24 minutes ago, SmartCat7162 said:

If you are telling me the water park addition isn't ready until past memorial day I would be severally dissapointed because they had so long to do this. Water park closed August 18th and you are telling me they could not get this done by May 26th that would be very upsetting. Like I understand with Camp Snoopy since winter is so unpredictable in Ohio and you can't begin to work on that too soon. 

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, since it’s not too clear on when it’ll open.  Tropical Plunge opened on time, so judging visually on where they are at this point in time with RiverRacers to Tropical Plunge, I’m guessing they’ll be done on time, I hope so. 

We are now six flags.  They have opened coasters and flats well into the summer season of I remember correctly, and it's the rule not the exception.

Maybe it costs less to do less off season work ( winter work in cooler climates)???

The "Tonka Mighty Stomper" water coaster is listed as ERT for Coasterstock, no?  If it's not open that certainly won't bode well for the adorable and predictable spoiled enthusiasts. 

1 hour ago, SmartCat7162 said:

I understand Alpen Fury not opening in time it is such a major addition should they be further a little further a long sure, but I would not want to be working on building a coaster when everything is frozen. I think major additions that did not start construction until August or even later are understandable not being open until later, but not getting the water park ready would be unacceptable.

AlpenFury I believe got a late start as Moosehorn Falls took forever to complete and I believe the same company who did the foundations for that did AlpenFury's foundations. 

Currently, some of the water slide pieces are just sitting in the parking lot. They've been there for a little while.

 

5 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:

We are now six flags.  They have opened coasters and flats well into the summer season of I remember correctly, and it's the rule not the exception.

Maybe it costs less to do less off season work ( winter work in cooler climates)???

The "Tonka Mighty Stomper" water coaster is listed as ERT for Coasterstock, no?  If it's not open that certainly won't bode well for the adorable and predictable spoiled enthusiasts. 

Of course there have been examples of Opening In 20XX but then not opening til the following year.

There is, at least in some parts of the construction world, a completion date clause in the contracts where if substantial completion is not done by a set date/timeline then the company has to pay/give a discount to the client. I don't know that it's a common practice, but that would give some incentive to have work done by opening day. 

I get the feeling that it's more to do with either a new Six Flags policy/practice (or lack thereof) that says it's fine if work is not completed by opening day. Part of it this year could be growing pains. So much reshuffling going on, it's probably easier to not push strict attraction completion dates until a little after park opening. 

The first slide piece was installed on RiverRacers! 

From KI's Facebook and Instagram story

 

more has been added, you can see from the webcam: 

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/live-video

Looks like the media got a tour of the construction site and a sneak preview of what's in store for Soak City this year.

https://www.wlwt.com/article/inside-look-soak-city-expansion-kings-island-new-water-ride/64356266

4 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Looks like the media got a tour of the construction site and a sneak preview of what's in store for Soak City this year.

https://www.wlwt.com/article/inside-look-soak-city-expansion-kings-island-new-water-ride/64356266

"For the first time in park history, we're also going to provide blue ice cream here in Soak City waterpark"

There's a snack stand next to the Soak City entrance called "Calypso Coolers" and they have blue ice cream. I've only been to Soak City once in the last decade and even I know more about it than the park's PR team. 

34 minutes ago, WoodVengeance said:

"For the first time in park history, we're also going to provide blue ice cream here in Soak City waterpark"

There's a snack stand next to the Soak City entrance called "Calypso Coolers" and they have blue ice cream. I've only been to Soak City once in the last decade and even I know more about it than the park's PR team. 

They served soft serve, but they did not serve the Blue Ice Cream. I think it is more dole whip like.

20 minutes ago, SmartCat7162 said:

They served soft serve, but they did not serve the Blue Ice Cream. I think it is more dole whip like.

This was the blue ice cream I got there a few years back.

Bluegill Lagoon Cabana rentals are now on sale from the park, with prices beginning at $359 per cabana. They're decently sized, can accommodate up to 14 people, come with free water + sundries, and "upgraded furniture". You still only get 4 souvenir towels with no passholder discount, but something tells me that anyone willing to split a cabana for more than $350 between (realistically) 10 people, you can probably bring your towels and buy the theme park food and beverages without caring about any discounts.  

Here's the story from Local12 . . basically same.

https://local12.com/news/local/here-look-kings-island-newest-first-of-its-kind-water-coaster-waterslide-waterpark-soak-city-construction-building-season-april-opening-date-wave-pool-kids-children-family-entertainment-games-attractions-rollercoaster-memorial-day-weekend-cincinnati-cost#

Google Earth now shows March 2025 imagery, you can see the footprint on the updated areas:

 

It has to be earlier than that as Skyflyer is still standing in the view.

1 hour ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

It has to be earlier than that as Skyflyer is still standing in the view.

This image shows sometime when Grand Carnivale was about to happen.

 

3 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

It has to be earlier than that as Skyflyer is still standing in the view.

The date states that it was taken on March 8th. Although Skyflyer is still present in the image, you can see the base of it was already demolished.

2 hours ago, Orion-XL200 said:

This image shows sometime when Grand Carnivale was about to happen.

 

This image has to be from the 2021 season. It was the only year where Slingshot and Orion were present alongside Carnivale, as that event wasn't held during 2020 or 2022.

 

I rode the KI&MV RR today and saw that Soak City appears to have replaced all of their wood fencing (bye bye fun koala paint : (  you will be missed). There is also new paint on the First Aid building with lots of work happening just beyond the Soak City train station. The River Racers logo was also playing on an ad loop on the TVs above the front gate turnstiles, and it looked real nice! 

5 hours ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I rode the KI&MV RR today and saw that Soak City appears to have replaced all of their wood fencing (bye bye fun koala paint : (  you will be missed). There is also new paint on the First Aid building with lots of work happening just beyond the Soak City train station. The River Racers logo was also playing on an ad loop on the TVs above the front gate turnstiles, and it looked real nice! 

I am beyond thankful that I took a ton of photos of those last year. Very upsetting that the last vestiges of BB are gone but the wood was looking worse for wear. I'm looking forward to the additions, I'm excited to see other slides if they got new paint jobs like Tropical Plunge and I'm excited to see if we get some new landscaping as we desperately need trees and lush landscaping. 

Here is a picture of the completed ride. They  were doing ground work as we went by

 

On 4/18/2025 at 6:02 PM, Losantiville Mining Co. said:

I rode the KI&MV RR today and saw that Soak City appears to have replaced all of their wood fencing (bye bye fun koala paint : (  you will be missed). There is also new paint on the First Aid building with lots of work happening just beyond the Soak City train station.

Looks to be a part of the work on the permit I found during the off season: 

 

delete

On 4/21/2025 at 5:37 PM, KIEagle33 said:

You should upload some of those photos to the archives. Just a thought.

I am happy to upload them to our galleries @BB1.

Fence photo! 

 

 

 

Looking forward to seeing the updates at the water park, but also sad to see the bygones of an era. It can be both happy and sad. 

They got people testing it out

Idk what's going on, but the photo/video links aren't working. This same thing happened to me a couple weeks ago with photos i tried to upload from my phone. Is there a problem with the site? @IndyGuy4KI @malem @Dane can this be addressed in any way? 

On 4/26/2025 at 3:29 PM, IndyGuy4KI said:

Fence photo!

The old fence was getting to be in REALLY bad condition. That said, the new fence would look better if they painted it blue, or put some Soak City logos on there, or both.

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2025/january/soak-city-expansion-construction-updates

 

Two new construction updates have been posted to the Kings Island Blog! The area is looking really good and the photos seem promising. I'm excited to see what the finished product will look like.