Kentucky Kingdom

[APE]

Buy a ticket at Kroger and go in. If you're blacklisted we will know for sure when security tackles you as you make your trek to Thunder Run

[KI Guy]

I have a few questions for the Interpreter.

1. Is a potentially scathing review by you really noteworthy enough to warrant barring your entry to the park, (no offense)?

2. Do you think it could it be that you have just ticked them off with your criticism lately?

3. How do they know who you are? I'm sure they knew you were coming from your posts on here.

4. How are you involved in the amusement industry? Are you actively involved career-wise now or in the past? Do you know major players in the industry?

[The Interpreter]

1. Kentucky Kingdom seems to think so.

2. Quite possibly.

3. I am told they have a "visual depiction." I have met Messrs Hart, Lunsford and Glasscock on many occasions.

4. I am well known by many. Enough so that more than once, I've been referred to on tombstones for Boo events and/or rides.

[CoasterGeek101]

Why are you guys hating on Kentucky Kingdom? The park was in terrible condition when they bought it, and they worked very hard to try to restore some of its former glory.  This is their 2nd year of operating, of course they are still gonna be un-organized and attendance numbers won't be that great. I give Hart a lot of credit for taking on KK. As far as the situation with Terpy goes, the way they handled it on Facebook was very un-professional. I don't agree with one side or the other though. Terpy, I'm sorry you had that experience. I hope the park can work out a lot of their problems this season so that in the future they can compete with Holiday World, and maybe one day be on the level of Kings Island. I would love to have another major theme park in the area. I'll be saying a few prayers for the park. 

[medford]

I can't answer for him, but take him directly out of the equation and I think I can answer for the first 2.

 

Given the notable lack of PR, I would imagine this site generates a great deal of influence on attendance at KK, good or bad.  There are not many places, if any that talk about the park to the extent that is seen here.  A good or bad review by a respected member of this site (no matter who that person may be) will go a long way to influencing others decisions to attend the park or not.  When they're fighting a lack of attendance, and a lack of good PR, reviews on this site count for a bunch.  Obviously its a small percentage of people that are aware this site even exists, but its a fairly influential site for area parks in terms of information and reviews.

 

If terpy was targeted for refusal of admittance, the park once again missed out on a huge PR opportunity.  They had someone who has the minds of many people thru this site (and I'm sure elsewhere), they could have offered a park walk thru, talked about his concerns, talked about their plans and areas they plan to address.  Rather than "give the boot" a good PR person would have tried their best to influence his opinion and at a minimum make it seem like the park is striving its best to succeed.  I don't know that anyone is "hating on KK", there have been many missteps along the way, many questionable decisions.  I think most, if not all would like to see the park succeed, but many have pointed out the obstacles and missteps along the way.  It is no one's job on this site (as far as I'm aware) to promote the park, the reviews and comments on the steps taken to bring it back to life have been honest, but as with any good reporter, you just can't point out the rosey aspects, you have to point out the pitfalls; it would appear there have been many pitfalls to date.

[silver2005]

Why are you guys hating on Kentucky Kingdom? 

Oh let me count the ways.

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong about things.  I will gladly edit this post.

 

First off, this is a taxpayers' funded park. Ed Hart and company have little to nothing at risk in reviving Kentucky Kingdom.  They're using tax payer moneys, which, the land the park sits on is government owned and operated by the State Fair Board, as collateral to borrow money from the Bank of Kentucky.  If (and likely, when) the park flops, the Commonwealth loses the land and they'll probably be forced to sell off the rides.  This may not be your money at stake (or anyone else who lives outside the Commonwealth), but the principal of that action in and of itself is just plain wrong, using government money to have an entity operate and compete in the private sector.

 

In the time span they had, they had more than enough time to get things together.  T3 and a few other rides being re-introduced aren't opening until mid-May, yet they had 2 years to get the things necessary to make it work.

 

Even after giving them the benefit of the doubt (which is a HUGE issue to overlook), they've just done a lousy job.  The park needs much more funding than what is has received to get back on its feet.  They opened the first year with a comical amount of rides, including using nothing more than a few fair rides and including the construction of a Drop Tower (yes, I'm staring to come around to that side) after a rather horrible accident with the previous one.  

 

The park is making nowhere near the amount to pay off the loans adequately.  T3's paint is a pretty good indication of their financial situation.  And they want to keep borrowing money and make $1.5-2 million investments per year.  

 

Oh, and let me add that I have serious doubts Twisted Twins will open next year. 

 

They've been a PR nightmare from day 1.  They rely so much on social media and too little on the advertising that works that they draw low interest.   They openly go after anyone who's done anything wrong in their eyes, justified or not, in the public eye.  They couldn't even get a pricing structure out until just before opening day, which they now say is a 'preview weekend'.  The pricing is on par with HW and Kings Island and its nowhere in the same league as those parks.  If they don't think they're competing with them, they are in trouble.   Seriously, would you rather pay KK's price or pay a few dollars extra and get parks of better quality only a few hours away?  

