The Great Zo

Figured it would be a long time before I got back to Mexico to ride a barrel roll drop again. Now I'll have one just over two hours down I-71! Can't wait for more coaster enthusiasts to experience it -- it was probably my favorite part of Medusa.

Day 2 Part 3 -- A Dark and Stormy and Swanky Night Saturday, July 26, 2014 We were on the road from Beech Bend in Bowling Green at about 945 PM, driving northwest into a heavy complex of thunderstorms on the Natcher Parkway. Struggling to stay awake, the thunder and lightning were unable to keep me conscious. The voice of Elissa on the loudspeaker, however, was a different story. There had been a mix-up. A glitch. A mishap. A snafu, a problem, a snag, a malfunction. The big guy with the red coat and white beard had loaded up his sleigh full of the finest presents, then inexplicably threw the entire contents of a Kentucky coal mine at the TPR bus instead. If I'm being too oblique, let's put it more directly: Santa's Lodge dumped our entire slate of hotel rooms and subsequently sold them out to other customers. We had nowhere to spend the night. Enter the swank -- Elissa located a hotel that would fit our entire group, albeit with a few rooms combined. Enter the Days Inn in Owensboro, Kentucky, which is exactly what you'd expect out of a Days Inn in Owensboro, Kentucky. For what little sleep we'd end up with, it worked out fine. For the lucky few who found themselves in the honeymoon suite, it was an experience to behold. Identical framed pictures of downtown Chicago. A clock that's shaped like a chef. A breakfast nook. Sixteen different lamps. If you've never been in a high-end suite at a low-end hotel, you don't know what you're missing out on. For the rest of us, it was about four hours of swanky sleep in the swankiest place that ever did swank. Swank.

Day 2 Part 2 -- Pictures A TPR-exclusive ticket to Beech Bend! A welcome banner, and an advertisement for the ubiquitous theme park souvenir bottle. The main entry gate to Beech Bend. A small go-kart track at the front of the park. Flying Bobs and go-karts. The back stretch of the go-kart track. #4 cuts ahead of #6. Serious business. A quick walk through Splash Lagoon, the small water park at Beech Bend. Splash Lagoon, sponsored by the cinnamon rolls at Holiday Inn Express. Most big water parks don't have regular pools, but I've seen several small parks that do. A play area behind the lazy river. The top of the slide tower at Splash Lagoon. For our first ride of the day, here's Wild Mouse, a Zamperla design. Closer view of the cheesy sign. Those ears look familiar... ...and that mouse looks agitated. Guess what? A family rides the orange mouse. Up the lift hill. Stackin' in the station. Zach, Kristen, and Elissa enjoyed the ride -- or at least pretended to. Let's look at some other rides at Beech Bend, including the rather screwy-looking Scat 2. It only operated for a short time while we were there, and I don't think anyone with the TPR group was able to ride. The Starship 4000 is a Gravitron-type centrifuge ride. I enjoyed those when I was younger, but I'm not sure I'd tolerate the sustained positive forces the same way now. A classic orange/blue/white Tilt-a-Whirl is one of many flat rides at Beech Bend. Zero G might be the best non-coaster ride in the park -- a Larson/ARM super shot. Going up... ...going down. Next up is the Dragon Coaster, a ride made for families like these people... This ride was recently inspected. Trust me. ...not for grinning coaster enthusiasts like Paul. How's the first lap, Paul? Not bad? How's the third lap, Paul? That great, eh? The White Water Express is a small log flume with two lifts, and no water (white or otherwise) running down the drops. Still, it's a traditional log flume, which I will always ride at any park, anywhere -- which caused me some difficulty in Mexico, for the three of you who will get that reference. Descending the double-down drop... ...and