Midgetman82

A very good question. They have a statement on social distancing once opened too, but nothing said on when they can. https://www.beechbend.com/amusement-park/park-hours/

Nice of the park to honor current passholders with extending into the 2021 season as well! Full news release The 2-day discount for enthusiasts with free drinks still works too: https://kentuckykingdom.com/ilovecoasters

It's official, Gov. announced today KK can open week of June 29th! Along with that, Kentucky pools can open too. (Edit: now timestamped) Sorry for triple-post... Midgetman "again, I listen to these streams for work" 82

Cedar Fair does a "serviceable" amount of theming on their coasters, just enough to say that a ride has an actual theme beyond giving a fancy name. No one expects them to go all out on theming. Frankly, they could've just slapped a new ride on a chunk of parking lot and called it a day... The blue and gray sure does look sleek against the sky. Not too bold.

For what it's worth, a comment during today's :"We did have a conversation - not me - with Kentucky Kingdom today. I haven't been briefed on it [yet]." -Gov. Beshear

It was very special having the one BIG roller coaster in the park to dominate all rides, like the king it was! That's what seems to be a missing feature of Kentucky Kingdom that a lot of neighboring parks seem to have, that one anchor attraction that dominates the rest. Many would think it's Storm Chaser, or even Lightning Run... it's T3, the biggest, fastest, loopiest coaster in the park. I say that because people tend to flock to it more than the other two, as far as I've observed. I wouldn't be surprised if this year pushes back plans the park had a couple more years, but I'm hoping they someday get that one big anchor attraction, regardless if it's more/less intense than the two airtime machines. Just my two cents, tho.

Wristbands are also offered as an alternative. (X)

A bus is required to take visitors from the parking lot to the actual ark. They're just like standard city (or Disney) buses. The distance from the parking lot is pretty far without its help. I'll give Ark the (very, very slight) benefit of the doubt considering it's more of a museum-type experience than it is a physical high-touch experience like a standard amusement park. Still, I'm really hoping they give KK a chance considering the plans already submitted earlier this month, even if it means keeping other specific attraction-types closed. Many of the plans I'm seeing Ark submitted line up with what KK has too. Hopefully the state is in talks with KK.

Ark Encounter announced they're opening June 8...

Outdoor attractions will be allowed to open June 8th. ( ) Source

It'll be interesting to see how HW handles operations considering their nearest big competitor an hour away doesn't have a slated date from the governor yet on when they can open. It's hinted that their opening would occur likely in July. I'm most interested in how limited HW might have operations set to, both for attendance numbers and for new ride capacity.

A majority chunk of the water park is inner-tube slides and body slides that can take single riders thankfully. I don't quite know what this would mean for the 2 lazy rivers or the 2 wave pools, but the three raft slides in the park are for-sure going to remain closed. An email was sent out today saying the date for Keys to the Kingdom was postponed for those still holding on to tickets, mentioning the next date would be valid for whenever it would be.

The park, last week, posted their preparedness plan on their website that they had submitted to the state: https://www.kentuckykingdom.com/today There's lots of details in there, and highly recommend reading through if you're curious about certain aspects of operations. A few takeaways from the PDF: -Discounts for online purchases to incentivize visitors to purchase tickets online instead of at the gate. -Visitors over 65 are told not to visit (the at-risk age factor as stated by the CDC). -Temperature screenings required to enter the park. -Face masks are encouraged for guests to wear, and would be sold in the park. -No more than 16,858 visitors will be allowed in the park. -The park will implement stickers in queue lines to visually keep guests socially distanced while waiting for an attraction. -Attractions: Specific seats and trains will have markings to show what's available. Unavailable ones will be blocked off. -Water park: Attractions requiring grouping to meet minimum rider requirement will be closed (I'm assuming that's Deluge, Plummet Summit, and Tornado). -Indoor dining areas are closed, and mobile ordering would be available. -Workers will be wearing face masks, and can't report to work if they have signs of flu-like symptoms. Still no specific date on when the state allows them to reopen.

Latest from the gov. says movie theaters and fitness centers can reopen June 1 during "phase 2" with some social distancing enforcement, as well as campgrounds on June 11. The state's "phase 3" is projected for July which lists bars and "groups of 50 people" for now, tho not much more details were said yet on that phase. None yet was specifically said on places with larger crowds like sports stadiums and amusement parks, but it's sounding like it'd be one of the latter things to see a reopening unless the businesses take more drastic measures for social distancing and submit proof to the state. What this means for Kentucky Kingdom? Won't know yet until hearing more on phase 3. -Midgetman "listens in on each 5pm KY virus update stream for work" 82

The park did just get a new plot of land opened up... They could do something interesting from the ground up sometime in the future (at least if Orion first pans-out well enough this/next year).

I'm sure this is gonna be asked at a later point, but for those of you signed up for Keys to the Kingdom, the original page days ago had changed to mention that a new date was being sought after since it seems very likely the park won't be open in time for the May 31st date. The purchase page for the event is currently taken down along with links to purchase park tickets (for obvious reasons).

It was posted on the official Facebook group and been sent out as an email to registered attendees just this afternoon. News of it is starting to circle some social media as well, but it might not be on any of Kings Island's official public outlets yet.

Not surprised, what with all the mayhem currently going on. I've been keeping an eye on other parks who have had earlier opening dates and have stayed relatively quiet about it with no changes so far.

Don't mean to double post (Edit: nvm, guess I was making this while sfkk was posting too!), but I did have some stuff from the tour around the park for any interested. When we first arrived behind T3 and walked to the management building. They're doing their special again this year: 2 days at the park + free drinks for $29.95 when you visit kentuckykingdom.com/ilovecoasters HUGE time jump, because I shot most of the tour on my camera (see YouTube video above). This was in the print shop, which is the lil shed building underneath Lightning Run. Speaking of Lightning Run, walking out the garage door out back greets you to the sweet floor level S-bend curves on the coaster. 100ft first drop. Unassuming, but VERY steep and powerful, especially in the backseat! Lots of photo ops for folks walking as far as underneath the first drop, and over to the footers of what was Greezed Lightnin'. Awesome of the park to give us such a closeup tour of Lightning Run, which was my personal highlight of the event! Big thanks to them!

I also really appreciated Ed coming out to talk to the group as well about selecting certain manufacturers for the park that fits within their budget and pleases more than just the enthusiast crowd. Kentucky Flyer is a really good example of that push, imo.

Breakdance, Himalaya, and Thunder Run are also turning 30 this year! I can't wait to see what they'll do with HalloScream especially. Last year they started making plans in July, but now they have a whole year to prep for whatever they'll pull off. This is especially good considering their calendar states they'll be open Halloween Day Saturday!

All net proceeds are going to Give Kids the World. Edit: Strangely the website doesn't state that fact:

Sweet.

Was this confirmed somewhere? I mean, while I hate to see a slide complex go, seeing the ProSlide Wave get taken out kinda shows a reason for them to not keep the rest of this (not to mention how out of place the complex is to the rest of the water park). Hopefully it finds a nice new home elsewhere if it is going (like at the campgrounds next door where two other slides went).

I'm pretty sure every single RMC train has at least a zero car. Newer gen's (SV, Twisted Timbers, Untamed, Iron Gwazi) are a bit bigger since the whole train sits a little higher.