 

And now, they're targeting this site.  Imagine the kind of mind of someone who is trying to rebuild a park and seems threatened by the likes of a fan site like this.   He's certainly going out of his way, that's for sure.  After how they treated Terpy, I'm actually legitimately afraid of Ed Hart.  

[FutureThrills]

I think the Louisville Market is just not big enough to support an amusement Park. There's too much solid competition with 1 to 2 hours that dwarfs the park in comparison. I do however think the Park would have had a better chance of being successful if it just opened as a Water Park. I think the Louisville Market is big enough to supported that. When I did go last year the Water park was busy. Much busier than the dry side of things. But then again the water park had more to offer than the dry side last year as well. Just thoughts although.

[The Interpreter]

Buy a ticket at Kroger and go in. If you're blacklisted we will know for sure when security tackles you as you make your trek to Thunder Run

Think about this. Do you want to be inside a park that clearly DOES NOT WANT you there?

Heaven knows what ersatz evidence they'd cook up and accuse me of. Being innocent does not mean that you cannot be arrested, incarcerated, and subjected to a very public trial.

No.

Just no.

If the place had the integrity to at least admit Saturday's charade, it'd be different.

Instead they cook up a totally implausible story...one that to be true would require me to have the patience and impulsiveness of a tot.

That is not the case.

[marth555]

Looks like Logan Adamson won't be getting into KK anytime soon.

He which would be me doesnt have any plans to

[Dieseltech20]

This kind of makes me wonder if KK is reading this website and will be doing those sorts of things to other KIC members...

Yes, they are reading this website. This very thread was started by someone connected to the park. Someone that loves to jump on everything Terp says. Just look at how quickly they were on here to blast him when he told us of his "adventures" at the park.

[The Interpreter]

And started by whining about my "negative" posts.

Read post 1.

Before he deletes/amends it.

Perhaps someone should quote it.

[Dieseltech20]

It looks like Kentucky Kingdom will have a major new ride for 2011. Could it be a coaster?

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100909/NEWS01/309100004/Reopened+Kentucky+Kingdom+would+spark+economy++study+says

 

 

*****8/23/2014*******

I created this topic in response to speculate new possible attractions at Kentucky Kingdom in response to Ed Hart's very first attempt to reopen the park in 2011 as I am a major fan of the park. Yet, this topic has primarily used to degrade Kentucky Kingdom and hopes for the park to fail here by many KIC Members. After 3 years of being closed, Hart finally received the keys of the Kingdom along with the KKRC who had invested millions to get the park back up reopening the park in 2014.Even though the park is reopened, hopes of a closed Kingdom continues on this site/thread and its successes and promises are always interpreted to failure. 

I still do not believe that anyone here wants the park to fail.

[The Interpreter]

My attempt to give Hart & Co. money on Saturday was certainly interpreted to failure.

Terp, just sayin'

[jsus]

What's wrong with you?  You're on our side, wanting the place to fail, and you tried to betray us by giving him money?  You're enabling the enemy!  I am so disappoint.

 

[APE]

Terp has never been the enemy despite the criticism he has encouraged everyone to visit the park before it goes under again.

[homestar92]

I want the park to stick around because I love the two Runs. And because another amusement park within a relatively short drive of my house is definitely something I can appreciate.

 

And I just remembered something. While I was at the park, I had been posting in this thread in real-time regarding some of the issues I was seeing. Knowing my screenname on here (which I do use elsewhere on the internet), one could probably dig up enough information on me to use process of elimination and pick me out from among the passholders at that park. Heck, my profile on here gives my date of birth and gender. That's probably enough right there considering how small their pool of passholders is. Before I left the park I tried to get a dollar soft drink at the funnel cake stand near the flyers. The associates had trouble getting my pass to scan for the discount, and after a while of being unable to get it to work, a manager at that food stand eventually just came over and told me that I could have the drink free of charge. While that was actually an example of good customer service, I am curious about my pass failing to scan at that location. To quote Led Zeppelin, "Ooh, it makes me wonder..." Funny how through their actions, something that was probably an innocuous technical hiccup at the hands of inexperienced staff on opening day now has us paranoid that they have a vendetta.

 

For now, I'll assume technical glitch. We'll see what happens next time I visit. To be completely frank, I will have my cell phone recording video from the time I exit my car to the time I get into the park (or not). Just in case. I remain hopeful that I will have a pleasant customer service experience and any footage I record will be promptly deemed unnecessary and be deleted.

[WMAJrKY]

As a Louisville resident, I would like to see something survive there. I'm so glad the decaying park of the last few years at least has some life to it now.

Will it make it? Who knows. Their efforts and planning lead me to wonder, but for now I'm going to enjoy my 2015 season pass that just arrived in the mail. It was a bargain, even if just for a few visits.