the taller drop. This small flume makes a big splash, but it's mostly contained by the deflectors. The water just looks weird in this picture. Next up, the star attraction of Beech Bend -- Kentucky Rumbler! Rumbler has a curved first drop -- arguably more of a pre-drop. Kentucky Rumbler climbs in the hazy Kentucky sky. A look up at one of GCI's finest creations. Would "let's get ready to rumble" be an awful, too-obvious, un-funny caption for this photo? Would it? The top of Kentucky Rumbler is adorned with two flags. On the left: the state flag of Kentucky. On the right: you know that one. Hands up! Curving around for the first drop, which passes under the lift hill. Kentucky Rumbler is pretty compact, and makes several runs past the station. It also has several tight, banked corners like this one... ...and this one. Every park needs a gift shop, and Beech Bend is no exception. Not sure every park needs that much tie-dye, though. A look at the pond area that fills the west half of the Beech Bend amusement park. The Flying Bobs reflect over the pond. A view from the same area, with Michael Jackson's Sea Dragon on the left, and White Water Express on the right. Kentucky Rumbler is just off-frame to the right. A few remote-control planes were flying around near the front of the park. Vortex is another one of Beech Bend's higher-end flat rides. Taking a walk to the north side of the park to see some of the other attractions. Beech Bend has two bumper car rides under the same roof. The kiddie bumper cars are on the left. The full-size bumper cars are on the right. An antique car ride also runs through that section of the park. Where's the Shady Grove pavilion? I found it! Roy's BBQ, serving ... fried chicken! My favorite attraction at Beech Bend: the door to nowhere. Paul Blick tells us about the history of the park. TPR members receive refined, classy prizes -- which end up on social media within minutes. The beginnings of a Kentucky sunset. Zero G looked great with the full LED package installed. The park doesn't have an abundance of walkway lighting, which made pictures like this one a little easier to get. Sort of a weather nerd sky picture. My apologies. The Starship 4000 is looking a little blurry. TPR prepares for a walk through the Haunted House! The portrait of a lady... Sorry for spoiling your dinner, Paul. The three skeleton stooges? What did you dig up now, Mark? Just a pile of skeletons in the corner. Here I thought it was Microsoft that had the market cornered on red rings of death. At least you get to listen to music when you're dead. That's a look of genuine concern. Hide from the evil giant mouse bat flying rodent things. All of a sudden I want a tamale. Preferably with red salsa. Hey, at least this guy isn't completely disfigured! The most sinister picture ever taken of a guy using a smart phone. Black lights (or purple lights) help set the mood. The skull and crossbones on the ride vehicle should give you a pretty good idea that this isn't Small World. As darkness falls, Zero G's lights look even nicer. The park had mostly emptied out, with rides beginning to shut down for the evening. One more cycle on Vortex... ...and a final glance over the pond as we await the start of Kentucky Rumbler ERT. Applause was abundant during our 21-cycle ERT on Kentucky Rumbler! Waiting for the front row. Here's the infamous "human chain" train -- everybody linked up with the riders behind them and in front of them. It's a minor miracle that no one was injured, and though it was a painful and challenging feat, I'm pretty sure we all succeeded! // Photo credit: I actually don't know, but I couldn't not post this! Waiting through the light rain for a train to return to the station. How was your ride? Fantastic! Almost the whole TPR group stuck it out for the entire 80-minute ERT session. Light rain, a rumble from the drag strip, and lightning way off in the distance. An awesome way to end a very long day!

