Oceans of Fun
water park
Oceans of Fun is a tropically themed water park that opened on May 22, 1982, in Kansas City, Missouri, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the adjacent Worlds of Fun amusement park. When it opened, it was the largest water park in the state of Missouri. It is owned by EPR Properties and operated by Enchanted Parks.
History
The idea for what would become Oceans of Fun was first proposed by Lee Derrough, then General Manager of Worlds of Fun, in 1977 (the same year that Wet 'n Wild Orlando opened). Public announcement of the project came on December 17, 1980. Owned and operated by Lamar Hunt and his company Hunt Midwest, the water park was planned as part of Worlds of Fun's tenth-anniversary celebration. Early designs called for a 35-acre, tropical-themed facility featuring a wave pool, multiple water slides, an Olympic-size swimming pool, and a five-acre recreational lake, with an initial budget estimate of $6 million. Groundbreaking occurred on June 11, 1981. When Oceans of Fun opened in May 1982, its footprint had grown to 60 acres and total costs had risen to $7.25 million.
The park opened on May 22, 1982, with 16 attractions.
The public source identifies “Oceans of Fun” as water park. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Oceans, water and park.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Oceans of Fun”, the useful work is to connect “water park” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3348697. Authority coordinates are 39.171, -94.482. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1982, 1977, 1980 and 1981.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Oceans of Fun”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Oceans of Fun primary sources, Oceans of Fun archive and Oceans research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Oceans of Fun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.