Kentucky Kingdom (SFKK, KK) Discussion Thread

[ytterbiumanalyst]

I tend to rank coasters by "given the choice, with both coasters available to me right now, no waiting, which one would I pick?" And I would choose Lightning Run over Storm Chaser. Both are absolutely excellent, though, and you can't go wrong either way.

[Midgetman82]

It's a tricky toss-up. If I took out wait and ride dispatch times as a factor, both coasters would tie on my list of favorites. I nudge Storm Chaser slightly above due to its re-rideability, but If I had experienced both for the first time with equal re-rides I'd probably rank Lightning Run higher too.

[LiftThrill]

This is coming from someone who hasn't been there, but KK might have the best one-two punch of any park out there, ever. Cedar Point might be the only other park I can think of with a better top two coasters overall.

[FSUFanChris]

This is coming from someone who hasn't been there, but KK might have the best one-two punch of any park out there, ever. Cedar Point might be the only other park I can think of with a better top two coasters overall.

I haven't been to KK yet to compare but Fury and Afterburn are nothing to frown upon, now.

[ShaneH]

For me, Lightning Run + Storm Chaser have a combined ranking of 27 with LR at 12 and SC at 15

 

These are the parks that have a better 1 2 Combined Ranking

 

Wicked Cyclone + Superman =10

El Toro + Nitro =13

MF + Dragster =19

I305 + Volcano =22

Shockwave + NTaG =27

[LiftThrill]

This is coming from someone who hasn't been there, but KK might have the best one-two punch of any park out there, ever. Cedar Point might be the only other park I can think of with a better top two coasters overall.

I haven't been to KK yet to compare but Fury and Afterburn are nothing to frown upon, now.

Sshhh I'm trying to forget that Carowinds exists so I don't hijack a car or sneak on a plane or something to get there.

[mmkaycomputer]

Hi there. How bad do the coaster waits on Saturday tend to be? We're coming in two weeks, hoping to do at least a few rides on LR and SC, plus once on the others. Thanks!

Edited July 16, 2016 by mmkaycomputer

[Tylerdw89]

Thinking of going up to Kentucky Kingdom next Sunday/Monday. Any suggestions on where to stay in Louisville? First time in the city!

 

Thanks!

[Vonni]

So is another coaster addition for 2017 still the strongest rumor, or has anyone heard anything else?

[ShaneH]

I don't think the coaster will come until 2018

[kenban]

I wish people would wait until they ride a coaster before they rank them. I find that Storm Chaser is actually the worst RMC I have ridden, this includes Goliath. The RMC ranking thread seems to agree with that assessment as well. It is still a good coaster but it is not a great coaster.

[PhantomPoster32]

It's a lower tier RMC - I have trouble deciding which is the lowest between Goliath, Iron Rattler and Storm Chaser. They're all fun but nowhere in the league of Outlaw Run and Lightning Rod

[Rabbit_in_Red]

Storm Chaser is a great coaster, but I think people are over stating it's appeal. It's fun, but it's hardly one of the best coasters out there...

[DILinator]

I disagree vehemently with anybody saying Storm Chaser is not a "great" coaster! It's in my top 5 of well over 200, and lots of experience riding coasters... It is no doubt a great coaster! Now, it may still be one of the weaker RMC coasters, but that doesn't mean it's not great in its own right.

[DirkFunk]

First off: Let's all take a deep breath and thank god that Holiday World and the Koch family never got their hands on this park to tear it to bits. Bluegrass Boardwalk, even if it was a commercial success, would have been disastrous for us, the Kentucky Fair Board, and the people of Louisville. "What the market bears" can be empty words spoken by people trying to validate that they had not failed themselves, but that they had been failed by others, and the argument that the dry park had to go for a water park only facility in Louisville because of the market demands is just that sort of thing.

 

Having said that: KK has the best combo of midsize steel coasters in existence now. The question of "Is Storm Chaser a lower end RMC?" - I've been on 4, it's #3 for me, close to Goliath at #4. There are 3919 presently operating permanent steel roller coasters in the world. That doesn't include portable rides, which probably brings it closer to 4500 globally. If you have to be in the top 5-10 of those in the world to be called "great", then I consider the threshold too high. There's way more than 6 great steel coasters in the world, and honestly I'd probably come into conflict by announcing that some which are argued to be (ahemiSpeedahem) aren't even close to that standard. I think Storm Chaser is pretty close to great or outright there. And that's at a park that already had the best "minihyper" built.

