GINORMOUS PTR/VTR: SFKK, Holiday World, and KI July 20-22, 2009

[gigacoaster2k]

Since the three of us (Tom76257, violakat03, and I) had all gotten the same days off, we decided to break out the cash and plan a massive coaster trip!

Warning: This is a BIG one. You may want to grab a snack!

** DAY ONE: SIX FLAGS KENTUCKY KINGDOM, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY **

The three of us agreed to meet up at Kat's house at 8 am Monday morning so we could get everything together, get food and ice, etc., and then head down to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom for the day. Tom and I had never been there, but Kat had, and I had a season pass voucher that I still had yet to process.

Kat had texted us the night before and asked what kind of food we wanted, and we had a giant cooler and bag stuffed with food and drinks (thanks again, Kat!). So we jam packed the 3 of us, our stuff for 3 days, a giant 2 bedroom 4 car garage tent, food and drinks into her Saturn Vue, and it was off to Six Flags!

We arrived at SFKK around noon.

Tom pulled out a coupon at the sales window, and the girl at the window told him it was for Six Flags St Louis, then she crumpled it and threw it away. He was shocked.. I asked if he could have his coupon back and she said no. So since I had a season pass and Kat was buying her own ticket, we both entered the park while Tom waited outside because we wanted to see if we could get a free or discounted ticket with my season pass. The best deal they had was bring a friend for $20.

Once in the park, we went to Guest Relations, where we complained, and they happily gave Tom his coupon back.

Here is me with my season pass!

Yeah buddy.

I took a few photos from the guest relations window while we were waiting for Tom to get his coupon back.

This was the first time I'd seen a skycoaster like this.

Kat: "It's Kat posing with a cat! HA HA!" I love her!

Onward to the coasters! Tom wanted to make Chang his 40th coaster, so we headed for RoadRunner Express first (a wild mouse).. even though I was drooling at the mere sight of Greezed Lightnin. I was really itching to ride that one.

We actually got some decent lats and pretty crazy air on this! Tom couldn't stop saying "airtime on a wild mouse!" It was a lot more fun than I'd expected it to be.

Some shots of the midway.. the park is surprisingly clean!

Here comes coaster #40 for me.. GREEZED LIGHTNIN!!

LOL Kat told me to get a photo of the truck

Kat had told me that in the very back, it feels like you're going to fall out.. so I ran for the very rear seat! This is one underrated ride, especially for people who love launched coasters. I was peeking at the control panel, and the ride op told me to stop looking at her buttons.. we all got a good laugh out of that one!

There was no one waiting for the seats in front of us after our first ride, so we jumped in the empty seats and re-rode! GL is not in my top 5, but definitely worth mentioning IMO!

Walking over to the bridge to ride *shudder* T2, I saw this sign.. Tom commented that Terpy was right about the Six Flags ads.. I mean, seriously.

I took this opportunity to take some photos of the park and Chang as we walked over to T2. Here is the Ferris wheel that we didn't ride.

Wanna see some Chang?

T2, here we come.

Strange as it may sound, T2 was not painful at all to me. It bumped my ears once or twice, but that was it. I actually had fun on that ride.

Onward we headed to Thunder Run! I saw this

and felt instant excitement.. I seem to remember another park that puts flags on its wooden coasters??

A photo of the first drop! I have a new respect for wooden coasters since my first visit to Holiday World.

More of Thunder Run's wooden (trimless!!) goodness.

When the coaster stops on the brake run, you can hear the upstop wheels spinning like crazy under the train.. it was great!

Kat is slowly getting me hooked on carousels and their history (I love historical things), so it was off to the carousel we went.

Nerd shot of info on the carousel.

Off to the Roller Skater we went, because we are credit wh0r3s. Tom could barely get in the car because he's so tall!

We decided it was time to go to the car and get a snack, so we started to walk to the front. On the way, we saw Tweety! Kat had said she wanted a pic, and so did I, and I didn't want to leave Tom out, so I flagged down an employee and had her take a photo of the three of us!

We went out to the car and feasted on pretzels, grapes, granola bars, Hershey bars, pop-tarts, Gatorade, water and diet Mountain dew. Then it was time to go back in for more rides!

Kat saw a spinning ride called Breakdance that she just had to ride, so in favor of not getting severely ill, Tom and I sat out on this one. I did take video of her riding, however!

Kat getting pumped to ride the whirl and hurl! J/K Kat, you know I love you!

