The band was formed in 2011 by Awsten Knight and Gage Matthieu, who met while playing in different bands. The band was later joined by drummer Owen Marvin, guitarist Tommy Denley, and briefly, keyboardist Tyler Comer. This lineup soon dissipated before the band's first release. Their first EP, Airplane Conversations, was released independently on April 3, 2012, and was the only release with Matthieu and Marvin before they both left the band in 2012. 

Guitarist Geoff Wigington and drummer Otto Wood joined the band that same year following the prior departures. The band's first show was on August 17, 2012, at Warehouse Live in Houston alongside Invent, Animate, DWHB, and Life as Lions. 

The band continued performing at local venues throughout Texas over the following years. The band performed as a supporting act for pop musician Aaron Carter, opening his Houston tour date on May 11, 2013. Their second EP, Black Light, was released on June 5, 2014. The band also performed on the Houston dates of the Warped Tour in 2013 and 2015.

The group released a single titled "Stupid For You" on August 31, 2016, in promotion of its debut album, Double Dare. They later released two additional singles, "Hawaii (Stay Awake)", and "Royal", before the album's release on November 4, 2016.

On October 20, 2017, the band announced their second studio album, Entertainment, with a release date of January 26, 2018. Alongside Entertainment's announcement, the band released the album's first single, "Blonde". On December 13, 2017, the band released the second single from the album, titled "Lucky People". On January 17, 2018, Waterparks released the third and final single from Entertainment, titled "Not Warriors". The album was released on January 26, 2018, via Equal Vision

On May 23, 2019, the band released "Turbulent", their first single off of their at the time, the third album. Along with the album's title, it was also announced that they got signed to Hopeless Records. 

On August 12, 2019, the band released the second single, "Watch What Happens Next", along with a music video and the announcement of the album to be released on October 11, 2019. On August 16, 2019, the band released their third single, "Dream Boy," along with a music video. On September 12, 2019, the fourth single, "[Reboot]" was released. On September 25, 2019, they released their fifth single for the album, "High Definition," along with a music video. 

The band's third studio album Fandom was released on October 11, 2019.

On September 24, 2020, the band officially released a song entitled "Lowkey As Hell". This comes after Knight leaked the song the previous week on a live stream whilst cutting off his Fandom-era green hair himself. Following the song's official release, record label 300 Entertainment announced that they had signed the band.
On February 25, 2021, the band announced their fourth studio album Greatest Hits, along with the release of a new single titled "Snow Globe". The album was released on May 21, 2021. The next single, titled "Numb" was released on March 29, 2021, but was debuted on March 27 during the Anti Tour Performance.[63] The fourth single, "You'd Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out To Get You)", was released on April 28 2021, sharing its title with an autobiography written by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Awsten Knight. The fifth single, "Just Kidding", was released on May 12, 2021. The sixth single, "Violet!", was released on May 19, 2021. A music video was released for the song on May 26, 2021.