tidecat

In case if you've never been there, it's bordered by either the state fairgrounds or various city streets. It is literally less than a half-mile from Louisville International Airport, so the tree cover is minimal. I also don't know how old the street view imagery is, but it may be from before the park reopened in 2014. I would love to see a more attractive fence around the perimeter rather than the barbed wire, but it would probably cost more than some flat rides in the park.

The trains for Storm Chaser are more of a teal color in the promo video, but that doesn't mean a second train could be a different color. More importantly, the trains don't have any detail that resembles the photograph, which makes me suspect it's a flat ride:

Hyena Falls was installed in 2013, so it wouldn't be justified to move it. It might make more sense to move Kima Bay out by Hyena Falls, which opens up the land between Kima Bay, Bakuli, and Mammoth for a water coaster or slide. The next "big" ride actually needs to be in the Christmas or Fourth of July sections, as Halloween and Thanksgiving have most of the park's thrill rides.

T3 is slated to have a second train. It had apparently already arrived during the previous season, but it wasn't certified to run in time. Hopefully they have two trains for Storm Chaser - it would be criminal not to given how much marketing has already been put into that coaster - and it's not even December.

November weather in the Ohio Valley can be unpredictable, but with the success of Thinderbird this would be the year to launch a "Happy Thanksgiving Weekends" like the park does for Halloween. If area schools let out for Veterans Day it might even be possible to open then.

If they started this a few months sooner, you wonder if it would be running this weekend.

How are they distributed? Do they have self serve stations like HW does, or do you have to go to a drink stall? Both. The former $1 drink stations are self serve but they will also give you a free soft drink at any food location. I am betting this stays in place for everyone next year not just pass holders. There was even a side window in the Hurricane Bay food court set up to handle free drinks. I don't think they would do free drinks for everyone in 2016-aside from a few select weekends-as that perk is being used to drive 2016 season pass sales, but for 2017 it would be a distinct possibility.

The glass in the observation deck to Mile High Falls shattered Sunday. No one was hurt: http://www.wave3.com/story/29971707/kentucky-kingdom-ride-in-repair-after-glass-shatters

Big crowds today at the park. The free drinks though were in little clear plastic cups (probably 8 oz) like you buy at the grocery store.

Is the game booth where you could win either a Tennessee or Louisville basketball still there? That seemed like an odd combination given the proximity of UK and IU.

Only the metal bleachers were removed - at least as of late March, the State Fair Board was requesting capital funds to pay for the rest of the demolition.

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.

I'm sure Kentucky Kingdom has pretty good margin in their lo.cker rentals - if a season pass holder uses those 6 times, that's worth more to the park than the actual sale of the season pass.

I'd be surprised if eventually free drinks are built into the general admission ticket prices as well. I know labor isn't that much, but if you figure on 3-4 drink stations being staffed all day during the season, it adds up to a decent sum of money. Using it to drive season pass sales now is probably the right play initially, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them take the Holiday World approach within 1-2 years.

I was thinking something like Kentucky Twister - enough to where it can clearly be interpreted as a tornado reference, and establish itself as the direct successor to Twisted Twins. Calling it just Twister would probably require clearance from a certain company that makes board games.

The first year the Thanksgiving section was open, I actually heard the University of Alabama fight song play while in that section of the park. Ironically, Pat Koch is now running a park in Alabama . . .

I believe Ed Hart originally wanted to call it Double Trouble.

Just a reminder that discounted season passes at Kroger end June 8. Based on the radio ads I've heard, they're $59.95 in Lexington and $79.95 in Louisville.

It comes really close to Lightning Run - it almost looks like you could kick the track from Cyclos.

It looks like the former home of Sparkler (Crows Nest) should have something in 2016: http://inthelooppodcast.com/tag/holiday-world/ Perhaps a Frisbee ride? If Holiday World ever adds a polercoaster, it would obviously have to be a "North" polercoaster and go in the Christmas section.

Sorry for the double post, but I love how Hyena Falls has friends now! Before it just was way out there by itself but I feel like now it fits into the layout of the park more cohesively than before. Very good placement on all three rides HW! It's still extremely out of place, considering it's part of Splashin' Safari and is a good 10 minute walk from the other water park attractions. But like Paula has said, it's all part of HW's plan, so I'm sure within a few years it won't be a problem anymore. It would make sense to put the Hyenas out by Mammoth - Hyena Springs takes hardly any space, and Hyena Falls could even make for some near miss elements on Thunderbird. If there's more waterpark attractions on the way in the future, then Splashin Safari may be pushing the park's boundary as a whole, but it looks like there's a little space left to the north. If anything gets added to Thanksgiving it could be added to the front of the section near Fourth of July.

The one that goes around Thunder Run and ends just past Twisted Twins. I've seen some discussion on KK's Facebook page to where it looks like not everyone recognizes that there is a path under Thunder Run.

Before Twisted Twins reopens, I hope the park builds a path to connect to to the rest of the pathways in the back of the park - right now there isn't a connection to the path that runs by T3 and Raging Rapids River Ride.

If Kentucky Kingdom did dive-in movies in Hurricane Bay, this would be an excellent opportunity to show the full movie as a tie in.

Wasn't there a private event today? At the very least they have tomorrow through Friday.