Kentucky Kingdom

[brenthodge]

lol. I love that I’m a standard to now be met! 

[Shaggy]

As a Louisville resident, I hope Christmas at the Kingdom grows into a nice local/regional event and finds its niche.

I am glad others have had a good time attending, and I hope those planning to attend enjoy themselves. 

That having been said, I had an overwhelmingly disappointing experience.  I would grade it a "D+." 

I'll keep things semi-short by saying there's a great deal of room for improvement in many areas.  The most noteworthy being a terrible layout and confusing flow through the park.  Oddly closed off paths, dead ends, very dark unlit paths, a lack of directional signs etc.   

Obviously being the first attempt, it can't necessarily be a home run.  So I'm sure those in charge will spend a great deal of time reviewing what worked, and what didn't. 

(Here's a couple starter tips KK:  Move Santa to the front of the park - no one can find him and he literally has no one waiting to see him.  Staff some security in your gift shops so that your revenue stream isn't getting stuffed into the pockets and purses of thieving guests.  Also, send some security to those confusing and dark paths to curb pot smoking.)

 

[BeeastFarmer]

Louisville theme park donates thousands to Norton Children's Hospital | whas11.com

[Winterfestguy]

New Land coming to KK in 2025 and major park improvements announced today!

[Vortex1987]

2 hours ago, Winterfestguy said:

New Land coming to KK in 2025 and major park improvements announced today!

Woo!!!!!! Finally!!!! Here we go Herschend!!!

 

This is what KK needed!! I'm hyped. I know they're family rides but I'm  happy KK is finally getting some love from Herschend. I was getting worried that it was going to be like Wild Adventures and get neglected. 

 

Now bring on the Herschend magic! (Also, the cinnamon bread is incredible.)

[WoodVengeance]

Of those rethemed attractions, I'm wondering if Thunder Run and/or Storm Chaser are going to be included in that as well. Their themes would feel a bit out-of-place if this new area isn't going to be weather-themed.

[BeeastFarmer]

55 minutes ago, WoodVengeance said:

Of those rethemed attractions, I'm wondering if Thunder Run and/or Storm Chaser are going to be included in that as well. Their themes would feel a bit out-of-place if this new area isn't going to be weather-themed.

Is the new Kentucky of and going to be in that area?  With 11 rethemed rides, I thought it would be King Louie's Playground.

[WoodVengeance]

22 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Is the new Kentucky of and going to be in that area?  With 11 rethemed rides, I thought it would be King Louie's Playground.

It's not 100% confirmed, but it's likely going to be the area around Thunder Run and Storm Chaser. It's hard to tell because of the blur, but you can make out Storm Chaser on the top of this image. I believe this is concept art for the new area that they're going to reveal at a later time.

[BeeastFarmer]

Good observation!  The area from the carousel/ Flying Dutchman to Storm Chaser is the prettiest area of the park, but it's also the most dead area of the park. It would make sense to beef it up.  There's also space in this area for a playground, not so much in King Louie's Playground.

I thought this area was supposed to become a Fireman's Landing type of area from the survey that was sent out, with the Drop Tower being moved there.  

Nonetheless, I'm happy to be a passholder again and looking forward to the next couple of seasons!

[Oldiesmann]

It's good to see Herschend jumping in and working hard to revitalize the park. First the Christmas event, now this. It sounds like the fair board finally found the right people to run the park

[OverlandTaxis30]

Has anyone noticed that one of the three new family rides announced is a train ride? 

 

I am not getting my hopes up for a train the size of Dollywood's or even KI's; but, considering the fact that Kentucky Kingdom has never had a train ride before, I am going to wait and see what kind of train ride they went with, where it is going, and what it's layout will be. 

[Oldiesmann]

The other two rides are from Zamperla, so maybe one of these? https://www.zamperla.com/product/train-rio-grande

[KIghostguy]

I attended Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom tonight. I really enjoyed the sledding hill, and especially enjoyed that their Larson Drop Tower was open! As has been pointed it, there definitely is room to grow the event's footprint in the combing years, but the buildings that were covered in lights looked very nice.

However, I was very disappointed that Kentucky Flyer was closed our entire visit. I asked and was told that the minimum operating temperature is 32 degrees (it was 31 degrees when I asked). I assumed that it would be a lot lower than 32 degrees considering I have ridden Mystic Timbers in considerably lower temperatures. I understand it's a different manufacturer but...really? Roller coasters in Europe operate in the snow all the time; I find it very hard to believe that a wooden coaster would be unable to function just one degree colder than 32 degrees. 

I noticed that a ticket price at the gate was about $40. This seems unbelievably high to me. I got in for free with the Kings Island employee reciprocal agreement, but I could not imagine paying $40 to ride the sledding hill, ride some flat rides, see lights, and find out that the only coaster they run was closed with absolutely no warning outside the park.