2015 is going to be a great year for Water Works as they continue to grow and expand the water park at Kings Dominion. We will see new bathrooms, bath houses, cabanas, food options, sand volleyball court, kids play area, and a 65-foot tall slide complex called Paradise Plunge. An overview of the area was recently posted showing us where all the changes will be taking place.
Let’s start with New Splash Island, the entrance to the water park. From the overview we can see the Shoot the Curl slides are missing. These three slides are fairly old, and were rumored to be on the chopping block. This clears the way for a path that would take you around the back side of the lazy river. This is a great idea, because on really busy days the bridges going to the now called Splash Island created a bottle neck and made it hard to maneuver the front part of the water park. The biggest addition to this area of the park is the new kids play area. It looks like from the over view the area will include a cover, but from the artwork, it does not include one. With the addition of Splash Island, these will double the amount of options the kids currently have at Water Works. Before we move on to the back side, it also appears the bath house will be expanded at the entrance of the water park.
As we move to the other side of Rebel Yell we see more additions to the water park, including 2 new bathrooms, and a new bath house. I never thought there was a shortage of bathrooms in this area of the park, but I guess you can never have too many when it comes to a water park. More is better than the alternative. Biggest surprise is the sand volleyball court going in. I am now super excited about this as I love to play volleyball. 
As we look at the over view by the Tidal Wave Bay we can see they are going to expand the Cabanas. With the expansion it looks like there may be another area that I hope is being used for adult beverages. There is nothing better than laying around the wave pool and sipping a frozen girly drink. Best part of the whole expansion is the new water slide complex. 3 drop slides, and 3 crazy tube rides. Dorney park received something similar to this last year and it was simply amazing.
The biggest surprise of all is if you look closely at the upper right hand corner you can see what looks to be a theater. I have heard some rumors that KD would be getting another theater in the Safari area of the park in the location where there used to be a stage. This would be an outdoor stage that would replace a groove of picnic tables in front of Backlot Stunt Coaster. I have mixed feelings about this. I am all for more options of entertainment at the park, but I really feel the park should work on the options they have. They currently have 6 stages that produce around 11 shows in the summer season. I think most people would agree with me that half of those shows are not worth keeping. I am a tech guy, but I am not a theater guy so I don’t know if what they are missing is a good producer, talent, or both. All I know is All Wheel Sports plays to packed crowds and it’s hard to keep me away from that show, and when sitting in the back of KD40 you can watch crowds of people leave before the Signing Mushrooms leave the show to perform their own show. I know Cedar Fair has the tools to produce great shows, and I really have high hopes that we will get high quality entertainment back to Kings Dominion. I just wish we could work on that before building another stage.
Overall I am truly excited about this expansion. I don’t spend enough time in the water park, but I really enjoy the time I do.
