Summertime for my family means water parks! On a hot summer day, my daughter and I visited Soak City at Kings Dominion. I haven’t been to Kings Dominion in at least twenty years, so was excited to see what had changed.
Soak City is a part of the Kings Dominion park and is included in the regular admission ticket. We spent our entire day in Soak City – but you can easily plan out your visit so you can take in water park and regular park rides.
Our Kids Top 5 reasons why we enjoyed our mother/daughter day out at Soak City:
1. The Waterslides and Wave Pools
There are 16+ waterslides in Soak City, some of our favorites were Zoom Flume, Freestylin’ and Pipeline Peak. My daughter and I like to experience slides together and two out of the three of our favorites were rides that we could either take a double tube or went on a four-person tube.
Want a high thrill ride? Head to the WindSeeker. Strap in for some big-kid fun because this ride was designed with thrill-seekers in mind. It’s part nostalgia, part traditional swing, and all flying high.
There are two main wave pools in the park – Big Wave Bay and Tidal Wave Bay. Both pools have waves that come on intermittently. Big Wave Bay is the larger of the two wave pools, which we found to be less crowded. The larger wave pool has giant 4’ waves.
Bonus points to Cedar Fair Entertainment Company as their lifeguards are some of the best I’ve seen in action. They were always on alert and were very polite and helpful.
2. The Lazy Rider
Grab a tube for single or double riders and float around the 1/4 mile river. There is a single entry and exit point for this ride. Lazy Rider makes for a nice rest from the faster-paced, high-intensity rides throughout the park. We rode it several times and although it did get more crowded as the day wore on, it was still a nice way to take a break.
3. Activities for the Entire Family
Soak City is really family-friendly! There are plenty of attractions throughout that all ages can enjoy. There’s even a special area – Lil’ Barefoot Beach just for kids 54” and under to play and splash. Those with elementary-aged kids (or 40”+) can partake in Soak City Splash House. Swing on bridges, ride water slides and of course get soaked by the huge bucket of water that drenches anyone in its path.
Many rides also allow younger guests on them with a supervising companion. Also be sure to look for signs advising when a life vest is required for children under 48”. If the kids get tired from a day in the sun, you can adjust and head into the main park and spend the rest of your day in Planet Snoopy.
4. Great Value
Daily Admission Tickets are as low as $39.99. If you think you’ll go to the park more than once this season, then you should consider a Season Pass. Select a visit date between July 17 – August 1, 2021, when purchasing your ticket to experience Grand Carnivale.
5. The Cabanas
We say Treat ‘Yo Self! We splurged and reserved a cabana for our visit to the park. We knew that visiting on a Saturday would make for a more crowded experience. Having a cabana was a nice bonus. Each regular cabana reservation allows for six people (you can pay for extra people) and has a table and four chairs in the cabana, two lounge chairs, a mini fridge, a mini safe, a oscillating fan and another table/four chairs and umbrella out in the open.
Having the ability to leave our bag and other valuables in the safe, a place to keep drinks cold and a place to “get away” from crowds was a nice bonus. You also get early entry into Soak City.
Cabanas are located in the Tidal Wave Bay area in a gated space. We were impressed and pleasantly surprised with the customer service and have to give a shout out to two fantastic young women who went above and beyond during our visit — Yanique and Shanice.
Bottom Line
What are you waiting for? Add Soak City at Kings Dominion to your bucket list for the summer! My daughter and I had a day that we will remember for a long time and can’t wait to head back to enjoy the rest of the park.
Photos and videos courtesy of Kings Dominion website