I'll be sure to post about my experiences.

[RollerNut]

Or maybe Terpy is scouting the competition. I am going to take his responses from the questions he answered and dare make the interfence that Terp is either directly or indirectly a well standing employee(loose term) of the amusement park industry with a significant importance. Therefore with his knowledge combined with his opinion(again loose term) of Kentucky Kingdom, they felt Terpy was someone they had the right to refuse service to.

Welcome to the escorted off club!

[malem]

^^^ Revoking your pass (or anyone else's pass) for posting an online review would be a very bad idea. This would be the sort of thing that obnoxious consumer affairs reporters on 11pm local newscasts take an interest in.

[bkroz]

It also makes you wonder who they've got running the social media if the person in question 1) actually responded to the question asked on Facebook (laughably amateur) and 2) seemed intimately aware of what happened.

 

Again... PR, PR, PR. Do they have an official, salaried, full-time "social media" specialist with an associated degree or work history? It sure doesn't seem so based on this event alone.

[jsus]

As Terpy would say, the park run by Mr. Hart provided exactly the response that he would have wanted.  No more, no less.  Any actions taken by members of the park toward Terpy would have been exactly as the King himself declared.  Anything else would be quite Hartless.

 

Also, I should note that I was being entirely sarcastic when I said that Terpy was trying to support "the enemy".  Reading his posts makes it clear that he doesn't necessarily want the park to fail, he just doesn't believe that it will succeed as it currently is.

[FoF96"]

Being a former Kingdomerr. The social media last year was ran by someone as young as I at 19 years old. Every action he took and everything he posted had to be "approved" before he took any action even if it was something simple.

[FoF96"]

le double post. Sorry

[shark6495]

I, and others here, appreciate your openness. But man, I really wouldn't post anything about working there. For your safety and future job options b

[Dieseltech20]

Yup. The park reads this board and obviously pays close attention to this thread. I'd say they know exactly who you are. I wouldn't use them as a reference.

[The Interpreter]

With that, I agree.

Let's go on discussing the park and its future.

Obviously, the park would want me to say...as if this never happened. Nope. I will, as others, remember.

The park made a VERY poor choice Saturday.

Then saw fit to try to paper it over. As it has all too many times before.

Access to this park is, ironically, a problem. To the disabled. To breast feeding mothers. To those who dare file complaints. To Kentucky taxpayers who live hundreds of miles from the park and may never go there, and can choose to not fund Holiday World, Beech Bend or Kings Island, but have no choice when it comes to Kentucky Kingdom. For now.

Ed Hart and his minions, the latter doing EXACTLY what he wants, may have kept me out Saturday, but November comes. Then they may find their government subsidy of risk faucet cut back or even shut off.

And there's the apparently little considered actual business of running a fun, inviting park where safety is paramount. Good public relations would also help.

The taxpayers are in this boat with you. The people want your park to succeed. Please try harder.

A park is a lot more than roller coasters, though it does help if they are actually open and people can get to them.

And for pity's sake, when customers want you to succeed and to give you money, let them.

[RailRider]

How dare you post such a well thought out response regarding Kentucky Kingdom.  Where is your rage and disbelief over the events of the weekend?

 

Still amazed how this park received taxpayer funding with little to no commotion from the people of the Commonwealth.  Politics at its finest.

 

I firmly believe that the original intentions of Hart and his cronies was to open the park for a few years on the taxpayer's dime make a lot of nickles and cut their ties all while spending as little money as possible.  The park suffers from serious cash flow issues and I don't need to see a balance sheet to know that.  Hart and his cronies are not using their private funding but whatever they receive from the Commonwealth to cash flow the park and hopefully enough ticket sales to get rides assembled and opened at some point.  I still question if T3 will even open this year.  No trains on site as far as we know and no testing of said new trains.  This should all happen in less than a month for a ride that has been shuttered for a few years?  Good luck and how much cash will they and can they sink in to this ride?  Oh the terror.

 

My mantra for this park has always been Location, Location, Location.  Which is why so many parks have failed.  I know will add Cash Flow, Cash Flow, Cash Flow as well.

[shark6495]

Im not 100% sure Hart wanted to open it just to sell it.  I honestly think he wanted to open it up and make it a huge success which would make him look even better.  He of course didnt want to do this with his own money.  I think, just from reading about him, his main objective is to be seen as a great conquer/builder and to get rich second...

[The Interpreter]

It speaks volumes that the Commonwealth did not get ANY responsive bids to its request for proposals, and no bids at all other than Hart & Company's.

[thekidd33]

Off of the current topic but have any of the, uh, fluffier riders here ridden Lightning Run? I'm at 233lbs with a 38" waist currently and was just wondering if I would have any issues with the restraints? I've read a couple places that they are pretty unforgiving.