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Dosell Road is not a good option, as traffic would have to cross the train tracks twice. The far simpler option is Theme park Way, which already has a direct connection to the Kings Dominion overpass, and connects with Kings Dominion Blvd with a substantial traffic light. As @Jonesta6 said, I believe Theme Park Way after the highway bridge is a private road owned by the park, there is a sign after going under the bridge that says privste road. All road upgrades needed would be a minor expense compared to the cost of land clearing, paving a new parking lot, and building the infrastructure for a second gate.

Yeah, I have no idea what they'd need to do, but I can imagine that they'd need to make changes to their current maintenance routing to allow guests to drive back there.

And tbh the effort and expense probably wouldn't be worth it unless they plan to do some massive Soak City enhancements with many new attractions in the next few years to further compete with WCUSA and the new Kalahari resort up the road.
 
And tbh the effort and expense probably wouldn't be worth it
Likely doing that would require taking up the road, regrading everything, widening the area around the road, putting in safety precautions, likely build a new road for maintenance access to the park.

That doesn't even get into the infrastructure for electrical, storm water management, emergency access, the new 'toll' plaza that would be needed.

And it's not just that road, all of the entrance to KD of Kings Dominion Boulevard and Theme Park way would need to be completely reworked to handle the new flow with turn lanes, entrance, exit, ability to handle backups.

And then on top of that you got to think of the on going costs of maintaining that, the staffing of the new parking plaza, the additional security you need for the extra lot, and the people you would need to maybe direct traffic.

Like I said, that's why WoF/OoF isn't really a great example, they have a natural advantage to having two gates, two parking lots, and the internal pass through. KD doesn't have that so to build on your own is wildly expensive and not really worth it in the end.

If, if, they were ever to do something like this I would say that the plan should be to put a hotel/resort back there of their own and try to make KD more a destination, then using that land and spending the money to access that area back there makes sense. The only other way is to do what I said and get Doswell to pitch in with using local roads to access that area so that way the work they need to spend money alone on would be reduced.
 
Theme park way has nothing to do with park maintenance access. The park maintenance road runs parallel to theme park way on the inside of the chainlink fence. Once theme park way reaches the back of the park, there’s a sign that says “end state maintenance ” and it makes a sharp left and turns into a gravel access road used by Dominion Energy for transmission line maintenance and the county for access to Doswell water treatment plant.
 
I’m just going off what others said, so that takes it back to the same issue as using Doswell Road, you need to municipalities buy in, which is a long shot. Takes me back to my point yet again - there’s no easy access back there without costing someone a ton of money for little pay off.
 
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This area is no man’s land. It’s just gravel. It’s a sandbox prime for meddling with. It also looks kinda bad.

Like I said I don’t think any of this is likely to happen. But I agree @warfelg the only way to justify building the infrastructure out there is if they also build some sort of hotel back there, a la Springhill Suites at Carowinds.

The least complicated way to get guests back there would be to use the existing parking gate and route hotel guests to the left. Since the circled area is all gravel they can tear it up and design how they best need. There will inevitably be a choke point where entering guests and guests exiting the park will have to cross. But the existing maintenance road that runs between the train tracks and the park has enough space around it to fit another road.
 
Is soak city even worth the investment of this magnitude...? IFor the average guest I feel like whats there now is more than plenty to do half a day there and do the park. It's not like we can ever know how much the public like it or not. Not like it has rideship or a gate you go through to track how many are going in it.

If were going this level of change then they would probably make it a seperate thing. Turning i to a whole other park like water country which im not even sure I can get behind.
 
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If were going this level of change then they would probably make it a seperate thing. Turning i to a whole other park like water country which im not even sure I can get behind.

I think this is what most are advocating for long-term. It's definitely what I want to see.

Water Country USA absolutely prints money and that is despite being one of two water parks in Hampton Roads. KD's water park has less competition and, long-term, there's likely no reason it can't manage what WCUSA does.
 
I think this is what most are advocating for long-term. It's definitely what I want to see.

