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I hope it's successful. I'm more than excited about visiting Kentucky Kingdom for the first time. I know that some think this park is going to fail, but Rome wasn't built in a day, let the man make his attempt at rebuilding the park before you say it's going to close by 201_.

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Heard this on Facebook and I'm so excited! Looks like I'll be getting some new coaster credits next year (though I don't know how many because the site's not too specific- it only specifically mentions Thunder Run as re-opening)! :D Bummer that T2 isn't opening until 2015 though...

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On wdrb news you can see new lumber on the tracks of Thunder Run

For the new coaster, There is no way it will be a B&M IMO. Maybe 2015/2016. I bet its a wooden coaster though. The faith of Greezed Lighting is still unknown.

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New Roller Coaster To Be Open On Opening Day, 2014:

http://m.fox19.com/autojuice?targetUrl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.fox19.com%2fstory%2f22705614%2fexpansion-plans-revealed-for-kentucky-kingdom

Excuse me, but, "Yeah, right...."

Why do you say this?

Remember Gatekeeper was built in a smaller amount of days than Kentucky Kingdom has until opening day. It's very possible, unless it's an Intamin...then it could be open at some time after the park is open! lol

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Heard this on Facebook and I'm so excited! Looks like I'll be getting some new coaster credits next year (though I don't know how many because the site's not too specific- it only specifically mentions Thunder Run as re-opening)! :DBummer that T2 isn't opening until 2015 though...

Got to be the first time that has been said about an SLC.

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Heard this on Facebook and I'm so excited! Looks like I'll be getting some new coaster credits next year (though I don't know how many because the site's not too specific- it only specifically mentions Thunder Run as re-opening)! :DBummer that T2 isn't opening until 2015 though...

Got to be the first time that has been said about an SLC.

Yeah, I've never ridden an SLC before and I'd really like to (even though I've heard they're rough). :)

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The “Our goal is to be the most affordable theme park in the region.” part made me laugh. They don't exactly have a choice in my eyes to be a cheaper alternative to either KI or HW, as the park is already on its last legs.

Can you imagine if the park was more expensive than KI or HW? That would certainly make a rocky road ahead even tougher.

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Unless it is a portable coaster, probably already in existence, this is decidedly unlikely.

While signs point to a coaster being bought or a portable coaster and the cost, why is this unlikely?

Because who is going to survey, design, manufacture and assemble a coaster in time for opening day? Not any of the big manufacturers.

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So we went from being super hush hush about the whole thing to him talking a lot and straight lying.

:rolleyes:

The old trial lawyer's question:

So which is it, Mr. Hart, were you lying then or are you lying now?

Wait til it comes out what concessions he got in the lease due to the 'unanticipated' park conditions...

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I might be all on my own here, but I sure hope that not only does Hart open Kentucky Kingdom next year when he plans to, but that it is an enormous success. I'll gladly watch several nay sayers eat crow sandwiches. I can't tell you how disappointing it is to come back to this website as a 'less-than-casual-visitor' and catch up on a few things and to have to scroll through all the negativity and skepticism. You certainly do represent the "enthusiast" community well.

I know some will try to spin their words, as to make it sound like the intent was not negative in the slightest, but the connotation is there, plain as day.

I'm happy that Ed Hart is refusing to let his dream die. I'm happy he's secured financing, happy he's got a thought out plan and happy the rides are in "great shape". For what it's worth, perhaps someone who doubts the condition of the rides has proof otherwise? Perhaps we have someone hidden in our midst who has done their own, on site, structural analysis of the rides?

It had been a long while since I decided to catch up with this site, and I know I'll be thinking long and hard before I decide to to devote anymore of my time here. There are plenty of other outlets where I can get the fix I require, and it comes with more friendly discussion and far less negativity. The sad part is, I know I'm not the only person to have come to this impasse.

I hope you all are having a lovely summer season enjoying your favorite parks, and moreover, I hope you are enjoying places other than amusement parks even more.