[Manic Monte]

If you were to ride any RMC on it's own merits, it's usually the best coaster in it's respected park, and will wind up in most people's top 20.

 

RMC has yet to create a dud ride, therefore even the weakest one is still one of the best rides in the country. It's fun to compare, but in this case it's a shallow victory. I'd take any of their rides in my hope park, even the weakest.

[DirkFunk]

If you were to ride any RMC on it's own merits, it's usually the best coaster in it's respected park, and will wind up in most people's top 20.

 

RMC has yet to create a dud ride, therefore even the weakest one is still one of the best rides in the country. It's fun to compare, but in this case it's a shallow victory. I'd take any of their rides in my hope park, even the weakest.

 

Yeah, same here. I always say that if you build enough of any type of ride, people will start to complain about the similarities. That's even true for RMC and their desire to knock things out of the park almost every time. Build 50 of them, and people will begin to reassess how special they are.

[Manic Monte]

^ That's another good point. Every time you crown an RMC the "best", one comes along the next year to top it anyway.

 

It's become nearly impossible for me to rank coasters anymore because most of them are very good now. And they change depending on the type of ride I'm cherishing at the moment.

 

I like the "tier" system so much better now.

[Rabbit_in_Red]

First off: Let's all take a deep breath and thank god that Holiday World and the Koch family never got their hands on this park to tear it to bits. Bluegrass Boardwalk, even if it was a commercial success, would have been disastrous for us, the Kentucky Fair Board, and the people of Louisville. "What the market bears" can be empty words spoken by people trying to validate that they had not failed themselves, but that they had been failed by others, and the argument that the dry park had to go for a water park only facility in Louisville because of the market demands is just that sort of thing.

 

Having said that: KK has the best combo of midsize steel coasters in existence now. The question of "Is Storm Chaser a lower end RMC?" - I've been on 4, it's #3 for me, close to Goliath at #4. There are 3919 presently operating permanent steel roller coasters in the world. That doesn't include portable rides, which probably brings it closer to 4500 globally. If you have to be in the top 5-10 of those in the world to be called "great", then I consider the threshold too high. There's way more than 6 great steel coasters in the world, and honestly I'd probably come into conflict by announcing that some which are argued to be (ahemiSpeedahem) aren't even close to that standard. I think Storm Chaser is pretty close to great or outright there. And that's at a park that already had the best "minihyper" built.

 

I remain utterly convinced that the Koch family had no interest in actually doing anything with the park, but wanted to delay it's reopening and thus siphoning guests from Holiday World, as long as possible. Their actions alone on that have really made me disinterested in ever visiting their park. They had come right out and said "Steel coasters? Yuck!" once, yet when Kingdom starts getting praise they go out and build Thunderbird.

[DirkFunk]

First off: Let's all take a deep breath and thank god that Holiday World and the Koch family never got their hands on this park to tear it to bits. Bluegrass Boardwalk, even if it was a commercial success, would have been disastrous for us, the Kentucky Fair Board, and the people of Louisville. "What the market bears" can be empty words spoken by people trying to validate that they had not failed themselves, but that they had been failed by others, and the argument that the dry park had to go for a water park only facility in Louisville because of the market demands is just that sort of thing.

 

Having said that: KK has the best combo of midsize steel coasters in existence now. The question of "Is Storm Chaser a lower end RMC?" - I've been on 4, it's #3 for me, close to Goliath at #4. There are 3919 presently operating permanent steel roller coasters in the world. That doesn't include portable rides, which probably brings it closer to 4500 globally. If you have to be in the top 5-10 of those in the world to be called "great", then I consider the threshold too high. There's way more than 6 great steel coasters in the world, and honestly I'd probably come into conflict by announcing that some which are argued to be (ahemiSpeedahem) aren't even close to that standard. I think Storm Chaser is pretty close to great or outright there. And that's at a park that already had the best "minihyper" built.

 

I remain utterly convinced that the Koch family had no interest in actually doing anything with the park, but wanted to delay it's reopening and thus siphoning guests from Holiday World, as long as possible. Their actions alone on that have really made me disinterested in ever visiting their park. They had come right out and said "Steel coasters? Yuck!" once, yet when Kingdom starts getting praise they go out and build Thunderbird.

