A word of Warning About The Beach

That's too bad. Last time I was there was maybe 5 or 6 years ago, and I remember it being a very nice park. Hopefully they can turn it around.

Is there a unwritten law stating that WATERPARKS cannot have a large reguarlar swimming pool?

I mean look at Coney Island Cincinnati. The pool is 70 years old and always busy.

Wave pools to me area novelty, After about ten minutes Im done with em.

HW should consider building a large pool. Not Coneys Sunlight sized as it's the words largest filtered pool but large :)

Chuck, who knows there are swimming pools in 1/3rd of the homes and neighborhoods but the ole swimmin hole still draws.

I enjoyed the beach waterpark my last few visits. I did see the sand filled landing area for the two slides, but it didn't bug me. They could even be used for decoration. And the lazy river is supposed to be "lazy" with not much current, you want to get around it faster?

I do agree the park could have a better layout and needs signs, but look how much it has grown over the last few years. Look at it as a growing pain. I also think the lines there are much more reasonable. The drop slide is usually a "slide-on", and the crowd spreads out throughout the park as apposed to everyone waiting for the one big ride, like the funnel at KI.

I want to reiterate, because I do not think I have done so before, but I did have fun that day. While the Beach does have some things to work on, it is a good park to go to regionally speaking. If I lived in the area, I might frequent this park during the summer. Their wintertime festivities intrigue me as well. I have not been there in the wintertime, but it does look nice. All that I am really saying is that if you had a choice between The Beach and Boomerang Bay or Great Wolf Lodge for a one day excursion, I would choose the latter. *** Edited 8/25/2006 6:30:25 PM UTC by a_hoffman50***

Beach's Holiday Fest is pathetic.

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a_hoffman50 said:
Anywho the trip to Kings Island was great. The Beach, however, was not. This place was an absolute dump. The lazy river had no current and much debris floating about. The foam themery was falling apart. It is poorly laid out and there are very few signs to show you how to get to the attractions. Some slides had their slpashdowns filled with sand, yet the slides themselves were left to rot. There were very few non-rental inner tubes for any of the attractions. It made for a very unpleasant 2 hours. I warn you all: if you must visit a waterpark near Kings Island, do NOT choose The Beach.

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I too, made a recent visit to The Beach, but had a different experience. Debris did seem to be a problem in the diving pool with the lilly-pad bridge, but other than that, the park seemed very clean. There are a few pieces of foam scenery that need to be worked on, but some major patching in other areas has been done, and even some of the most damaged items were removed entirely.

The slides you speak of (with the slashdowns full of sand) are from what I understand, sled attractions used during the Beach's winter event. Whether they utilize snow or ice, I do not know. More non-rental tubes would be nice, but considering the 10 year-old I had with me did very little complaining about wait-time, I don't think it's much of a problem. According to the lifegaurds, the rental tubes cannnot be used on a majority of the slides because they are not of adequate size.

While this is entirely opinion, I would generally chose The Beach over Boomerang Bay. I find The Beach's haphazard layout enjoyable, and the trees and hilly terrain provide much appreciated differences from one part of the park to the other. Not to mention the fact that many of the slides cannot be seen in their entirety, which makes for more exciting rides. Whereas Boomerang Bay, in my opinion, needs alot more landscaping and many of the slides are out in the open.

I don't know how many times I have to say it, but if you want to do the waterpark at Great Wolf Lodge, you need to be a registered hotel guest. A room would cost between the high 100s to low 300s per night. If they decide to sell day passes for non-hotel guests, it might be rare, so don't count on it. Whereas The Beach only requires a day ticket.

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a_hoffman50 said:
Yeah I threw that in there about the Beast just to be unclassy.

Why go there in the first place? The title says you want to talk about the Beach, why bring up the Beast anyway? It's a legend among wood coasters, and there are enough people out there who hold the opposite viewpoint that your comments have no validity.

The Beach is just down the road from Kings Island and it used to be a lot better than what it is now. While it never was fantastically great, it has gone downhill in a hurry.

