mikeykaise

what I thought was interesting is they're saying that only the tower is being removed so I'm thinking maybe another lazy river since they took one out when they redid the entrance to Splashin Safari or using the in place equipment for more water slides in that area.

Well we all kind of figured this was the case. I liked the ride but really the ride around to the elevator was kind of dull. I have a felling they'll fill the space with waterslides next year.

That is my issue though. It's Ed Hart saying it. You would think if it was such a money maker pre-Six Flags that several people would have wanted to get the park when it closed, but it seems the only interested parties were Ed and the Koch family, and they backed out. It would not surprise me if the park was profitable in the sense that their revenue was greater than their rent, labor costs, food costs, maintenance costs, etc. I just have a hard time believing they were very profitable when you include their capital expenses for Vampire, Thunder Run, Hurricane Bay, T2, Change, etc. I'm not trying to call Ed a liar or manipulator of facts, but I have know business operators that when they publicly spoke about their business they skewed facts to make things look better when in reality they were breaking even, if that. So unless same actual black and white revenue figures get released, I just find it hard to believe. No one was really committed to investing as much money as it took Ed Hart to fix all the damage and neglect from the water slides not being properly winterized to ride cars not being properly stowed for the winter. Ed has earned major respect from me because he's not doing it for money, he's doing it because he loves KK and he knows how vital the park is to the Louisville economy. I give him major kudos and proud to say I live in the same city as he does!

and that's what I love about the Kochs, anyone can just bulldoze a parking booth or use a sledgehammer but not Dan he has to do something awesome like this. I love it!

So if Six Flags sold the part of the park that they owned to the fair board does that mean that the fair board now owns all of the land that Kentucky Kingdom sits on, or did they sell the part they purchased from Six Flags back to Ed Hart. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the Fair Board own the whole property and rents it to the operators?

thank you, I knew the gist but not the complete details like that.

The two sides talked but the Fair Board wanted a higher rent and Six Flags said nope and walked away from it because this was about the time Six Flags was getting ready to declare bankruptcy so they basically just wanted out as quickly as they could.

No, Ed Hart had reopened it the first time after it closed in the early 90's and ran it. He turned it around and was setting attendance records when he ran it. Six Flags bought it from him and when they couldn't reach an agreement with the Fair Board they locked the doors and moved Chang & the Wild Mouse to their other parks and the park remain shuttered for 2 yrs when the FB finally came to an agreement with Ed Hart.

Not something the old powers that be would have done that is for sure. They would have announced something before making the change. I wonder if it could be an oops that it was left off the park map, maybe?

Andy, You have to join the Holiwood Nights page on FB, Paula posted it there. Here's the link to the HW Nights group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/325861871036/

Holiday World on May 15th is giving free admission, a Voyage photo walk back, ERT, and a meal to coaster club enthusiasts according to their Holiwood nights page: Are you planning to be in the area on Thursday, May 15? If you're a card-carrying member of one of our partner clubs, you'll receive free admission! Plus a Voyage photo walkback, a bit of ERT and a meal. Any takers?

The other factor in drop towers when it comes to Kentucky Kingdom is that it sits right next to the airport so they are limited on how high up they can go. I'm sure Ed would have loved to put in a 200 ft+ tower.... that would be a cool affect being 200 feet up in the air and a UPS 757 passes right under your feet as long as no one got hurt by a passing airplane that is.

I hate to say it since I'm a fellow Beast lover too but the last time I rode it at Coasting for Kids in 2012 to me it seemed a lot slower and not as thrilling, would love to see some work done to get it back to the way it used to be.

I wonder if they could possibly run 3 trains. When one is coming down the drop another one could be in the station and the 3rd one could be in the back 40 and all 3 still wouldn't be close to each other.

I noticed that as well, thought it might have been a new coaster technology... jump the gap!

holy moly.... its white out on the webcams, can't even see banshee its snowing so hard up north.

This morning while sipping my coffee and watching the local morning news before heading to work, I about pee'd my pants when I saw the first KK commercial advertising season passes.... so excited, its almost here.... 2 more months!

It surprised me to see them brushing the paint on, I always figured amusement parks spray-painted rides.

I think its a good assumption to make especially if both Natalie and Dan are both involved. Pat hasn't been around Holiday World ever since Lori took over and Dan was forced out. I don't see Pat sitting idle or going into early retirement she's such an active person it would take a lot to keep her out.

I sent Dan a private message to say congratulations and he said unfortunately Rampage won't open in May. He is saying it needs track & train repairs but they will make it much better as soon as possible.

All I can say is this is a big loss for HW, Dan & Pat are awesome and I love how my first two years of HW Nights they both dressed up in costume for the Friday night welcoming and then on Saturday at the picnic they would go out of their way to walk around and talk to total strangers. My 3rd one was with Lori and the kids doing it and in my opinion it just wasn't that exciting, the music was so loud you couldn't hardly hear the person next to you, and I never saw Matt, Lori, or the children walking around talking to the attendees, to me they just kind of stood off to one side and kind of talked among themselves.

so will it be two separate parks or is this a start of a chain of parks possibly, with Lori running the one in Indiana and Dan running the one in Alabama?

Curse you Mother Nature, I would love to be able to do this again but thanks to the record number of snow days our kids are in school until the 12th now so June 8th is going to be a school night and with the events not wrapping up until 11 pm we wouldn't get back to Louisville until 1 am or so.... I hate winter!

I had doubts that it would ever reopen too. Glad to see it happening and hope the locals embrace the park so it can continue to expand and improve. Yeah, I also had massive doubts it would ever reopen. I really hope it does better this time around! I have no doubts that it will. I imagine the season passes at $59 are being snapped up quickly and it's definitely a no brainer for us locals and the other thing is too is that there was so much popularity for the hiring fair that they had to shut off the application process because so many people applied. I think it'll be back and have nothing to worry about as long as Hart doesn't decide to sell it again to someone who'll take his hard work and run it into the ground like Six Flags did.

On their fb page, they said that the weather hasn't hampered them and they were only a week or two from erecting steel. Here's the link and article: http://www.wdrb.com/story/24617959/ky-kingdom-construction-not-bothered-by-harsh-winter "LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) - With five inches of snow on the ground in the Louisville area, riding a roller coaster or swimming in a wave pool may seem a long way away. But at Kentucky Kingdom, the clock is ticking as the amusement park's grand opening date in May approaches. Despite the harsh winter weather that seems to have no end, work to restore Kentucky Kingdom has continued in full force during the past few weeks. WDRB News visited the park recently, and it was a very cold day with temperatures hovering in the low teens. Despite the bitter cold, there was plenty of construction activity underway. "We've lost a day or two, but with the commitment we have it is 24/7, we make the day up on weekends if we have to," said Communications Director John Mulcahy. One area of activity is the site of a new coaster under construction, on the east side of the park. "Site preparation is underway for the new Lightning Run coaster, which is our new signature coaster," Mulcahy said. During the next couple of weeks, workers will begin erecting the steel and then the area will really begin to look like a coaster. Kentucky Kingdom's new water park will be twice as big as in years past. Mulcahy said a 13- story tower will be built that will be part of what will be the nation's tallest body water slide. One area the general public probably won't ever see is a new metal tech services building that has just been completed. Mulcahy explained, "This is part of a $2 million commitment that we have made to upgrade the infrastructure and the behind-the-scenes facilities necessary to keep Kentucky Kingdom up and running as a top notch operation." Despite one of the coldest winters Kentuckiana has seen in years, Mulcahy says the park is still set to open on time. "It's full steam ahead and everyone is committed to that May 24 opening," he said."