Me hugging the ice cream shop while Kat spins away (and trying not to go in and order one of everything.. GIGA LOVES ICE CREAM!!).

Off to Chang we went. I had been unsure about this, as I barely remember King Cobra and I absolutely hate Mantis.. but I'd been told that Chang was much better.. boy, were they ever right. I felt NO headbanging on Chang whatsoever, and it was smooth as glass.. that was awesome!

I wanted to ride a spinning ride that I could handle, and I was thrilled to see Enterprise! (It's like a larger version of Witches Wheel at Cedar Point.) I know how much Kat loves spinning rides, and I was ecstatic to be able to ride a spinning ride with her. Tom even braved his stomach and got on.. and felt fine afterward! I was so happy that the three of us could ride that and none of us got dizzy or sick!

I STILL wanted a spinny ride, and was practically jumping for joy to see a Himalaya ride.. so the three of us got on and had a blast!

We decided at this point that we needed to plan what we wanted to ride again, and stopped for some banana split Dippin Dots on our way back to *yay* Greezed Lightnin! I had to stop and take a photo of these steps.

We rode Greezed Lightnin and Thunder Run, then headed out.

The park is really not as horrible as some people make it out to be. The employees were friendly and they interacted with the guests, the park was surprisingly clean, and the rides were fun. The downfall was that they advertised shirts they don't have, and the 1 train ops were a little annoying, but overall, we enjoyed Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.

My ride count:

Greezed Lightnin - 3

Thunder Run - 2

Chang - 1

RoadRunner Express - 1

Enterprise - 1

Himalaya - 1

Carousel - 1

T2 - 1

Roller Skater - 1

Warning #2: I can get a little happy with my camera sometimes.. I was on a rush from coasters and ice cream on the way to Santa Claus, so here are the crazy photos you all love so much!

A shot of Greezed Lightnin on the way out! Goodbye, fun coaster with a launch horn!

I GIVE SFKK A THUMBS UP. Don't agree? Too bad!

Tom is trying to grab my camera, lol.

Guess what? Kat also gives SFKK a thumbs up.

So does Tom.

Kat is making faces at me.. why? Because I told her to.

This is Tom's idea of "making a face." TOM IS FAIL.. haha j/k

Since I told everyone else to make a face, I might as well too.. and yes, I put my stunna shades over my regular glasses sometimes.. haha

I really like this skyline shot that I snapped of Louisville... skylines are one of my favorite things to photograph.

More pretty scenery.

And we turn a corner and..

HOLIDAY WORLD!!!!!!

.. oh, how I've missed you.

I do not believe this shot of Voyage that I got. I put it as my desktop wallpaper.

Out to Lincoln State Park we went, to camp out for the night.. VERY nice, quiet, roomy campground, MUCH better than the cramped, noisy, bug-smothered KOA dump we stayed at during CoasterMania. We finally got our tent up around 10 pm CDT, and left to get firewood and ice, then passed out for the night.. I'm surprised I slept at all knowing that Holiday World was right down the road and that we were going the next day!

Stay tuned!

[gigacoaster2k]

** DAY TWO: HOLIDAY WORLD, SANTA CLAUS, INDIANA **

We woke up early to start a campfire.. well, Kat showed us how to properly start a fire. That girl knows it all when it comes to camping, thank goodness for Girl Scouts.. no joke, this girl seriously knows her stuff, and it helps!

We started our morning with hot dogs and s'mores made over the campfire with the sun shining through the trees and birds singing.. gosh, what a hard life lol.

Speaking of that, I loved that we were at the edge of the forest. I stopped counting at 30 different species of birds, both seen and heard. For the first time in my life, I heard a pileated woodpecker, and saw an eastern wood pewee, and even saw a parent chipping sparrow feeding their little one, and two hummingbirds fighting over the orange flowers at the edge of the forest.. yes, I know this stuff! I love nature!

The three of us took showers, and got to the park shortly after it opened.. and both lots were PACKED.

We decided to take advantage of the tram that goes to the entrance.. here we are on the tram!

We wanted to start Tom off with Raven (it was Tom's first visit to Holiday World), but the line was RIDICULOUS.. so we opted for Legend instead! Gotta love the crazy insane lats on that thing!

We went to check Raven's line, but it was still ridiculous.. so to my extreme ecstatic excitement, we headed for

VOYAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy some tasty Voyage photos.. you may need a rag to mop up your drool!!