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Erosarrow5, had you read more than a few posts back in this thread, which you apparently did not, you would know it was Mr. Hart himself who just weeks ago very publicly said the rides and park were left in deplorable condition by Six Flags and the Fair Board, with required refurbishing being far, far more than expected and many of the rides being inoperable.

From an objective perspective, the new Kentucky Kingdom is severely undercapitalized and virtually all of the risk is to be borne by the Kentucky taxpayers (as assets and real property owned by the fair board can be sold to settle Kentucky Kingdom

debt), and otherwise only by a corporation starting out with not enough equity and deeply in debt (in what appears to be worse than pre-bankruptcy Six Flags proportions.). His own bank would not lend Hart and his investors the amount requested, and Hart at first said his investors would put more into the park. Now they are, as a loan (preferred creditor in event of bankruptcy--gee, wonder why they are doing that?)

As for negativity, you only seem to show up here sporadically seemingly only to complain of the negativity and leave again. I hope you feel much better now, and I truly mean that.

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^^ Umm...King Cobra's track was scrapped after the 2006 season, so it is no longer for sale, and has not been for sale for 8 years now. The footers (what's left of them) are all that remain at Kings Island, as I heard the trains were sent to Kings Dominion for parts and such on their "sister" coaster to King Cobra, Shockwave. If that was a joke, I apologize.

As for Kentucky Kingdom's supposed re-opening: I hope it works, but I'd have my hesitations, and questions. How much of the park will be open come May 2014? Will Thunder Run, the park's signature ride now that Chang is gone, be open and running? What exactly is this new coaster Ed Hart plans to have open with the park? (My guess: it's not going to be huge, so I'd say a Wild Mouse or something, which isn't much of a reason to drive an hour or longer to a park...)

I said it before, and I'll say it again: As a potential consumer (Louisville is only 1 hour and half or so away from Central Indiana), what will Kentucky Kingdom offer? A fun wooden coaster, possibly a Wild Mouse or something, a medium-sized waterpark, and a OK-sized selection of flat rides is what I can see at most being offered come 2014. Now, if you compare that with its 2 competitors flanking it...it does not look good.

Holiday World, to the west, offers THREE great wooden coasters to KK's one (assuming Twisted Twins does not re-open until 2016 and the new wooden coaster is still coming in the future), a MONSTER waterpark with two water coasters, the world's tallest water ride, and a decent-enough selection of flat rides and 2 small kids areas. And they make be $5 more expensive at the gate than the promised KK price, but they have free parking and free soda ($1 cheaper than KK)...which negates the difference, pretty much.

To the east, lies a MONSTER (well, at least compared to most other parks in the region, save Cedar Point of course!)...Kings Island, home of 13 roller coasters (going on 14 next year perhaps ;) ), 3 massive flat rides for thrill seekers (Delirum, Drop Tower, & WindSeeker of course), around a dozen give-or-take family flat rides outside the kids area, a huge kids area that keeps winning world's best in the golden tickets, and a large waterpark. And while the parking may be more expensive, and the food & soda much more expensive, the park also offers big discounts- you can get Kings Island tickets for $31 at Kroger in central Indiana, and during Haunt, Season Passes are sold for around $80. For a park of this size, that's a steal.

This is the biggest hurdle Kentucky Kingdom faces- they have to repair and re-open a park that hasn't added any major additions since the 1990's, some of the major rides that are still standing will be nowhere near ready or must be demolished, build new rides, and somehow make it affordable without making the park lose money- and do so against a beloved family park and a regional giant. And said regional giant will be advertising a huge new 2014 addition right in Kentucky Kingdom's face come May. Even if this somehow does work (perhaps they can live for a little while off just the local market or something?), it's not going to be instant- I don't see Kentucky Kingdom getting one million visitors through its gates again for quite some time, if it ever even happens again...

