No Kentucky Kingdom in 2011

[6Flags4Evr]

According to the latest reports, KK will not open in 2011 after all. It seems that the $50 million in bonds the park needs to reopen can not be delivered in time for next season. They hope for a 2012 opening season instead.

This is sad news to me. I was hoping to visit the park next year. Owell.

[monsterfan99]

The fact they are expecting a $50 million bond to open a fail park in Kentucky is insane. They are better off moving the park to another site.

[acquaz10]

^Do you know why the park failed? Six Flags removed a bunch of rides with out replacing them, they did it every park I know, but it really hurt KK. Attendance was 1.6 million in '97 when the park was sold. It dropped 60% when SF sold it. That would be because they refused to add anything and kept taking things out. Its in a good location and when things get added it will thrive again. Ed Harts a great business man.

[FParker185]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91QLV-uStyw

A good "interview" with Ed Hart.

[monsterfan99]

In 1997 Holiday World was a small regional park with 1 coaster/okay water park and Beech Bend was portable rides. In 2009, when SFKK closed, Holiday was a regional power house pulling in record numbers for a park it's size and Beech Bend was doing great. The success of those two parks gave/has given the public new options that the new KK will have to overcome. Add to that the Hellavator PR nightmare to those issues as well. Right now it's a problem that requires a ton of money with no surefire results in a very poor state.

[Chitown]

You can add Kings Island to the list of parks that draw from the Louisville area.

[Ilovthevu']

Yes, SFKK got rid of rides, but at the same time it's not like the park's coasters were that great to begin with. They took out a boomerang named Vampire, and many people don't even like regular boomerangs, so that's not a big deal. Though when you close off a section of rides (a big roller coaster that is visible from the street), that park is going to be doomed. To me, when you have such a small park, the rides need to be really good, or you are going to fail because their isn't much to go on. They had a Vekoma upside-ride, and I just have a feeling that ride was taken out because of maintenance. What other parks have a ride like that? There probably is a reason that's gone. Than, they had a Chance Chaos which they took out, and all the Six Flags took them out around that time.

I understand Ed's point, but at the same time, if every thing (when I went to this park) went back to normal, it's still wasn't a good park, and was near the very bottom of my list of parks I've been to. And when I went, they had that Vekoma upside down ride (though it wasn't open), the Chance Chaos, Twisted Twins was open, the Giant Drop ride, Splash Water Falls ride, Rainbow, and that motion simulator ride but it still wasn't a good park in my opinion. Though, they didn't have Deluge, Tornado (I don't think they had this yet?), or Greezed Lightning.

[sccard01]

What keep people away from the park is 3 things.

1. The Park was dirty

2. The park lacked attractions

3. The park was under the Six Flags name.

now since Ed has been promising improvements to fix these problems, more people want to go to the kingdom more than ever!

[Coaster Justin]

Is Anyone forgetting Deluge? That Ride Looks Awesome.

[6Flags4Evr]

I have a feeling that this park is going to be improved way more than we think especially now that they have to wait until 2012 to reopen the park. I can't wait to see how the new and improved Twisted Twins is going to come out. I guess they also want to bring back the original name for the coaster which was Double Trouble and each track had its own name. I think the names were Steller and Lola (correct me if im wrong). Who knows we might see a similar retrack on this ride the same as Texas Gaint.

[BP317]

Twisted Sisters (Stella & Lola) were renamed in 2001 to Twisted Twins because of a lawsuit from Twisted Sister [these people] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOfgl5a_6lA&feature=related

[acquaz10]

Want to ask questions to Ed Hart or the KKRC?

Just go here! http://goo.gl/pFZuz Questions/suggestions won't be accepted after March 14. So get them in now.

[FParker185]

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/ ... y=nav|head

It's not looking good now for 2012. I'm starting to think unless they get private funding, this is a lost cause, and I don't think anyone will want to fully fund a park that is owned by a government body.

[monsterfan99]

Good for the state. No reason to sink million into a park that was a failure for 10 years and has a bad local history.

[FParker185]

Before SF picked up SFKK they were getting a million visitors a year and turning profit like no one's business. Then before Ed Hart bought it the first time the park had failed and was bankrupt. Ed Hart knows exactly how to turn the park around. And that's besides creating a few hundred jobs for a town that's basically destitute.

[BP317]

To me Kentucky Kingdom was a nice amusement park in a great location, sure it didn't have a huge market but it wasn't a huge park so it's not like it's overbuilt and I don't see any reason why it can't be successful. Attendance nosedived in the later-years as Six Flags allowed themselves to get clowned by Holiday World. I don't think lack of potential is what plagued KK it always seemed like the company was at disagreements with the city about the lease and parking situation.

Hopefully they can work something out, i'd love to see the park re-open and get some new attractions and I hope KK's fate is not the same as Geauga Lake's. Kentucky Kingdom reminds me of Elitch Gardens where the locals loved the park up until Six Flags bought it, jacked up the prices, then ignored it. $50mil is a lot though, Ed Hart seems like a well off guy where are all his acquaintances to back him up here?

[FParker185]

I think Ed Hart just doesn't want to pay for something he can't own. The Fairgrounds still owns the park and all the rides on it. Ed Hart has just been brought on to operate the park. Seeing as the rides are owned by the state, the state by all means should pay to get them back to operating order, or sell them off and abandon the project, rather than just leaving everything to sit and depreciate.