In 1960, Sam Haynes Sr. opened a small amusement park named Fun Fair Park in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Best known for the rollercoaster The Wild Mouse and a mascot chimp named Candi, the park lost its small-town charm and closed in 1999.
However, Sam Haynes, Jr. moved a great deal of the park, including Candi, to a new location and started fresh with an amusement park named Dixie Landin’. Attached to Dixie Landin is the Blue Bayou Water Park.
Blue Bayou Water Park and Dixie Landin are open May thru September. The parks have 25 full-time employees that work year-round, but that number swells to 700 during the summer months, with most of the seasonal employees being local teens. Blue Bayou has 20 attractions and Dixie Landin 26, including 3 rollercoasters.
Hurricane Gustav caused some damage to both parks in 2008, but the park has just closed for the season and all repairs were done in time for the parks to reopen in 2009.
Blue Bayou Water Park and Dixie Landin are still owned and operated by the Haynes family. Headquarters remain in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.