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Kentucky Kingdom (SFKK, KK) Discussion Thread


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^^Nope, anything over 100ft would have to go over in the Giant Wheel/front of the park area.

 

They had Chang. It's not out of the realm of possible, depending on where they put it.

Chang was in the Giant Wheel/ front of the park area

 

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Hold up playa, we need to get on the same page. What are you considering the "front" of the park? Because when I think of the "front of the park" I'm thinking of the area closest to the gate, on the fairground's side of the walkway. I consider the Hurricane Bay, Wheel area the back because as you walk through the gate, you're going from front to back...

 

Anyhow, there's area around where Chang was where the park could easily expand and build something. Admittedly, I don't know the precise height restrictions on that parcel of land...

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Hold up playa, we need to get on the same page. What are you considering the "front" of the park? Because when I think of the "front of the park" I'm thinking of the area closest to the gate, on the fairground's side of the walkway. I consider the Hurricane Bay, Wheel area the back because as you walk through the gate, you're going from front to back...

 

Anyhow, there's area around where Chang was where the park could easily expand and build something. Admittedly, I don't know the precise height restrictions on that parcel of land...

Hart said there's basically no height limit in that area

 

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What I'd REALLY love to see happen, and I doubt it ever will, is an indoor Premier Launch coaster ala Flight of Fear named Star Chaser...

 

RIGHT!? It would largely be able to circumvent height restrictions too because it'd be a launch coaster....hey, a guy can dream!

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^Half of it is a gift shop and the other half is the 5d cinema.

 

Hold up playa, we need to get on the same page. What are you considering the "front" of the park? Because when I think of the "front of the park" I'm thinking of the area closest to the gate, on the fairground's side of the walkway. I consider the Hurricane Bay, Wheel area the back because as you walk through the gate, you're going from front to back...

 

Anyhow, there's area around where Chang was where the park could easily expand and build something. Admittedly, I don't know the precise height restrictions on that parcel of land...

 

The front zone (everything before the wave pool) has the highest allowances. The portion before the road can build up to around 200ft. Right past the road the limit is around 160ft (Chang's highest spot was in that strip). The rest of the park is a bit of a mess. The height limit used to be capped at 100 ft by T3, and 80 ft where SC is. That has changed though, with the T3 area now around 120ft and SC around 100. You won't see anything over 150ft built in the back portion of the park....stupid airport.

 

Fun fact: The old slingshot ride had to be taken out because every time it launched, the "ball" went over 160 ft and showed on radar at the airport.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Trip Report for Tuesday 8/2 to Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World:

 

I wasn’t sure I’d make it to this park at all. Having crammed Indiana Beach, and two visits to Cedar Point and Kings Island each into the previous three days (alongside a LOT of riding and a hefty amount of driving), I was prepared to skip this park in favor of Holiday World. However, after a decent night’s sleep, I was up for the challenge of cramming both Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World into the same day. The time change helped with the commute between the two, and since Holiday World offered a discount for entry after 3pm (and KK offered a great deal for out-of-state visitors), I figured I could hang out of KK from 11am (opening) to about 2:30pm and still make it over to HW for four hours before they closed. As the result, I can’t say that I got to experience either park to full effect, but both were relatively empty and I was able to get plenty of rides in.

 

Lightning Run (x3)

 

I learned on this site that this ride suffers from poor throughput and to get to it right away. This proved to be true as the park was running single-train ops on everything except for T3 (!!!). Because the train on Lightning Run is small, and, frankly, the operations were lackluster, I only managed to squeeze three rides in on this. I returned to it on my way out for one more ride, but the line was long, even though the park was pretty dead.

