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Knott's Soak City Water Park
Rating Details »
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
8 reviews for Knott's Soak City Water Park
OKAY! When you're in Palm Springs, and it's a blazing 115 degrees out, Soak City is the best idea ever! Admission is $29, but if you have AAA or come after 3pm it's only $22 each.
We went here yesterday, and were smart and rented a Cabana - they are a bit pricey, but with a whole group of people, it works out to like $10 each, which is so worth it. It was our homebase, where we could safely leave all of our things while running around the park - they also offer waiter service, so we could order beers and food when we were hanging there. They also give you 4 innertubes to take around with you for the day, so you don't need to wait for them at the slides. If you don't get a Cabana, be ready to pay $10 for a locker...totally insane!
At first the park looks small, and I guess in retrospect it is compared to other huge waterparks, but it's actually a pretty decent size - any bigger, and the task of running around from ride to ride + climbing up a million stairs each time to the top of slides would be torturous.
I went on every slide, except for the straight down 60ft. drop. I remember a time when I was quite fearless and would go on any waterslide, no matter how high or steep, but yesterday I wasn't feeling as brave as I once was. The two best ones were the Sea Snake - which is terrifying the first couple of times, because you're speeding through a pitch black tunnel, with zero sense of direction! The other is the one we called the Funnel (I think the real name is the Twister or something?) - it's a sick slide that you can ride with 2 or 4 people. You go through a dark tunnel on an innertube, then go off a steep drop, then shot up the wall of this open funnel. It's a ridiculous amount of fun! With each time the Funnel was over, we'd all turn into 5 year olds and be yelling "MORE! MORE! MORE!" and run back up the stairs and do it all over again! (I think I went on it probably 18 times!)
All in all, Soak City was exactly what we needed for the day. If we hadn't gone, the sun would have melted all my skin off.
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A disappointing experience to say the least.
But I'll say more, because I want someone to write a more accurate review of how much this place sucks.Pulled into the parking lot and had to pay a whopping $9 just for parking, then $10 for a locker. Some of the staff I encountered were unprofessional, with me waltzing past the bag checker because I could barely hear his voice mutter "miss, I have to look through your bag". And with one quick,disinterested glance through my things I wondered why it was worth doing at all. Everything in the shops are overpriced, and the ride waits are long and the rides themselves quick and subpar.
My husband and I took our 3yr old daughter there this past weekend. Over all, we had a good time - although it was expensive and there wasnt alot for a 3 yr old to do other than the big wave tank and the 2 little kid slides. She is 36 inches tall and most of the rides require 40-42 inches in height. Even on the lazy river... which seemed pretty short and kinda fast to me.
We splurged and rented a cabana. If you can afford it - I HIGHLY reccommend one - you get shade, misters, semi-privacy, a waiter service, and 2 free innertubes. Its not something we could afford to do every time we go, but its definately worth it if you could split the cost with another family. The food thru the waiter is about $2 more per item than if you waited in line for yourself to get it, and you can order food items in the cabanas that you cant get elsewhere in the park. Also, you can have alcohol served to you in the cabana - as opposed to having to remain in the bar area if you arent from a cabana.
The staff was pretty attentive - the lifeguards and medical staff were always watchfull. Due to my daughter being so small, we couldnt go on alot of rides - there is one area that has 6 or 7 little slides on it and it looks like its geared to kids - but the water is the coldest on the planet.
We will probably go again sometime... but not anytime soon due to the cost.
I went to think park on a Friday afternoon, it wasn't very busy at all. Admission was $24.99 (ask for Southern California Resident Discount). I must say the park isn't work too much more. It's very small with 7 slides, 1 small lazy river, and a wave pool. Locker rentals are pricey at $10 all day and the food is also expensive as well, but still pretty good. If you're thirsty I suggest asking at the food place for cups of water from the soda machine. I did it a few times and the lady gave me the regular sized drinks filled with ice water. Don't bother renting your won intertube for $6. All the rides that need them provide them for you. After going on some of the rides over and over, this park got boring. Since they are out in the desert you'd think they would have more attractions.
Oasis was the place when i was a little kid. I went there almost every week with the Palm Springs YMCA around 1993-1994. When i was in High school they were bought out by Knott's and they became knott's oasis. I could deal with that, but then the scrapped the whole Oasis thing and called it Knott's soak city....BOO!!!! You can see on the google map to the right it still says Oasis water park on their maps and it will always be Oasis to me.
It's hot in the desert and this is a nice place to go cooldown and have some fun. They have rock climbing, a nice grass area to play frisbee, and an excellent tanning area in front of the wave pool. The rides range alot from fun to boring. The lazy river is a place to float on an innertube at 1 MPH and just relax. The roadrunner is the middle tube of the middle 3 rides (if the setup is still the same). It's the only one that doesn't require an innertube of the three. That ride was enough for me when i was 8 but as i got older i moved on to the scorpion, the black widow, and whatever those 2 wedgie machines were all the way over on the right side. The scropion was a kind of bragging rights for us kids and i'd say something like "yeah, well i rode the scorpion 5 TIMES today."
Raging waters and Wild Rivers in LA county are larger, but theyre not as clean and safe as oasis. I always felt like raging waters was overcrowded and even though some of the rides were more intense it was not worth the drive/hassle. Oasis is laid back and less crowded; an overall better experience. try it when your in the hot hot desert!
