most detailed local reporting on the proposal. Confirms the site will be redeveloped as a one-million-square-foot warehouse called Podium I-5, and reports that landowner Jeff Stock considered other uses — including hotels and an office park — before choosing a warehouse, citing faster construction timelines and concern about the property’s condition if left vacant.
Syndicated across Sound Publishing titles including the Auburn Reporter, Kent Reporter, Renton Reporter, Courier-Herald and Seattle Weekly. -
Wild Waves site targeted for 1M-square-foot industrial warehouse after final season
The source of most of the specific figures used on this site: application number 26-101648, approximately 66.18 acres, a 1,034,818-square-foot single-storey building around 46 feet tall, three full-access driveways on Milton Road South, and plans estimating hundreds of truck stops daily. Also reports resident concern about traffic congestion.
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Wild Waves to become massive warehouse in Federal Way, WA
Covers the 66-acre site’s conversion to a one-million-square-foot industrial building with truck docks and trailer storage, and notes that no tenant has been identified for the completed facility.
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Panattoni Plots 1.03MM SQFT Podium I-5 Warehouse on Shuttered Wild Waves Site in Federal Way
Trade coverage written for the commercial property industry rather than the public, and useful for that reason. Identifies Irvine-based Panattoni Development Co. as the developer and Haas Architects as the architect, and describes the project as speculative — built without a committed tenant — despite rising industrial vacancy across the Puget Sound market.
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Proposal to develop Wild Waves into warehouse enters public comment
Reports the opening of the public comment period on the application — the window that closed in June 2026.
Byline not confirmed — KING 5 blocks automated retrieval. -
Wild Waves makes final splash as water park set to close after Labor Day
Covers the water park’s final day of operation. Reports the park employs about 35 full-time workers and roughly 800 seasonal employees each year — the source for the employment figures used on this site.
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Wild Waves to be razed for giant Federal Way warehouse
Regional coverage of the demolition and redevelopment plan.
Beyond the region
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You Can Still Ride the Rocky Point Corkscrew
Traces the Corkscrew from Rocky Point Park in Warwick, Rhode Island, where it opened in 1984, to Federal Way. After Rocky Point closed in 1995 and a sale to a Louisiana water park fell through, Enchanted Parks bought the coaster for $805,000 — a figure the article credits to an August 1997 Providence Journal report — and reopened it in June 1997, repainted and renamed Wild Thing.
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It’s Official: This Theme Park Is Permanently Closing After 50 Years
Theme-park enthusiast coverage. Included because it shows the closure registering with a national audience outside Washington news markets.
For journalists
The campaign will respond to press enquiries and can put reporters in touch with residents along the proposed truck route, former park employees, and families with long connections to the park.
Every factual claim on this site is sourced, and the record page links to the city’s own documents. If something here is wrong, tell us and it will be corrected.
Covering this story?
Two details are under-reported and worth pursuing:
- The traffic falls in a different county from the decision. The proposed driveways are on Milton Road South, routing heavy truck traffic toward Milton, Edgewood and Fife in Pierce County — while the permit is issued by Federal Way, in King County.
- The building is speculative. The Registry reports no committed tenant, and rising industrial vacancy across the Puget Sound market. Sixty-six acres of parkland would be replaced by a building with no confirmed occupant.