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Alright...week at Knoebels down. A few years back I put up a report here on a week at a cottage there. I did the same thing this year with mostly the same group, so I'm not going to be bother with a full report again, as it was mostly the same, only not quite as good, because 2021 is just rough everywhere, but still a fun time. Penn's Cave is still a great way to spend an afternoon. Camel Beach was an absolute dumpster fire; they happily let us all in at full price before letting us know that a part of the park was closed because of storm damage, and they have absolutely the worst fast pass system I've seen anywhere (no separate entrances, no management; an "expresspass" armband just entitles you to shove your way up the stairs past everyone else. Three hour lines for one waterslide... Dorney Park was Dorney as usual, which for 2021 was not a bad thing...operations were pretty much normal for most of the day, with all but a couple flat rides and food stands open, almost no lines, and coasters running well. Knoebels...is having a rough time of things, with about half the park actually open, but they're doing their best with what they have, and Twister is running the best I've seen in something like fifteen years going there now. Also, we discovered Marley's, 20 minutes from Knoebels, which...I suppose I'll have to make a post in the Knoebels thread for that one later! But we're here for the midwest parks, and Thursday of my week at them was Kentucky Kingdom. This wasn't a park I'd originally even thought to add to my itinerary, but was suggested to me here, and I decided it was definitely worth checking out. As it turned out...Kentucky Kingdom is an...interesting little park. Kentucky Kingdom is literally set up in the middle of the Kentucky State Fairgrounds, almost entirely surrounded by the parking lot and fairgrounds (mostly the former). Just getting to the park was a challenge the day I visited, since there was a major event (National Hot Rod Association finals, apparently), going on at the fairgrounds, and traffic was being diverted with some entrances closed, which left my GPS rather unhappy with me. I was able to my way in, past a gate attendant who commented on how crazy a day it was with so many confused drivers, and parked up in back, where I could get a decent view of Kentucky Flyer. I also had an interesting view on the path around the back of the park to the gate (a bit of a walk, really)... Separated from the fairground by just a chain link fence, I walked past an almost endless lot of classic cars. If I didn't have plenty to focus on at the park, I definitely could have spent a lot of time on the other side of that fence too... But I had this view of Lighting Run to keep my attention where it belonged on the other side. I got to the (surprisingly small) gate just as they were opening, without too many people in front of me. I was most interested in Lightning Run, but almost everyone headed left toward it, and having perhaps learned my lesson at Holiday World, I went the other way this time. About five other people did. Looked like I'd have some time without lines here. The first thing in this direction turned out to be kiddieland. It...took me a bit to figure out why it was "King Louie's" playland. Sometimes I'm just not very smart with all that word stuff, I guess. The first adult ride, a Reverchon (I believe) Himalaya. No line at all made it worth stopping for, but sadly it's not a great one. Very plain, and the rather abused looking wooden floors of the cars seemed a little concerning. It didn't move particularly fast, either. Next door to it is the "Movie Store" advertising 4d movies, but at the time I had no real interest in the Kentucky Show or Yogi Bear. T Scream Extreme was a bit more my speed. A solid ride, but a very short cycle; it barely reached vertical before we were coming back down. The ops here also made it clear they could not care less about being at the park, just ignoring the guests and looking straight ahead with thousand yard stares. This was about fifteen minutes into the day... This turned out to be the case with most rides and staff here. Some sort of show pavilion here, but I didn't put too much effort into checking it out in the morning. One of the more...unique things with Kentucky Kingdom is that it's build on two sides of a significant road. Towards the center of the park, there's one bridge to cross, but at this end, it's just a crosswalk with two guards. The back half of the park starts to look nicer than the front half though. I know, this place isn't a big fan of ACE, but this was slightly interesting. Lots of little points of interests at other parks but this one has a general coaster timeline going on. Oh hi Flying Turns! Mile High Falls had water running but wasn't open yet. Too bad; I love big shoot the chute rides and this is definitely one of the biggest ones I've seen. At least the back half of the park has some shade. ....aaaaand RMC track! Yes please, heading that way now. Storm Chaser is anything but big, but it does everything it can to make up for its size, with an intense inverting first drop and enough ejector air to make Phoenix feel self-conscious. Aaaand since everyone else had gone towards Lightning Run at the start, I was going to have no trouble at all getting on it as many times as I wanted here. There's as much air as it looks like right about there. And this hill, while small, will make you REALLY grateful for secure restraints, because the train wants you off of it here. On top of the air, Storm Chaser never seems to lose any speed until the final brakes, and there's not a bump or rattle on the entire track. Not a big coaster, not my favorite RMC, but definitely still a fantastic ride, especially for its size. Heading back towards the center of the park, and towards a bit more classic wooden coaster. I was a little nervous about Thunder Run given that it's not a new ride now, and my back had not appreciated the Legend the day before, but I wasn't going to just skip it either. At the time being, I didn't realize this was basically the same coaster as Hurler, and it's probably as good thing that I didn't, since I might have passed on riding it entirely. Thunder Run, despite being the original that Hurler is a mirrored version of, has one major difference from the later copies; it doesn't suck. I can't say what's so different