Aquarena Springs: the theme park

Over the years several generations have visited Aquarena Springs.Aquarena Springs was founded in 1949 by Paul Rogers, who purchased the land from his parents.Rogers purchased the land with the vision of creating a popular theme park in the central Texas area.Aquarena featured a submersible underwater theatre that was considered an engineering marvel in the 1952 edition of Popular Mechanics. Early on the theme park became popular with the help off Ralph the swimming pig and the frolicking underwater mermaid dancers. Another addition to Aqaurena Springs, some time around 1959 was a sky gondola, from this the sky-ride was created. The sky-ride became one the most popular attractions at the springs.the most popular attraction at Aquarena Springs past and present has to be the glass bottom boat tours.The glass bottom tours have been giving families tours of the springs for over 50 years.Another featured attraction was a ride in a round car up a needle-like tower to give a panoramic view of the area. For many Texans the springs was a great vacation and tourist attractions, but for some they viewed as a disturbance to nature. They didn't like that what was once for thousands of years a sacred place to the indigenous people, is now a tourist attraction. Overall Aquarena Springs has been a positive addition to San Marcos.