Louisville local here! I’m excited for this but I hope it’s better than Pumpkins at the Kingdom in the fall. While the lights were great, they were only on the entrance’s side of the park. Thunder Run was closed for the season with its entire entrance blocked off and Lightning Run wasn’t operating that night either. Got a ride on Storm Chaser, which I’m obviously a big fan of lol lol but they were only running one train on a Saturday night when it was fairly busy. I wasn’t really impressed with the park operations relative to the summer.
The park operations performance during peak season ranges from average to slightly below average. But the fall event really reminded me of the bumpy times at KK when the park first reopened with Lightning Run, which just so happened to also be the year I worked at the park as my first job in high school hahaha Lightning Run was a great comeback but pretty much everything else was pure chase lol
I’m noticing very gradual and encouraging signs of improvement in the the park’s performance in ride operations, guest services, etc. since Herschend took over, albeit much slower than I expected and wanted to see. For example, T3 is still standing and 100% intact, from what I could tell when I last drove by about a week ago or so. I was hoping to see faster movement to usher in its replacement. Hopefully they rip it down soon and get working on something new, even if it is just a water park expansion.
Anyway, I’m excited to see how this event goes and I’m rooting for their success! Hopefully they beef up the fall event and really knock the new Christmas event out of the park, pun intended hehe Although KK has had a rocky history and still has some issues to sort through, I think Herschend is showing a willingness to invest in the park long term. I wanna see my hometown underdog succeed haha My home park at heart is always Kings Island though, that short little drive to Cincinnati is the BEST. No matter what KK does, I assure you locals here will continue to drive up to KI for as long as it’s open, given KK’s long list of limitations. I mean heck Holiday World is an even shorter drive than KI from Louisville and a far superior park to KK with plenty of room to expand.
Long time lurker here and just got the itch to weigh in on this one. Might try to do so more. I’m so excited for the spring and summer! I’ve got my HW, KK, and KI season passes ready to go. I’m visiting a friend at the beginning of April, who is in graduate school at UNC. We’re gonna hit up KD and Carowinds with my all park passport, then do a day at BGW as well. It will be my first time at BGW and I’m stoked! Little bummed Loch Ness won’t reopen till May but they have plenty more to offer that I’m excited about! This summer I think I’m gonna do a week long trip starting with Cedar Point then driving east to hit up all the Pennsylvania parks for the first time. So many great rides with rich history out there. Hoping to make this a great summer full of new experiences!