Kentucky Kingdom (SFKK, KK) Discussion Thread

[AmyUD06]

So I'm tentatively planning a stop at this park on my "big park trip" of 2022.  Problem is, I would only have 3 and a half hours (up to closing time) at this park, on Thursday June 30th.  Would that be enough time to hit all of the coasters, and possibly the drop tower?

EDIT:  I see also that it's only $5 more for a 2nd day ticket?  I was planning on visiting Holiday World the following day, but if I don't need a full day there I guess I could swing by in the morning as well.

[tndank]

Coasters only?  Most likely plenty of time with 3.5 hrs and you can probably sit on them for a couple laps.  Middle of the park is a sizable water park but I've never done it, so can't comment on that.

$5 bucks would pretty much guarantee you can wrap up things in the mornings if needed before going to HW.  You pick up an hour between parks.  Doubtful you'd need it, but for $5 it's not a bad move, right?

 

 

[Taylor Finn]

Holiday World is obviously the superior park. We only spent 3 or so hours at the park on a weekend last year and got on everything we wanted, including the drop tower and coasters. It is definitely doable.

[grsupercity]

1 hour ago, Taylor Finn said:

Holiday World is obviously the superior park. We only spent 3 or so hours at the park on a weekend last year and got on everything we wanted, including the drop tower and coasters. It is definitely doable.

false. Kentucky Kingdom is better. Both are fun in there own respects. Holiday World I think is the only park I have been to where I preferred the water park to dry park. They have an impressive collection of water coasters. Get a couple laps on Voyage, ride all the others coasters for the credits and then spend the rest at Splashing Safari. 

 

Kentucky Kingdom on the other hand has 3 coasters that can be marathoned along with a very impressive collection of flats and lots of alcohol! 

[prozach626]

On 5/10/2022 at 7:45 AM, Taylor Finn said:

Holiday World is obviously the superior park.

I didn't know the word "obviously" could be so subjective.

[Taylor Finn]

8 hours ago, prozach626 said:

I didn't know the word "obviously" could be so subjective.

Hahahah, I personally like Kentucky Kingdom a lot, too. It may have been obvious in years past but KK has definitely added some coasters. Both are fun parks, just Holiday World is more my speed.

[teacherkim]

On 5/9/2022 at 5:05 PM, Mike240SX said:

So I'm tentatively planning a stop at this park on my "big park trip" of 2022.  Problem is, I would only have 3 and a half hours (up to closing time) at this park, on Thursday June 30th.  Would that be enough time to hit all of the coasters, and possibly the drop tower?

EDIT:  I see also that it's only $5 more for a 2nd day ticket?  I was planning on visiting Holiday World the following day, but if I don't need a full day there I guess I could swing by in the morning as well.

3.5 hours will be plenty of time. I've never waited more than 15 min for anything there. The wp is pretty standard other than when they turn on the super waves in the pool and that is a better spectator sport than a participation event.

[thrillseeker4552]

Alright, I need some advice. I will be in the Cincinnati area this weekend. I'm going to Kings Island on Saturday, that is locked in. I have a hotel right near Kings Island on Saturday night and Sunday night. Considering I have all day Saturday with FL+ at Kings Island (which I've been to before minus Orion), I am heavily considering going to KK and HW on Sunday while I am in the area since I don't really need two entire full days at KI. Can someone please let me know if this plan is crazy or somewhat doable? Keep in mind it is a holiday weekend.

Get up early Sunday morning at my hotel near KI and drive to KK, getting there at 10am opening. Stay for 2-ish hours (however long necessary to ride the major coasters and re-ride a couple). Leave around lunch and head to HW, gaining the hour drive back. Getting to Holiday World around 1-2pm and staying until closing at 7pm. Drive 3 hours back to hotel near KI.

Is this too crazy? Any weird traffic patterns I should know about? Would arriving in the afternoon at Holiday World on Memorial Day Sunday be way too crowded to make it worth it? I'm not really a water park person so I am primarily interested in the woodies and Thunderbird.

I suppose I could ask this in the HW thread too. But I am asking about both parks, and if attempting this on Memorial Day weekend is a death wish or perhaps doable. Thank you all!

[bert425]

We are literally in the car on the way back from kk (we did holiday world on Thursday) and ki for 2 days between 

 

can’t really answer your questions. But will give my impression 

 

HW on thurs ended up rained out ~1:30 pm.  Park closed at 4 pm so we just called it at 3:15 and headed out to Cincinnati.   Thunderbird had 1:20 wait when we got there just after park open (no skip the line options)    But well worth it I thought 

voyage had 1:30 minute wait and was so rough. Even Kim said she’s never had that bad of a ride on it  and we rode in row 2 ! 
 

never got on raven or legend as they are both 1 train ops and the rain came during our queue for legend.  
 

so we rode a couple of flats (turkey shooter & hysterically awful nursery rhyme train)  before everything shut down completely.   
the park is beautiful and very much enjoyed walking the whole park even tho everything was closed down  

some unique flats and stupidly short starflyer too

 

the bumper cars are horses tho!

