The idea for what would become Oceans of Fun was first proposed by Lee Derrough, then General Manager of Worlds of Fun, in 1977 (the same year that
Wet 'n Wild Orlando opened). Public announcement of the project came on December 17, 1980. Owned and operated by Lamar Hunt and his company Hunt Midwest, the water park was planned as part of Worlds of Fun's tenth-anniversary celebration. Early designs called for a 35-acre, tropical-themed facility featuring a wave pool, multiple water slides, an Olympic-size swimming pool, and a five-acre recreational lake, with an initial budget estimate of $6 million. Groundbreaking occurred on June 11, 1981. When Oceans of Fun opened in May 1982, its footprint had grown to 60 acres and total costs had risen to $7.25 million. The park opened on May 22, 1982, with 16 attractions. Featured among these were Surf City Wave Pool, Castaway Cove (an adults-only swimming pool with a swim-up bar), and Buccaneer Bay (a four-acre lake originally used for water-skiing exhibitions). Nearby Buccaneer Bay stood Neptune's Lagoon, a one-acre, sandy-bottomed swimming lake. Another signature attraction was the Diamond Head slide complex, which comprised three slides (Maui Wowee, Honolulu Lulu, and Waikiki Wipeout) with a combined length of . During its first years of operation, Oceans of Fun maintained a separate gated entrance from Worlds of Fun and required its own admission ticket. In 1983, the park introduced Typhoon (a five-story, dual-flume racing slide), Frisbee Folf (a nine-hole
disc golf course), Bobbin N' Wobblin' (an obstacle course on Neptune's Lagoon), and Treasure Island (a children's play structure). Four years later, in 1987, the Caribbean Cooler
lazy river was added. In 1991, the Crocodile Isle children's water play area replaced the older Knee Hai/Belly Hai attraction. In 2015, Oceans of Fun added Splash Island and swan boats to Buccaneer Bay. In 2019, the park announced that Diamond Head would be closed at the end of the season. The removal of the slide will make way for Riptide Raceway, a mat racing slide. On November 6, 2019, it was announced that Riptide Raceway will be the world's longest slide of its kind, coming in at long. Oceans of Fun did not open to the public for 2020 season as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic. On April 15, 2023, the park implemented a chaperone policy. It means that all guests ages 15 years old or younger must be accompanied by a chaperone who is at least 21 years old in order to be admitted to or remain in the park. On July 1, 2024, a
merger of equals between
Cedar Fair and
Six Flags was completed, creating Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. Six Flags sold the park to
EPR Properties on April 6, 2026, making
Enchanted Parks its operator. ==Slides and attractions==