CoasterCard

How would this realistically work? Are they going to attach some laser guns in the trains? Seriously I want to know where you're coming from or if this is just some imaginary fantasy because this makes no sense and they're not going to add 60+ seconds to the cycle time spent in a shed. While I don't think there will be a laser attachment, I do think the "shed' section will be a decent amount of time. Maybe up to a minute. If they're using the shed as a block to get 3 trains, there are a couple ways the ride could be blocked but this would be the main idea: train in station, train on lift, train over lift, and in shed (shorter shed time). There are a couple other ways of blocking, but they would be a bit unbalanced. Basing the time on prowler as an estimate, you would be looking at around 1:30 for each block. Again this is an approximate tim and I would guess the time would be around 1 minute. The main purpose of the shed is to allow for 3 train operation. In order to accommodate for the long wait time on the brake run, they add a themed section with projection mapping and some practical effects and voila, what would be a necessary evil, becomes a selling point of the ride.

They are only open 2 Saturdays in September anyways so you need to check the UofL schedule and KK. But Go Cats I guess I should rephrase my question. I checked the KK schedule when FSU's schedule was first released and the park was open. Now they are not. I'm just curious if this is because someone rented the park out or if they just always close during UL big games? I can't imagine that they would need to be closed during those games. The portion of the parking lot used for tailgating isn't anywhere near the portion used for KK. There are plenty of gates on Crittenden/Preston for tailgaters and the one on Phillips for KK visitors. I think this is just the case of the park being bought out. To be honest, that late in the season, it's probably best for them to justify leaving the park open with a buyout as crowds would probably be tremendously light. Given that the game is at Noon, you would lose the best (least crowded) time to be at the park when it opens Saturday. If you can swing it, try to make it early Sunday, you should be able to take advantage of the out of state discount. Get in and out in a couple of hours, get your money's worth, and be on your way home. Will this be your first time to Louisville? If so, let me know if you need any suggestions for food or other activities. Now the park is rented out BOTH days. The calendar on KK's website is saying that the park is open on Sunday, Sept. 18, from 11-7. Did you get your information from the park? Might be worth looking into again. Hope you have a good time in Louisville. I've been here for nearly 10 years since starting school at UofL in '07. There's plenty of great food and experiences here. Hopefully you can get out and see a few (one of which being a football game so there's one down haha).

They are only open 2 Saturdays in September anyways so you need to check the UofL schedule and KK. But Go Cats I guess I should rephrase my question. I checked the KK schedule when FSU's schedule was first released and the park was open. Now they are not. I'm just curious if this is because someone rented the park out or if they just always close during UL big games? I can't imagine that they would need to be closed during those games. The portion of the parking lot used for tailgating isn't anywhere near the portion used for KK. There are plenty of gates on Crittenden/Preston for tailgaters and the one on Phillips for KK visitors. I think this is just the case of the park being bought out. To be honest, that late in the season, it's probably best for them to justify leaving the park open with a buyout as crowds would probably be tremendously light. Given that the game is at Noon, you would lose the best (least crowded) time to be at the park when it opens Saturday. If you can swing it, try to make it early Sunday, you should be able to take advantage of the out of state discount. Get in and out in a couple of hours, get your money's worth, and be on your way home. Will this be your first time to Louisville? If so, let me know if you need any suggestions for food or other activities.

For those that don't know, GCI's engineering office is located in Northern Kentucky. So, geographically, it's in their "backyard" as well. I hope this is a GCI as it would be neat to have one closer to me.

Wow! That's critical info! Thanks! Only problem now is that KK hasn't decided on their operating hours for that week (they wing it, apparently), whereas HW opens at 10am. Are you trying to visit and do both during the week of the Kentucky State Fair? I'm no expert on crowds that week because I stay as far away from the Expo Center as possible during that time, but just know KK crowd/traffic levels will definitely be elevated; especially on the weekend during that period.

Universal has said that the new coaster would provide a smoother ride experience!! So I'm hoping/thinking they smoothed out some of the coaster. I'm confused by what you all mean by "smoothened." Were there parts of the ride you thought needed to be reprofiled or are you just talking about the general rattling that occurred in the years prior to this construction? I visited IOA in October of 1999 and Hulk was smooth as glass. Over the following 15+ years though, the ride became much more "bumpy." The Florida sun, humidity, and full capacity ridership take a major toll on rides and I think that this refurb is only meant to improve the condition of the structure/trains and not adjust the layout. I always found the Hulk to be one of B&Ms more aggressive layouts so I really hope they didn't redesign it to ease transitions between elements.

