Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

Kentucky Kingdom (SFKK, KK) Discussion Thread


Recommended Posts

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! )

You're welcome!

 

And yes, I like plenty of intense / rough rides (I always liked Ghost Rider, even when it was at its worst), and have hit a number of the big ones over the last couple of weeks, but I generally want a little more from a ride than a barrage of extreme negative / positive g-forces. These rides didn't do it for me personally — not solely because of their intensity as I've been on much worse — but because I didn't find that they had much more to offer in terms of a fully-rounded ride. (Storm Chaser was the better of the two in this regard.) I'm one of the few people who wasn't enamored with Sky Rush either (despite riding it a ton of times) because it was all about enduring the extreme forces and not a lot else. Although these two weren't on that level, they suggest that designers are heading in that direction — extreme forces over all else — and that disappoints me a bit, especially when it's at the expense of a well-rounded ride. And, for the record, I do think Big Thunder Mountain is a pretty great coaster

Edited by Arthur_Seaton
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't entirely disagree with Seaton. I like RMC/Ride Centerline stuff (Storm Chaser and Lightning Run are great!), but the OMG EJEKTUR is actually predictable at this point. The first couple of times it was jarring and surprising. You build 20-30 rides that are all the same, and it turns into B&M complaints. They can't all be "top 5" rides. They're just amusement rides. There's almost no actual danger involved in this (Verruckt aside).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know that it's fair to call this style of ride a "trend" when it's really split by manufacturer. RMC has and I hope always will do this type of ride/experience, but when you look at what else has been manufactured at the same time across the board, we're not seeing the "omfg krazyyy" type of experiences taking over. Valravn, namely, was one of the least "intense" (in terms of apparent forces/directional changes/whatever) 200 foot tall coasters I could imagine.

Point being, there's both types available, and the preference just lends itself to each individual rider. The former happens to be the overwhelming preference in this community.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't entirely disagree with Seaton. I like RMC/Ride Centerline stuff (Storm Chaser and Lightning Run are great!), but the OMG EJEKTUR is actually predictable at this point. The first couple of times it was jarring and surprising. You build 20-30 rides that are all the same, and it turns into B&M complaints. They can't all be "top 5" rides.

I get this. And in a way I sort of understand how a lot of the RMC's feel similar to each other, the same way that a lot of B&Ms and GCI's feel similar to each other. But a couple of things here...

 

1. I actually WASN'T expecting the airtime that Storm Chaser delivered based on early reviews. (I'm happy to report the ride has broken in and is WAAAAAY better than people first made it out to be.)

 

2. I'd much MUCH rather have parks keep trying to make a "top 5 ride" over and over again with companies like RMC or Intamin delivering kick-ass rides over "settling" with companies like GCI or B&M which build, IMO, solid rides, but don't crack a lot of "top ten" lists.

 

I agree, they can't all be top 5 A+ rides, but dammit, I far more appreciate that there are companies & parks out there recently trying to keep making them over delivering a bunch of B+ rides which the trend seemed to be heading a few years prior.

Edited by robbalvey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

1. I actually WASN'T expecting the airtime that Storm Chaser delivered based on early reviews. (I'm happy to report the ride has broken in and is WAAAAAY better than people first made it out to be.)

 

Yeah, I don't know what ride they were on, but it wasn't Storm Chaser.

 

2. I'd much MUCH rather have parks keep trying to make a "top 5 ride" over and over again with companies like RMC or Intamin delivering kick-ass rides over "settling" with companies like GCI or B&M which build, IMO, solid rides, but don't crack a lot of "top ten" lists.

 

I see what you're saying, but at some point if you keep doing the same thing again and again and again, it doesn't matter what that thing is. It'll become repetitive. I always point to Darien Lake's Ride of Steel - #1 on the charts for Mitch's when it was new, #50 or whatever when Mitch stopped doing the poll. It isn't like the CCIs where they started to track like garbage. The ride is basically the same as opening day, just with restraint changes. Everything else just eclipsed it.

 

(I joked this weekend while riding Lightning Rod that I get to be the a$$hole who says "If you didn't ride opening year, you're wasting your time!" once the launch is changed. 10 years from now when every park has an RMC, we may all be singing a different tune about how much we miss coasters with single lapbars like Cornball or Phoenix. We all tend to grade on a scale, and eventually it'll curve. It always does...and I should take out a copyright on "only the early RMCs were good" before it becomes commonly stated.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WOW. That being an empty train and having heard reports of it breaking in makes me confident to say Storm Chaser looks to be reliably well-paced now. I can't see this being a hit-or-miss ride anymore.