 

In fairness, Will Koch was dead when the whole Bluegrass Boardwalk thing happened, and the rest of his family exiled to suburban Birmingham, AL when Thunderbird opened. It seems clear to me though that he was the most important gear in the motor and when he was lost, everything just spun wildly and went nowhere.

[Jaykethekid]

So, I had my first visit here yesterday. I thought the park was really good! The employees are so nice and respectful. Everything the park was doing was great except operations. There were running one train on all rides excluding LR. Speaking of LR, those have to be the most restrictive restrains I have seen on any coaster. I fit fine in every coaster I have been on, yet this I was so far from fitting. It seems that they really only work on skinny people. I saw no one reasonably over 200 pounds riding it. Guess I could use it as weight loss motivation, but I think it's kinda ridiculous. Storm Chaser was absolutely fantastic! It became my new #1 roller coaster. It offers everything you could want in a ride, inversions, airtime, intensity. The ride wasn't so intense that I came off nauseous or with a huge head rush, which is good in my books. The line was about fifteen minutes over all, so I got 11 rides in about 5 hours. Also, it's unbelievably smooth! All the RMCs I have been on, you could feel each and every track section, sometime more than you'd like. I'd describe the ride to perfectly bridge the interests over coaster enthusiasts and the GP. Kentucky Kingdom has a real winner on their hands.

[Rabbit_in_Red]

Lighting Run's a decent coaster. I enjoy it, while also not understanding all of the hype that it gets around here. And yes, it's restraint system is the epitome of "Over Engineered" and as you said, even people with a more average body type have a difficult time with those restraints. Honestly, I can take or leave Lightning Run.

[samhimburg]

I remain utterly convinced that the Koch family had no interest in actually doing anything with the park, but wanted to delay it's reopening and thus siphoning guests from Holiday World, as long as possible. Their actions alone on that have really made me disinterested in ever visiting their park. They had come right out and said "Steel coasters? Yuck!" once, yet when Kingdom starts getting praise they go out and build Thunderbird.

 

Let's keep in mind that Bluegrass Boardwalk was an initiative sought out when Dan Koch was in charge. I think it's become clear that he had a different vision for their company than the rest of the Koch family. I'm a lot more comfortable with the park in the hands of Will's kids. Thunderbird (or some version of it) had been in the works for years, even before Six Flags abandoned KK. Something like that isn't a project you can throw together in one year.

 

Do we need to trash one park to enjoy the other? Why can't both parks be good?

[Invertalon]

Lighting Run's a decent coaster. I enjoy it, while also not understanding all of the hype that it gets around here. And yes, it's restraint system is the epitome of "Over Engineered" and as you said, even people with a more average body type have a difficult time with those restraints. Honestly, I can take or leave Lightning Run.

 

Decent is how I would put LR as well. After riding Storm Chaser a few times before hand, it is a far better ride.

 

The restraints on LR, being a tall person, absolutely SUCK. The shin bars were extremely uncomfortable and each airtime hill ended up being painful as every time there was air. I had some pretty bad bruising on my shin after only one ride. Those last few bunny hops I couldn't wait for the ride to be over. Didn't care for it... One ride and I was done.

 

Not only the terrible trains, but the layout was just quirky. Kind of like an amped up wild mouse... I dunno... Just was disappointed.

[grsupercity]

Lighting Run's a decent coaster. I enjoy it, while also not understanding all of the hype that it gets around here. And yes, it's restraint system is the epitome of "Over Engineered" and as you said, even people with a more average body type have a difficult time with those restraints. Honestly, I can take or leave Lightning Run.

 

Decent is how I would put LR as well. After riding Storm Chaser a few times before hand, it is a far better ride.

 

The restraints on LR, being a tall person, absolutely SUCK. The shin bars were extremely uncomfortable and each airtime hill ended up being painful as every time there was air. I had some pretty bad bruising on my shin after only one ride. Those last few bunny hops I couldn't wait for the ride to be over. Didn't care for it... One ride and I was done.

 

Not only the terrible trains, but the layout was just quirky. Kind of like an amped up wild mouse... I dunno... Just was disappointed.

 

To each there peach I guess. When I was there a couple weeks ago I found LR to be the clear winner in the park. Fast, smooth and amazing transitions. Storm chaser was a let down for me. Between being stapled every ride and praying I can still have kids and the similar but not as good layout as LR I found LR the better of the 2. Both were fun but LR is amazing in my eyes.