FLYBY! (Is this technically a flyby? If not, someone kindly inform me, please.. thank you)

Tom's first words after his first ride were: "Sorry, Beast!"

We ran back and rode it again (why not?), and then headed to Liberty Launch.

That queue practically invites line jumpers.. but that little tower delivers quite a punch of airtime!

Midway shot, and Legend!

Theming.

We headed over to HoliDog's FunTown for Tom's Howler credit, and were joking about how many Gs it pulls and how we were going to gray out on it.

After that, we headed to Raven to see that it was a walk on, so we rode twice, and then headed back over to Legend, and then back to Voyage!

I cannot take enough pictures of this amazing thing.

We wanted to ride Pilgrims Plunge, but the line was ridiculous and by that I mean the entire queue was full. Here are some more photos I took on the way to the Plunge before we skipped it.

Legend and Voyage in the same photo.. where's MY rag? LOL

VOYAGE.

Time to ride the carousel! Kat, you got me hooked, darn you! J/K

Kat on the carousel..

Tom on the carousel (I think he's scared, hahaha)..

And a very dark photo of me on the carousel.

Isn't my horse/dragon awesome? The ride op was telling me it was HERS.. lol.

Kat had told us that the bumper cars were pretty hardcore, so we took a spin on those. I didn't really feel a difference between those and other bumper cars.. I ALWAYS get rammed! haha.

Kat then said she was abandoning Tom and I so she could go ride spinny rides. Tom and I went for another shot on Liberty Launch, and I took a video.

I had been insisting all day that we go to Mrs Klaus' Kitchen to get some sweet treats, since I'd yet to try the fudge.. OHHH MY GOODNESS. One bite and I'm STILL having dreams about it!

We headed for another ride on Legend, and then decided to hit Pilgrims Plunge, it was a walk on. They have turned the water off on the drop, and the boat just FLIES now.. you get so drenched at the bottom it is not even funny, no matter where you sit. Even the geysers drench you now! If you were disappointed with Plunge the first time, ride it again when you go back if the water is turned off on the drop.. I guarantee you won't be disappointed when you're still wringing water out of your clothes 3 hours later.. that was totally worth it!

Since we were over that way, we decided to hit Voyage again, and then stopped for funnel cakes. It was getting late (and dark!) by this time, so we decided to make Legend and Voyage our last rides.

Our last ride of the night was the last train on Voyage.. a rainy night ride with an open MCBR! That was definitely an epic win.

My ride count:

Voyage - 5

Legend - 4

Raven - 2

Liberty Launch - 2

Pilgrims Plunge - 1

Carousel - 1

Rough Riders Bumper Cars - 1

Howler - 1

Afterward, I wanted to hit the gift shop, so we headed up there. I bought 3 postcards, a hoodie, and some candy for Tom to surprise him with when we got back to the car.

I don't remember who said that there were plaques on the side of the applause fountain that showed which parks had won that award. Kat said Cedar Point was on there somewhere, so we all started looking for it, and after almost a full lap around, we found the CP plaque. I wanted to take a picture of it, but couldn't figure out how to adjust my flash because it was so dark outside. At that moment, the unthinkable happened.. my camera slipped from my hands, bounced on the edge of the fountain, and plop.. into the water went my CyberShot with a 4 gig memory card inside. I fished that thing out so fast, but it was too late. The lens had opened and the screen lit up when it hit the bottom of the fountain. I was not happy.

We headed back to the campsite, and passed out, with possible thoughts of Kings Island and/or Beech Bend the next day.

** DAY THREE: Kings Island, MASON, OHIO **

The three of us woke up to POURING rain around 7 am CDT. Check out wasn't until 2 pm, so we pretty much just hung out and snacked on junk food until the rain let up. Then we packed up the soggy, spidery tent and realized we hadn't really eaten any real food, and our campfire was pretty much a puddle, so we went to the neighbor's campsite to roast some hot dogs and chatted with them while we ate.

Kat and Tom were trying to keep an eye on the time since checkout was at 2, and it was "strictly enforced!!" This led to me joking that "watch, we'll pull up to the window at 2:01 and they'll tell us we overcamped and that we have to pay $80,000 in fines." Kat almost died laughing wondering how someone could overcamp. I told her I'd blame myself for wanting more mustard on my hot dog.

We decided not to go to Beech Bend, and settled on Kings Island since we all had a sudden craving for DB.

North of Louisville, we ran into some idiot drivers.. and yes, it was so bad, it was worth a video. Check this out.