Day 2 Part 2 -- Beech Bend Saturday, July 26, 2014 Scorecard: Wild Mouse Dragon Coaster White Water Express -- Dinner -- Haunted House Zero G (x2) Haunted House Tour Kentucky Rumbler (x19) The Report: As our two-park trek through Kentucky continues... The TPR bus pulled out of Louisville at about 4 PM, drove for two hours, and arrived in Bowling Green at about 5 PM -- all thanks to the magic of a conveniently-placed time change. That gave us several hours at Beech Bend, a down-home venue on the banks of the Barren River. One part amusement park, one part auto racing track, and one part campground, Beech Bend's decades of history are overshadowed to enthusiasts by one awesome GCI coaster. Before we could get to Kentucky Rumbler, however, we had some other business to attend to. My group started off with a spin on the park's Wild Mouse, enduring some slow cycles for about a 30-minute wait. The Dragon Coaster had a shorter queue, but was easily the most frightening coaster at the park. The small log flume, White Water Express, was next on the agenda. It's a standard fair model, but still counts for those of us who keep track of such things. At 630 PM, we found our way to the Shady Grove pavilion for dinner. There was an enormous anxiety within the group -- almost trepidation -- when the Roy's Bar-B-Que catering van came into view. Could the streak be over? Rest assured, Roy's company served up their best fried chicken, hot dogs, and whatever else we'd been eating for the last six months. To be fair, most TPR members thought that Roy's chicken was the best of the trip. During dinner, we got to meet Paul Blick, the operations manager at Beech Bend. He gave us a history lesson about the park, discussing its past as a large campground, and noting that the park was formerly owned by Ronnie Milsap (of fame). Several prizes were given to gleeful TPR members, and our itinerary for the rest of the night was revealed -- including a backstage walkthrough of the park's classic haunted house ride. Most of the TPR group rode through the haunted house right after dinner, then got to see the attraction with the lights on a little while later. Darkness forced the cancellation of a planned Kentucky Rumbler photo tour, but the park made it up to us by extending our evening ERT to a full 80 minutes. This marathon ERT session -- 21 total cycles, of which I rode 19 -- was made all the better by the setting. During our stops in the station, Paul Blick rattled off trivia about the coaster, such as how many nails were used in its construction (a lot) and how many airtime moments could be found (a number the group couldn't quite come to an agreement on). As we crested the lift, the air was filled with the roar of dragsters, revving down the pavement on the nearby track. Challenges were issued to the TPR riders -- a "fat train" to attempt a speed record, and a "human chain" to attempt to dislocate a few shoulders. As the ERT continued, light rain began to fall, stinging slightly as the coaster hit its top speed. Distant thunderstorms lit up the sky with radiant flashes, much too far away to pose a threat, but close enough to further set the mood. This was a long and demanding ERT session, but virtually the entire group finished it out -- we were having way too much fun to turn in early! What did I miss at Beech Bend? I'm sure I would have enjoyed the mini golf course, and the infamous Scat II might have been worth a ride if I were feeling brave. I also didn't take a seat on the Sea Dragon, a swinging pirate ship with one remarkable claim to fame: its former owner was Michael Jackson. There isn't much else for the average thrill-seeker, and it's clear that the local audience is the focus. On this hot summer day, the small water park was the busiest attraction at Beech Bend. The park is definitely less master-planned and set-in-stone than a large corporate park would appear to be laid out, and in some ways it feels like a county fair that just happens to have a few higher-end rides mixed in. With all that said, there's no doubt about it -- Kentucky Rumbler is the star attraction of this small park. Beech Bend may not be worth a big trip out of the way, but any coaster enthusiast passing through the area would be derelict in their duties to not stop in for a few hours and a handful of Rumbler rides. We departed Beech Bend at 945 PM, en route to a stormy evening -- in more ways than one. The Attractions: Kentucky Rumbler: What a fantastic ride! Rumbler was running fast -- it was greased up good for our visit, according to the park. It's a well-paced mix of airtime, quick turns, and combinations of the two. It's similar in style to American Thunder at Six Flags St. Louis, but I greatly preferred Kentucky Rumbler's mix of elements. Rumbler also has several station fly-bys, keeping things exciting for those watching from the platform. Of course, we didn't do much standing around -- I rode 19 of our 21 ERT cycles, and fought through an early headache in the ERT session to keep things going. It's not the smoothest coaster around -- it did shuffle and jackhammer in just a couple places -- but it's easily going to claim a spot on my top 10 wooden coaster list. Here's the from our visit. Wild Mouse: Opa! It's a spinning mouse, complete with Mickey-esque ears on the logo and that awful final airtime hump just before the turn into the brake run. The station-stacking loading procedures made this the longest wait at the park. Dragon Coaster: The ride op was an engineer -- trust him on that -- so I'm sure our three cycles on the Dragon Coaster were taken with the utmost of safety. At least, that's what I'm going to tell myself. You haven't experienced fear until you've wondered if your train is actually going to make it up the tilted lift hill, or if gravity is going to take over and pull you out the side of the car. Easily the sketchiest ride of the entire trip. Haunted House: This might be the first traditional haunted house ride I've ever been on, especially as I don't usually partake in haunted attractions. This wouldn't end up as my favorite of the trip (tough to beat Knoebels and Spook-a-Rama) but for a smaller operation like Beech Bend, I thought it was enjoyable. It's clearly a homemade labor of love for the park. It's a shame that the scenes were all hidden behind chicken wire for security purposes. Zero G: Having enjoyed the identical FearFall at Kentucky Kingdom, Zero G was another chance to ride one of the most unexpectedly intense drop rides ever created. These are a great fit for small parks like Beech Bend. White Water Express: Although it's just a standard fair-model log flume, I still found it enjoyable. It's going on the checklist, if I ever do start actually counting log flume credits the way I say I'm going to.

