Kansas City metropolitan area

The Kansas City metropolitan area is a 14-county metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri that straddles the border between the U.S. states of Missouri and Kansas. With a population of 2,393,623, it ranks as the second largest metropolitan area with its core in Missouri (after Greater St. Louis) and has a population in Kansas larger than the Wichita metropolitan area. Alongside Kansas City, the area includes a number of other cities and suburbs, the largest being Overland Park, Kansas; Kansas City, Kansas; and Independence, Missouri; all over 100,000 in population.The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) serves as the Council of Governments and the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the area.

Geographic overview

The larger Kansas City Metropolitan Area as seen on a map can be visualized roughly as four quadrants:

The northeast quadrant of the map is locally referred to as "north of the river" or "the Northland". It includes parts of Clay County, Missouri including North Kansas City, Missouri. North Kansas City is bounded by a bend in the Missouri River that defines a border between Wyandotte County, Kansas and Clay County, Missouri running approximately North-South and a border between North Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Missouri running approximately East-West. The sharpest part of the river bend forms a peninsula containing the Kansas City Downtown Airport.

KMBC

KMBC may refer to:

Water park

A water park or waterpark is an amusement park that features water play areas, such as water slides, splash pads, spraygrounds (water playgrounds), lazy rivers, or other recreational bathing, swimming, and barefooting environments. Water parks in more current states of development may also be equipped with some type of artificial surfing or bodyboarding environment such as a wave pool or FlowRider.

History

Water parks have grown in popularity since their introduction in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The United States has the largest and most concentrated water park market, with over a thousand water parks and dozens of new parks opening each year. Major organizations are IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) and WWA (World Waterpark Association), which is the industry trade association.

Water parks which emerge from spas tend to more closely resemble mountain resorts, as they become year-round destinations. For example, Splash Universe Water Park Resort, a member of the WWA, is themed to match the community in which it is located. The theme is intended to enhance the community's destination appeal. Therefore, the amusement and leisure-time industry is becoming more concentrated, as winter sports are becoming common themes in summertime water recreation.

Schlitterbahn Kansas City

Schlitterbahn Kansas City, also known as Schlitterbahn Vacation Village, is a resort complex that opened in summer 2009 in Kansas City, Kansas. It was announced in September 2005 by Schlitterbahn Waterparks. The 370-acre (1.5 km²), $750 million development will include a nearly 40-acre (160,000 m²) waterpark, which will be Schlitterbahn's fourth waterpark and its first outside Texas.

Groundbreaking took place September 18, 2007 on the land currently occupied by the Wyandotte County Fairgrounds and the Unified Government courthouse annex, across Interstate 435 from the Kansas Speedway and Village West.

History

Phase 1 included 12 water attractions, 3 restaurants and 2 shops that were part of phase 1. For the 2011 season, phase 2 opened on April 30, 2011 with six new attractions.

Verrückt

In November 2012, Schlitterbahn, Kansas City, announced plans for the world's tallest and fastest water slide, Verrückt. Designed by Schlitterbahn co-owner, Jeff Henry, Verrückt is a three-person raft slide with an uphill section. The initial drop is a 17-story plunge with a five story uphill section (also the tallest uphill water coaster section in the world). At 168 foot 7 inch, the starting point is taller than Niagara Falls and should reach a maximum speed of 65 mph. It opened on July 10, 2014, after multiple delays.