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  • Recent Posts

    • The park has many weaknesses. #1: Its competitors (such as Holiday World and Kings Island) have more room to expand, while Kentucky Kingdom's size if it uses all the land for expansion, would be around 80 acres, far smaller than those two other parks. #2: Height restrictions, given its proximity to the airport, restrict KK from ever building attractions taller than 150 feet (which, as far as I'm aware, is the max height they're allowed to build), which limits the park if they ever plan/want to compete by building new thrill rides as they did during the 1990s. #3: (This is a minor one, but no one I've seen really talks about it as a negative) The park layout is terrible. The road cutting the park in half, King Louies Playland being in the middle of the front half of the park, and Hurricane Bay being in the middle of the second half of the park make KK unnecessarily difficult to navigate (especially when compared to Kings Island, for example). The back half specifically feels dead in most places, such as the area between Thunder Run and Taco Tequila, which is connected by a long, narrow path, with only one attraction (Raging River Rapids Ride) and almost nothing going on back there. #4: KK, despite its best efforts, has so far struggled to make a profit. When Hart reopened the park in 2014, he believed that KK in the 2010s could have 1.2 million visitors in a season, which were the same attendance numbers from the '97 season. These days, Kentucky Kingdom gets around 700k visitors per season, which is not terrible, but far less than its competitors who average over 1 million guests per year. The issues with making a profit limited the park in the 2010s when it came to new additions (such as not being able to afford a dueling RMC, instead opting for a single-track Storm Chaser). The emergence of Holiday World may be a reason to blame their attendance struggles, as I know that park has taken a large bite out of out-of-state visitors who now go to Santa Claus and not Louisville, I should mention the park of course also has its strengths, its location in Louisville and friendly relations with the local and state governments definitely help it. But barring some serious investment from Herschend or some other operator, I don't understand how Kentucky Kingdom can stay open without heavily relying on the state and local governments to help bear the cost of keeping the place afloat. Although I wouldn't entirely blame Herschend's few investments for the current state of the park, because aside from the 1990s when Paramount was not expanding Kings Island as much and Holiday World was not much of a competitor, it seems that Kentucky Kingdom has struggled to really compete as a regional amusement park.  
    • Rode TT2 for my first time this morning and all I can say is wow. Went in with low expectations, came off so pumped up I got right back in line for another lap. To me, it seems like more of a complete ride now. The backwards launch is unlike anything else I have been on and the trip up and over the top hat now is absolutely crazy. CP has a major hit on their hands and I am looking forward to riding again soon. 
    • What makes you say the future doesn't look bright for the park? 
    • Hey there all! Apologize if this is posted in the wrong area of the forum but I saw another thread asking for trip advice and wanted to shoot my shot to the experts.    Looks like health permitting I will finally be going to cedar point this summer! Yay! And to top it off I will get 3 full days at the park and a stay at the breakers(which I’m told is an awesome and very convenient experience). There is one factor I just can’t decide on and that’s what week I should go. Person I’m going with says first week of June would be good because the crowds will be lower. But there’s a caveat. The park closes at 8 that week and it isn’t until later in the month that it stays open until 11pm. I have also been told Ride Ops will be slower/worse the earlier you go. A local told me you run the risk of more stuff having downtime.    The cons of going later in June(18-20)will certainly mean it is more crowded but by how much? Like would the crowds offset the increased hours because that means longer lines? Another local told me it would be way hotter and to definitely go early JUNE to skip the heat and people. I don’t do well in heat.  So that’s two different opinions from locals haha! It also doesn’t help that I’m very indecisive because of my OCD and this is a dream trip for me. I want to “get it right” so to speak.    A few things to note I know fast lane will be expensive but I have prepared to buy it either dates so that is a non issue. Unless the park was a ghost town I have read enough good things about FL here and other places. I am the kind of person who wants to ride every coaster in the park and ride multiple times based on how much I like the ride. If I wanna ride Maverick 20 times I will do it lol. And night rides might be really neat.    But if early June is really less crowded and much cooler I think I would probably prefer that. As long as the ops aren’t bad (I know nobody can guarantee me anything here). But those elusive night rides sound fun!      Anyway I would really appreciate any thoughts you all can add to this discussion. Carowinds is my home park but I’ve never ventured out further because of health issues. I’m really hoping this will work out.     
    • T3 has now been taken down.   I also feel the future of this park doesn't look all that bright.  
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