Hawaiian Falls

Hawaiian Falls Waterparks is a chain of faith-based waterparks owned by Harvest Family Entertainment. Hawaiian Falls parks are all built using the public-private partnership model, where cities contribute funds and/or other incentives and the parks are built on public land. Each of the seven parks has a separate lease structure with the cities participation ranging from contributing land and infrastructure costs(Garland and The Colony)to 100% financing. The first two parks were in the City of Garland and the City of The Colony, both in Texas. The third park was located in the South Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. In 2004 Hawaiian Falls experienced financial problems and founder and CEO David Busch sold the company to Herschend Family Entertainment. In 2006 Busch was able to buy the company back from Herschend after purchasing, then reselling The Colony and Garland Parks to CNL Lifestyle Properties. In addition to paying rent to Garland and The Colony, Hawaiian Falls must pay rent to CNL. In 2014 The City of Garland conducted an audit of Hawaiian Falls and was unable to verify Hawaiian Falls gross receipts for the 2011 season. The audit stated that Hawaiian Falls "could not provide source documentation for group ticket sales,group food and beverage sales,season pass sales and online ticket sales."After re-branding the Dallas park Bahama Beach to Hawaiian Falls in 2007, the Company and the City of Dallas agreed to terminate the 11-year management contract because the Company could no longer continue to underwrite the losses at the park. The Dallas park, considered "the first inner-city waterpark", was a risky endeavor. David Busch said, "From a business standpoint, we shouldn't be doing this." According to Busch, after Hawaiian Falls and the City ended the management agreement, the park continued to lose money.Busch sees his parks as a "mission field." The parks are often used for baptisms and other religious activities, and Busch says there were "more than 2,000 baptisms in our lazy rivers and wavepools" in 2011 alone. The parks often feature Christian concerts and events, such as "Modesty Matters" in 2013. Hawaiian Falls employee program is called "Connections." According to Rawd B. Jones, whose company Pure Group, administers Connections, the program includes after hours Bible study and church services, as well as training on how to bring the gospel to guests. The five locations Hawaiian Falls operates are located across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area and Central Texas.