Kentucky Kingdom (SFKK, KK) Discussion Thread

They are going to town on Kentucky Flyer, can't wait til April. Photos courtesy of Save Kentucky Kingdom.

Wow they sure are making a lot of progress! Can’t wait to ride!

Wow they sure are making a lot of progress! Can’t wait to ride!

Yeah, its pretty amazing how early its going up. I'm guessing that they wanted to wrap construction up before the park is buried in snow? Or maybe they wanted to sneak it in before the NIMBY people jumped in and put a halt to them.

Looks great! Makes me wonder if this'll be a bigger hit than Thunder Run. The park seems to love putting in new rides with plenty of airtime.

If it rides anything like the other Gravity Group small woodies, this will undoubtedly be more popular than Thunder Run. The Timberliners give a smooth and airtime filles ride in every seat.

Love it! I have still yet to ride one of these Gravity Group woodies, but Kentucky Kingdom has been on my radar for a few years now. This, Lightning Run, and Storm Chaser will be a very solid trio that not many parks can match.

If it rides anything like the other Gravity Group small woodies, this will undoubtedly be more popular than Thunder Run. The Timberliners give a smooth and airtime filles ride in every seat.

I actually liked Thunder Run too. Thought that it was pretty smooth. Only dead-weight in the park IMO is T3, it went from being a headbanger to a thighcrush with the new restraints. Lightning Run and Storm Chaser are both top 20 steel for me.

Of course construction is moving fast. This coaster is tiny, which I'm not complaining about.

Red rails and track is starting to go up. Thanks to Mark Brunner at KK for sharing pictures of construction of Kentucky Flyer.

Red rails are going up

Track is starting to go down

^Not gonna lie... that white with red looks seeexy.

Also, can more park invest in these family GG woodies? MIA, Dorney? Please? Thanks!

^Not gonna lie... that white with red looks seeexy.

 

Also, can more park invest in these family GG woodies? MIA, Dorney? Please? Thanks!

Give it some time. Maybe it'll happen. Woodies are becoming less popular to buy in general. Parks can save money with the steel coasters, and the GP doesn't really seem to care about the difference that much. Parks might have 1-2 just to check the boxes off, but if they're bigger parks they'll probably want a bigger wooden coaster. Hence why these small woodies have been going to smaller parks.

MIA, Dorney? Please?

I too love the color scheme probably because it matches the Yankee Cannonball.

Woodies are becoming less popular to buy in general..

Funny, the numbers tell a different story. According to RCDB the amount of woodies built each year over the last 15 years:

2004 - 5

2005 - 1

2006 - 4

2007 - 6

2008 - 5

2009 - 5

2010 - 2

2011 - 5

2012 - 2

2013 - 5

2014 - 3

2015 - 5

2016 - 6

2017 - 7

2018 - 4

I guess it depends where you're looking at. The steelies and unique ones (i.e. RMC hybrids) hog most of the limelight, and new "box car" woodies are practically phasing out.

Some recent ones that came to my mind are compact (Mine Blower, White Lightning, Kentucky Flyer), and others were even weird "almost-but-not-technically-hybrid" things (Outlaw Run, Lightning Rod, Goliath).

Upon checking RCDB mid-typing this, I left out GCI's (Mystic Timbers, Gold Striker).

MIA, Dorney? Please?

 

Yeaaaa.. the likelihood of either of those two parks getting one are low. But assuming with the low cost of these smaller GG woodies ya think if those two (or similar) parks would consider new coasters anytime in the next decade or 3 these rides would be legitimate candidates.

MIA, Dorney? Please?

 

 

 

Yeaaaa.. the likelihood of either of those two parks getting one are low. But assuming with the low cost of these smaller GG woodies ya think if those two (or similar) parks would consider new coasters anytime in the next decade or 3 these rides would be legitimate candidates.

MIA already has 3 wood coasters. One being a junior woodie called Zachs Zoomer. Dorney on the other hand could use a solid wood coaster. I would love to see a mind blower type ride at that park. But considering Cedar Fairs love affair with GCI it would most likely not be a gravity group.

2nd Train for Kentucky Flyer released today. Thanks to Kentucky Kingdom for the picture.

Silver Train

MIA, Dorney? Please?

 

Michigan's adventure already blew the next 3 years budgets on a new park bench.

MIA, Dorney? Please?

 

 

Michigan's adventure already blew the next 3 years budgets on a new park bench.

Don't forget new garbage cans. It is a Cedar Fair park after all.

Personally I'd like to see KK next coaster be a launched coaster

Personally I'd like to see KK next coaster be a launched coaster

The owner of the park, Ed Hart, has said on multiple occasions he doesn't like launched coasters because it kills the anticipation of going up a lift hill

Personally I'd like to see KK next coaster be a launched coaster

The owner of the park, Ed Hart, has said on multiple occasions he doesn't like launched coasters because it kills the anticipation of going up a lift hill

Now that you mentioned it, I feel like I had heard that before. That's unfortunate. One could have the argument that waiting for a launch can produce more anticipation for a coaster than a lift hill.

Personally I'd love to see KK be one of the first American parks to invest in some new generation Vekoma rides.

Maybe work a deal to re-track T3 like Morey's did with Great Nor'Easter and some new trains as well as add a new gen looper like Lech. https://rcdb.com/11034.htm

A man can dream!

Personally I'd like to see KK next coaster be a launched coaster

The owner of the park, Ed Hart, has said on multiple occasions he doesn't like launched coasters because it kills the anticipation of going up a lift hill

Not just that, but I could see them being an issue for a smaller park on a budget. They're pretty expensive, and they require a ton of maintenance. Plus, there is a lot of downtime. I think that for the purpose of KK, where the ride-up is a little more modest (in terms of numbers, NOT quality), it wouldn't be ideal to have a signature ride in your line-up that people may have traveled for that may have a lot of unexpected downtime when there aren't a lot of rides in the park beyond it.