A few quick pictures from a trip to Holiday World on Monday -- my first visit since the #66minutesofsleeptour (and the trip report from that is coming, uh, eventually...) I enjoyed Thunderbird more than I thought I would -- certainly more than Gatekeeper or X-Flight. The woodies were all running pretty well, but they were seatbelt-stapling on every ride, which I found a little strange (and a little uncomfortable).

Your experience sounds similar to mine. Viper was slow, lines were long, Goliath was good (not great). Only difference is that I beat the rain back to the hotel. Really, if you can't keep a playground slide up and running...

Here's a short update from Kings Island! According to the website, there were 60 participants for Coasting for Kids at Kings Island. Not everyone stayed on the Red Racer all day, but Team TPR kept at it for 55 rides, along with a few others who probably beat us out by just a handful of laps! Team TPR had a great day and helped raise over $2400 for Give Kids The World. We made sure we earned that money for the kids, though, and stayed on Red Racer almost non-stop from 10AM-noon and then 1PM-530PM. Pulling out of the station for one of over 50 rides on Red Racer. Our home for several hours! We did get an hour break for lunch, which is good, because I was starting to feel a little off. After lunch, I was good to go for the rest of the event! Hey look! It's not fried chicken and hot dogs! Our marathon session was helped along by an awesome ride op -- thanks Brian for your enthusiasm and awful jokes! Kings Island ride op Brian, on Coasting for Kids: "This is my favorite work day of the year!" We'd add more rides in later, but the marathon ended up with 55 rides for Team TPR -- a total of 35.6 miles on the Red Racer! Team TPR waits for ride #30... or #40... or #46... or, well, they all kind of meshed together after a while. In the evening, we had another ride session on the Blue side of Racer, and got to try the infamous water challenge. You get a cup of water at the start of the ride. How much can you keep in the cup by the time you pull back into the station? My first time ever trying a water challenge on a roller coaster! How did it go? ...not very well, at least on the first attempt! The aftermath of the water challenge: more water on the seats than in the cups. After a couple final rides on Red Racer, we headed to Banshee for five night rides before leaving the park. A rare shot of the entryway with nobody in the picture. In all, the participants at Kings Island raised over $15,000 for Give Kids The World! This was my first time participating, and it was a great experience. It's for fun, and it's for the kids, and it's a whole lot of coasting. Thanks to Kings Island, Don Helbig, and the rest of Team TPR for a great day!

Everyone awake? Have fun today!

Thanks also!

Thanks Mark and Ryan!

I will take that to my grave. If only you / Troy / Zach weren't so darn nice.

Alright, time to make my final push. I have some strange criteria, I admit. Here goes nothing. $10 if you took a picture of me cresting the world's tallest roller coaster in the front row! $10 (x2) if I beat you at mini golf! $10 if we counted cockroaches after a particularly "six flags" day! $10 (x2) if we made it through four "six flags" days together in 2013! $10 if we cursed the airline queue (and made fun of our sleepy flight attendant) at O'Hare Airport! $10 (x2) if I watched you eat fried worms and ant larvae! Best of luck on Sunday -- Nathan, Lisa, Mark, Chris, Victor, Stacy, Chuck, Ryan, and Stephen!

Thanks for the comments! Definitely. I don't know where exactly it will rank on my steel coaster list, but I'd almost guarantee it's smaller and cheaper than every single ride I will end up ranking above it. I can't wait to get to the pictures from the second half, particularly the Knoebels day. Still a ways to go. Yup, they have some good ones. Not to mention the interesting rumor Screamscape just posted about Twisted Twins... Really? Me too!

Five days until the event. Time for some home cookin'. $20 to all my teammates at Kings Island. See you Sunday!

Sure, glad to help!