This place is ok. You have a choice of parking $9 for regular and $15 for Preferred. Not much difference in the parking. The only advantage is when its scorching hot its a shorter walk. I recommend renting a cabana because it is a life saver. We reserved one online a couple days before I went. You do not have to rent a locker and fight for seats in the shade. The cabanas are located near the tidal wave area and runs along the side. Cabanas are $99 and the private ones run for $109. Check the website. They have misters connected, couple of beach chairs, 2 rubber tubes, and a picnic table with chairs. You check in and then you are assigned a waiter. At the cabanas, you get unlimited water to keep you hydrated. We ordered a special for $60 where you get four hotdogs, four hambugers, assortment of chips, and a unlimted thermal cooler to fill with any soda you want. We went with this food package because it was a good deal for our party. The bathrooms were actually clean. They are located in different parts of the park but not too far of a walk wherever you may be. The water park attractions were nice. The tidal wave beach is probably the highlight because of the wave machine that happens every 30 mins or so. The slides are your typical ones you would see at raging waters or other water parks. I wish there were more pools for infants. The only really complaint I have was our waiter. He was ok. I know its hot and all but do your job. It took forever to order food but he did deliver fast. The first order of soda we ordered was not cold and flat. The second one was ok. He was suppose to come back to take a group picture and never did. But hey I would hate to work in a 117 degree weather. Would I go back? Yes I went on a Monday so it was not bad. Not sure if I would go on a Friday or weekend.
Soak City is an apt name for what will happen to you when you show up here, and it's not the water, it's what will happen to your bank account. If you stop at the MacDonald's at I-10 and Ramon, you can save $7 a ticket (look for the coupons by the napkins).
First, there's $9 to park. Want a locker (as in a YMCA style take-the-orange-key locker?), $10 more. That's not a typo... who has ever paid $10 for a ski-resort style locker? Not even at Vail would they try that on you. Want an inner tube? $5 more per person. Want a cabana? I didn't ask. The only thing that's free after you turn into the park are the bathrooms, and I'm honestly surprised that they didn't charge for those, too.
Eat before you come, because there are long lines for just about everything you might want to buy here. Given their bent toward making a buck, someone forgot to tell them to staff up their concessions to move people through the lines faster.
Be careful when you go; during spring break week they were only open Th - Su. The park is a forlorn area of town near the airport. and some warehouses. When you drive up, you'll see all the knowledgable people parking on the street or in vacant parts of the desert.
The staff was attentive and safety was clearly a priority. The setup is good for kids over 8-10; if your kids are younger and not daredevils, this may not be the place for them. They have some rides geared toward the younger kids, but the majority of the park caters to the tween and above set.
Overall, they have a lot of creative water rides. Expect pretty long lines for the better ones -- maybe waiting 20 minutes to ride for 30 seconds.
1 star for the nickel and diming; overall, I wouldn't call this a good value.
My 9 year old son gave it "at least 4 stars" for the rides, most of which he was too afraid to go on. But he didn't pay the bill.
I went to this water park for the first time while visiting a friend in Desert Hot Springs (next door to Palm Springs).
It would have cost $28 but they gave us $5 off because my friend lives in Southern California. We got there at about 11am on a 115 degree summer weekday and it wasn't too packed. But about half of the dozen slides were closed. We were told they would open later in the day which turned out to be after 2pm. Felt like a ripoff until those rides opened.
One of the best rides is this giant slide called something "Tower". You climb about 4 flights of stairs at the top of a hill and get a great view of Palm Springs and the surrounding desert. Then it's about a 70 foot drop to the bottom, 40 feet of which is almost straight down. The drop curves into a straightaway filled with water to slow you down. Watching someone slow down is like watching a speedboat slow down as it skims along the water.
The other super awesome ride is something my friend and I called "the toilet bowl". Again you climb several flights of stairs carrying an inflated raft for up to four people. You shoot down a pitch black curving tube into the top of a giant funnel turned on its side (the toilet), then go up and down the funnel until you slow down and go out the bottom of the funnel
Not to be missed is the giant water play structure--a mass of ropes, bridges and slides. It may look like it's only for kids but it's a lot of fun for everyone. On the sides of the bridges, there are water cannons and big perpetually-filling buckets of water that can be aimed and poured on people passing below you. At the top of the structure is a giant, water tower-sized bucket of water that automatically fills and dumps every few minutes.
There's a wave pool and a circular, slow-moving "lazy river".
At the bar next to the wave pool, my friend and I chatted with a couple of local ladies. When I tried to steer the conversation from favorite, tolerable and unbearable fast food chains to philosophy, they had to leave. Oh well, one was married and the other had a mustache and missing teeth. There was also a guy who was drinking and avoiding his wife and kids.
All said, a fun time and it never got too hot because you're always getting wet. Put on powerful sunblock though. I'm fairly white-skinned, I put on 48 SPF sunblock three times throughout the day and still got a little burned on the shoulders and back.
Minus one star for not having all the rides open and a couple life guards that kept flinging cups of water at a crowded line. They were letting one person down the slide every 5 minutes!
Guard flings water and gets it right in my eye a few times.
Me: Quit flinging water, just make the ride move faster!
Guard looks at me for a moment, then flings more water.
Still really fun time in the hot desert sun.
