Soak City is the 35-acre water park inside Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, and it’s included free with every Kings Island ticket and season pass — no separate water park admission required. With 36 water slides, two wave pools, a lazy river, a dual-racing water coaster, and dedicated kids’ zones, it’s one of the largest water parks bundled into an amusement park admission anywhere in the Midwest.
This guide covers everything you need to plan a visit: when Soak City is open in 2026 (including whether it’s running on Labor Day), how its hours differ from the main park’s, what parking and admission actually cost, the full ride lineup with height requirements, and practical tips before you go.
Quick Answer
Soak City is Kings Island’s on-site water park in Mason, Ohio, included at no extra cost with any Kings Island admission ticket or season pass. For 2026, opening weekend is May 23, and the water park runs on a shorter, weather-dependent schedule than the main park — typically daily through mid-August, then weekends only through Labor Day weekend, when it’s historically stayed open on holiday-adjusted hours.
Soak City’s daily hours almost always start later and end earlier than Kings Island’s main gates, so check the official calendar for the specific date you’re visiting rather than assuming the two share a schedule.
Is Soak City Included With Kings Island Admission?
Yes. Every standard Kings Island day ticket and every tier of season pass includes access to Soak City on days it’s open — there’s no separate water park ticket to buy, and no water park-only admission option exists. That makes it a notably better value than most standalone regional water parks, which typically charge extra for admission on top of any theme park ticket.
Kings Island now operates as part of the combined Six Flags park network (following the 2024 Six Flags–Cedar Fair merger), so tickets, season passes, and current pricing are sold through the official Kings Island Soak City page rather than a separate water park site. The things you do pay extra for are comfort upgrades: cabana rentals and locker rentals. Lockers use a keypad you set yourself, so bringing your own padlock isn’t necessary or useful.
Kings Island Water Park Hours: How Soak City’s Schedule Works
Soak City runs on a shorter calendar than the main Kings Island park because it’s a seasonal, weather-dependent operation, and its daily hours are published separately from — and usually shorter than — general park hours. In a typical recent season, Soak City has opened an hour or two after the main gates and closed a couple hours before the rest of the park (for example, on Labor Day 2025 Kings Island operated 10 AM–8 PM while Soak City ran 11 AM–7 PM), but exact times shift week to week and season to season.
Because of that gap, don’t rely on a generic “Kings Island hours” search result or an old screenshot. Always check the official Calendar & Hours page for the specific date you’re planning to visit — Soak City’s hours are listed as their own line item, separate from the main park. Soak City can also close early for weather (including lightning, which shuts down all water attractions immediately) even on days the main park stays open, so it’s worth checking the app or website again the morning of your visit.
Is Soak City Open on Labor Day?
Yes — Soak City has historically remained open through Labor Day weekend, since the holiday typically marks the tail end of its operating season rather than a closure date. Expect reduced hours compared to the main park (in recent years, Soak City has run roughly an hour or two shorter on both ends), and expect it to be one of the last operating days before the water park shifts to a weekends-only or closed schedule for the rest of the year.
As with any date, confirm the specific Labor Day 2026 hours on the official hours page shortly before you go, since holiday schedules are sometimes announced closer to the date and remain subject to weather closures.
Planning Your Visit: Tickets, Passes & Parking
Because Soak City has no standalone ticket, your admission decision is really a Kings Island admission decision: single-day tickets, multi-visit tickets, and season passes are all sold through the official Kings Island site and all include water park access on operating days. Season pass tiers generally add perks like free or discounted parking, so it’s worth comparing pass options if you plan to visit more than once or twice.
Parking is shared with the main Kings Island lot — there’s no separate water park parking fee. For 2026, general parking runs $35 plus tax and fees, and Preferred Parking (closer to the front gate) runs $45 plus tax and fees; both are single-day rates payable by credit or debit card only, since the park no longer accepts cash at parking booths. Note that there are no Preferred Parking spaces located near the Soak City entrance specifically, so even Preferred Parking guests walk a similar distance to reach the water park. Check the official parking page for current rates and any season-long parking add-ons.