 

 

As to KK ?  Yeah. I liked it better than HW    So I’d agree it’s the superior park. But that’s because I love WTF things. And this park is a massive WTF? 
 

its right near the airport and in the convention center complex.   So the entrance to the park looks like it’s sitting across from a mall parking lot 

 

great selection of unique flats I’d never seen and some WTF rides such as a blimp ride that made me nauseous , a Flying Dutchman where you ride in a shoe, and this musical carousel where you ride the instruments !

 

no. Really: 

the coasters are interesting and lightning run is one of a kind   But I don’t like ejector air and both it and storm chaser have lots of it (so rode them twice but not high on my list)

thunder run looked to have a lot of new wood and tho warned it was rough?  Loved it and rode multiple times.   My favorite coaster in the park.   

Kentucky flyer was fun but short with some funky transitions

Didn’t ride T3 (NO thank you). But did ride the roller skater - which has a beautiful setting and unique layout I thought 

 

GORGEOUS carousel too. Tho sadly in need of a lot of love as the paint is in *bad* shape 

 

oh and they have cinnamon bread now too. (And lots of dolly and country music being played thruout the park ) 

if I can only go to one?

I’d go back to kk  even tho curious about trying the missed coasters at hw   Tho of voyage is the smoothest of the woodies?  Prolly good rained out 

 

 

[bert425]

Kim is driving. 
 

I read her your query. And she says yes it’s doable.  But not enjoyable

 

and holiday world will be PACKED in the afternoon (see above my comment about wait times shortly after open and raven & legend w/ 1 train ops 

 

id stick with kk.  Or do the reverse and start at hw and hit kk on way back to Cincinnati.  Kim agrees

[thrillseeker4552]

Thank you (and Kim) for the tips. Sounds like arriving mid-day at Holiday World, especially on a holiday weekend, is a no-go. Perhaps I'll take your guys' advice and do the reverse and start there, and hit KK on the way back if time/weather allows. I think I'm more interested in HW than KK. I've been on a million RMCs but the Voyage has been a huge bucket list ride for me, rough or not lol. Sad to hear you guys had a rough experience there.

So hopefully arriving at KK mid-day wouldn't be as bad as HW, and if so I'd just skip it and go back to KI. I guess I'll see how things play out before buying tickets.

Thanks

[bert425]

She says kk won’t be more busy in afternoon.  Especially since water park in center opens next weekend and will draw the crowd to that

[prozach626]

  

4 hours ago, bert425 said:

GORGEOUS carousel too. Tho sadly in need of a lot of love as the paint is in *bad* shape 

SFSTL says they can have it painted and good to go in three short years.

[KBrylczyk]

16 hours ago, bert425 said:

...and this musical carousel where you ride the instruments !

 

no. Really: 

[grsupercity]

18 hours ago, thrillseeker4552 said:

Alright, I need some advice. I will be in the Cincinnati area this weekend. I'm going to Kings Island on Saturday, that is locked in. I have a hotel right near Kings Island on Saturday night and Sunday night. Considering I have all day Saturday with FL+ at Kings Island (which I've been to before minus Orion), I am heavily considering going to KK and HW on Sunday while I am in the area since I don't really need two entire full days at KI. Can someone please let me know if this plan is crazy or somewhat doable? Keep in mind it is a holiday weekend.

Get up early Sunday morning at my hotel near KI and drive to KK, getting there at 10am opening. Stay for 2-ish hours (however long necessary to ride the major coasters and re-ride a couple). Leave around lunch and head to HW, gaining the hour drive back. Getting to Holiday World around 1-2pm and staying until closing at 7pm. Drive 3 hours back to hotel near KI.

Is this too crazy? Any weird traffic patterns I should know about? Would arriving in the afternoon at Holiday World on Memorial Day Sunday be way too crowded to make it worth it? I'm not really a water park person so I am primarily interested in the woodies and Thunderbird.

I suppose I could ask this in the HW thread too. But I am asking about both parks, and if attempting this on Memorial Day weekend is a death wish or perhaps doable. Thank you all!

Kentucky Kingdom is so much fun. Lighting Run and Storm Chaser are very good 

[Nrthwnd]

^^ I would prefer riding the cello, myself.

[prozach626]

KK has a pretty chill water park, too. I like how it's kind of intertwined with the park.

[bert425]

32 minutes ago, prozach626 said:

KK has a pretty chill water park, too. I like how it's kind of intertwined with the park.

Opens Friday, so really only got to look at it.   Couldn't even cut thru it, so we had to walk around the perimeter.

the Chute the Chutes (looked like fun) and the bizzare "abandoned meat packing plant" looking Rapids weren't open until Friday as well.

[DBru]

I say stick with your original plan. Gaining (as opposed to losing) that extra hour driving from KK to Holiday World is crucial.

