Seventeen times during the month of August, the skies over Erie County opened up and rain fell.
It wasn’t always a lot, but by the end of the month all those raindrops added up to 7.8 inches in certain parts of the county. That’s more than double the 3.35 inches that falls in Erie County in an average August, according to the National Weather Service.
For Waldameer Park & Water World, which wrapped up its season on Labor Day, it was enough to put a damper on an otherwise good year.
Guests visit Waldameer Park & Water World, near Erie, Pa., on July 14, 2026.
“It was a fair or average season,” said Steve Gorman, president of the family-owned park. “The weather was the culprit. We had good attendance when the weather was good, but we had many rainy days.”
Waldameer wasn’t the only Erie-area attraction afflicted by the whims of Mother Nature.
Melissa “Roo” Kojancie, CEO of the Erie Zoo, said the weather has been a factor in zoo attendance.
Kojancie said she looked at 26 weekends that the zoo has been open this season. It rained at least one day for 17 of those weekends, she said.
Less income means bigger loan payments
Gorman said he’s not complaining. Waldameer enjoyed a successful season, with enough income to see the park through the offseason and to cover expenses, including the paychecks of about 725 peak-season employees.
The downside, Gorman said, is that he won’t be able to bank as much money as he had hoped to help build Eagle’s Pursuit, a $15 million roller coaster — the most expensive ride in park history — that’s under construction on a steep hillside north of Rainbow Gardens.
“I would like to have more money in the bank,” Gorman said. “Now we will have to borrow more.”
Gorman is hoping the new coaster, which has been taking shape over the last few months, will be ready when the park opens in the spring of 2027.
Park visitors had to wait until the final days of the 2026 season to float along in Winding Waters, a new water park attraction that replaced Endless River, which opened in 1987.
Gorman had hoped that crews would be able to build both Winding Waters and two five-person family raft rides at the same time this summer as part of an $11 million Water World project.
Winding Waters, the newest attraction at Waldameer and Water World at 220 Peninsula Drive, opened on Sept. 1 towards the end of the 2026 season. The new lazy river will be a relaxing innertube ride.
It didn’t work out as he had hoped.
“We thought we could build the new slide and the river simultaneously,” Gorman said. Construction managers realized early on there wasn’t space to do both things at once.
As a result, Winding Waters didn’t open until the final weekend of the season.
Guests visit the wave pool and water park at Waldameer Park & Water World, near Erie, Pa., on July 14, 2026.
Gorman called that delay disappointing, but said the park had plenty to celebrate, including the return of the paratrooper ride, which was shut down at the end of the 2024 season.
Reaping the benefits of a longer season
Gorman said he entered the year with high hopes. Labor Day fell on Sept. 7, meaning that the park’s season was a bit longer than usual.
Waldameer Park & Water World: Through the years
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Time Twister, a new thrill ride at Waldameer Park & Water World, is being installed in April 2025 where the Spider used to be located next to the Whacky Shack. The Spider was removed after the 2024 season and Time Twister is to open later in 2025. Season pass holders were able to see the ride running during the April 26 and 27 photo days. (DANA MASSING/ERIE TIMES-NEWS)
“I thought we were going to have our best year for attendance ever,” he said. “But overall it was a successful season. We are always grateful for sunny days and our faithful fans.”
From 2023: Paul Nelson, who made his Waldameer Park & Water World an Erie treasure, dies at 89
Gorman said park management has never looked too seriously at extending the park’s season into September. But that could soon become a topic of discussion.
“We are going to explore that a lot this fall,” he said. “We are going to visit other parks and see if we want to pursue that next year. Right now it’s being looked at.”
Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Waldameer Park hoped for record attendance. Weather stood in the way