 

The truth is though that I wasn’t too thrilled by Lightning Run. I know it’s one of the most popular rides for enthusiasts, but it didn’t win me over. It is very intense (especially given how small and unassuming it is) and it’s very smooth (given that the track resembles some old-school Arrow / Vekoma coathanger-nightmare), but it’s the kind of ride that I personally don’t appreciate that much. The airtime is of the aggressive bucking-ejector variety — it throws you hard into the restraints for just a split second — restrains that I did not find to be well suited for such moves. On my first ride through, my keys were in my pocket and I didn’t realize just how much pressure the restraint would be putting on me. As the result, it was extremely painful and unpleasant for my first run through. For my next ride, everything came out of my pockets and was stored away — which certainly helped — but it’s still the kind of ride that I don’t enjoy that much. Despite how smooth it is, I still found myself tensed up the whole time trying to protect myself from every bump and hill. Ejector air isn’t my favorite, and extreme, borderline-violent ejector air that slams you up and down is even less attractive. While I certainly understand how this can be appealing for some, it failed to meet my thrill / fun balance criteria. Maybe after a few more rides on it I would have learned how to relax a little more, but time was short and I really wasn’t up for the challenge. 6/10

 

Storm Chaser (x5)

 

I figured that I’d fare better on Storm Chaser being quite familiar with RMC's usual tricks. Although I didn’t expect it to be that different from Lightning Run in terms of aggressive ejector air, I found that that’s really all Storm Chaser had to offer. Like Lightning Run, it’s a smooth ride from start to finish. Also like Lightning Run, it looks / feels quite unimpressive yet it is filled with violent bucking motions that slam your legs against the restraints quite hard. While Storm Chaser was more enjoyable overall than Lightning Run, it’s my least favorite RMC so far and I can’t help but wish that RMC will move away from designs that try to cram in as much sudden up-thrust as possible. I like RMC as much as the next guy, but 75% of the moves that this ride makes were lost on me. The first drop is weirdly dull aside some hang time in the front seat (but I could see it working well as something like a drop from a mid course brake on a larger model). The first airtime hill is fine (standard RMC), and the quick turn left is fun, but that’s kind of where the fun ended for me. I’m not a fan of RMC’s outward off-angle banking hills (I think they’re uncomfortable and sort of pointless), but it’s the bunny hops that lead up to and followed the barrel roll that killed this ride for me. The three or so hills before the final helix are straight-up painful, and because they’re so small, they feel inane. To me, Storm Chaser was a better ride than Lightning Run, but I’ll be the lone dissenter and say that I really didn’t find either ride to be very good overall. 6/10

 

Thunder Run (x2)

 

By this point in the trip, I’d already ridden a few great woodies to the point that I couldn’t appreciate this one too much. The first drop was weak, the big turn was rough, but the two or three hills that followed it were fun (aside from a slight directional shift that produced awkward laterals). The rest of the ride was a tad mundane, but the theming was great and the overall design was pretty unique. It seems unfair to rate this one higher than Storm Chaser or Lightning Run, but to me, it really is a better ride overall. 7/10

 

T3 (x1)

 

My first SLC and I braced myself for the worst. The ride looks cool, and they’re more imposing and oversized than I expected. I hoped the new seat / restraint design would make things easier for me, but it’s still a rough ride. There were points that felt like the train was jackhammering, and the seats themselves aren’t curved like the human body so they feel awful (more like sitting on a flat bench). There’s no restraint head banging on this version, but there’s various other kinds of banging going on. However, what made this ride suck really hard is the fact that the restraints tighten up around your legs on the first drop to the point of cutting off circulation. Because this is the only only coaster running two-train ops, stacking is inevitable and (I kid you not), the leg-pressure effect is worse than that of Sky Rush. The restraints crush your legs early on and there’s no escape until you’re back in the station. At least Sky Rush releases the restraints on the brake run; this ride was rendered truly awful by this effect. At least I’ll never have to ride another SLC again. 3/10

 

I rode the mini Star Flyer thing (fun because it’s not too high), the Enterprise (way more creaky / wobbly than the Cedar Point version), and the Break Dance (no spinning). I skipped Cyclos because it looked awful, and I skipped the drop tower because I’ve been on that model before and don’t need that kind of no-warning / drop anxiety. Even though there’s clearly a lot more to do at this park — especially if water parks are your thing — I was done ahead of schedule and was frankly ready to get away from there. The placement of the park in what appears to be a kind of state fairground made the place feel more transitory / temporary overall. Despite a few nicely done areas (mainly around Thunder Run), the place looked and felt under construction to me (the area by Storm Chaser literally looks like a construction site). Ultimately I was let down by both Storm Chaser and Lightning Run because they represent a trend in coaster design that I’m just not that enamored with — one that favors extreme forces over plain old fun. I’m glad I made it to the park, but I’m not sure I’d return anytime soon.