I got bored and started taking cell phone pics, since my camera had been pretty much rendered worthless.

Here is an epic fail pic of me.. trying to show off my season passes, yet i'm holding them all UPSIDE DOWN.

I took another one. I think Tom's laughing at me, but hey, I was laughing at myself so it's all good.

I also laughed out loud at this license plate.

It was STILL pouring rain, and I found out that Kyle (kjkjkj) and his sister Ashley (Ashers) were at KI, and they said it was pouring there too.. we decided to go anyway to see what was open.

When we got there, the lot was EMPTY and it was still pouring. We met up with Kyle and Ash, and rode Drop Tower.. which was very, very weird. It didn't spin at all on the way up, but right before it hit the very top, it rotated ever so slightly. I counted 6 seconds and it didn't drop.. 2 or 3 seconds later, it finally dropped. That was the weirdest Drop Tower ride I've ever had in my life.. but it was fun especially in the pouring rain!

We were heading to Delirium, when I heard the Diamondback air horn. I started screaming that I heard the DB air horn, so we all made a mad dash for DB.. and sure enough, there were trains going up the hill in the pouring rain!

The station was DESERTED, so they were letting us stay on for re-rides! I realized after 3 rides in 10 minutes that I was very likely going to hit my 100th ride, so that was my plan! When it did come around, Tom rode with me.. so did Kat, Ash, Kyle, Gabriel, and Ryan Wildman.. and the ride ops announced my 100th ride in the station!

Here is my 100th ride pic, you can see Kat and Gabriel making the 100 sign for me! Thanks again for riding with me, you all are awesome!

After 14 rides in the freezing, pouring rain, I was done.. so we called it a day and headed home.

My ride count:

Diamondback - 14 (now at 101 rides!)

Drop Tower - 1

I can not thank everyone enough for one of the most amazing vacations I've ever had in my life. I nearly cried when it was over.. I wish i could rewind to Monday and do it all over again.

[TheCryptRaider]

Looks like fun! I want to go ride Voyage NOW!

[Justin_M17]

Looks like you guys had a blast And i'm almost tempted to go out to SFKK and HW sometime next month now

And LMAO at the idiot drivers and the license plate ^.^

[DropZone99]

Wow Sounds super fun! You guy's should really take me to HW sometime, I haven't been since 2001! Congratulations on the 100th. Ride, I'm still at 51...

[Tom76257]

Nice TR, Angie. I had a GREAT 3 days at 3 parks from 3 different owners and being part of a wonderful group of 3 people (Yeah, I said it. LOL!). Thanks for inviting me and thanks to Kat for driving us all over.

Also, for those of you who haven't ridden The Voyage yet, RIDE IT! There is NOTHING to describe the ride that it gives you. After my first ride and the re-ride that came after it, my adrenaline level FINALLY went back to normal about 2 and a half hours later. I've NEVER had a coaster give me that much of a rush before! Enough good things about this coaster can't be said.

One more thing. For re-rides, The Legend simply can't be beaten at Holiday World. It's well-themed, delivers a great ride, and you simply have to love the wolf howl and the words, "DON'T LOOK BACK!" while going down the first lift hill. I remember all three of us contributing to the imitation of this on Diamondback the next day! CLASSIC!

[Tomkatt7]

What a great trip!!!

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun.

The place that my wife works at did a lot of the metal work for The Voyage. They have a picture of it up on their web-site!!!

A picture of it, when it was new:

http://www.hotdipgalvanizing.com/showcase/port_coaster7.html

[TOPGUN1993]

Very nice, You have to try out El Toro sometime soon

[Beast79]

Nice PTR, makes me want to make a short trip down to SFKK, looks like Chang has gotten a new paint job since I was there. I thought it was funny how the maintenance guys were just hanging around Breakdance And yes Angie that is a flyby on Voyage!

[DaveStroem]

Another great TR. But again we just missed each other. We were at SFKK on Sunday and HW on Monday.

Isn't it weird how Raven & Legend can go from a 1 hour wait to a near walk on just an hour later.

[KYJoe]

I love the skyline shots you got of Louisville. We have a lot of great concerts, and events out at the park right on the river by the bridges, it always makes for some good pictures on a nice day.

It looks crowded at Holiday World, I have never been there when the lower queue house was open for the Voyage, but I usually never go in July.

I live 15 minutes away from SFKK, but I haven't been in years, the place just does not do anything for me. It looked really good in your pictures. It almost makes me want to check it out again. Does anybody remember when the water park used to have the big kahuna waves?

