Along with the spiraling twists and turns of the Wild Thing, and the tumultuous peaks and pitfalls of the park's new Timberhawk, the bumpiest attraction in Enchanted Village has earned the name Budget Crisis. And once again, this roller coaster has taken the theme park's owners for a wild fiscal ride.

Blame it on the Pacific Northwest's short growing season for warm weather outdoor activities, or a shift in consumer trends that have left water parks out in the cold, but the future of one of Federal Way's icons appears in jeopardy. With indications of suffering ticket sales and a troublesome bottom line, Wild Waves' new owners might enter the market to sell all or part of the amusement park.

Since 2000, New York-based Six Flags, the nation's largest region-based theme park company, has owned and operated Wild Waves and Enchanted Village. Their corporate office announced in June that the company intends to sell off six of its lowest-performing properties around the country, including parks in Los Angeles, New York, Denver and Texas. Six Flags continues to search for buyers for its Wyandot Lake site in Ohio and the adjacent Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Nationwide, Six Flags owns 30 properties similar to Wild Waves and Enchanted Village.

A piece of Federal Way's history

The towering water slides and roller coasters, along with the massive glittering electric marquee that greets visitors along I-5, may become the final incarnation of a park that has existed, in some form, in Federal Way since 1910.

A Redondo native and entrepreneur, Charles Betts, just two years after opening Redondo's first market, purchased a Ferris wheel and merry-go-round in 1910, establishing a full-time carnival in the neighborhood that would one day become part of Federal Way.

Eleven years later, Weston Betts purchased a 50-foot, three-row Parker carousel that he brought to the Redondo carnival. Betts initially invested $7,000 in the wooden carousel, which has visited several communities in Puget Sound, including Woodland Park in Seattle and Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, before making its current home at Wild Waves Enchanted Village.

The carousel, constructed in 1906, arrived at the park in 1980. And after a little restoration along the way, the ride still spins every day of the summer in its 100th year.

Betts also built a small penny arcade and dance hall in Redondo in 1921, which, after a transformation into a skating rink in 1937, burned to the ground in '51.

With the Betts name becoming synonymous with public entertainment in the Federal Way area, Byron Betts stepped forward to realize his vision for a large-scale amusement park in Federal Way.

More than 25 years after the fire, Byron constructed Enchanted Village in 1977 on 12 acres of land along I-5.

After an initial allotment of six rides, Enchanted Village grew rapidly as it gained a regional notoriety around Puget Sound. In 1984, the park added 50 acres and its Wild Waves segment, a water park built around a titanic wave pool. The pool, which covered an area of 24,000 square feet, and the park's new water slides carried a price tag of $6.5 million.

Changing hands

The Betts family operated Wild Waves Enchanted Village until 1992, when it began to look for a new buyer for the park.

Jeff Stock stepped forward, and purchased the land and its amenities for $8 million. The Stock family ran the park for eight years, until they, too, cast the property out into the market.

Six Flags took the bait, but at first only nibbled the Stock family's offering. The theme park giant wanted the rides and the land, but the Stocks refused to sell the valuable earth under the park.

The two reached an agreement in 2000, when Six Flags bought the rides and signed a 30-year lease for a total of $19.3 million.

After a bit of corporate restructuring, the company decided to sell the property this summer after owning it for six years.

Saving a source of revenue

If ever the movement to keep Wild Waves Enchanted Village had a figurehead, King County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer would certainly fill that role.

The Councilman emerged as an outspoken advocate of the park's economic benefit for Federal Way and South King County (his political jurisdictions), back when the Stock family first put the theme park up for sale.

With its future in question again, von Reichbauer has moved to the forefront of the effort to save what he believes is a crucial economic enterprise for Federal Way.

"There is clearly a defined widespread interest in preserving the park," von Reichbauer told the Federal Way News last week. "It's absolutely unique and there's not another site like it west of the Cascades with the range of facilities Wild Waves has."

While he would not go on record as to his beliefs on why Six Flags chose to sell the park, von Reichbauer said he was privy to the park's economic data. He indicated that Six Flag's decision to put the park on the market might not be entirely an economic one.

Councilman von Reichbauer remains convinced that Wild Waves and Enchanted Village draws in paying customers from beyond Federal Way.

"With gas prices as high as they are, there are a lot of families that are electing to visit Wild Waves instead of making the trip to Disneyland in Anaheim," von Reichbauer said.

"They're renting hotels and spending money in the Federal Way area for a few days."

The park, he said, also benefits Federal Way residents as well as its visitors.

"There's a ripple economic effect of Wild Waves," von Reichbauer said. "There are over 1,000 W-2 forms produced there for the young people. Those people have jobs there because of Wild Waves."

The company has a staff of 35 full-time and 1,200 seasonal employees. A day pass costs guests $34.99, (up from $27.99 in 2002) and a season pass, which the park pushes on its customers liberally, runs $84.99

Councilman von Reichbauer said he hopes the property will remain a working amusement park for South King County.

"It's not enough for the site to be converted to an office building," said von Reichbauer. He said his goal is to use his political tools-like changing tax structures-to make Wild Waves Enchanted Village a sound economic investment for future owners.

The current owners have dumped money into their own capital campaigns at the park during the last six years.

Six Flags invested 10 new rides in the park in 2002 in an attempt to boost attendance, including the popular roller coaster, Timberhawk in 2003. The company also brought in the spiraling coaster Wild Thing, which it allegedly bought at auction in Rhode Island.

Councilman von Reichbauer said talks with potential buyers will pick up in intensity once the peak season for the park has passed.

"Right now we're facilitating information for the eventual sale of the enterprise," von Reichbauer said. "We've got to do what we can to make it profitable for a future investor."