Water Country USA absolutely prints money and that is despite being one of two water parks in Hampton Roads. KD's water park has less competition and, long-term, there's likely no reason it can't manage what WCUSA does.
WCUSA is that profitable? I feel like the place is pratically free with any season pass. They almost give it to you these days. Like a extra $2. I figured the upkeep for a water park is insane, especially the water bill daily lol But hell idk
 
I think this is what most are advocating for long-term. It's definitely what I want to see.

Water Country USA absolutely prints money and that is despite being one of two water parks in Hampton Roads. KD's water park has less competition and, long-term, there's likely no reason it can't manage what WCUSA does.
Should be interesting to see if Kalahari opening 20 miles up the road affects Soak City at all -
 
Competition is only growing, and it remains to be seen if the combined park model is worth it when there's not enough capex to fuel growth on both the dry and wet sides.
 
Is soak city even worth the investment of this magnitude...? IFor the average guest I feel like whats there now is more than plenty to do half a day there and do the park. It's not like we can ever know how much the public like it or not. Not like it has rideship or a gate you go through to track how many are going in it.

If were going this level of change then they would probably make it a seperate thing. Turning i to a whole other park like water country which im not even sure I can get behind.
The park does actually track waterpark attendance and ridership. There are sensors mounted overhead where you walk under the soak city sign entering the water park. Same sensors they use at the front gate instead of the old turnstiles. Ride ops also utilize clickers to track ridership and have to document capacity every hour.
 
There are sensors mounted overhead where you walk under the soak city sign entering the water park.
Just a small thing here: but that doesn’t mean that part of the park makes money off someone. Heck, I used to just use SC to tan, read, and get out of the main park for an hour or two, never riding anything or using anything in there before going to the park. And I used to see plenty of fully dressed parents in there while their kid played, fully dressed, in splash pads as a way to cool off.
 
My guess is that it probably won't? I think the market is really different for an indoor resort water park vs a large, traditional, outdoor water park. Great Wolf hasn't had any real impact on WCUSA as far as I know.
It also helps that WCUSA and Great Wolf are also on completely opposite ends of Williamsburg, which is a sprawling town as it is.
 
I think this is what most are advocating for long-term. It's definitely what I want to see.

Water Country USA absolutely prints money and that is despite being one of two water parks in Hampton Roads. KD's water park has less competition and, long-term, there's likely no reason it can't manage what WCUSA does.
Random thought - How many people from Richmond, Hampton Roads, VB area go to Williamsburg just for WCUSA and how many go to KD just for SC?
 
Random thought - How many people from Richmond, Hampton Roads, VB area go to Williamsburg just for WCUSA and how many go to KD just for SC?

That's the million dollar question, right? If we knew this, the answer re: path forward would be super clear.

I, personally, anecdotally, know people from all across Hampton Roads who drive to Williamsburg just for WCUSA. Can't speak to Richmond though.

My GUESS is that a fair number of people go to Kings Dominion specifically for Soak City given the number of people seemingly dressed for the water park I see arriving at the gates during the summer, but that's just a guess.
 
My GUESS is that a fair number of people go to Kings Dominion specifically for Soak City given the number of people seemingly dressed for the water park I see arriving at the gates during the summer, but that's just a guess.
And the question there, because we used to do this for Lake Compounce, how many people that do that are doing it just to not have to change while in the park. I’ve ridden rides where people in bathing suits were in line.
 
I, personally, anecdotally, know people from all across Hampton Roads who drive to Williamsburg just for WCUSA. Can't speak to Richmond though.
Also, Virginia Beach people do have options, as they have Ocean Breeze right in the heart of VB, but it is a smaller property from my understanding, so WCUSA likely draws people due to having more to offer.
 
I've been to KD hundreds of times and never set foot in SC. I have been to WCUSA almost as many times as Busch Gardens.

I'm pretty severely biased because I have much the same story. I think I've only been in Soak City in non-street-clothes only a single time and that was for a media event. I never, EVER go to Soak City recreationally—despite having long visited WCUSA on my own volition and for my own enjoyment.

For me, this is squarely because Soak City isn't a separate gate. I HATE the idea of visiting a water park where you have to walk through a dry park to get there. 90% of the time I visit WCUSA I'm arriving in swim attire and leaving in swim attire. That feels wrong/trashy/super inconvenient to me at Soak City but is the easiest thing in the world at WCUSA.
 
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