ST. GEORGE - A year and a half after it closed, Blue Bayou Waterpark is slated to reopen this summer, and single-day tickets are on sale.

For many growing up in Louisiana, Blue Bayou was a summertime staple, and when school let out, families crowded the park, stood in line, and spent hours on themed slides and in pools.

Blue Bayou Waterpark closed in 2025, and then Leisure Sports, a Louisiana-based company, took over. The same company owns Gulf Islands Water Park in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Visitors like Summer Guilbeau remember coming to Blue Bayou every season for a decade. The massive slides stake claim in her memory.

"Getting a funnel cake at Blue Bayou was the best thing ever," Guilbeau said.

Another former guest sees the same park through a different light. Dinine Bell remembers Blue Bayou differently.

"At the time, it was fun," Bell said. I was much younger, and it seemed like a lot of fun. I hated the wave pool. That was too much for me."

The same slides remain planted behind the gates, unchanged, but the exteriors have evolved. Paint is now visibly faded, chipped away by riders, sliders, and park enjoyers, and Bell says that currently, the park is an eyesore and hopes the new upgrades taking place make a difference in the area.

A block down Highland Road, the smell of hot boiled crawfish saturated the air Thursday. Lily Sims and Maka Provost set up their food truck outside the gates of the waterpark a couple of years ago.

They were excited for the chance to set up near what appeared to be a major local attraction, but that excitement didn't last long as the pair realized the park appeared to be on its last legs.

I saw it, and I was like, 'Oh heck, yeah, we're right by a water park,'" Provost said. "It was really sad. It was kind of falling apart. There were tiny crowds of people there the first day."

But Provost and Sims are hopeful that a positive reopening can feed into their own business.