 

FWIW: This is part of a mini four-day trip that included Indiana Beach, two visits to both Cedar Point and Kings Island, Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World.

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For an RMC, I was a bit let down by this.

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The area around Thunder Run looks great.

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The ride looks good, but meh.

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2 things:

 

- Did you notice the Greased Lightning train still there?

- Did you stand on the Mile High Falls bridge?

Was that the splashdown ride? I didn't, but I wanted to! When I was walking away from Storm Chaser I saw a boat hit the water and decided that I wanted to photograph the next one coming down from the bridge, but the place was so dead and operations were so slow that another boat didn't leave the station in the time I was standing there. That looked like a great water ride though — the drop was pretty huge.

 

As far as the Greased Lightning train goes, I wouldn't know where to look for it. There was a ton of junk laying around by Storm Chaser and in the area sort of behind T3, but I didn't see any rotting trains.

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2 things:

 

- Did you notice the Greased Lightning train still there?

- Did you stand on the Mile High Falls bridge?

Was that the splashdown ride? I didn't, but I wanted to! When I was walking away from Storm Chaser I saw a boat hit the water and decided that I wanted to photograph the next one coming down from the bridge, but the place was so dead and operations were so slow that another boat didn't leave the station in the time I was standing there. That looked like a great water ride though — the drop was pretty huge.

 

As far as the Greased Lightning train goes, I wouldn't know where to look for it. There was a ton of junk laying around by Storm Chaser and in the area sort of behind T3, but I didn't see any rotting trains.

 

 

Apparently you don't have to ride, You can just walk on the bridge. I stood like 6x

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Visited the park today for the first time and had a great time. Was suprised to find that I liked Lightning Run a lot more than Storm Chaser. Both really good rides though. The less said about the other two coasters the better haha.

 

Was suprised the park was so quiet, all the coasters were a two train wait at most with one train ops.

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Trip Report for Tuesday 8/2 to Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World:

Wow! Those are the first non positive reviews I've ever read of Storm Chaser and Lightning Run. Strangely it was almost refreshing to read a different point of view on this park. I'm still looking forward to visiting sometime soon. Thanks for the TR.

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Trip Report for Tuesday 8/2 to Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World:

Wow! Those are the first non positive reviews I've ever read of Storm Chaser and Lightning Run. Strangely it was almost refreshing to read a different point of view on this park. I'm still looking forward to visiting sometime soon. Thanks for the TR.

While I get that it's one persons opinion versus another, but if he's allowed to have an opinion of the rides, I'm allowed to have an opinion of his opinion and IMO the guy sounds like a complete pussy when it comes to extreme rides. Seriously, Lightning Run and Storm Chaser are two of the most insane OMFG rides I've ever experienced, especially when it comes to airtime. You hit the brake runs on both rides going WTF JUST HAPPENED?!?!??! And you pretty much have to be a pussy to not appreciate that.

 

Sounds like he should stick to rides like Big Thunder Mountain.

 

There. That's my review on his review! lol

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It was the funniest thing, because I was reading his review (thanks for taking the time to write it up and share it with us Arthur_Seaton, even if it was a dissenting opinon), and read the part on Lightning Run, and was planning on writing a comment saying "See!! This guy gets me!!" (Though, I'd still give LR a 7.5, at least!) But then, I read his review of Storm Chaser, and my heart was crushed! "NOOOOOOOO!!!" Oh well... Different strokes, for different folks. They are extremely aggressive rides (LR is a little too uncomfortable for my tastes, but it is still pretty crazy-cool in spite of it), and probably not for everybody. That's why we have rides like Roller Skater! (Though, that's actually a better coaster than Thunder Run in my opinion! )

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Off topic note, but ever since Lighting Rod was announced at DW, I cant help but say its name in my head instead of Lighting Run while reading this thread and seeing "LR" lol! Surely I'm not the only one.

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