about this one compared to Hurler (at least the one at King's Dominion), which, every time I rode it managed to be pathetically slow, incredibly rough, or both at once, but Thunder Run is actually a solid coaster. It held a lot more speed than I can remember ever getting from Hurler, and it did it without beating me up at all; even with an already sore back I didn't find any painful spots here. It's not a terrifically creative layout and isn't going to knock any coasters off my top ten list, but it's not a bad one by any means either, and I could definitely enjoy a few laps around it. Heading back in that direction anyway, I stuck my head head into the carousel pavillion to take a look at it, and...I'm not sure what to make of this carousel. It wasn't running to start with, but the sort of stained and discolored brassy look makes it look like it's on its way to becoming a horror movie prop at some dilapidated park where half the characters won't make it out alive. It's also called the Bella Musica carousel, but the music it was playing was horrifically unpleasant, again like it should have been in a horror movie or at least running as a halloween attraction. Very strange... Kentucky Kingdom strikes a midpoint between free drinks at Holiday World and Lake Compounce and most other parks with overpriced drinks; soda is 99 cents, which is hard to complain about, but keeps people from dumping half finished cups all over the place, making a mess and attracting wasps. This might be the best approach, really. Out on the back edge of the park, the forest-y look disappears again and we're back at parking lot fairgrounds. I am not usually a fan of ring of fire rides but I clearly had all the time I was going to need today, so I figured I'd give this one a shot. Bleachers? Are these rides that much fun to watch? Who thought this was needed? As far as the Eye of the Storm...I'm still not a fan of it. There's nothing wrong with this one but anything with really quick repeated vertical loops, especially ones that stop short upside down, definitely leave me feeling off for a while after, every time. I'd been considering going back to my car to get my swim suit and tower, since I seemed to have plenty of time and the water park looked to have some good stuff, but the water coaster wasn't running, so...much less temptation there. A lot of water rides didn't seem to be running, sadly. This was going to have to be the first rapids ride I missed this week. Aaaaaand then we have T3. I knew what I was getting into here, but I had to know just how bad it really was. For anyone not familiar with it here...SLCs are infamously rough enough, yes, but T3 is not just an SLC. T3 is an SLC prototype. That can not be good news. It was well after 1:00 at this point. I really wanted to try this thing though, so I hung around for a bit. I wasn't the only one waiting for T3 by time it finally opened an hour and a half late. Some of us just don't have very well developed self-defense instincts, I guess. T3 has restraints I've never seen on anything else; it's almost like a 5 point harness, all belts, attached to a lap bar. It's strange and looks a bit awkward, but it's actually fairly secure and comfortable. As for the ride itself...it's an absolute piece of crap. It thunks and bangs its way around the track like the wheels are falling off, and I'm not even sure how it even makes it through the course with the way it gives these constant shudders like it's about to suddenly screech to a stop with something horribly broken. And yet...it's not actually painful at all with the newer restraints, so it's actually...sort of enjoyable? It's something along the lines of a coaster version of a so-bad-it's-good movie? There's no arguing that it's absolutely awful, but I can sort of enjoy it for that since it doesn't actively beat you up anymore. The only really bad part is that on the final brake run, the restraints slam down hard on your thighs enough to make Skyrush's restraints feel loose. My legs were going numb by time I actually got off. Other than that...I didn't bother riding it again, but I probably could have. Strange ride. Taking this picture, I was asked to leave the area by the staff of a nearby basketball game. I have no idea why, it's just a patch of open pavement between the ride queue and the game, with no signage and nothing there, but apparently standing here is forbidden? Kentucky Kingdom's layout is just plain strange, between the split over the road, and the way dry and water park rides are just tossed in next to each other. It's not difficult to get around or anything, but there's definitely sort of a "kid's first RCT park" vibe to it...or maybe just someone playing that one scenario you just want to finish and get over with to move on to the next. Just drop stuff in wherever it fits. Kentucky Kingdom isn't big on theming, but at least they made a bit of an attempt with Kentucky Flyer, and it's a theme I can definitely appreciate. Even the trains have a bit of extra detail to them. It's still just a family coaster, and you can't expect too much of it, but it does give a very smooth ride and some nice pops of airtime, more than you'd expect just looking at it. By this point I couldn't keep my eyes off the other side of the park's skyline though. I was going to need food first though, but my plans were shut down pretty quickly with yet another closed restaurant. With my original plans off the table, I decided to just get something healthy for the first time in the week and grabbed a salad. It was...fine. Just a prepackaged salad with range dressing, but the veggies with fresh enough, and decent, red tomatoes. Not bad! More waterpark in the middle of the dry park. Or vice versa? Good sized ferris wheel, not running... Aaand finally Lighting Run! Only...on the other side of the road. At least there's a bridge to get there at this end. And a pretty cute little antique car ride. I could see that there was no line at all for Lighting Run, so I let myself delay a bit more and get everything on the way to it, the cars included. This was one of the nicer looking parts of the park. Right, these things. The majority of the rides had recorded spiels about putting your belongings in the lockers, where they would be safely secured until the end of the ride. Not one ride actually has lockers as far as I saw. They all have yellow u-line bins. It's...an attempt, I guess, sort of. At