First Ever Kentucky Kingdom TR July 5th-6th

[Joncars05]

Kentucky Kingdom July 5^th-6^th

My wife and I, along with our daughter headed to our first ever trip to Kentucky Kingdom. After parking we headed to the front gate to pay for tickets. The line moved very quickly and after purchasing the out of state 2 day ticket deal we were in the park!

We headed straight to Lightning Rod. The line spilled all the way out of the queue but for one train operations it moved quickly. It took about 25 minutes for me to get on the ride. This is my first Chance roller coaster ever. So I hopped in the back row and off we were. With the ride boasting “only” a 100 foot drop the lift hill was over quickly the first drop was stunning. The airtime on this ride is amazing. With it being in such a tight space the turns are sharp and really fun. This ride is unbelievable smooth! I seriously don’t know why there haven’t been more Chance Hyper GT-X coasters built. The only drawback that I see is low capacity. This ride is a top ten quality coaster that takes up minimal space and looks fantastic as well. Kentucky Kingdom knocked it out of the park with this addition.

 

Our next stop was the kiddie section that is located by the entrance. We were able to let our daughter ride the train, kid swing, zeppelin, trucks, sun and moon, and carousel. The kid section was really good. My daughter had a blast in the section. I really appreciated the employees in this section. They were very polite and were great with all of the kids!

 

The next stop was food. We stopped at Junior’s BBQ. The Pulled pork was good and the fries were good as well. On the second day we had Casa Mia’s flatbread pizza. It was large enough for both of us to share. The price again was cheap and the quality of food was good again. We also had an Auntie B’s funnel cake which I feel could feed 4-5 people easily. It was very good value and really good! After eating on the first day I was able to take my time to go take photos of the roller coasters. All of the coasters outside of Thunder Run provide amazing views and photo ops. I think Storm Chaser and Lightning Run are some of the most photogenic rides that I have been able to take photos of so far.  

 

My next ride was Thunder Run. This wooden coaster seems to be a clone of Hurler but I can tell you it is not even close. The back seat is a fun spot. The airtime is okay in the back and it isn’t too rough. If you ride in the front car the airtime is so much better. There are about 3-4 spots where you literally come off of the seat! It is a great wooden coaster. I am glad that they were able to restore the ride and make it smooth and fun.

 

Next I went to the new ride at Kentucky Kingdom for 2016, Storm Chaser. This is the second RMC I have been on and man was it awesome as well! The initial barrel roll drop is really unique as you feel weightlessness while getting airtime coming down the drop. Then almost every element after is just great. The airtime hills are insane! The overbanked turn with the supports of the ride acting as headchoppers is really fun. The small turns are solid and the airtime hills are just insane. The only “knock” that I have for the ride would be the ride seems to peter out for the last 10 seconds in the final helix. It is another awesome addition to the park. IMO, Storm Chaser is a better RMC than Lightning Rod. I think it is more enjoyable because you can actually take in the elements on Storm Chaser. With Lightning Rod you just fly through each element so fast you almost don’t have any time to register what is happening. Either way Kentucky Kingdom literally hit a grand slam with this ride. I can see this as a possible winner for the 2016 New Ride Golden Ticket.

 

Finally I hit up T3, or maybe I should say it hit me! It actually wasn’t too bad. The roughness came from two things, the ride not moving through the elements at a constant speed and the restraint clamping down on your thighs. The speed felt like it was slowing down and speeding up so the ride through the elements weren’t very smooth. Also the elements forced the restraint on your legs really hard so when the ride was over you had to wait while your legs lost feeling. Overall it wasn’t truly that bad of a ride. That might have been because I have heard some horror stories about it before they retrofit the ride. Either way it was a one and done ride for me. We ended the day on Storm Chaser and headed home afterwards.

 

On the second day we visited the water park and rode some of the flats. The ferris wheel provided some great views of the park, the flying scooters were similar to Kings Islands as they could twist but not really snap, and the Drop Tower was really fun because it never truly stoped at the top so it was a total surprise when it dropped. The water park was pretty clean and very enjoyable. Our time was shortened because there were storms in the area and the park closed down all of the rides a couple of times during the day. But we were able to enjoy the lazy river and the 121 foot trap door slide Deep Water Dive. I was able to do the other body slide and because I was a single rider (My wife can’t ride because she is pregnant) I missed out on all of the tube slides. They looked very good almost on par with Holiday World. I will be able to judge the water park more fully when I can ride with my family.

 

Overall my wife, daughter, and I had an absolute blast at the park. The park was clean and the employees were good. The only thing that I noticed was that the employees seemed to be nonchalant about things. They did everything correct but some ride attendants didn’t seem so thrilled to be there. I think that may be one of the reasons why people knock the employees. I thought it was a very enjoyable experience and will more than likely buy season passes next year for the park. If you have been on the fence about going to the park you should most definitely head to the park. They need people to visit and keep the park alive. I feel that they have done everything they have needed to attract people. The park is very solid on both the dry and wet side and I hope that most people who took advantage of the 2 day for $30 deal, will be like me and visit more often! Thanks for reading and my photos and ride count are below!

 

Ride Count:

Storm Chaser: 13

Lightning Run: 5

Thunder Run: 3

T3: 1

 

Storm Chaser's Corkscrew

 

Storm Chaser interacts with the walking paths and plaza so well you can get some great captures like this with ease! 

 

 

Storm Chaser's Corkscrew

 

 

Thunder Run's first drop from the station

 

Thunder Run's first drop

 

 

Lightning Run's track is an amazing blue.

 

 

Kick the sky! 

 

 

If you hang out long enough you can see these huge freight planes flying RIGHT NEXT to Storm Chaser

 

 

I think the blue train on Storm Chaser looks fantastic! 

 

 

Seriously the BEST coaster hair I have captured ever! 

 

Lightning Run

 

Hang and Bang T3

 

Storm Chaser's Overbanked Turn and Airtime Hill

[CoastersRZ]

Thanks for sharing the pictures.  I went down there last August.  Hoping to make it down there this year to check out Storm Chaser.  Not sure if I will make it given my schedule.

[Beast Gal]

Thank you yet again for a great & unbiased picture trip report.

[silver2005]

Since when did bias matter in trip reports?

[Joncars05]

Thanks for sharing the pictures.  I went down there last August.  Hoping to make it down there this year to check out Storm Chaser.  Not sure if I will make it given my schedule.

No problem! I hope you can make it down there! Storm Chaser is such a good RMC coaster. KK did a great job with the addition of that coaster especially since they weren't able to salvage Twisted Twins.

[Aaron88stang]

Great Pictures!