Universal Orlando has confirmed its Wet 'n Wild water park will close at the end of next year.

"We're grateful to our countless fans and team members for making Wet 'n Wild such a special place for so very long," Universal Orlando spokesman Tom Schroder said in a blog post Wednesday. "The groundbreaking spirit that has defined Wet 'n Wild will continue in the development of Universal's Volcano Bay, a next-generation water theme park that reimagines what it means to be a water park."

The Orlando Sentinal said Wet 'n Wild, which opened in 1977 and has been owned by Universal since 1998, attracted about 1.3 million guests last year, making it the fourth-busiest water park in the Orlando area.

Walt Disney World's Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach both had attendance of more than 2 million, while Aquatica, SeaWorld's water park, attracted 1.6 million visitors.