least they put a little more effort into one of their cars. This was definitely one of the nicer looking antique cars out there, and was going to be mine, but the kid behind me in line was so excited by the flame paint job, I let him and his father go in front and take it. The ride is much more meant for kids anyway... Nice enough for anyone to enjoy though. SDC's Cinnamon Bread was already amazing. This place has it with bourbon glaze. And...I entirely forgot to come back for any on the way out. Not happy with myself. The Breakdance was opening up just as I got close to it, which was close enough to a sign for me. They're fun enough flats anyway, and this one ran a reasonably good, fast cycle. The flyers less so. These weren't moving fast enough to bother with. Especially not when I was a few weeks away from Knoebels... Swinging ships have to get a bit higher than this to interest me these days. And here we go, this is what I was waiting for. Lighting Run looked smaller than I expected up close, but I wasn't going to let that kill my excitement. Still no line... Interesting trains, the looooong nose is a bit awkward. Comfortable though. S So, Lighting Run...is pretty great, really. It's an unusual hybrid of new and old, with it being designed as a newer coaster built to limited budgets; it seems to use a lot of older technology and construction style...tubular spine track, internal guide wheels on the trains...but built with modern computer aided design. The result feels sort of a classic arrow coaster, but with actual smooth transitions, and comfortable restraints. It has a wild feeling that's missing from a lot of newer coasters, but without the jostling or rough elements, and with comfortable trains and restraints, and a whole lot more grace and flow in the layout. I absolutely loved it, and I just can't see why this is the only coaster of it's type so far. I don't know if the rumors of Rye Playland looking into one still hold any water, but I hope that's still possible; I'd love to have one of these near me. Great, great ride, not even considering that it's meant to be a compact, budget ride. I wonder if there's any reason these aren't capable of inversions? I'd love to see something like a recreated Vortex from KI, with the smoother ride this kind of coaster has... Rode this one enough times to have lost count, loved it every time. I've been on a lot of frisbee type rides, but none completely inverting before, so Cyclos was a first. It's positively dimunitive compared to something like Harley Quinn or Black Widow, but it doesn't feel it as much as you'd think once you're on it, and the hangtime is surprisingly intense. Expected to be a little let down, but I actually really enjoyed this. Back at the front of the park I took at look at the show pavillion, where they were doing a seal and sea lion show. Didn't stop to watch; it was just too hot and I was really looking for air conditioning. Right...there was...the theater. Well, it was probably air conditioned! Not a Yogi Bear fan, so I headed in to see what the Kentucky Show was, expecting very little. ...and somehow got less. The Kentucky Show isn't actually a 5D attraction. It was...this...and it didn't actually play at the scheduled time either, probably because no one was there at all besides me, standing back here, enjoying the cool air. I did decide to go around and try the Yogi Bear 5D movie instead, as a friend mentioned that she'd heard some good things about the new Jellystone show on HBO and I thought there was some chance it might be connected to that. I should have known better...this was the worst motion theater ride I've ever experience. It uses the less-than-great system with two attached tilting chairs on each motion platform, like the old Days of Thunder ride at King's Dominion and all the versions that followed; not my favorite of the motion platforms. Much worse than that is the utterly awful actual movie, which...is not even in first person. It also has nothing to do with the new show; it's an uncanny valley CG thing that features a mostly nonsensical attempt from Yogi Bear to build and very briefly fly a makeshift plane, but it's in a normal movie third person viewpoint, making the chairs' motion feel completely disconnected, and more like just watching a terrible movie in the back of a car while someone drives off a cliff. Why does this thing even exist? I have no idea. Why would anyone want a motion theater movie that isn't even in a first person perspective, with a move that's more bad comedy than motion? Still no idea. Pass on this one. Please, everyone pass on this so they replace it with something worthwhile. Like a restroom or a food stand or just an empty room with air conditioning...wait they had that... I decided to head out at this point, but by time I drove past Storm Chaser on the way out I wished I'd gone back around for more rides on it. Maybe next year! Overall impressions...I'm really not sure what to make of Kentucky Kingdom. It's in a strange, awkward location, with a strange, awkward layout. The staff mostly seemed to hate their jobs, and several attractions seemed to be just taking up space. On the other hand, the coasters were mostly good, generally even better than I expected, and even T3 was enjoyable in its way. The place definitely has potential, and I'm more than likely going to visit again next time I get the chance, if only for Storm Chaser and Lighting Run, but I definitely hope the park's new owners can work on some of the rough spots...at least the ones that can be changed. I suppose they're pretty well stuck with the location and layout. Stayed overnight at the Best Western Edinburgh/Columbus. As with everywhere else so far, it was more than acceptable and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone traveling through. For the second time in a few days I had a hole-in-the-wall mexican place next door, Sabor De La Vida, and decided to go with that again for dinner. It worked out the first time... And did this time as well. One empenada, and one massive sandwich with everything you can think of on it, from steak to ham and eggs to cubed hot dogs...yeah, a bit weird, but I'd had similar at another mexican place years back and it had actually been really good, and was this time too. Cheap and tasty, would definitely do again. Tomorrow was, I hoped, going to be a good day...I'd been waiting so many years to get to Indiana Beach...