Day 2 Part 1 -- Pictures (continued) Time to head back over to Deep Water Dive for some more pictures. The landscaping was still a work-in-progress in this area. Going down? Fluid dynamics. There's the splash. Like I mentioned earlier, Deep Water Dive draws a crowd of spectators. NSFW. A sense of scale against the people waiting in line on the tower steps. Having already climbed and dropped three times, I wasn't necessarily looking forward to a fourth trip up the stairs... ...but the hike to the top was worth it for the pictures! Let's stop for a break at the middle platform, for a view of the east half of the water park over Wave Runner. Here's the section of the river that traverses underneath Deep Water Dive. Deep Water Dive has a weight limit, though I'm not sure if that was ever mentioned anywhere at ground level! Made it, TPR! Top of the Kingdom! A view over the east end of the park. I'm just going to call this the east river. Here's the smaller pool that connects to the east river. A wider view of the center of Hurricane Bay, with the main wave pool in the middle. That's a lot of Kentucky. Just west of the Deep Water Dive tower is a shell of an amphitheater. Will this be refurbished and used for anything in the future? Here's T2 (now T3) and several nearby slides. The top of the platform for the rather ironically-named Plummet Summit. This is the crest of the lift hill on T2/T3. It just looks fantastic, doesn't it? Right up there with Millennium Force on the "photogenic coaster" list. The top (loading) platform for Deluge... ...and the bottom (unloading) platform for Deluge. Giant funnel things are not among my favorite water park rides -- they look more interesting than they actually are. Raftin' on by. Now for some shots of the star attraction! If this picture doesn't give you an idea of the height, the angle of descent, and the potential vertigo, nothing will. Also, I don't think that kid is doing it right. Sometimes the dispatches are timed just right to catch the run-off from both slides at the same time. Red vs. Blue. Nowhere to go but down on Deep Water Dive. By this point, things are moving pretty quick, and the braking effect of the water is just starting to kick in. It's quite the splash at the bottom! There's a person in there somewhere. Disappearing below the drop. Time for a look at the other rides in Kentucky Kingdom. Here's the SBNO Twisted Twins coasters. Who knows what's coming next for these two rides? Not me. Thunder Run passes in front of the University of Louisville Cardinal Stadium. The trains are very orange. Judging from the horizon, the Ferris wheel is probably close to 150 feet tall. Because America. Fearfall is very purple. Here's a series of shots from the park's newest roller coaster: Lightning Run. Climbing the lift hill. Cresting the top. Awesome airtime in the back row! Heading for the first guaranteed ejector air of the circuit. Up and over. The overbanked turnaround, aka "the place where Lightning Run squeaks like a mouse on crack." Small hill, big airtime. Entering the run back to the station. Oh, that run back to the station. Here's what things look like from the top of the Deep Water Dive tower. The capsule is pretty high-tech for something that basically just pulls a floor out from under your feet. Remember the 300 pound weight limit? Here's where you'd presumably be checked if there was any doubt. What else can we see from the top of the tower? Let's start with downtown Louisville. If this isn't close enough... ...we can zoom in a little further. Cardinal Stadium, just off to the northwest. A slightly more famous venue: Churchill Downs! See the billboard? The Newport Aquarium in northern Kentucky (on the Ohio River across from downtown Cincinnati) is worth a visit. The best part? Owned by Herschend! To the south of Kentucky Kingdom is Louisville International Airport. Among theme park fans, this airport is probably best known for necessitating height restrictions at Kentucky Kingdom. I hope these pictures make it clear just how close the airport is to the park! If you're willing to appreciate plane spotting -- and let's face it, no theme park fanatic should be honking off at another esoteric hobby... ...the views from the Deep Water Dive tower are pretty nice! Landing on Runway 17L. Oh, there's a fire truck, filling up a bunch of barrels. Oh, there's the TPR bus! Oh, there's about half of the TPR group at the bar! Back down to earth, and just enough time for a couple pictures of Lightning Run before it's time to head out. Everyone needs a few minutes to catch their breath while sitting here on the brake run. This shot was taken from the bridge that connects the north half of Kentucky Kingdom to the south half and Hurricane Bay. It's kind of an awkward arrangement, but it's pretty much unavoidable. Another view of the Lightning Run station. Here's the bridge across the road known as Circle of Champions, looking north. If you want some more angles of Lightning Run for your photography desires, there are probably some good shots to be had from the Tin Lizzies. A landscape view over the Tin Lizzies, with Fearfall in the background. Here's the entry plaza to Lightning Run. I guess this counts as the ride's official nameplate sign! Fearfall (stylized FearFALL) is a rather jolting drop tower, which is what makes it fun. It's small, but it loads quick -- perhaps its biggest advantage over the huge gyro drop towers. That's it from Kentucky Kingdom. Thoroughly enjoyed my visit. Still a long way to go for this park, but it's very hard to argue against Deep Water Dive and Lightning Run, with Deluge and Thunder Run also easily worth a couple rides. If Kentucky Kingdom is going to be able to expand to the extent that they'll become a full-day park, it's going to take several more Grade-A or at least Grade-B attractions, and several more years at a minimum. Lots of hard work ahead, but I certainly wish them the best!

