Owners of Holiday World in talks to run Kentucky Kingdom.

[Chitown]

This is definitely a shock.

Kentucky Kingdom

[Coaster Justin]

I don't know, It could work. They could probably get away with faster/scarier rides than at Holiday World.


Wish them luck.

[monsterfan99]

Very smart idea if they can make it work.

[ttd rox]

Very interesting indeed. I wonder if they do operate it, if they will keep it just a water park or use the available land to open the theme park side of it again. Obviously if they open the theme park side, their additions have to be careful and wise enough to draw attention back to the park which I know Holiday World's owners are able to do successfully.

[BP317]

What are the two main draws for both these parks? Roller coasters and water park. Both parks have roller coasters, both parks have a water park. What also do both parks share? The same market. No thanks, a lot more risk than reward.

In my opinion they should realize they won and move on. This is like Cedar Fair purchasing SFWOA and thinking they can make it work without competing with themselves. If the parks were a lot closer to eachother it could maybe work since tourism would go to that one area and maybe do both parks, however having them 1 1/2 hours away from each other there is no way they will go to both and you don't want to steer locals away from HW. Parks are too far away to make them a cooperating unit and too close to make them not compete with each other.

[Cole]

^I agree. Doesn't really seem worth it, especially with all the money they'll have to dump into the park.

[Coaster Justin]

What about Legoland, Merlin, or Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation?

[ttd rox]

If they kept Kentucky Kingdom to just a water park and expand on it, I think it would actually work even being close together. Now, if they ran both the water park and theme park then I would have to agree with BP/19. They could even do a pass thing similar to Seaworld and Busch Gardens Tampa which allows you to attend both parks for a smaller price than paying separately. Though maybe that pass idea wouldn't work because they are smaller parks. But also SFKK is landlocked, does not own the parking lot, and is not in a great neighborhood, so that would be pointless.

[BP317]

This situation is totally different than Busch Gardens and Sea World. Sea World has the biggest international vacation market in the world, the park, especially the water park, fills up during summer with American as well as free spending European and South American crowds. Also the huge crowds of snowbirds that travel to Florida during the winter. Busch Gardens has enough of a local market to sustain itself, and Tampa/Clearwater/St Pete also has a huge tourism draw. Also that area has a lot of old people who take their kids and grandkids to Busch when they are in town. Also Tampa can also leech off the Orlando market since length of stay tends to be long in that area.

Santa Claus and Louisville will be in direct competition for the local market no question about it. Most people are not going to go on a trip to a regional theme/water park then go to another trip to another regional theme/water park in the same year, its way more economical if you are a family to buy season passes and visit one of them a few times. This is where SFKK should have an advantage because it's closer to Indianapolis and it's in the middle of Louisville, but if that was a deciding factor they may as well close HW and move it to SFKK's location. But SFKK is landlocked, does not own its parking lot, and is not in a great neighborhood, so even that would be pointless.

[ttd rox]

One solution is to offer different thrill rides that people would enjoy at each park but that would be too much money for Holiday World and if it doesn't end up drawing crowds it could cost the park money. I suppose then Kentucky Kingdom would have been more successful. Anyways, I think it wouldn't be bad for them to run it but maintain it as a water park.

[FParker185]

The waterpark is the main draw at HW. If it wasn't for Splashin Safari, it's pretty unlikely the park would even exist at all today. If HW were to take over SFKK, they'd be best served by shuttering the waterpark, and keep the dry side on the smaller side, otherwise they are going to run into a lot of problems.

I doubt in the end HW will take on Kentucky Kingdom, they have to much to loose and almost nothing to gain unless they get things just right.

[ttd rox]

Water park business doesn't quite work like the theme park business. A water park with that distance between them shouldn't matter. HW will draw water park guests (some dry side goers) from Indianapolis while Kentucky Kingdom's water park would draw folks from Kentucky. If they didn't keep the theme park and just upgraded the water park at KK I don't see why it would be a horrible purchase. Then again, I don't know the type of crowds (finances and desires) that Kentucky has.

[BP317]

Kentucky Kingdom is closer to Indianapolis than Holiday World

[Ilovthevu']

I don't like the idea because it seems like they would have to invest way too much money into that park. Ed Hart tried to bring it back from the dead, and he couldn't because he couldn't get enough money. You have to remember also that they took some rides out of that park like Chang, and the mouse coaster. The Rainbow might be gone, and I know their Giant Drop (Superman) ride is no more. Did they take out that Splash Water Falls ride too, or did they just live it rotting while not operating. The wooden coasters must be really bad too. I don't even think they have the trains for the Twisted Twins anymore because aren't they at St. Louis just sitting around?

Instead of a park like Holiday World buying it, I think someone like Fun Spot or Beech Bend is a better market for this park because they can just bring in carnival rides - Tilt-A-Whirl, Yo-Yo, Power Surge, they already have a Ferris Wheel if that's working, Scrambler, KMG AfterBurner, Chance Flying Bobs, etc, and people can pay for each attraction, or they can buy a whole day wristband thing. Also, build a Go Kart Race Track where Chang was. If one of those parks would get it, I think they should just have ONE wooden coaster and maybe Greezed Lightning as the other big coaster at the park. Sell off T2, and just demolish the other wooden coaster.

[ttd rox]

Kentucky Kingdom is closer to Indianapolis than Holiday World

You're right. I thought it was south of Lexington not realizing it was around Louisville. Both start with an "L" I guess. I suppose since the park had issues already and was unable to be revived from a couple attempts, it's not worth the risk. Again, I don't know how bad it would be operating it as a water park but it might not draw enough crowds.

[Chitown]

The waterpark was also the main draw for Kentucky Kingdom. Everytime I went there, the waterpark was packed while the dry rides were almost always walk-ons. Shapiro obviously had the idea of shrinking the dry rides and expanding the waterpark. If HW takes over, I picture them following that route.

[FParker185]

SFKK was doing that to compete with Holiday World, if HW owned the park, I would think they'll want to make sure to leave water park seekers unsatisfied in order to drive that business to Splashin Safari

[Jerrykoala2112]

Holiday World would definitely focus on both sides of the parks. Even look at Holiday World, when I visited, the water park was packed, and the dry side had very minimal crowds (until the water park closed, then the whole park had long lines). KK and HW are very similar, except that one of the parks need a few new rides, and it should be good to go.