This is really just stunning to me. I guess they’re trying to play it safe with this event and not open the entire park incase it bombs, but you do have to balance that with putting out an actual good product when HHN is literally right down the street.

Starting to think I'm wrong about this and they really will only have 2 rides open... with the $ they are charging compared to BGT which has a ton of rides open for a lot cheaper.... I know completely different locations, but... damn. Guess we'll see, going opening HOS weekend, but luckily also planned for a day trip to Seaworld as well so I can do everything else. Looks like everything will be closed off before shark encounter and they are using the side entrance for entry to the park. EDIT: WELP I guess it's official..... I love the excitement in the response... lol

Best way to watch a parade is to power walk the opposite way it’s traveling and see the entire thing in 5 minutes.

HA! Pass. Do they just hate money? Who is in charge of this company these days? I feel like it's been a steady downward spiral. Soon enough they'll put Pontin's Holiday Camp to shame.

They officially posted on their website September 18th is the day it reopens!

@Rai Fox, this has to be the funniest thing I've read in a TR all year. Great report. Keep it coming!

I made Dolphins today.

Great pro tip! Without a doubt.

"If you're watching a parade, don't follow it. It never changes. If the parade is boring, run in the opposite direction. You will fast-forward the parade." - Mitch Hedberg

We like mini golf. Oftentimes, though, indoor mini golf is...not that great. And this place's main business seemed to be restaurant/bar, so I wasn't expecting much. But, we were walking by, so we poked our heads in. And then we *had* to do it. Apparently this is one of two locations, the other being in San Francisco. And each is themed largely to the history of their respective cities. We didn't eat here, so I can't speak to that. And I assume that you already know if you personally want to drink craft beers while mini golfing. The story I'm telling in my head is that the amount of people who do want to do that keeps the mini golf course well maintained. Urban Putt Denver Urban Putt is located in the historic City Cable Railway Building, which once housed Denver's Old Spaghetti Factory. When you purchase the mini golf, instead of handing you a ball, they give you a token that you use to get the colored ball of your choice from the appropriate gumball machine. It's completely pointless, but fun. So...actually, not pointless, I guess. The actual Denver Airport was disappointing. I mean, I didn't expect to see secret tunnels or lizard people--because the whole point is that those things are secret--but I was hoping to at least see some disquieting artwork or something. The closest we got was seeing (the real) Blucifer from a distance. Anyway, this hole was cool. Denver of course being famous for its duck hunting. Drop the ball into the tube, then use the periscope to shoot the ball at the enemy ship on the screen. If you hit the ship where it suggests, it should go into the hole. Being landlocked has never stopped Denver from having their submarines attacked by octopuses. (Yes, "octopuses." Octopi is acceptable, but less preferred since "octopus" is not a Latin word. In fact, it's a Greek word, so octopodes would actually be a better pluralization than octopi.) Er...I mean, look at that facebutt with his ball stuck in the corner! "You know what the kids are into these days? Video games!" "I knew that! You didn't give me enough time to answer!" "Whatever, it's my idea. You putt a real ball into a video game!" "..." "I call it, TRON." If you putt it underneath the tiny drum set, it goes up the screw-elevator thing on the left and then down through the instruments attached to the (red) rock wall. You might have to zoom in to read the "pro tip," but basically what they're saying here is that Denver cuts every corner. But if that were true, would they really have installed giant windmill blades