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Construction continues on Kings Island's new Soak City water park. The $10 million expansion replaces Boomerang Bay and is expected to open Memorial Day weekend. Photos provided/Kings Island

Construction continues on Kings Island’s new Soak City water park, the $10 million expansion of the water park formerly known as Boomerang Bay.

The new attraction will double the water park’s size to 33 acres. View photos of the ongoing construction here.

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• Photo: Artist’s rendering of new Soak City
• Photo gallery: Construction photos of Soak City
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Features include a 39,000-square-foot wave pool; a new action river that replaces the lazy river, featuring waterfalls, rapids and spray hoses; and more amenities including volleyball courts, a redesigned entrance area, restaurants, lounge areas and grassy rest areas.

“There is no other local park that can offer the amenities and hardware we can offer at Kings Island,” said Greg Scheid, KI’s vice president and general manager, at the expansion’s unveiling in September.

“Soak City has something for everyone in the family and will be the premier water park around,” he said.

Soak City is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend, and will be included in the price of admission.

The new feature comes on the heels of two other attractions added by the park last year. WindSeeker, a 301-foot-tall spinning tower, opened in June after construction delays. The park opened Dinosaurs Alive!, a 12-acre animatronic dinosaur park featuring more than 60 life-sized moving dinosaurs, in April.

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Business, Kings Island, News |

Tags: Tags: action river, boomerang bay, construction, don helbig, greg scheid, kings island, mason, soak city, water park, waterpark, wave pool

Construction continues on Kings Island’s new Soak City water park, the $10 million expansion of the water park formerly known as Boomerang Bay.

The new attraction will double the water park’s size to 33 acres.  View photos of the construction here.

• Read: KI to double water park  with $10M expansion
• Photo: Artist’s rendering of new Soak City
• Photo gallery: Construction photos of Soak City
• Follow MasonBuzz on Facebook for the latest KI news
  

Features include a 39,000-square-foot wave pool; a new action river that replaces the lazy river, featuring waterfalls, rapids and spray hoses; and more amenities including volleyball courts, a redesigned entrance area, restaurants, lounge areas and grassy rest areas.

“There is no other local park that can offer the amenities and hardware we can offer at Kings Island,” said Greg Scheid, KI’s vice president and general manager, at the expansion’s unveiling in September.

“Soak City has something for everyone in the family and will be the premier water park around,” he said.

Soak City is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend in 2012, and will be included in the price of admission.

The new feature comes on the heels of two other attractions added by the park this year.  WindSeeker, a 301-foot-tall spinning tower, opened in June after construction delays.  The park opened Dinosaurs Alive!, a 12-acre animatronic dinosaur park featuring more than 60 life-sized moving dinosaurs, in April.

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Business, Kings Island, News |

Tags: Tags: action river, boomerang bay, construction, don helbig, greg scheid, kings island, mason, soak city, water park, waterpark, wave pool

Construction began this week on Soak City, Kings Island's $10M water park expansion. Soak City is expected to open next season. Provided photo

Kings Island might have wrapped up its 2011 season, but work is just beginning on its new attraction for 2012.

Construction began this week on Soak City, the $10 million expansion of the water park formerly known as Boomerang Bay.

• Read: KI to double water park  with $10M expansion
• Photos: Artist’s rendering of new Soak City
  

The new attraction will double the water park’s size to 33 acres.

Features include a 39,000-square-foot wave pool; a new action river that replaces the lazy river, featuring waterfalls, rapids and spray hoses; and more amenities including volleyball courts, a redesigned entrance area, restaurants, lounge areas and grassy rest areas.

“There is no other local park that can offer the amenities and hardware we can offer at Kings Island,” said Greg Scheid, KI’s vice president and general manager, at the expansion’s unveiling in September.

“Soak City has something for everyone in the family and will be the premier water park around,” he said.

Soak City is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend in 2012, and will be included in the price of admission.

The new feature comes on the heels of two other attractions added by the park this year.  WindSeeker, a 301-foot-tall spinning tower, opened in June after construction delays.  The park opened Dinosaurs Alive!, a 12-acre animatronic dinosaur park featuring more than 60 life-sized moving dinosaurs, in April.

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island, News |

Tags: Tags: action river, boomerang bay, construction, don helbig, expansion, greg scheid, kings island, mason, soak city, water park, waterpark, wave pool

Bye bye, Boomerang Bay.  Hello, Soak City.

Kings Island officials announced today a $10 million water park expansion that will double its size to 33 acres.

The new attraction, which officials say has been 12 years in the making, will feature a 39,000-square-foot wave pool; a new action river that replaces the lazy river, featuring waterfalls, rapids and spray hoses; and more amenities including volleyball courts, a redesigned entrance area, restaurants, lounge areas and grassy rest areas.

• Click to see a larger-res rendering of Soak City

“There is no other local park that can offer the amenities and hardware we can offer at Kings Island,” said Greg Scheid, KI’s vice president and general manager.

“Soak City has something for everyone in the family and will be the premier water park around,” he said.

Soak City is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend in 2012, and will be included in the price of admission.

“We listened to guests and tried to give them what they want,” said Kings Island spokesman Don Helbig.  “It’s geared towards families and that’s what it’s all about: families spending time together.”

Soak City comes on the heels of two attractions added by the park this year.  WindSeeker, a 301-foot-tall spinning tower, opened in June after construction delays.  The park opened Dinosaurs Alive!, a 12-acre animatronic dinosaur park featuring more than 60 life-sized moving dinosaurs, in April.

Kings Island wraps up its summer season on Labor Day.  The park will reopen during weekends later this month for its Halloween attractions.

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Tags: Tags: action river, boomerang bay, don helbig, greg scheid, kings island, mason, soak city, water park, waterpark, wave pool

This year’s Kings Island For the Cure campaign raised more than $219,000 for breast cancer awareness efforts.

Proceeds from the campaign benefit the Greater Cincinnati affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Thousands of people purchased pink rubber Snoopy dolls as part of the campaign. Kings Island also offered special discounted admission tickets from Aug. 1-21 as part of “Pink Days.”

Singer and actor Drew Lachey selected one lucky Snoopy winner on Sunday to win a 2012 Mustang convertible. The winner number was 2924.

This is the second year of the campaign. The Mason amusement park helped raise $185,000 in last year’s campaign.

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Community, Kings Island, News |

Tags: Tags: amy wagner, breast cancer, drew lachey, for the cure, greater cincinnati, greg scheid, kings island, mason, matt shafer, ohio, peggy isenogle, pink days, susan g. komen foundation