On 11/12/11 Avatar and I were able to stop by KI to get a few pics of the Soak City construction for KIC. Here are some of the ones I took!

I'm gonna miss that fence....

Very cool! Thanks for taking the time to take and post these.

(It's gonna take me awhile to get used to the name Soak City.)

Thanks a lot for posting these!

Looking good! I wonder if they are simply relocating the employee entrance access drive around the new Soak City entrance, and keeping the existing curb cut off of Western Row Road (across from Columbia Road (south), or if they are going to tie it into Kings Island Drive.

It also looks like they are already digging out the base for the new wave pool.

Very cool! Thanks for taking the time to take and post these.

(It's gonna take me awhile to get used to the name Soak City.)

You could just give it a different name entirely, like Wet Willy's Water World!

I can't imagine trying to make the turn into the employee entrance if it was anywhere except the old spot... I don't think you can do it without a left turn lane.

if they keep the employee entrance at Western Row Dr, will Mason finally activate the left turn signal, which is badly needed!

You know you worked at KI when you've made left turns long after the light turned red.

You know you worked at KI when you know the exact time to leave your house, so you beat the left turn crowd.

Is the new wave pool going to be like the one already there? I would like the new one to be a little more intense than the small waves the old one puts out.

The new wave pool will in fact have more aggressive surf with waves reaching four feet in height. And, the new wave pool will allow guests to take inner tubes in with them. The existing wave pool did not allow guests to take inner tubes in with them.

The existing wave pool did not allow guests to take inner tubes in with them.

Do we know if that is going to remain the same as Soak City?

As I understand it, only the new wavepool will allow inner tubes. But I could also see both wave pools allowing inner tubes.

Honestly the last time I was swimming in Kings Island`s water park was the season pass preview weekend for Boomerang Bay, way back in 2004! I have walked through it a couple times since then though. I look forward to checking it out again this season, and swimming there... Its just a matter of finding the time to visit the water park when I don`t want to ride the rides...

I still maintain that they need to add a couple new water slides to the park. This expansion will definitely help with closing the gap between the original water park and the 1997 expansion. The last renovation in 2004 helped bridge the gap between the original water park and the expansion.

Thanks for sharing! So the whole water park is getting rethemed right? Are the names of the slides going to change? It will surely look different. I am going to Opening day for this.

Soak City won't be Open on Opening day unless KI decides to open in May this year.

Ugh, if Kings Island ever decided to open in May, I might have to be put in a mental institution by late April. The April 30th opening made me lose myself!

Anyone know when they will open up the park and will Soak City be done on time???

Anyone know when they will open up the park and will Soak City be done on time???

At this point, even those who know may not be right. See, that information is VERY subject to change, due to a veritable new sign that could be put up up Sandusky way next year:

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

It would be great if the new wave pool would have an undertow like Point Pleasant, NJ has. If you did not know about it, it would knock you on your butt as it broke and went back out.

Interesting tidbit I found on the Gold Pass VIP Benefits page just now:

Exclusive Soak City Access

Grab your favorite chair and spot in the sun when you flash a Gold Pass and get into Soak City 30 minutes early prior to waterpark opening each public operating day. Plus, we are giving you access to special sneak preview days exclusively for Gold Season passholders.

(Bolded for emphasis)

Hmm... I do wonder if this year's bumpy opening day caused this. I wonder, too, if the rides side will be included. The main page says there will be two exclusive days... Thoughts?

Anyone know when they will open up the park and will Soak City be done on time???

Schedule has not been released as of today. http://www.visitkingsisland.com/public/visit/hours/index.cfm

Totally guessing, but I am not sure how SC would not be open by it's scheduled opening.