Houston-area water park to defy Gov. Abbott’s executive order and reopen for Memorial Day weekend

Typhoon Texas in Katy waiting on state approval

Katy – Water parks across Houston are ready to make a splash in time for the unofficial start of summer. However, Gov. Greg Abbott hasn’t given water or amusement parks the green light to reopen.

However, that is not stopping the owners of Big Rivers Waterpark in New Caney. They plan to open Saturday, announcing new guidelines to customers on social media.

“All of our frontline staff are gonna be required to wear masks when interacting with the public,” said Big Rivers CEO & developer Monty Galland. “We want to keep you safe.”

The team at Typhoon Texas in Katy said while they are ready to dive in, they are waiting for the final approval from the governor.

"We're poised, we're ready," said Typhoon Texas CEO Evan Barnett. "Our employees are ready."

The water park staff has been prepping behind the scenes for several weeks. Whenever customers are allowed in, they will see the changes put in place to stop the spread of coronavirus, Barnett said.

Social distancing is one example.

“We’ve separated all of these tables in a way that they can monitor social distancing and encourage all of our guests to adhere to all the social distancing measures,” Barnett said.

Customers will have the option to order tickets and food online to avoid standing in line. And the company trained teams to clean and sanitize.

Typhoon Texas also plans to cap the crowds at about 2500-3000 guests.

Barnett is keeping his fingers crossed from an announcement before the big three-day weekend.

“It would be an awesome opportunity to get the call to say 'Go,’” he said. “We’re ready to go on Memorial Day. Unfortunately, right now we have to pause and wait for that green light.”


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