CoasterCard

As of now, I'm pretty sure Kentucky Kingdom isn't too worried about competing with Holiday World as far as new rides are concerned. Once the park is fully functional, and more established, then I think we will see them attempt to top Holiday World's rides. I'm still a believer in the park adding rides that are unique and creative, like a Mack looper (scaled down Blue-Fire) or a B&M sit-down looper (like Kraken and definitely not Time Machine). They need to build a unique ride portfolio that distinguishes themselves from Kings Island and Holiday World. As far as an RMC re-working of the Twins, I think it would be a major departure for RMC. The ride isn't extremely tall, it doesn't have a lot of drawn out elements that could be turned into overbanked turns or inversions, and the layout isn't conducive to a lot of big airtime. Don't get me wrong, it would be really neat to see what they could do, especially if the connect both sides as well as Thunder Run as was planned previously, but I'm not hitching my cart to that wagon just yet. Regardless, I don't think Kentucky Kingdom is too concerned, presently, with what Holiday World is doing next year.

That is an interesting question... I'm not entirely sure how money is distributed between the management group, the fair/expo center, and the City of Louisville. You would think more people, more money for all parties, but I'm just not sure. Regardless, I think Ed and his team will stick to their plan set in place for the next 3 years. Then after the park is fully operational, I think we will see any money, in excess of what they were expecting, put into possibly more additions than they were expecting. Right now, I think KK views any extra money they may be getting as a security blanket, for if the park is unable to sustain the type of numbers it is getting this year. That way if there is a dip in attendance by reopening rides that people have already ridden, the management team can still afford to try to make a major splash in year 4 with a major attraction or two.

In my opinion, whenever the time comes for KK to build a new thrill ride, they need to stick with unique rides like Lightning Run. Not necessarily new coaster styles/companies like Lightning Run, but layouts that aren't "cookie cutter" layouts. It is very difficult for the park to compete with Kings Island for the thrill seeker crowd, just based on quantity of major thrill attractions. The one reason I bought a season pass to KK this year is because the uniqueness of most of their rides. I think adding any of the old Hard Rock Park rides would be a big mistake regardless of price. I know that may not make financial sense right now, but the park has to carve its own niche to stay viable in this area, and I think they can do that with rides that aren't just inversion after inversion like Zep Coaster/Time Machine.

There are some definite issues with the queue for Lightning Run. I wouldn't be surprised to see the entire entrance and exit paths reworked to allow the entrance to have switchbacks by the main path and then lead to the station house. Also, something a friend of mine pointed out, the rails for the ride, as well as the wheels of the trains are exposed above the wood decking. I'm not sure how atypical this is, but it definitely looks odd compared to many of the arrow loopers with similar track tie styles, and could be an easy pinch point for ride-ops or those entering and exiting the vehicles. I'm not sure how fixable this is without resurfacing and raising the deck in that area, but still something that was noticed. There are a few infrastructure changes to be made around the park in the coming years, for example, the park needs to do something about how people move when coming off the bridge to the southern side of the park. But, everyday, I drive past the park and am amazed at what they were able to pull off in the time period they had. I never really had a chance to visit the park when it was owned by Ed Hart v1.0, but I look forward to seeing how he makes it all come together in the following years.

Not necessarily a slow news week. Public perception of the park is that it is extremely unsafe. I was searching Twitter just to get a few opinions on what the GP thought of the park during opening weekend, and if I had a dollar for every time I read "I'm not going, I want to keep my feet" I would be able to open my own park. Anytime Kentucky Kingdom can be reported on, it will. A toddler could trip over a crack in the pavement and the people would come out of the woodwork saying "This is why I will never take my family to Kentucky Kingdom again." It's sad a sad but true reality that Ed Hart is having to overcome. The ride is safe. It doesn't take an engineering degree (I have 2 of them) or years of experience in the industry to know that. All it takes is good business sense. If there were any doubt that the ride was unsafe: 1.) Would Chance allow the park to run the ride, risking their potential sales of Hyper GT-X Coasters (or whatever they are calling them today)? 2.) Would Ed Hart risk a public perception hit with a ride injuring people knowing another hit against public perception would be catastrophic for the park? In order to reduce the need to replace hardware on the support structure, I wouldn't be surprised to see additional bracing members to be added under the guise: "In order to appease the public and remove their fears." Having to replace or tighten bolts daily can be costly and time consuming, and that would be the only reason I see them adding any kind of extra stability if indeed it does happen. I'm definitely not the world's biggest guy so I'm not really worried. But how would you compare it to say Outlaw Run? Haven't made it to SDC yet, but from what I've heard from friends who have, it is very similar if not a hair more stringent with the waist restrictions. If you haven't ever had issues or rechecks in lapbars in the past, you should be okay. If a ride-op has had to throw themselves at a restraint to get you in before, there's a good chance you will have problems in Lightning Run.

I went during my lunch break today, and have a few items of note. 1.) Crowds are very light on weekdays when school is in session. You won't necessarily feel like you have the park to yourself, but it was much more manageable than this past weekend. 2.) You will have to wait for Lightning Run. Even though the crowds are light, the park is only planning to run 1 train during the weekdays, it appears. Probably good from a longevity of the trains point of view, but it can be a little frustrating when you walk right into the station only to have to wait 5 cycles of unloading and reloading before riding. It is only a minor item for such a small crowd, but an item nonetheless. 3.) Try to get to the waterpark. As numerous people have said, as of now, the waterpark is going to be what butters Kentucky Kingdom's bread. I was able to ride Lightning Run and Thunder Run in under 40 minutes today. I do suggest riding Lightning Run multiple times as a ride in the back seat qualifies as one of my favorite coaster experiences, but the waterpark deserves some time visiting as well to feel like you got your entire money's worth. 4.) Be ready for the Middle/High School crowd. This is the time of year that schools start taking "End of the Year" Field Trips. Generally the crowd is more behaved when they are with the school, but there is still a little bit of "run-a-muckery". 5.) Lightning Run is quite unfriendly to heavier guests. I only saw 1 person turned away today, but from my impression, he wasn't extremely overweight. If you have any concern of not being able to fit, make sure to try the test seat by the entrance before waiting.