If you're just interested in riding the coasters at HW, midday is actually the best time to arrive. Crowds will likely be high on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, but most of those crowds will be absorbed by the (giant) waterpark at that time of day.

[mikeykaise]

16 hours ago, DBru said:

I say stick with your original plan. Gaining (as opposed to losing) that extra hour driving from KK to Holiday World is crucial.

If you're just interested in riding the coasters at HW, midday is actually the best time to arrive. Crowds will likely be high on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, but most of those crowds will be absorbed by the (giant) waterpark at that time of day.

yes, if you're going to HW just for the coasters the best thing to do is stick to flats until the water park opens because when it does the crowds disappear from the dry side and waits for the 4 awesome coasters are best up until it closes then the lines will go back up.

[thrillseeker4552]

Thanks for the advice. I think I have decided that I will do Kentucky Kingdom at opening until around lunchtime, then head over to Holiday World for the rest of the day. Luckily the weather on Sunday looks clear, sunny, and hot - so I'm hoping the Splashin' Safari absorbs a lot of the crowds and arriving midday isn't too much of a problem for the dry coasters.

Since this is the KK thread, I feel I should ask. What is the best order to attack the coasters at opening? Lightning Run first or would it be beneficial to hit T3 and Kentucky Flyer first since they seem low capacity? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm really just interested in doing Thunder Run, Kentucky Flyer, and T3 once (unless one of them blows me away) and hoping for a couple re-rides on Lightning Run and Storm Chaser all in the first couple hours of opening if possible.

[bert425]

we went DIRECTLY back to Storm Chaser on Sunday.

now, granted, the park wasn't packed - and I get the impression it often is not, but everything other than Kentucky Flyer was running just 1 train (and Lightning Run didn't even have the other train on the transfer track.. so i'd assume that will still be running 1 train).

but .. what we did was cross the street to the back end of the park, starting with Storm Chaser, then just worked our way back forward and around.

so the order we hit them:

StormChaser (x2 since we were back there)
Thunder Run
Roller Skater (worth it. . fun layout)
bypassed T3, but walked right by it
Kentucky Flyer
Lightning Run  (1 train ops, the longest line of the day, but still only ~15 minutes)

then back for Joel to ride Storm Chaser a few more times, and to grab another lap on Thunder Run.

Seriously. . Thunder Run has a lot of new wood, very noticeable, and it was SO good, that I wanted to go back again and get a ride towards the back of the train (rougher than in the front, but still no where NEAR what I had been warned about. . . I think it was my favorite coaster in the park!)


and along the route, stopping to ride the unique flats such as Flying Dutchman, Breakdance (running great program), the drop tower looked great - but didnt' do it. . looked like the one at Knoebels,  flyers, the musical carousel, the blimps, and a few other things.

have fun. . I LOVED this funked up park.

[mikeykaise]

Lines can be slow moving and sometimes long but the main thing that people go to the park for is the water park because they have closed down a lot of the pools around the city, only 4 are open and 1 is indoor:

Louisville Parks Aquatics features three outdoor pools, 30 spraygrounds and spraypads, and an indoor aquatics facility, the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center. 

[tndank]

Lighting Run is the worst line and slowest loading. I'd start with LR myself.

It's rare people wander all the way to Storm Chaser.  Lines are never long back there.  Same for KY Flyer. 

 

[Arthur_Seaton]

On 5/27/2022 at 5:43 AM, thrillseeker4552 said:

Thanks for the advice. I think I have decided that I will do Kentucky Kingdom at opening until around lunchtime, then head over to Holiday World for the rest of the day. Luckily the weather on Sunday looks clear, sunny, and hot - so I'm hoping the Splashin' Safari absorbs a lot of the crowds and arriving midday isn't too much of a problem for the dry coasters.

Since this is the KK thread, I feel I should ask. What is the best order to attack the coasters at opening? Lightning Run first or would it be beneficial to hit T3 and Kentucky Flyer first since they seem low capacity? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm really just interested in doing Thunder Run, Kentucky Flyer, and T3 once (unless one of them blows me away) and hoping for a couple re-rides on Lightning Run and Storm Chaser all in the first couple hours of opening if possible.

I've done the KI > KK > HW plan you're proposing, only it wasn't a holiday weekend. KK and HW are totally doable on the same day under normal circumstances (especially with that extra hour), but it's a rushed day for sure. I got multiple rides on Lightning Run and Storm Chaser (I didn't particularly like either all that much — Thunder Run was cool, though), and then multiple rides on Raven, Legend, Voyage, and Thunderbird (Raven was the clear winner for me).

In my experience at KK, Lightning Run has a painfully-slow line that fills fast, even when the park's kind of quiet. I'd be inclined to rope-drop that one, just in case it becomes unrideable later. T3 is trash and kind of out of the way in the park. Unless you just have to ride it, I'd plan to skip that one. The ride itself isn't terrible, but the thigh-crushing restraints are probably the worst I've experienced.