Castaway Cove water park saw a big dip in revenue this year, and the manager blames the weather.

Steve Vaughn said abnormally chilly weather in his park’s last quarter of business kept more of the average number of water park goers inside their homes, instead of in the pool.

“Just about August, the temperatures as you know got cool,” he said. “We had more rain, and some of the rain hit on key days where we had some big events planned, and it hurt our business.”

It was an especially disappointing blow too. since Vaughn said the season was a success on the front-end.

“We really started off, real strong,” he said. “We were going for almost a record year.”

But when it was all said in done, the park saw a four percent decrease in attendance, and an eight percent decrease in total revenue.

After receiving a presentation from Castaway Cove representatives Tuesday morning, Wichita Falls Mayor Glenn Barham said they did the best they could, under the circumstances.

“The season went as well as could be expected,” the mayor said. “Because of the weather we had at the end of the season, the numbers came down and they didn’t actually meet budget. But they didn’t lose money either.”

Mayor Barham said Castaway Cove’s track record has been good over the last few years.

“Castaway Cove has operated at a profit ever since the city has taken that on, so that’s a good thing not only for the city, but for the citizens as well,” he said.

Mayor Barham believes overall, the water park remains a huge asset to the community’s quality of life.

“It’s a project that I, for one, am glad we took on six to seven years ago,” he said.

Vaughn said they’re already hard at work coming up with promotion and season ticket deals to make sure next year is a comeback year for the park.

Also included in this morning’s presentation were discussions on positive improvements park representatives felt like they made this past year, including a new website, new park mascot, and a hot dog stand, which was huge for food sales this season.