Two-and-a-half months since my last update, but I'm not giving up on this trip report. Time to keep it going with our first big travel day of the 2014 US tour. NEWS: I'm participating in Coasting for Kids for my first time this coming Sunday. If you've enjoyed this trip report so far, perhaps a few dollars for Give Kids The World could be a small token of appreciation. Day 2 Part 1 -- Kentucky Kingdom Saturday, July 26, 2014 Scorecard: Thunder Run (x2) Lightning Run (x5) Deep Water Dive (x2) Deluge -- Lunch -- Deep Water Dive Roller Skater Fearfall The Report: After a 16-hour day at Kings Island, we were all looking forward to getting a good night's rest before heading onward to our next park. Just kidding. I was up before 5 AM, and the bus left at 6 AM to head southeast for a long two-park day in the commonwealth of Kentucky. It was a very quiet bus ride, eerily reminiscent of our Texas-to-Arkansas departure on the 2013 US trip. Taking a two-hour trip down Interstate 71, we arrived at our first park of the day just after 8 AM -- the resurrected Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville. I'm sure everyone here is familiar with the story, but here's the very short version: Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom failed after the 2009 season, and the park sat dormant for several years. The park finally opened again in 2014 -- just two months before our visit -- now in the hands of CEO Ed Hart, who formerly operated Kentucky Kingdom from 1990-1997. Armed with a new lease from the land owners (the Kentucky State Fair Board) and some government incentives, Kentucky Kingdom began the next phase of its operating life. Our arrival was a little early, so we waited outside the gate for our welcoming crew to meet us. That group included Ed Hart (Kentucky Kingdom CEO), John Shanrock (Kentucky Kingdom general manager), and Joe Draves (Ride Centerline engineer and the designer of Lightning Run). Combined with the TPR group, that was a lot of intelligent, strong-willed, and opinionated people in one place! For someone a little more on the outside of things like myself, it was just a treat to listen to all the conversation, and imagine where the park (and the industry) might be several years down the road. We proceeded to a filming / ERT session on the park's two full-size coasters -- Thunder Run and Lightning Run -- although a brief mechanical issue forced us to flip the intended order and ride Thunder Run first. Our ERT session on the refurbished woodie lasted from 930 AM to 10 AM, with a slightly longer session on Lightning Run from 1015 AM to 11 AM. The park opened to the public at 11 AM, leaving the TPR group to split up and explore the rest of the Kingdom. Although the two coasters were the clear focus for most of the TPR members on the trip, I was one of a few who had another attraction at the top of the list. One of the brand-new additions to Hurricane Bay was Deep Water Dive: the tallest body slide in North America. Fearing lines later in the day, my group (with Stacy G and Mark K) made Deep Water Dive our first priority. As it turned out, we were the first park guests of the day to scale the 121-foot tower at the south end of the park. With no line, Mark and I went on twice -- proof also that the experience was worth the lengthy climb. Before lunch, we also had time to ride Deluge -- the park's magnetic water coaster -- with just a minimal wait. Our lunch break was from 12 PM to 1230 PM, and consisted of roast duck, chorizo empanadas, and kale salads. Actually, it might have been fried chicken and hot dogs, but all that deep water diving was starting to get to me. After lunch, we had another few hours to explore the park and try a few more rides. Mark and I went for one more drop on Deep Water Dive (with about a 5-minute wait), and then began a photo tour of the entire Hurricane Bay water park. Along the way, we found time for the third coaster credit (Roller Skater). At about 2 PM, the rest of the group split off to check out the 5D theater (showing clips from the movie Rio), but I had other plans in mind. I headed back to the Deep Water Dive tower one more time, and trudged up to the top with my camera, collecting an awesome aerial photo set from a spot with a most impressive view. Several other TPR members rode the Ferris wheel, but I think I was the only one to bring a camera to the top of the Deep Water Dive tower. That was the fourth (and final) time I climbed the tower in a span of about three hours, and this time I didn't have the option of sliding my way to the bottom! To note -- the line had increased to about 20-30 minutes by this point, so I was certainly glad to get multiple rides earlier in the day. I met back up with the rest of my group, and we headed to Fearfall (Larson drop tower) for our final ride in Louisville. We departed Kentucky Kingdom at 4 PM, heading even further south to our next stop: Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green. So, how did the park stack up in its "first" year of operations? Not bad. My thoughts immediately after the visit were that things were on the right track, but with a ton of work yet to do, and no expectation of an easy job ahead. The park was left to rot for years, and what had already been accomplished for the 2014 operating season was really impressive. The two adult coasters were a pleasant above-average surprise (Thunder Run) and an absolutely remarkably accomplishment in a small package (Lightning Run). The landscaping was still a work in progress. My interactions with park employees were about average to a little above average, with the exception of the attendant at the top of Deep Water Dive -- she was fantastic and very friendly. In its current state -- and I doubt the 2015 additions will change my opinion on this -- Kentucky Kingdom