Photo TR: Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom

[haux]

We spent the night in a motel after our Kings Island visit. Doug's Global Positioning system told us to get on a southbound interstate, which would eventually connect us to the northbound interstate that would take us home. As we headed south, we joked that we'd end up in Kentucky. So Doug asked me what amusement parks there were in Kentucky, and I said Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. He typed it into his GPS and saw that the park was only 100 miles from where we were. So we did the only logical thing a true coaster nut would do.

 

We took a detour. Sweet.

 

We'd never been to this park before. We thought about looking for a place to stop to look for a discount, but we just went to the park. Parking was $5, which surprised me for a Six Flags park. I thought it said $15 at first. No way.

 

We got there about 1:45 p.m. The park was open until 8. Doug has a season pass to Six Flags Great America, so he could get in for free. Tracie and I had to pay admission. I asked if they had discounts for ACE members, and the woman at the admissions counter asked her supervisor. She came back and said they didn't, but she'd give me $10 off if I showed my card. She said one of their managers is an ACE member, so I got the discount anyway. How fun.

 

We walked in the park and noticed right away how empty it was. Great. We could get our coaster credits. I've heard that this is definitely one of the worst Six Flags parks, but since no one was here, I really didn't get that image. Though I can imagine it would be pretty bad on a busy day.

 

As we entered, we noticed a Ben & Jerry's. Doug walked inside to see if it had Stephen Colbert's ice cream. He was in there for a while, so Tracie and I walked in and noticed that he was talking to the employee. It turns out Doug used to work with this guy at Cedar Point. How crazy. After talking for a bit, we left to ride rides.

 

We started at Roadrunner Express, the Maurer Sohne wild mouse. The line was extremely short, and we got on in a few minutes. They were running four cars. This is a fun ride with good hairpin turns. As a wild mouse should, it pulls great laterals. It's also only got a few spots where the brakes are on, but they're in locations where you'd really slam around if they weren't on. I enjoyed it.

 

Greezed Lightnin' is right next door, so we went there. We waited one train before getting on, and we sat in the back car. The launch is terribly weak. But I'd only been on Montezooma's Revenge, so the flywheel is definitely stronger than the weight-drop launch. The G-forces are strong in the loop, as is normal with Schwarzkopf coasters. The backward trip through the loop tickled my stomach a little, which I like. It's braked in the backward trip just before the station, so you don't go as high up the back spike as you could. But the brake run before the station is short, so it's probably needed to stop it in the right location.

 

We crossed the bridge to get to the other side of the park. This park's layout is sort of confusing. It's like a figure-eight, and the halves cross at the bridge over the road. Also, there's a water park in the middle. Weird.

 

We went to Chang, which is a mirror of Mantis through the first half of the ride. And it's a little taller. We waited one train before we got in the last row. They were only running one train, but that's all that was needed since the park was so empty. Chang is pretty cool, and I noticed the slight differences in design over Mantis. It's smoother, for one. The drop isn't as steep, either, so it pulls less G's. I did almost black out at the bottom of the exit of the loop, though. The dive loop is fun.

 

The turn before the block brake and the turn into it aren't head jarring, which I was bracing myself for because of Mantis. The brakes are on a bit, so there isn't airtime down the drop off the block. The first corkscrew is taken at a moderate speed, and the train rattles around in the beginning of the turn after the corkscrew. This part of the ride was cool because it hugs the ground and flips into the second corkscrew. Then it's a small turning hill and a turn into the brakes.

 

Chang's fun. It's a pretty good ride, though I'm not too big a fan of standup coasters. Riddler's Revenge is still the best.

We went to T2, which is a Vekoma SLC. People were leaving the line saying it was down, but we went up to the station anyway. We got in line for the front row, but Doug and Tracie got in line for a row that didn't line up with anything. It was open, but the ride operator told us that wasn't a row. T2 has seven cars instead of the usual 10, and some of the gates don't line up. The train was loaded, but the restraints wouldn't release. The mechanics got out the battery boxes and released them manually. The ride op told us it'd be down for a while, so we left.

 

Tracie stopped at a weird misting station. Then we saw Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, so I took pictures of them with Tracie.

 

We noticed that drinks in the vending machines here were fairly cheap, so Doug and I bought an energy drink each. It was only $2.

 

Thunder Run was next. It only runs one train, but we didn't wait long. The ride op at controls was hilarious. He was making train noises each time the train would enter and exit the station. We got on and buckled our seat belts. We're not allowed to pull down the lap bars for some reason. That reminded me of Knott's, but this is the only coaster at Kentucky Kingdom that does this.

 

Thunder Run was surprising. It and Chang are the best coasters here. I thought it would be another mediocre Dinn coaster, but it was good. The turn after the first drop is really fun, and the following hills are loaded with airtime. The hill after the big turn that was the best part of the ride. It throws you out of the seat and to the side because it turns. The ride has a couple more turns and hills and flies into the brake run. It comes in so fast and has so many hills, the upstop wheels still spin as it's stopped. I love that.

 

We went to International Carousel next. This ride is really flashy and elaborately decorated. It's made by PTC, but there are different carousel companies painted on the panels on the top, so it's hard to figure out who made it. It's fun and has lots of animals other than horses. I rode a bear, Tracie was on a rooster, and Doug was in a spinning vehicle.

 

Roller Skater is next to the carousel, so we decided to ride it. It's a fun kiddy coaster. The sixth row was closed, but they only tell you that when you try to get in the car. Doug and I saw in the last car, and Tracie sat in front of us. It's got a swooping drop to the right followed by a couple of helices.