[DaveStroem]

I love the skyline shots you got of Louisville. We have a lot of great concerts, and events out at the park right on the river by the bridges, it always makes for some good pictures on a nice day.

It looks crowded at Holiday World, I have never been there when the lower queue house was open for the Voyage, but I usually never go in July.

I live 15 minutes away from SFKK, but I haven't been in years, the place just does not do anything for me. It looked really good in your pictures. It almost makes me want to check it out again. Does anybody remember when the water park used to have the big kahuna waves?

The park was pretty crowded on Monday, but the lower queue was not open. Now on Raven & Legend, at one point both of their queues were completely full.

Angie, Yes I would call it a fly by. When the train comes through there it certainly is flying.

[violakat03]

Nice PTR, makes me want to make a short trip down to SFKK, looks like Chang has gotten a new paint job since I was there. I thought it was funny how the maintenance guys were just hanging around Breakdance And yes Angie that is a flyby on Voyage!

Apparently one of the cars broke on it, because after I got off it, they were working on a car for a little while.

Another great TR. But again we just missed each other. We were at SFKK on Sunday and HW on Monday.

Isn't it weird how Raven & Legend can go from a 1 hour wait to a near walk on just an hour later.

Yeah, when we got there, Raven was a full queue, Legend was about 30 minutes. We went and rode Voyage twice, came back and Legend was 5-10 minutes but Raven was still long. We did some other stuff, came back, and Raven was a complete walk-on.

[Gabe]

Nice TR, Ang! So is your camera kaput? sometimes if you let it dry out it will work again..I assume you uploaded the pics by taking out your card? Looks like you guys had fun for sure! Hope to see you at KI soon!

[Asa]

could you post a link to the YouTube video please? My browser won't let me play it from your TR. lol.

I <3 HW

[gigacoaster2k]

Gabe, my camera is indeed worthless. I let it dry out, put the battery back in, and tried to turn it on, and it started shorting out. It's in the trash.. I really don't care. It was only $99. The only thing I really cared about was that my memory card still worked.. which it did.

Asa: Here are the links to my videos.. sorry about that!

[The Interpreter]

I'm so sorry about the camera! You must have ridden T2 near the front...the further towards the back you sit on that thing, the more frontwards/backwards/frontwards/backwards/frontwards/backwards shuffling you get. When I was a bigger man, I never had the first problem on it. Now, I ride in the front seat or not at all...

[Guest rcfreak339]

I'm so sorry about the camera! You must have ridden T2 near the front...the further towards the back you sit on that thing, the more frontwards/backwards/frontwards/backwards/frontwards/backwards shuffling you get. When I was a bigger man, I never had the first problem on it. Now, I ride in the front seat or not at all...

That feeling is the absolute worst....You Angie were the first person I have ever heard say that actually liked T2, it's the 2nd worst coaster Ive ever been on....

[The Interpreter]

I used to adore the thing and not understand those who did not like it...then I lost a great deal of weight and am no longer well padded. I will never forget my first ride on T2 after losing a substantial amount of weight. Not fun. Not fun at all.

[Guest rcfreak339]

I would have not handeled the coupon situation as well as you did! That was just absolutly rude and that is not normal Kentucky Kingdom employee behavior. Good job for handling it so well!

[rotag]

hey angie, your hands smell like voyage again?

rotag, recalling a similar discusion in ki parking lot.

[gigacoaster2k]

hey angie, your hands smell like voyage again?

rotag, recalling a similar discusion in ki parking lot.

!

For some reason, Voyage's tunnels stunk earlier this year.. smelled a little like a cross between wet wood and dead animals. There was no smell this time. But when they did stink, I always came off with a faint odor from the tunnels, so I'd repeatedly sniff my hands, proudly announcing to my friends that I smelled like Voyage.

[rotag]

ooOOoo, that is smelly, glad you had fun.

[IndyGuy4KI]

Looks like you guys had a good time! Thanks for sharing with us!

[StalkerChick]

soooo jealous. wish i coulda joined ya!! i so need to get to those parks now. its official

and i dont know how kat does those rides. i had to quite watching the first video halfway through cuz i was getting dizzy just watching it!

[beastrider97]

Like usual a great trip report. I WANNA GO TO HW!

[DiamondbackLover]

Well you're sure energetic. Good Trip Report. Voyage is my favorite wooden roller coaster.