Although the modern amusement parks started as just funfairs and carnivals, it grew rapidly by adapting to the needs of the people who expected greater experience out of these parks. As a result of this, by 1900, the amusements parks started promoting themes. As an example, some amusement parks featured gardens where a lot of flora and fauna were present, while some other features themes such as cartoon characters etc.

Amusement water parks are a variety of the theme parks. First introduced in 1940s, amusement water parks managed to increase its popularity ever since. Presently the USA has the most number of amusement water parks and it is about over a thousand, and every year about a dozen of amusement water parks being added to the list. When it comes to amusement water parks, it is one of the largest stakeholders of American leisure. There are two associations in the USA for governing the standards and safety of the amusement water parks in the USA.

When it comes to the origin of amusement water parks, the spas have played the role of the parents. By addition different activities and modifications to the regular activities of spas, the concept of amusement water parks started to emerge. Once it was differentiated from spas, the activities and the adventure found in the amusement parks were introduced to the world of amusement water parks.

Regardless of the country or the region of the amusement water park, there are standard features that are available for the adventure seeking people. Slides, bathing, lazy rivers, and slides are some of the standard features found in these parks. In addition to that, there are artificial recreations of the nature such as wave pool and surfing. Since the latter activities required substantial amount of investment, only the corporate built amusement water parks contain them.

With the advancement of the technology, the possibility of four-season amusement water park increased. For this, indoor amusement water parks were the ideal answer. First introduced by the Canadians in 1985, it was a 32 billion dollar investment. Although the indoor amusement water parks were open throughout the year, indoor parks require a lot of money for maintenance. Therefore, the indoor amusement water parks are commonly costly than the average amusement water parks. Since it is a huge investment to build an indoor park, only a handful of grand amusement water parks are available in the world.