 

The thing seperating RMC from the rest is that (so far) they have chosen to incorperate wacky elements on a full sized coaster. I agree with the above arguement but at the same time think it'll take much longer to wear off.

 

On any other coaster, their sort of flow would be dissed. A roll that rotates opposite directions when entering and exiting? A stall (for comparative reasons lets call this a zero-g roll) that intoduces hangtime OR inverted floater time depending on the specific cycle's variables)?

 

Wave turns? HUGE wave turns?

 

Outward banked hills midcourse (Wildfire, Medusa)? Outward banked curves at any point?

 

Joker's first element?

 

Barrel rolls midcourse?

 

Weird "half-loops"? (not an airtime example but forces are still at play here; see: Lightning Rod)

 

All these little niche's paramters can be set endless ways. Variables also can change during the day and make for an unpredictable ride.

 

Sure. Its possible they will eventually not be able to out do themselves. But im not going to be bored yet for a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The POV looks and sounds great. I rode Storm Chaser six times when I was at KK last month, and while I do prefer Lightning Run, Storm Chaser is unbelievably fun. The ride was aggressive and pretty much every airtime hill destroys you with ejector. The ending, while a bit sluggish, actually provides a decent pop of floater and laterals in the hill and turn before the brakes. Still excited to see how the park grows, especially with the Top Eliminator pad seemingly in line for construction. Storm Chaser's pacing definitely improves as the day goes on (afternoon rides were definitely better) and it seemed to have settled in nicely when I visited.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

 

This completely made my day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Visited the park on a whim today (thanks in part to $10[!] tickets from Kroger), and I stumbled upon a very long and straight construction zone on the walk to Storm Chaser.

 

IMG_2162.thumb.JPG.d41bb06f8576052a7222f4ed635577ad.JPG

 

On the way out, I noticed a blast from the past laying in wait.

 

IMG_2161.thumb.JPG.4ebf6d69110725919136314066a37d58.JPG

 

Welcome back, old friend. Tentatively.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Advice please.

 

I'm living about 2 hours away but I probably only have the time to visit once (possibly twice if it's consecutive days). When would be the best time to visit? I was thinking of waiting until late September because the hours seem longer but the $10 Kroger and $30 two-day out-of-state prices caught my eye and I could visit this weekend. How is it during state fair?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The trains have been there as far as I'm aware. The area there is where the dragsters use to be. I noticed the "Fun under construction" signs last time I was there too, but honestly didn't think much of it at the time. I could see a disco coaster going there, though. It would make a lot of sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Advice please.

 

I'm living about 2 hours away but I probably only have the time to visit once (possibly twice if it's consecutive days). When would be the best time to visit? I was thinking of waiting until late September because the hours seem longer but the $10 Kroger and $30 two-day out-of-state prices caught my eye and I could visit this weekend. How is it during state fair?

IIRC, the state fair on a weekend can get packed. But I did visit this past Tuesday and the park was practically dead (learned that two consecutive rides on Cyclos without getting off is my limit on that machine! ), so it could go either way. Going this weekend, you can hit the fair next door and do all the rides with a $25 wristband. If you held out for late September, it's very likely you'll get light crowds for sure.

 

I did a small video from this past Tuesday featuring some highlights from both park and some major fair rides. It was my first time catching the KMG Speed at the fair, and it's incredibly fun!

 

Wow. Everyone states their opinion in such a well though out and respectful manner here. I guess after being in the Kings Dominion thread recently, I'm not used to seeing posts that aren't incredibly idiotic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Advice please.

 

I'm living about 2 hours away but I probably only have the time to visit once (possibly twice if it's consecutive days). When would be the best time to visit? I was thinking of waiting until late September because the hours seem longer but the $10 Kroger and $30 two-day out-of-state prices caught my eye and I could visit this weekend. How is it during state fair?

 

Check the park's calendar carefully, there are some buy out days in September.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not to mention Louisville is the disco ball capital of the world, although I'm not sure how you tie that into all of the storm-related attraction names.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

It could be named " Tornado's Dance "

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/