is a half-day park. That could be stretched a little by spending more time in Hurricane Bay, which is a rather nice water park (buoyed by two spectacular attractions in Deep Water Dive and Deluge). The dry side, at this point, is still mostly forgettable. I'm just not sure how easy it will be to get excited for T3 as a star addition for 2015. Two big coasters were removed from the park after the Six Flags days -- Chang and Greezed Lightnin'. Interestingly enough, I'd eventually get both ride experiences later on -- Chang as Green Lantern at Six Flags Great Adventure just eight days later, and a similar Schwarzkopf shuttle loop in Cascabel at La Feria Chapultepec on the 2015 Mexico trip. With that said, I did keep myself busy with photography during the entire 7-hour visit, and didn't even get all the pictures I wanted. I was hoping to get more pictures of Lightning Run from the ground and from the Tin Lizzies car ride, but simply ran out of time. Ultimately, is Kentucky Kingdom worth a visit? Yes, it is, and that's an easy question to answer. Lightning Run and Deep Water Dive are fantastic rides that would be top-tier attractions for thrill-seekers at just about any park in the country. I sincerely hope that the park has success moving forward, and is able to fill out the dry side of the park with additional attractions. We didn't learn much about the expected Twisted Twins refurbishment on our visit 10 months ago (or whether it would be a large-scale conversion or just a refreshing) -- but the rumors everyone's aware of are enough to want to keep an eye on the situation. The water park is clearly the bigger attraction at this point, and as I mentioned, it's a pretty good one. I admit that the visit to Kentucky Kingdom was one of the selling points of the 2014 TPR trip (even though I live within easy driving distance). I knew I wanted to get to the park sooner rather than later, just in case things don't work out as expected. There's no doubt that Kentucky Kingdom has some very tough competition in Holiday World and Kings Island, two well-respected parks that have added major attractions in 2015 and 2014, respectively. If you peruse the wrong dark places of the internet, you might convince yourself that Kentucky Kingdom's just a part of a financial shell game, or otherwise on a fast track to ruin. My advice: forget it and have fun. No one's going to doubt that Kentucky Kingdom's rise from the grave is going to have some significant challenges. No one can reasonably expect that it'll succeed without very hard work. All I can say is that after our visit last July, everyone I talked to was pleasantly surprised by the park, and sensibly optimistic for whatever's coming next. Well, maybe except the SLC. The Attractions: Lightning Run ( ): Lightning run is the world's first Chance Morgan Hyper GT-X coaster, and I sure hope it's not the last. This ride was a clear hit with the TPR group, and is proof that a coaster doesn't need to be large or imposing to pack in a substantial amount of fun. If you're looking for snappy negative-G and lateral forces, Lightning Run is for you. Like Maverick, some of the transitions are abrupt or even deceiving, which makes it a fun coaster to learn how to ride and anticipate. The transitions are quick, and the forces are brief but intense. It's impossible to not crack up laughing on the run back to the station -- the world's shortest ejector airtime hills. This is easily a top-15 steel coaster for me, and possibly top-10. A few TPR members had some discomfort with the trains and restraints, but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Thunder Run ( ): Oh, so this is what Hurler is supposed to feel like! The off-season refurbishment to Thunder Run was a clear success, as the ride was quite smooth and running very well. With several airtime hills and some lateral forces, it's a good layout, though not a great or particularly inspired one. Overall, it's a slightly-above-average wooden coaster, and certainly worth a few rides. Roller Skater: It's a small family coaster, but let me just point out that Vekoma actually does a pretty good job with these. I'll ride fifteen Roller Skaters to just one of the lousy Zamperla kiddie coasters we'd see ad nauseam throughout the rest of the trip. Fearfall: This was my first Larson drop tower, and my first chance to see why people talk about them so much. It's pretty simple -- the small ride vehicle lends itself to abrupt changes in motion (a snappy drop at the top and a short braking distance at the bottom). I enjoyed it! Deep Water Dive: At 121 feet, Deep Water Dive is the tallest body slide in North America, beating Blizzard Beach's Summit Plummet by one foot. The bigger advantage for Deep Water Dive, however, is the drop-capsule launch to start things off. I had high expectations for Deep Water Dive, and they were met. The first 2-3 seconds are a near-perfect feeling of free-fall, with a much more prolonged sensation of falling than some of the shorter drop capsule slides. I also found the pull-out transition to be very smooth, with the pooled water at the bottom of the slide acting as a gentle brake. It's a shame that Deep Water Dive was vastly overshadowed by Verruckt at Schlitterbahn Kansas City. According to Mark K, who rode both slides within a month or two of each other, Deep Water Dive is the better ride by a significant margin. I can't make the same comparison, so I'll just say this: Deep Water Dive might be my favorite traditional water slide on the planet. A final note: I may have gotten too much water in my eyes, but I'd swear the top-of-the-tower and bottom-of-the-tower lifeguards were twins. Deluge: I was pleasantly surprised by Deluge! It was my second-ever water coaster, having been on Master Blaster at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels in 2013. While Master Blaster uses water jets to propel the raft, Deluge is magnetic, resulting in a smoother and faster ride. I was shocked by the air time on all of the drops, and had a lot more fun than I was expecting. With that said, it's clear that Deluge is overshadowed by its siblings (Wildebeest and Mammoth) at Holiday World just to the west. Deluge is a step below those two rides, but that's like comparing a very good roller coaster to El Toro or Skyrush. Deluge holds its own quite well, and deserves more credit than it receives. Day 2 Part 1 -- Pictures We arrived at 8 AM, about an hour early, so there was plenty of time to explore the front gate. Exciting. At 9 AM, we met up with our hosts for the morning: Joe Draves, John Shanrock, and Ed Hart. Here's the sign at the front entrance! Not quite Kings Island with the fountain and the Eiffel Tower, but not bad. First on the agenda? ERT and filming on Thunder Run. A solid ride, though not a destination attraction. Next on the agenda? ERT and filming on Lightning Run. An outstanding coaster, and one of the park's two "must ride" attractions. Our next order of business? Lunch. Admittedly, some of those other groups sound more interesting than Theme Park Review. Hope they enjoyed their chicken and hot dogs... ...as much as we did. The next order of business? Get ready for a lot of pictures of Hurricane Bay's star attraction: Deep Water Dive. From the end of the run-out, it's imposing, especially as all the people in the area look up to watch the next victim take the 121-foot plunge. Deep Water Dive is a red/yellow capsule drop slide. The blue slide, a triple-down slide with a standard platform, is called Wave Runner. A picture with clouds and tree-tops, just to emphasize how stinkin' tall this slide is. Who rode three times? These guys. A wave hi from Mark and I. // Photo Credit -- Stacy G. Mark takes the plunge... ...and splashes a mighty splash. Surely, Freud could come up with some sort of birth-related metaphor for this one. Enjoy the ride? "Beats the crap out of Verruckt" says Mark, very generously paraphrased. I didn't get a chance to ride Wave Runner, but it looks like a fun (if typical) triple down slide. It also produces a photogenic splash. Here's one of the park's rivers, with this one near the newer development at Hurricane Bay's southeast corner. Spraying water jet things to get you wet, in case the rest of the three-and-a-half foot deep water hasn't already taken care of it. This river passes under the Deep Water Dive and Wave Runner slides. The river also connects to a little cove area, which wraps around into a pool near the bar area. Here's a nearby tube slide tower. The huge Ferris wheel is visible from just about anywhere in Kentucky Kingdom and Hurricane Bay. Lightning Run makes an appearance over a waterfall. Like most parks, there's a large play structure... ...with a giant bucket, sponsored by the world's most awful cheeseburgers. Deluge was a pleasant surprise, and my third favorite ride at Kentucky Kingdom behind Deep Water Dive and Lightning Run. Bonus points for the pineapple cutout on the ride sign. The line was long by early afternoon, but it's well worth the wait. Why? Airtime. That's why. Even the smaller hills near the end of the course provided some good pops of air! On the west side of the water park is another river -- this one is filled with tubes. It's also connected to the exit point of another slide complex near Thunder Run. Speaking of Thunder Run, there's a pretty good view of it from this part of the water park. Hands up! The little guy in the front row makes the shot. Here's a view of the main wave pool. It's not among the bigger ones I've seen, but it's themed pretty well. Boring artsy shot of the 10 FT 6 IN sign. Now you know how deep it is. As the waves crash in on the western shore... There's a large seating area around the entry area of the wave pool, and the Ferris wheel is just behind it. Some people will look at this picture and say "yup, it's a wave pool." Others will say "what the heck is an ugly SLC doing in a water park?" Any good amusement park needs a carousel. This one has strange animals and German text. "Largest and most efficient factory with power operation" or something along those lines. Oh, let's go get the kiddie credit. It's not a bad coaster! Why? Because it's not a Zamperla! Heading back to Hurricane Bay, I believe this was part of the old entrance to the water park. The building's a little crooked.

A guy with Outlaw Run in his avatar wasn't going to miss that one. Congrats! $30 on the way.

Here's my last guess-the-picture, with a bit of a vocabulary lesson from a ride queue. The question: which park, and which ride? Get it right, you get $30 for Coasting for Kids. Get it wrong, and you get the shaft. Let's go for a first-time winner on this one. Thanks!

...and now you get to impress the heck out of your family and friends next time you're at the studios -- if Muppet Vision's still there whenever you visit, that is. Donation on the way!

Guess this one was pretty tough. Here's a second hint. This sign is hanging directly above the key. I had to blur a couple things that would give it away. Hey, now you know the key really is under the mat! Let's make it $30 now if you get it.

Time for Guess-the-Photo round 3! Who's got the key to figuring this one out? $20 to the first person who names the park and attraction.

Just sent one along!

EDIT: Nick got it! The old pond at Kings Island where Diamondback's splashdown is now in place. I'll get the donation out after watching some hockey tonight. Update: done at 940PM

Time for round two of "guess the photo." This picture is from eight years ago. Name the park and name what's there now, get $20 for your Coasting for Kids fund (first person only). Have fun!