This is the first week the park will be open. I'm going to try to head over on my lunch break on Wednesday to get a few rides in on Lightning Run. I'll try to let you know the crowd size afterwards.

Researchers at Walt Disney Research have developed a "musical plant." Is there any reason not to believe that this type of biological interaction is not going to be implemented in Pandora? I know they are attempting to be secretive as to what it's purpose will be, but this seems perfectly suited for the upcoming Avatar themed land. http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/08/disney-research-botanicus-interacticus-hands-on/

I'm having a bit of an issue with the demo. I was hoping to test it out on my PC before buying the full version. Whenever I attempt to load a park in the simulator, the load stops at "creating coaster scripts" and returns an "Exception_Access_Violation" error code C0000005. I'm sure this is something on my end as opposed to the software, but I figured someone may have some insight into how to rectify this.

An interesting tidbit from Insider Louisville: http://insiderlouisville.com/news/2014/01/06/monday-business-briefing-lousy-time-health-care-edition-problems-baptist-hospital-systems/ If Ed Hart is one thing, he is ambitious...

And just like that, the Fair Board Rejects Hart's proposal... http://www.wave3.com/story/19297398/state-making-third-attempt-to-find-kentucky-kingdom-operator

There are 2 things I noticed when watching this video: 1.) It hauls ass 2.) It seems much more quiet I'm not sure if the second one is due to the recording distance from the coaster or if the nylon wheels are making a huge difference in the noise level. Whatever it may be, the ride looks amazing; a real winner for Europa!

^^ Chris Gray with GCI has been building models for quite some time and did every bit of the Europa Model. Extremely impressive.

^Haha I will gladly accept donations if you would like to send me to China. Unfortunately, as affordable as they may or may not be, I do not have the money to spend on a TPR trip to China. I would assume others here are in the same boat. Please make all checks payable to "I aintgotnomoney" and send those to "000 Broke Street, Nilsville, OH"

It's too bad Wood Coaster (Mountain Flyer) isn't as accessible to more people on TPR. I for one wish I could get a chance to ride it because it looks simply amazing. I think that it would rank highly not only on many people's top GCIIs but on their top wooden coasters as well.

The first drop sequence looks to be everything I thought it would be and more. I can't wait to see a POV of this ride just to see how much airtime there is on that drop and the view while diving off of the hillside.

If you haven't checked it out, Ed Hart was interviewed on In The Loop last night. Mr. Hart seems to have an answer for everything, and although I don't agree with some of his decisions about future rides, the guy is a GREAT salesman. During the interview, he discusses replacing Chang, the park not being as landlocked as it appears, the business of the park's reopening, and a lot of other stuff. The full show can be found here

Win a guy now! Comes complete with sagging pants! Only 385 minutes left for me. I know how I'm spending my next 6.416 hours!

If you haven't heard, GCI has posted the POV of this project on their facebook page. If you have not "liked" their page, do so now, and view the video. The ride is unbelievable, in every sense of the word. The train absolutely tears through the track and doesn't seem to let up until it hits the brakes. Kudos to the GCI guys for coming up with this layout! Amazing!

The first one I ever remember, while it may not be solely about coasters, was Kidsongs: Ride The Roller Coaster. Most, if not all, of the footage is from Magic Mountain. Trailer can be seen here. I first saw this when I was 3 and was fascinated. Luckily, my parents still own this video as well as many other recorded shows from the 90's and 00's, and at some point in my life, I will break them out again for my kids.

I would almost guarantee that this ride doesn't suck. The first drop sequence looks like enough to make this an amazing coaster. I can only imagine the amount of speed it will have after that segment.

The park makes the decision on the name. GCI has zero pull when it comes to naming the ride, which is unfortunate.

^ How sad it would be for that to be the name of this ride. I know the Chinese are notorious for extremely bland names, but this one deserves better than "Wooden Coaster". I hope OCT provides us with a great name to go along with a great. I will be disheartened seeing "Wooden Coaster" at the top spot in the wooden coaster rankings, which is where I think this ride will end up.

I think an inline twist/zero-g roll would be entirely possible on a wooden coaster. It could also contribute to the wooden twister type of layout if it's used to quickly change directions. I could easily see a GCI coming out of a turn and instead of bouncing over the track you roll under instead. I'm sure it can be done, and I think that, if done right, it would be a major draw for a start-up amusement park.

I drive on C.Drive everyday. The structure still looks the same since the ride close. On street view, that photo was taken in the summer of 2007 which was when the ride was operating. I'm not positive what structure you are looking at, but in any case, retracking this ride would practically be a waste of money for Hart. There are many other places to spend of upwards of $1.5 million. That figure would be for only the immense amount of work that would have to be done to the track. It doesn't count the money required to get all pneumatics and mechanical functions opperational, purchase new trains (even more money if you want them to run anywhere near smoothly), and extensive cleaning that has to take place on the ground. I've seen the structure and I for one do not feel that it is suitable in the pull-outs of the drops, however, if it is structurally sound, that is the only part of the ride that is capable of being retained. Overall, I think it would be a major mistake to waste millions of dollars on a ride that doesn't provide the thrills that a couple million dollars more would buy.