 

We headed back toward Twisted Twins. On the way, there are little things set up with people handing out candy. Kids go trick-or-treating in this area. We just walked by and saw a big spider. Only Lola was running on Twisted Twins. They said Stella had been down for a few weeks. The stations are interesting because the trains leave facing different directions. We rode in the back car. This is the most uninspired coaster I think I've ever been on. It's a CCI, so there's so much potential, but it's like they just didn't care. The layout is boring, the turns are dull, and there aren't any surprises. There was some airtime, but the Gerstlauer trains are lame. I don't like these restraints, and the airtime was a little painful in areas. The ride ends with a helix, but it's not memorable. What a shame.

 

We went to Zeppelin, which is a spinning ride. Why? Because we can. We got in the red car, and I took a stupid picture of us in the mirror. It's a typical spinning children's ride. There's nothing important to note.

 

As we walked back through the trick-or-treat area, we stopped and got our picture taken with someone giving out candy. She had apple-flavored candy, and Doug and I took a box each. They were good.

 

In keeping with making this a ridiculous trip, we rode the carousel again. Then we rode Fire Chief, another children's ride. That was funny because there were no young children on the ride. We sat in the back row, and two girls who were 13 and 14 sat a few rows in front of us. The ride op laughed at us. For some weird reason, the fire truck has an Alabama license plate. Uh, we're in Kentucky.

 

T2 had been testing since we got on Thunder Run, and we finally saw it go with people in it. We went to the back row and waited two trains to get on. SLCs suck. Ow. Ow. The pain. There was a weird fact at the end of the ride, which was sponsored by some college thing. It says you'd need to ride T2 nearly 2 million times to total the time it'd take to get a four-year degree. College is hard and sometimes painful, but I'd rather do that than ride this 2 million times.

 

We rode Chang and Thunder Run again, the two best coasters in the park.

 

We got all our credits in, and we decided to head to the front of the park. We saw an alligator on the roof of a building. We crossed the bridge. Then we saw Tin Lizzies, the antique car ride, so we got in line. Only one operator was there, so it took us maybe five cars before we got on. A second operator showed up, which sped things up a little. One thing we noticed was at the end of the ride, you just get out and leave. There's no platform, and the ride host doesn't even tell you to get out. Tracie drove. Doug and I sat in the back. It's a relaxing ride with cows by it.

 

We went to Greezed Lightin' again and noticed that the Viper control panel still says that. We went to Roadrunner Express, which had a shorter wait. This ride was fun because I decided not to hold on. I slammed into Tracie with every turn. It was time to go. Doug and I rode Bench: The Ride. We stopped at a Ben & Jerry's near the entrance and talked to his friend again. Then we left.

 

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom is a rather small park with an odd layout. Today was a good day, but I can't imagine what it'd be like on a day with crowds. It doesn't really have much, and it's not a park you'd get a season pass to. But we had fun.

 

Random observations: The park only plays country music, but that makes sense. It is Kentucky. Also, the Starburst ads throughout the park are funny but odd.

No trip is complete without Bench: The ride.

Here is an alligator

Yes, we rode this.

It was horribly busy.

Cows on Tin Lizzies

Tracie with Bugs Bunny.

Here's the picture I mentioned of us in the mirror on Zeppelin.

Viper?

Twisted Twins was bland.

Thunder Run actually was pretty good.

Thunder Run's first drop

Yeah. The credits. Ow.

All about the credits

Woo hoo wild mouse

Greezed Lightnin's launch is weak.

It has corkscrews.

Chang's pretty fun.

[kraxleRIDAH]

Aside from Chang, the rest of that park looks like a big-budget carnival.

[scruffy]

The park used to be the state fair site.

[kraxleRIDAH]

That would explain it.

[coasterdude5]

Nice trip report, T2 looks like it could use a new coat of paint... but that might just be some Fright Fest theming on the rails, haha.

[RobtallicA]

Nice man, That first Photo of Chang is a really good

[steel]

Seems like we had about the same experience, except it was packed and 95* when I was there.

So yeah, my day was probably worse than yours.

I agree totally. Twisted Twins is so incredibly boring. It was hard for me to bring myself to get the other credit. It's such a waste of space. And it doesn't even duel after the first drop. There are all those potential fly-bys that don't happen.

T2 is by far my least favorite roller coaster. I would rather get a degree at Harvard Law than ride T2 one more time.

[Team Thriller]

I love the pictures, dude. Keep it up!

[DBru]

The side of Twisted Twins that was running is Stella. But yes, Lola has been down a while. The park is never really packed. I don't know why you think SFKK looks like a huge fair, IMO, nothing about it reminds me of a fair. The park does have some character, it just isn't really shown in the pictures. Yes, T2 really does suck, and be glad it broke down before you could ride in the front. That would have probably been the worst mistake of your life. My friends and I get in the very back and just laugh at all the people waiting in line for the front seat. Poor, innocent people.....

 

If you liked Thunder Run now, you should have ridden it two years ago, after it got some rehab. I'm talking smooth-as-glass!

 

Also, the park is still part of the State Fairgrounds, but the actual fair is in the parking lot adjacent to Thrill Park Theatre.

 

Oh, and yes, I DO have a season pass to the park. It shares the spot of my homepark with Holiday World and Beech Bend(and yes, THAT, I consider a big fair--with the exception of the Kentucky Rumbler!).

[Erik Johnson]

By chance were they running Deluge in the waterpark? We were told that they will try to continue to run that even into the early Fall since they can run it with less water.

[ConleyKE]

Nice PTR! Glad you had fun.

 

^ To answer your question, Deluge was kept open untill Fright Fest at the beginning of October. You entered through a back gate over by T2, so you never even had to enter the water park. People were riding with all their clothes, but thankfully it was never too cold.

[Axman]

I like KK. It's like themepark fast food, as opposed to a ritzy, sit-down meal. Chang, Thunder Run, and Hellevator make the park.