Given the amount of time you have, I wouldn't recommend going too far from the city. You can do a tram tour of the Mega Cavern which is a system of manmade caves that has had many purposes over the years. Also, they have ziplines and a ropes course inside the cavern if you're interested in such things. The Louisville Zoo is also close to the airport and is a good way to kill a few hours. You can always head downtown and take in a museum of your choosing (Louisville Slugger, Muhammad Ali Center, Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, Children's Museum, etc.). If you are looking for anything in particular, let me know and I'll see if I can come up with something suited to your preferences.

I'm assuming this isn't sarcasm, but if it is, please disregard what follows. I'm all for giving under-appreciated portions of a coaster their due, but that pre-lift is about as nondescript as any I've seen. This isn't a shot at the design of the coaster by any means, but let's not go overboard on the RMC praise. There are hundreds of coasters with a pre-lift section nearly identical to that of Storm Chaser. Of all things under-appreciated on this ride, I think the hill prior to the double down is unbelievably cool. The quick roll to the left followed by the slow unrolling looks amazing. I'm not sure what the actual experience will be like, but it is definitely pretty to look at.

The entrance will connect beyond where Mile High Falls is located. There is a "Midway" (using that term VERY lightly), back in that area by Mile High Falls' exit and Thunder Run's turnaround, where the entrance plaza will be. I hope that someday they will add some more flat rides in that area, as well as the area inhabited by Top Fuel Dragsters, in order to fill some of the gaps between the major thrill rides. The walk between Thunder Run and the Rapids ride is so long with nothing to do; it could use some filling in. I believe the walkway behind TR and where the dragsters where will be closed per the map. Correct. However, the walkway from the entrance of TR to the entrance of Rapids is the one I was discussing above. I remember walking from TT to T2 via the path behind TR's turnaround... Man, that was a hike; not much to see on that route, either. The park's nemesis has always been it's layout (and the fair board, but let's not start that again) and I like that they are trying to create more plazas and open spaces to give you a sense of where you are. A quirky park, with a quirky layout, with some really fantastic coasters (and one bad one, looking at you T3...)

The entrance will connect beyond where Mile High Falls is located. There is a "Midway" (using that term VERY lightly), back in that area by Mile High Falls' exit and Thunder Run's turnaround, where the entrance plaza will be. I hope that someday they will add some more flat rides in that area, as well as the area inhabited by Top Fuel Dragsters, in order to fill some of the gaps between the major thrill rides. The walk between Thunder Run and the Rapids ride is so long with nothing to do; it could use some filling in.

What outside bank are you referring to? There was no outside bank in the section shown in the 4 pictures posted above, from what I've seen.

If indoor quick service counters are too intimidating, how on earth did that guy ever eat a McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, etc? All of them require entry into the building unless going through the drive-thru. There's no possible way that could be an excuse. You're discussing 2 completely different scenarios. Movement and comfortability inside a park are completely different than the same outside a park. People base their choices on familiarity and if ordering inside at an amusement isn't familiar, they may avoid it altogether.

Are you kidding??? Magic Kingdom used to get so much grief because quick-serve was pretty much ALL they had for the longest time... - Casey's Corner - Columbia Harbor House - Cosmic Ray's - Gaston's Tavern - Pecos Bill - Village Haus - Sleepy Hollow - Friar's Nook - Lunching Pad - Tortuga Tavern And that doesn't even include many smaller kiosks or even Be Our Guest, which is also a quick-serve during the day, but harder to get into. I mean, with all that, Really??? You couldn't find quick-service food options in the park!?!??! What I've found is that people that may be unfamiliar with Disney's park structure and are more familiar with the Six Flags/Cedar Fair methodology can be intimidated, for lack of a better word, by Disney's indoor quick service counters. Whether that's due to the time it takes to go in, or that you can't see the length of the lines before entering, or perceived price of an established "brick and mortar" facility in an amusement park, I'm not sure. I agree that to say Magic Kingdom lacks quick-service options is way off base (harbor house is one of my favorite quick service restaurants on property). However, I can see how someone familiar with SF/CF would see many of the above options, excluding Firar's, Sleepy Hollow, and Lunching Pad, as somewhere between quick service and table service.

This is mine from last summer. Magnum at Sunset

OR...like every other coaster with an unbanked turn after the station. Seriously, this isn't a new thing. But.............. It's an unbanked turn by RMC... it's going to BLOW MINDS!!! I kid, I kid.

Looks like there will be some nice laterals before the lift hill like with New Texas Giant! RMC usually generates excitement with their unusual designs, now they're garnering praise for a generic flat turn into a lift hill. I never thought I would see the day...

Universal is under contract for 500 acres of land in the I-Drive area (Universal Blvd Area surrounding the Lockheed facility) which would put them much closer to this project than they are currently. If the speculation is correct, Universal would take ownership of land as close as one block from the Skyplex Tower. This would put the skyplex tower much easier to see from their future property/3rd gate. Still not a reason to block the project, but they are going to need to get creative if they are going to prevent it from being seen from within their property.

