Renovation From Western To ‘California Surf’ Theme a Multimillion-Dollar Project
CHULA VISTA , Marty Keithley has a lot of fingers crossed as opening day, May 20, slides closer for his waterpark, Knott’s Soak City U.S.A.
Keithley, the park’s director, is hoping for swift construction, a smooth launch and hotter-than-usual summer temperatures.
“It’s so dependent on weather,” he said. “We can do the best job of marketing and training and planning and everything, but if you have 70-degree temperatures, people don’t think about going to a waterpark. It’s got to be 80- or 90-degree temperatures.”
There were nine days left before the park would open to the public when he spoke of its future. Lifeguards had been training for weeks, and the other summer employees’ training was about to begin. So far, there have been 225 summer employees hired. Keithley expects to hire up to another 125 by the season’s end in mid-September.
The 32-acre park has nearly finished its multimillion-dollar renovation from Western-themed White Water Canyon into a California surf town. New ride signs , such as “La Jolla Falls,” which gives the 22-slide park a localized theme , is expected soon.
The skeleton for a new flume ride, Coronado Express, was recently raised on the park’s northwest corner. The project is still awaiting some city permits and won’t be completed by the park’s opening date, Keithley said.
Ohio-based Cedar Fair L.P., which owns Knott’s Berry Farm and other theme parks, bought the financially distressed White Water Canyon in early December for an undisclosed amount.
Construction began in January. The project would normally have taken a year, Keithley estimated. Fitting it into five months was an “aggressive” plan, he said.
Still, Keithley said, it will happen. He’s been through the last-minute crunch before in his previous position with the Knott’s ride development department.
When Cedar Fair bought White Water Canyon, it was building a Soak City waterpark next to the Knott’s in Buena Park, Ochsner said. The Buena Park Soak City is scheduled to open June 17.
Now, the two Soak City parks are being marketed together, and branded as Knott’s Berry Farms, Ochsner said.
There’s also a joint promotions and advertising program, Ochsner said. By marketing the parks together, the company could go in the Southern California region , beyond the traditional 20-mile radius to which waterparks normally market, he said.
There are monthly promotional partners for the parks, but the main one will be Food-4-Less. The Compton, Calif.-based company will sell tickets to the waterparks for $4 less than the $15.95-$19.95 admission cost at the parks’ gates.
Soak City’s multimillion-dollar marketing campaign will hit local television and newspapers, radio and billboards, focusing on particularly “mom-and-kid-friendly” times and spaces, Ochsner said. A commercial that will be used for both Soak City parks will be shot in Chula Vista this week, he said.
As a waterpark, Soak City is admittedly a secondary draw in San Diego, in contrast to the Zoo or SeaWorld and will be marketed as such, Ochsner said. For instance, the park will try to reach potential guests in hotel rooms through local television, he said.
“San Diego’s done an excellent job of marketing itself as a destination,” he said. “We’re going to unashamedly ride on those coattails.”