on their capital building? I think not. It's a table-tilting labyrinth game where you drop your golf balls in and race. Skee-Ball hole with bonus swirly bit (if you're good enough). So there's been a submarine and an octopus, cable cars, alien abduction (not shown), and now a space ship. But how about some REAL Denver history? Oh, yeah...now that's a mini golf hole that Bert would have sex with! The back of the ticket booth is also the last hole for both courses, or the ninth hole, since each is a half course. They're very good half-courses, though. Delphina dropped out of creative writing school to become a fortune teller. Not that I'm in any position to criticize someone else's choices. I went to Denver for vacation.

Kingda Ka is open.

Ugh, that's so frustrating! The poor park doesn't need any more drama and to have some guest go into a restricted area and get hurt is just crap!

Here's an article on the incident:

Just adding to the plethora of people who have had tiny attached items removed to be given a larger item for a locker on Dodonpa!

Jersey Devil is running today.

^ I had a small crumbled tissue in my pocket, that I had forgotten was there, but they spotted the tiny pocket bulge and was told to go put it in a locker. I didn't spot the trash can nearby and had to locker it in exchange for a wristband locker key much bigger than a tissue.

Those new Mind Bender trains LOOK GREAT - that nice shiny purple. But reclined headrests (with a hard plastic back attached to the back plate, hello pain), bucke-y seats, and a seat divider have NO place running on a Schwarzkopf. It was an improvement for Revolution because it was better than the custom mess that ride was running since '92. I know ... Premier, etc., old rides, parts/availabitly.. blah blah most of it's crap. Take a good long look at Montezooma's Revenge, Fire Dragon, and a few others... those trains were designed that way for a reason. You get the thrill of 70s loop coaster with the freedom (and laterals - where applicable) of a classic wood coaster. If you're a big Schwarzkopf fan like me and you appreciate those old trains (and the remakes of them on the others not at Six Flags) ride Shock Wave while you can. One of my favorite parts on Schwarzkopf loopers was always those curves cuz you get to move around while still being safe with the built-in seat divider those individual lap bars provide. It's a genius design. Sliding back and forth (and perhaps squishing your partner) is much more fun and comfortable than being awkwardly bent sideways over a seat divider. Seat dividers have made many of our kind hate laterals (Legend).

I shall call this still life: "people shitting on plastic toilets on the beach" It can be the title of the debut album by Murderous Steel.

it's totally due to who's in charge (park president) and the results they get. Jeffery Siebert is an amazing guy, and he does a great job at SFFT interacting with the guests as well as running the park. Ron moved up to SFOT Park President from SFFT leadership chain, so that's why SFOT has been doing amazing things the past 16 months as well)

Do we know why this park seems to operate so differently than the rest of the chain? It just feels like they have a lot more freedom to be individual. Is it just Six Flags giving them more money because of the rapidly growing San Antonio market or is there more to it than that?

OMG. . this is *so* freaking awesome. Park President Jeffrey Siebert just shared this on his twitter. 1st piece of track for 2022's "Dr Diabolical's Cliffhanger" is on it's way to San Antonio! how cool is this?

Park President Jeffrey Siebert just shared these Poltergeist update pics - reopening to the public in two weeks! I asked for, and got, his permission to share here: here are the ongoing upgrades to the queue and station building (including the work we can see being done on the new indoor section on the "porch":

^My favorite Fuji Q moment was being told to put my wristwatch in a locker, only to attach the locker key to the same wrist with an elastic band.