Apparently on Tuesday night, KK stopped allowing guests into the park by 8:30 saying they were closing early.  I know someone that was turned away.

They announced over the PA that they were closing at 9:30 last night. I left Lightning Run at about 9:40. I walked around the fairground midway and rides were still operating at Kentucky Kingdom at 10:15. When I KK the place was virtually deserted; maybe there was an employee ride night? (Edit:  This was Wednesday night, not Tuesday night.  I didn' t want to imply that I was disagreeing with Shaggy as I have no idea what happened on Tuesday as I was not there.)

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It's my understanding they've closed early every weeknight except Friday during the fair.

It continues:

http://www.tennessean.com/story/life/2015/08/25/how-kentucky-kingdom-vacation-brought-our-family-together/32272943/

Puh-leez.

At least the Indy Star labels sponsored content.

 

The author is a "Client Strategy Manager" for Gannett... https://www.linkedin.com/in/corneliusdawn

 

Also, who considers something 2 1/2 hours away as being "nearby"? Even here in Cincinnati most people wouldn't consider Louisville "nearby", let alone someone in Nashville.

I don't consider Mason or Cincinatti nearby and I'm only 2 hours away.

 

I'm "in the region" but certainly not "in the area" even if Kings Island is my home park.

I think it's relative. I live about 3 hours from KI and consider it my home park and think it's close. My other choices are much further away. But on the drive home I usually don't feel quite the same.

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Theres some nice infromation about T3 on Kumbak's Facebook page https://m.facebook.com/pages/KumbaK-The-Amusement-Engineers/178637022215859

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Nice story about Chance Rides. Lightning Run is not named, but is featured in video footage.  (Neither is Kentucky Kingdom mentioned)

 

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/check-roller-coasters-made-america-33218129

Took my wife, 2 nephews and Sister in Law to Kentucky Kingdom/Kentucky State Fair Today. Wow was it busy for both. We arrived around 3:30 pm and gates were already shutdown due to lots being full. I've been to the Fair the last two years and have never seen a crowd like Today. The Kingdom was booming too. Lots of money being made today for both.

That's awesome news!

Thanks for posting!

Would anyone know and care to share what the crowd levels currently are at the fair? Thinking of heading down to KK, but I don't want to make the drive if it's gonna be crowded.

Today is the last day of the fair. It's typically very busy...

Something I would like to see at the Kingdom is an overhaul of the Breakdance ride.  Quite frankly, that paintjob they have on it now is ugly.  I would however be able to live with the paint if they did a lighting upgrade/speaker system on the ride.  This version seems much slower than some of the other models and that may be because they are trying to aim for a younger crowd or it may be because the ride doesn't have the capability to go faster.  Comparing this version to others such as the Breakdance No. 2, there is hardly a comparison.  Plus with a massive lighting upgrade this ride could rival or even beat Cyclos' lighting package.  I doubt that KK will make this happen though as even a ride as large as the Giant Wheel is being lit by a white spotlight for the moment.

I don't know that they currently would be concerned with lighting accents because for most of the season, they are closed when it is dark.  This is one of the things that I hope changes.  It was a cool atmosphere last week when I was there after dark, and I am glad they had chaser lights on T3 and Thunder Run.

 

I don't know why they don't light up the Big Wheel (is that was they call the Ferris Wheel?).  I remember some photos that the park released during the summer/fall of 2013, when they were renovating, and they had a great lighting package on it.

Kentucky State Fair attendance more than 6oo,ooo--up about 1oo,ooo:

http://m.wave3.com/wave/db_336805/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=baaQATeZ

correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the impression from last season's numbers that 600,000 would have been well short of last season's marks and still significantly lower than fair attendance at its peak.  I'm sure expectations were set lower this season than last, but 600,00 feels low from what I remember.  could be remembering wrong, and don't feel like taking the time to dig back thru this thread where it was discussed.

The weather had everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING to do with attendance being up at the Kentucky State Fair this year.  In years past, it's been miserably hot... this year, not so much.

 

I will say that typically the musical acts/concerts are the huge draw.  This year, I couldn't even tell you who played the fair.  There may have been a reduced concert offering/attendance considering half the stands in the former baseball stadium (where concerts are held) have been demolished.  I would suspect, had they offered larger acts (as they have in the past...) attendance would likely have skyrocketed.

correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the impression from last season's numbers that 600,000 would have been well short of last season's marks and still significantly lower than fair attendance at its peak.  I'm sure expectations were set lower this season than last, but 600,00 feels low from what I remember.  could be remembering wrong, and don't feel like taking the time to dig back thru this thread where it was discussed.

 

I was wondering the same thing.  A quick search revealed:

2014: 515,937 (Source)

2013: 615,648 (Same as above)

2012: <600,000 (Source)

Peak attendance was in 1994.

Look at it this way. The fair had more attendance this year than Kentucky Kingdom had all last year.

As stated earlier, this past Saturday was super busy at the Fair as well as Kentucky Kingdom. I bought our Kentucky Kingdom tickets at Kroger prior to going for the discount but there were several people purchasing tickets at full price a the Gate. The midway at the Fair was also full of people so Kentucky Kingdom did not detract from Midway rides. People were enjoying both which was nice to see, both for the Fair and the Kingdom.

I read through the Kumbak page and found this part of the September issue of Amusment Today VERY interesting.

Good news for those worried about T3's capacity.

The train is ready but they have to test it that means closing T3 for a while

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IF that were the case, the park is now closed from Sunday night through Friday afternoon.

Terp, pointing out uncomfortable facts.

(It's also closed Boo Season, which hurteth my head)

I wish they would try a family friendly boo fest like what Holiday World does. There is a market for it in Louisville. Have any of you ever been to the Halloween party the Zoo puts on? It is crazy busy and lots of fun for the kidos and the young at heart like me

All those fixed costs...and the Kingdom sits there...forlorn and empty.

Not sure why having the second train would require a full closure of the ride. Especially when just last year Lightning Run's purple train arrived a few weeks late and we were to run it empty until enough cycles had been completed (indicated by computer monitoring).

If necessary, they could just test it when the park is closed and then just transfer it off when the park is open.

It may be logistical or it may just be that with all the trouble they had getting the ride open, they don't want to risk messing up the status quo for this season. 

There is one... and only one... thing that fundamentally matters about any/all of this.

11-03-2015

Pricing integrity thrown to the wind:

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/entertainment/events/2015/09/02/kentucky-kingdoms-labor-day-give-way-weekend/71563246/

Sept 5-7

BOGO Admission: the get one good same day or rest of season.

Free unlimited soft drinks.

On a holiday weekend.

Did someone miss admission targets AGAIN?