And to sum it up- I do NOT want Kentucky Kingdom to fail. A successful Kentucky Kingdom, if Ed Hart can actually pull this off, would mean not only yet another nearby amusement park to choose from (currently, there are 3 of these to me- KI, HW, and Indiana Beach- KK would make 4...) it would also force Kings Island and Holiday World to up their game and add major new attractions more often. But, just looking at all this, it doesn't look good for this park...

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I might be all on my own here, but I sure hope that not only does Hart open Kentucky Kingdom next year when he plans to, but that it is an enormous success. I'll gladly watch several nay sayers eat crow sandwiches. I can't tell you how disappointing it is to come back to this website as a 'less-than-casual-visitor' and catch up on a few things and to have to scroll through all the negativity and skepticism. You certainly do represent the "enthusiast" community well.

I know some will try to spin their words, as to make it sound like the intent was not negative in the slightest, but the connotation is there, plain as day.

I'm happy that Ed Hart is refusing to let his dream die. I'm happy he's secured financing, happy he's got a thought out plan and happy the rides are in "great shape". For what it's worth, perhaps someone who doubts the condition of the rides has proof otherwise? Perhaps we have someone hidden in our midst who has done their own, on site, structural analysis of the rides?

It had been a long while since I decided to catch up with this site, and I know I'll be thinking long and hard before I decide to to devote anymore of my time here. There are plenty of other outlets where I can get the fix I require, and it comes with more friendly discussion and far less negativity. The sad part is, I know I'm not the only person to have come to this impasse.

I hope you all are having a lovely summer season enjoying your favorite parks, and moreover, I hope you are enjoying places other than amusement parks even more.

Negativity and skepticism? Sorry not everyone is viewing the situation through rose colored glasses. Every now and then you return to KIC and poo-poo how you dislike certain users here and the boards less and less each time. Good for you, friend, then why do you still keep coming? Being skeptical of this project is to have an opinion on the given information here put out by Hart himself. I wasn't aware that as "enthusiasts" we were supposed to blindly believe any press release as God's word or that "enthusiasts" are supposed to take mystery words about "construction" as gospel when evidence proves otherwise.

I'll admit, Hart securing financing a few days before took me by surprise. I didn't see it happening given that he hadn't announced any kind of firm financing before and just weeks before had said the rides were "deteriorating" ( http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130606/NEWS01/306060074/Kentucky-Kingdom-significantly-deteriorated-analysis-says ). It seemed to me that he was getting ready to back pedal in a fashion similar to the HW group who also claimed to be so super excited about opening the park, then left when their "ride experts" determined it wasn't worth their time to do the necessary repair work.

Alas, Hart proudly stood at the gates yesterday with the money he needs. Had you read the thread, and not just casually, I've pointed out numerous times that I really do want to see the park reopen, however, by all indications Hart was giving - I didn't see that happening and to a degree I wonder how much will really be open in May. He has a massive task in front of him, not just in repair work, but in operations and clerical work as well.

I had the opportunity to visit a closed KK in the summer of 2011 ( http://queencitydiscovery.blogspot.com/2012/02/from-ruins-of-kingdom-boardwalk-rises.html

). In early 2012, I wrote about that experience and the Koch's attempt to reopen it - I maintain the same opinion I had then: I think the park is beautiful, seeing it closed it sad and it's the kind of place that deserves to be open, but I found the Koch's plan peculiar and was very skeptical of it. I feel the same way about Hart's plan.

For what it's worth, I hope you're having a great summer too and doing well - also if you come back to the forums again I hope it's to contribute and discuss, not just breeze through topics and tell us yet again why you've fallen out of love with KIC.

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The analogy to bridges is also a bad one. I worked for a state DOT in a legal capacity for 6 years and I know from that work that if a bridge is ignored for years on end, bad things inevitably happen that require more than simple maintenance to fix. I have a feeling this park is headed the way of Hard Rock/Freestyle Park-make a big splash, then quickly fade away. Assuming his season passes cost north of $60, why would anyone invest in that when you can generally renew a KI gold pass in the fall for around 70 or so?

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