Beech Bend

[Dieseltech20]

Anyone here ever visited this place? If so, how was it?

We visited the park today as Chaperone's for our Daughter's 5th grade class. Upon arriving at the park, I felt a little uneasy since it is basically a giant Midway packed full of Carnival rides. A small Wooden Coaster and a Drop Tower are the exceptions. This uneasiness grew when I took a ride on Zero G(The Drop Tower ride) the ride would not work because of a seat belt not being secure and he could not figure out which one. So he had to call for some help. This call was done by yelling for another person a couple rides away and waving his arms until he got noticed. The offending belt was found and off we went. The ride doesn't mess around like DT at KI, once it reaches the top, down you go.

The next ride we went to was Power Surge. Halfway into this ride I notice an object coming at us from above and about crapped when it bounced off
of our seats and hit the 10 year old I was riding with. It then smacked onto the platform below. Once the ride stopped the Op retrieved the object and didn't seem to care that it was actually a part of the ride. He walked the part a couple rides over to show someone. The ride was shut down for a few minutes and put back into operation. The part that fell off was a large Hatch Strut that I figure was from an Access Door on the rides arm. Thankfully the door didn't fall off with it. Thankfully the 10 year old was not hurt but the Teacher still went to talk with Management.

After that I was done with the Carnival Rides and decided to try out the Woodie, Kentucky Rumbler. The coaster is small but has some good speed and banked turns. Hands down the only thing in the park worth riding. Of course it was stuck on the lift hill later on. Eventually it climbed the hill and made the trip. Then it left the station with a load of people. They closed the entrance but allowed those in line to ride before closing it for good. That was very odd to me.

I spent the rest of the day watching the kids enjoy the Carnival Rides, with the exception of riding the Mouse Coaster with them.

The food at the park is mostly your standard park food, Hot Dogs, Burgers, etc and not worth writing home about. Prices are high and gone are their Free Drinks. The ride ops are drones and obviously wish they were doing something else. Lots of the carnie rides would go down on a regular basis.

Sadly, we will never again set foot in this "Park". I have never once before felt unsafe on a ride but Beech Bend has changed that. Sucks because I had heard so many nice things about the place in the past.

[jcgoble3]

*makes a mental note to stay away from Beech Bend*

Thanks for the report.

[Oldiesmann]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I was there a couple years ago (stopped by on my way to Nashville) and had a lot of fun. I never felt unsafe or saw anything that made me think people were doing a bad job. If I ever get a chance I'll probably go back again. I honestly wouldn't let one bad experience keep you from going back. Sure, many of the rides are carnival-style rides, but it's a small family-owned park and they still have a nice variety of rides for what they are.

[dare-to-fly]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience at Beech Bend. I really don't think your opinion is completely being fair to the park, and to say that Kentucky Rumbler is the only thing there worth riding shows that you by no means have the ability to appreciate what a special place it can be. FYI - Beech Bend Bash is my favorite event of the year, which I will NEVER miss. As for the rides, sometimes rides go down for things. It sounds like it was a rough day for the park, but sometimes those happen. Look at Cedar Point - I've never visited the Point without experiencing downtime at least half a dozen times on different rides. Do you complain this much at Cedar Point when the rides are constantly going down all the time?

Personally I've always found BB to be a very charming and fun park to visit - for those that can appreciate a park without half a dozen B&Ms that is.

End rant

[Dieseltech20]

Never been on a ride that had parts fall of it before so yeah my report is skewed way against the park. The park is laid out well and the water park looked nice but was not open yet. I can and do appreciate small parks and care about more than B&M Coasters. I was hesitant to post this report as I figured big fans such as yourself would take offense to a negative review. Sorry you took pointing out things and relaying abad trip as complaining.

[jbt]

Kentucky Rumbler is a great coaster. It's at least the best operating coaster in Kentucky! Just wish they would allow re-rides on slow days.

The magic show and cowboy show were a hoot last season. Definitely worth checking out.

If you're a big fan of carnival rides, it's nice to have so many in one place. Where else are you going to ride something from Michael Jackson's personal park?

[The Interpreter]

There are some questions best left unanswered.

Terp, being meek.

[Dieseltech20]

I was looking forward to riding Sea Dragon, should have went to it first. The Mouse Coaster and Zero G were good rides as well. I'm just not a fan of Carnival Rides as most of them make me sick.

I do give them kudos for not having the music on their Starship 4000 cranked to 15 like the Carnies do. You could actually stand near it and talk while waiting for the kids.

Another positive is their 1/4 pound Hot Dog really is a 1/4 pound Hot Dog, made of Beef to boot.

[westcoaster]

Beech Bend is a great park, (something for sure disappearing in America), sad indeed. I've been on bad days to Cedar Point, Kings Island, and drove elsewhere, and had great days. Rides are going to have problems.

However Beech bend does its best, and heck the owners built the rumbler, instead of Retiring, great story.

If you are a lake cumberland fan, beech bend is not far to bowling green, also try a smal Somerset water park Somersplash:

So to beech bend: