Midgetman82

So Saturday May 24th was the first full public operating day of Kentucky Kingdom since when it closed after the 2009 season, and being the closest amusement park to me, I went! I arrived in the line to enter the park around 10:50am. Despite it looking huge, the crews seemed to have breezed through everyone very efficiently. By the time I got into the park, the line for Lightning Run was a little under 1 hour with the two train operations (I think I only waited about 40 minutes for the back row). Off the bat, it's a great little coaster! I can't speak for the front row experience, but the back row had me against the restraints for nearly half of the entire ride; including the first drop! Did I mention that it's smooth? Braving my first 129ft Larson/ARM drop tower. The drop on FearFall felt more fierce than most Intamin drop towers I've been on! Definitely reinforced my love of drop towers! I wandered over to Enterprise to find it closed. Oh well, maybe another time. Deluge was also being worked on during the entire day, with maintenance workers walking the flume multiple times. Singers under a pavilion near the Giant Wheel. Thunder Run was also running noticeably smoother than it did before the park last closed. Almost got on this... Almost. Obligatory Roller Skater update . I put my things in a locker and did the water park for a while, including the speed demon, Deep Water Dive. I was a little surprised to see 1 operator dispatching riders every 1.5 minutes for it. After getting tired of exiting water shivering, I decided to get re-dressed for the dry side again. I went to the front-half of the park and did a few flats before hopping back in line for Lightning Run again; this time with a 1.5 hour wait. Ejector Hairtime pt.1 Ejector Hairtime pt. 2 I wanted to fit another ride on LR before the park closed, but they closed the line off early. Soon I got Dippin' Dots, then wandered over to the 5D theater to view the show involving scenes from the animated movie Rio. All in all, I thought the park did really well with the first day of public operations! There seemed to be some kinks to be worked out (like dealing with the excessive line jumping), but hopefully it'll be taken care of. Luckily Ed Hart was all over the park observing how things were going! Coaster Credits: Lightning Run - 2 Thunder Run - 1

Kentucky Kingdom had a pretty good opening day, and a very good turnout (especially in the afternoon). Arrived 10 minutes before gates opened to find a huuuge line just for those with tickets/passes to get into the park... and they breezed through everyone like it was nothing! -Back row Lightning Run was very fun! Spent nearly half the time against the restraints, including on the drop when it gradually sucks you upwards! Also, there's no exaggeration on how incredibly smooth it was! -Being my first time on a standard drop tower outside of Intamin and S&S, FearFall basically reinforced my undying love of drop towers. Everyone in the vicinity always got a kick out of watching riders freak out during and after the drop! -Thunder Run was running pretty well, at least much smoother than when I last rode it in 2009. -Deep Water Dive was pretty interesting as well. Very fast, quite smooth, and builds up a lot of anxiety before dropping (and before entering the capsule!). I'm just concerned about how they were dispatching riders every 1.5 minutes, which caused my wait to be two hours from only two flights of stairs from the top. Everything was running smooth as butter in the morning, though got a little more complicated and crowded by afternoon when there were some minor incidents involving patrons (huge amounts of line jumping), but overall the park seemed to have handled itself very well on its first public operating day of the season! I didn't take a lot of pictures as I wanted to get in as much as I could, but I have some I could post later that I think could be of interest.

After reading another person's post earlier in this thread, I'll second this. It's probably not just going to be one coaster, but multiple attractions with a possible coaster. Nonetheless, Thanksgiving is sure to dwarf the other sections of the park next year (minus Splashin' Safari).

I'm sure if they haven't done any testing before they made the announcement about the height, this was sort of to be expected. Hope things can clear up in a good enough time, and doesn't end up too much like the video posted above...

Vekoma Mad House? Well, that could definitely add to the sea-sickness portion of Thanksgiving. But in terms of owning a dark ride, they do have Gobbler's Getaway. I also heard they had a little temporary glow-in-the-dark walk-through during their Halloween season last year.

Sometime in excess of two years, though I can barely remember the last time I watched a vhs tape. When was the last time you spent the night at a friend's home?

Nickelodeon

Thanks for the report from your visit. Park looks pretty good, and I like the amount of new trees they planted. I definitely can't wait to check out the park on opening day!

I told myself that 2014 was going to be a better year than 2013, and from what's been unraveling this year I can confirm that this has certainly been true for many others as well!

A relocated Vekoma SLC.

I know that. I'm just starting it since I'm just as surprised as you. Then again, Holiday World's water park has been operating since yesterday as well. I'm also really glad to see rides operating from afar again, including the Ferris Wheel.

Hurler - Kings Dominion

Intamin

Passed by the park on my way to the airport and saw people in line for Deep Water Dive.

^There's always the style used by Outlaw Run, so even if that's true, all hope would not be lost. ^^I remember passing by that SUV on my way out of the park yesterday! I do hope they're going to drive it through the park!

If it's a coaster like everyone's guessing it to be, then It's sure to be a terrain coaster. They seemed like they were already carving out a pathway for it opposite of the opening. I guess we'll have the weekend to keep guessing. 'Til then... Breaking News: Trees go missing, enthusiasts in awe, search underway... Investigators uncover item buried beneath scene of crime Investigators discover rusty box with paper scraps with a link to website and an old journal, think it may be possible lead to something for 2015 More to come as more clues unfold Apart from the "unforeseeable" future, had a great day at the event! Free entry, food, and ERT on Voyage. Can't beat that! Big thanks to Holiday World for setting it up and leading us on tours around previous and new places, including the site of Pilgrims Plunge/Girrafica (may it rest in peace). It's weird walking in an area something very tall used to stand. like its ghost is still present. I gotta say, Holiday World has now done a very good job in building up anticipation for their plans. I can't wait to hear more.

I totally dig the entire color scheme now! It's quite... electrifying. *Boo'ed off stage.* Have fun!

It might be the scaffolding, but I like how massive they look.

^As will I, though the waterpark isn't scheduled to be open on that day. ^^I've done the park's water coasters in those temps during a HWN morning ERT. If you're really desperate, they're both worth at least one run each. Some people have done both multiple times, but I guess they can stand the cold better than me. I think the water warms up later in the day.

The train sure did blow through the course! Makes me wonder how it's going to rank among other coasters in the region. Can't wait to try it out myself!

Five exclamation points does sound pretty promising!

Quoted for truth, it's quite an adventurous beast. But if you already like intense roller coasters, you'll probably like this one as well! So have fun!

"We Know Something You Don't Know" - DJ Format feat. Charli 2na & Akil.

It was RMC who re-tracked the coaster. I can see myself doing the same, though after I've had my few tries on DWD.

^The most themed ride in the park is being delayed for more theming?! A little weird (unless they're just refurbishing things), but as long as the ride's ready by July through August when the area gets especially humid. Here's a pic KK threw on their Facebook Page from 3/4ths of the way up DWD's tower. Note the new river underneath the slide. Source Don't worry, Amazon has its drones at the ready to fly over and drop Twinkies to distract the ACErs as their people escape the stampede.