It hasn't really been in a hurry, it's been going downhill for at least 15 years, but it still manages to put up a fight! And there was a time that it was "fantastically great". It was one of the top rated waterparks in the country. Yeah, those years are behind it now, but I still find it fun! As mentioned above, at least they still have sand! Like Jeff said, the AVP has hosted events there before, (however this year it'll be at the tennis center down the road due to crowds).

It pains me to say it, but have you really looked around at Boomerang Bay lately? It's not far from being classified as "dumpy". We were there last Saturday and the place really needed cleaned in a bad way. Trash blowing around the sidewalks, (and this was at 11am), dirt floating all over the lazy river, half the attractions not even opening until the afternoon, and attractions in serious need of paint, (the triple slides up front had had the paint worn off so bad I came to a stop in mid-ride and had to push myself to get going again!).

As far as the Beach is concerned, it may not be able to keep up with CF in the future, and that is sad! But so far, they continue to open every season, and they seem to always have a good crowd on hand every time were there. Go easy on 'em, maybe their best years are yet to come? Ya never know!

*** Edited 8/24/2006 1:35:42 PM UTC by a_hoffman50***

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The older slides in Boomerang Bay need some serious TLC as CoastersnSich posted above. The paint is worn off the old body slides REALLY bad. And Snowy River Rampage, the old jumbo raft slide, is broken down more often than it operates.

The new part lacks shade but looks pretty nice. The old part in the trees needs SERIOUS work. Rumor has it we're getting a new slide or two for next season, so maybe they'll do some refurb on the old part.

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CoastersNSich said:
I don't know how many times I have to say it, but if you want to do the waterpark at Great Wolf Lodge, you need to be a registered hotel guest.

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Is there someone here who said otherwise?

I really dont understand the whole Boomerang Bay antagonism here, its free with admission to PKI which means:

1. For Coaster Enthusiasts its really a free bonus for paying the admission price for the amusment park

2. Even if you dispise waterparks, the GP sure dont and when they flock there that means shorter lines for you.

Its a win-win situation.

Just because it's included with the price of admission (note: not exactly "free") that doesn't mean it still doesn't suck. Frankly, Water Works was a bit of a dump when it first opened to begin with (word of mouth on this place was HORRIBLE) and just because it's included with the price of admission doesn't give KI a free pass.

MMM, just look at these massive stretches of beautiful concrete! If I didn't know any better I'd think I was at Dorney or something

http://www.extremepki.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/2006bbay-taz1.jpg

The whole place is just kinda scary and weird looking but I do agree with the cutting down the lines aspect. Then again, it's not like people are saying they wish the water park wasn't there, they just wish it was better.

http://www.extremepki.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/bb-parkview3.jpg *** Edited 8/26/2006 11:26:11 AM UTC by matt.***

Every waterpark has the same problem, demand outstrips supply of rides in the first five minutes of operation. There's two answers to this dilemma: one that takes time (build more and more rides, more wavepools, and esp. more lazy rivers), and one that takes a flight (go to Schlitterbahn).

Seriously, amusmement parks that have waterparks - included or not - has anyone been on a hot sunny day and FAILED to consider that the capacity of water rides is CRAZY low?

PKI's made repeated attempts to have the power lines moved out of the main park area and route them around the perimeter of the waterpark instead, but so far all the requests have been denied. They really are an eyesore, and they prevent vertical construction on a significant amount of the waterpark area land, which is one of the reasons for that big stretch of concrete.

You think it's bad now? Look at this:
http://extremepki.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-1479
http://extremepki.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-3135

At least, in defense of Boomerang Bay, there is a transporation system between the water park and the main park even though walking back to Nick Universe is a faster alternative.

X Factor

Last time I was there it was still WaterWorks, but that doesnt mean I didnt enjoy my visit there. Sure I didnt stay long (maybe 2 hrs) but it sure was nice not dealing with the heat during the hottest part of 90+ degree day. If it wasnt attached to PKI there is no way I would have payed to enter, but as a diversion it was great.