Full Ride and Slide Guide
Tropical Plunge is the park’s signature structure — a multi-tower complex nearly seven stories tall added in 2016, combining six distinct slide experiences from body slides to enclosed tube rides in one footprint. It carries the tallest height requirement in the water park at 48 inches minimum. RiverRacers, added in 2025, is Ohio’s first dual-racing water coaster: riders board side-by-side rafts, get launched by a conveyor belt, and drop down a 33-foot, 47-degree first plunge before racing through banked turns to the finish. Minimum height is 42 inches.
Thunder Falls and Zoom Flume are the park’s classic open-air flume rides, both dating to the water park’s original 1989–1990 buildout — riders fly down winding, zigzagging tube slides on an inner tube. Zoom Flume seats up to four riders together on a group raft and has a 40-inch minimum height; Thunder Falls carries the same 40-inch minimum, with a life vest required for riders between 40 and 52 inches.
The two wave pools anchor the park’s open water: Breakers Bay (added 1997, formerly known as Surfside Bay) and Tidal Wave Bay (added in the 2012 expansion) both cycle through timed wave sessions for body-surfing or floating. Splash River, the park’s lazy river, offers a slower loop around the property, tube-optional. For younger kids, Splash Landing is an interactive splash-pad-style zone with kid-sized slides and a tipping bucket that periodically dumps water over a play structure. Splash River Junction, added in 2025 alongside RiverRacers, adds seven gentle Salamander Slider slides plus Bluegill Lagoon, a reimagined swimming-hole area with a leaky water tower, along with Tadpool/Castaway Cove and a Riverbank slide-out area. Altogether the park counts five themed children’s areas among its 50-plus water activities.
Height Requirements at a Glance
Tropical Plunge: 48″ minimum, the tallest requirement at Soak City. RiverRacers: 42″ minimum. Thunder Falls and Zoom Flume: 40″ minimum, with a life vest required for riders between 40″ and 52″. Splash Landing and the other kids’-area slides: roughly 36″ minimum, aimed at younger children with an adult nearby.
Because height rules can be adjusted by the park and are measured in bare feet at the ride entrance, double-check current signage or the official Kings Island ride height chart the day you visit, especially for Tropical Plunge, where its six slides share the same posted 48-inch minimum.
soak city kings island FAQs
What is Soak City at Kings Island?
Soak City is the 35-acre water park located inside Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. It’s included free with any Kings Island day ticket or season pass and features 36 slides, two wave pools, a lazy river, a dual-racing water coaster, and five kids’ play areas.
What are Kings Island water park hours?
Soak City’s hours are published separately from the main park and are almost always shorter — typically opening an hour or two later and closing a couple hours earlier than Kings Island’s main gates. Hours vary by date and can change for weather, so check the official Kings Island Calendar & Hours page for the specific day you’re visiting.
Is Soak City open on Labor Day?
Yes — Soak City has historically stayed open through Labor Day weekend as part of its end-of-season schedule, though it runs shorter hours than the main gates and can close early for weather. Confirm the exact holiday hours on the official calendar before you go.
Do I need a separate ticket for Soak City?
No. There’s no standalone Soak City ticket or water-park-only admission option. Any valid Kings Island day ticket or season pass gets you into both the amusement park and the water park on days Soak City is open.
When does Soak City open for the 2026 season?
Soak City’s confirmed 2026 opening weekend is May 23. It generally runs daily through mid-August, then scales back to weekends through Labor Day, with the exact calendar posted on the official Kings Island site.
What is the height requirement for RiverRacers?
RiverRacers, Ohio’s first dual-racing water coaster, has a 42-inch minimum height requirement. Tropical Plunge carries the tallest minimum at Soak City, at 48 inches.
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