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Kings Island announced Wednesday afternoon that it will expand Soak City Waterpark for the 2016 season with a seven-story water slide.
Tropical Plunge will be a complex that has six water slides, and three of the slides on the 65-foot complex will start with guests climbing inside an “Aqua-Launch” chamber where they “will wait anxiously for the floor to drop out from underneath their feet, sending them into a high-speed, almost vertical free fall through a series of flat loops and S-curves in a translucent flume,” said Greg Scheid, Kings Island vice president and general manager.
“This will be a high-adrenaline attraction that will increase the thrill factor for our park guests,” he said. “They have been asking for new and more thrilling waterpark attractions they are able to enjoy with family members, and we think this answers their feedback plus brings another element of fun to the overall experience of Kings Island.”
The other three slides will be less intense, he said, but promise “to deliver thrills and memories for all riders,” Scheid said.
“This is is what tropical plunge will be about: lots of high-energy fun,” he said.
Tropical Plunge will expand the size of Kings Island’s waterpark to 35 acres. Once the new feature is built, the Soak City Waterpark will have a total of 36 slides, in addition to the two wave pools, two coves, lagoon and action river.
Tropical Plunge had been in the plans for about three years.
“After the addition of Banshee in 2014 and both Woodstock Gliders and Snoopy’s Space Buggies in 2015, it’s time to give Soak City some love,” Scheid said.
The last time Soak City had a new feature was in 2012 with Tidal Wave Bay, and Tropical Plunge will be located in the open field next to Tidal Wave Bay and the volleyball courts.
Construction on Tropical Plunge is expected to begin at the conclusion of the 2015 Kings Island season, and will be ready to kick off the waterpark’s 27th season by Memorial Day.
The new attraction is not the only new feature planned for Kings Island in 2016.
As the city of Mason renovates Kings Island Drive, the theme park will construct a “grander, more welcoming” entrance with 13 new entrance lanes on the north end of the parking lot.
The new entrance will replace two structures, Scheid said, “that paved the way for millions of guest” since the parked opened in 1972.
“Our goals were to improve traffic efficiency into and the egress out of the lot, and providing additional safety along Kings Island Drive,” Scheid said. “With the addition of a divided boulevard along Kings Island Drive, one main entrance strategically placed and a 13-lane toll plaza, our guests will be quickly and safely expedited into both Kings Island and Soak City plazas.”
Gold and platinum season pass holders will have dedicated lanes within the toll plaza “to expedite their arrival experience.”
Mason City Council in May contracted Ford Development Corp. to be the contractor of the planned $6.47 million Kings Island Drive Safety Improvement Project. Scheid said the theme park "waited to do it this year in conjunction with the city's project.
Added to Kings Island Drive will be, among other things, a northbound lane, southbound left turn lanes, northbound right turn lane, new signals and medians. Kings Island Drive construction is slated to begin on Tuesday and be completed by the end of 2016, said Mason City Engineer Kurt Seiler.
By eliminating the southern entrance and improving the north entrance and toll plaza, Seiler said that will eliminate the toll plaza backups that have extended south to the Interstate 71 on ramp.
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