With them specifically mentioning "the skies of New York", I have a feeling this is going to be like Soarin', but through NYC with narration featuring jokes from Jimmy. I really like Fallon and his show, and even though this isn't going to drive me to return to Orlando for this attraction, specifically, I do think it will be a fun addition to the park.

I'm not 100% sure but I believe KK (or the fair board idk which) owns all the land behind deep water dive, T3, and Raging Rapids, which includes the vacant parking lot between the hotels and the waterpark. Again, I'm not 100% sure but I do believe they own all that All the recent momentum with the professional soccer team may be an interesting wrinkle for the Fair Board - Old Cardinal Stadium is probably too far gone to save, but the Fair Board could replace the stadium with something more soccer-friendly (9000-10000 seats, grass field, etc. - the drainage system is still in place) with the condition they get to use it during the State Fair for concerts. They may be willing to sell some land to Kentucky Kingdom to raise some cash. A smaller stadium would still allow the Fair Board to construct their storage building that they want to build upon demolishing the current stadium. Kentucky Kingdom doesn't really appear to be using its amphitheater, so removing that could free up some space as well. I went to a couple of concerts there during the Six Flags era, so there could still be some plans for it for 2016 or beyond. When it's time for Broadbent Arena to come down, that will be time for Kentucky Kingdom to literally move the front gate closer to Freedom Hall - a new arena could always be be built elsewhere on the property if it's needed, and it opens up space for the theme park further away from the airport. You could say Old Cardinal Stadium is too far gone... It was completely demolished last winter. I wouldn't anticipate a soccer stadium coming to the Fairgrounds. The Fair Board is notoriously difficult to deal with and after the difficulties had with the Bats organization, LCFC will not be building at the Fairgrounds. I think what KK needs to do is get rid of the Motion theater (something that will never happen) and continue construction back into the parking lot to the northwest. The park is already very disjointed, and adding rides behind T3 and the waterpark would only contribute to that. Adding in the front section of the park would put more dry rides in a location that has some semblance of "flow."

I haven't been over to Crittenden to see the construction, but I assume the structure that is being added is above the inverted drop. The height restriction is for the highest point the ride reaches, which in it's original construction would be where the trains travel. Structure could be built up from it's current location to fill that space left by the trains being under the track at that point.

I'm pretty convinced, given the size of the area that has been cleared, that some sort of moving attraction is being constructed. More than likely it is the dive coaster that has been posted around this thread. If you are cedar point, why would you want to cover the eyes of riders that are already 200+ feet in the air? You have one of the more unique settings for a park in America, it just wouldn't make sense. So again, this is just a tease for the app, utilizing new technology that they want everyone to try out. Don't be that person that gets suckered into the "everything is a clue" mentality.

This isn't going to be some kind of VR coaster... This is just going to be a way to watch the promotional videos the park releases in the coming week. It will be a 360° video viewer. The technology is already in use by a lot of companies. It was used (quite stunningly) in a teaser for a World of Warcraft film . If you watch that video on your phone or motion enabled device, you are able to look around the scene, making for a very immersive experience. Whenever the link is available to download the app, you will be able to watch the promo material in "virtual reality." This is a really neat way to announce a coaster, but in no way to I believe VR is going to be used on whatever ride they are going to announce.

In short, the cost is too high too add a second train. It would require structure modification to final brake run to support the addition of a transfer table, mechanical equipment for a transfer table, the actual structure for the table, reprogramming the ride's sensors, and the cost of the new train. All of that would ring up a high bill pretty quickly. It's really not a good investment for the park at this point.

They cannot run 2 trains on thunder run. There is no transfer track, nor is the ride programmed to be blocked for 2 train operation. However, LR has 2 trains on site, but KK doesn't typically run them at the same time. T3 is able to be run with 2 trains, but they only have 1 in their possession. BTW, if you are a big coaster fan and you are passing close to KK, why would you not stop in to ride Lightning Run? It's one of the better coasters that have been built in America over the past 10 years, and it's location allows you to get in and out without having to really leave an interstate. Depending on the day/time you will be coming, waits could simply be 15 minutes for major attractions. You could be in and out of the park in 3 hours. I used to go on my lunch break during the week and ride Lightning Run and Thunder Run. I do recommend eating in Louisville though, if you are stopping through. It is a great city to get some awesome "outside the park" food. Just a suggestion.

I think the park is really trying to brighten up that side of the park. Red track, blue or green trains (LR anyone?), removal of steel. Hopefully from Crittenden, the park looks more welcoming than it has in the past. I understand why they need to have it, but, man, that razor wire fence looks soooo bad.