Kentucky Kingdom was the sixth park on our tour. The funny thing was that we were never supposed to stop there. We decided to go on another highway because of construction and it took us right past Kentucky Kingdom, so we decided to make a quick stop.

We knew before we got to the park that we would only be there for three hours or so, we had to be quick with our riding. We pulled into the parking lot, which is shared with a mall and found it completely deserted. Our hopes were high as we ran into the park.

The first thing you notice when you go into the park is that the parks infamous drop tower sits right in front of the entrance. It was a little eerie to be standing right next to the spot where the horrible accident happened, but we had things to do.

Our first coaster was Chang, a B&M stand-up from 1997. The first thing I thought when I looked at the ride was that it closely resembled Mantis’ layout at Cedar Point. It is almost the same, just slightly taller and has an extra corkscrew thrown in. Chang’s placement in the park is perfect. You can see a lot of the ride from the line and it really shows off its element, like the corkscrew over the entrance. There was absolutely no line so we got right on, and did another lap just because.

We then went over to T2, the parks SLC from 1995. Now most SLC’s suffer from terrible head banging and such, I didn’t think it was terrible on T2. There was that “push pull” feel however. The coolest thing about T2 is its station. There are plants growing all over it, all the way up to the lift. The plants were something different that gave the park a little character.

Thunder Run was the next ride on the list. It’s a Dinn coaster from 1990. And unlike many Dinn coasters, it was not oversized and built to excess. It’s design was intended to be for a roller coaster at LeSourdsville Lake. To tell you the truth, I don’t remember the layout all that much, but I do remember that it was a little rough, like many Dinn coasters. In any case, it was a decent coaster that I would ride again.

The park’s other wooden coaster, or should I say coasters, were our next goal. Of course I am talking about Twisted Twins. It was formerly called Twisted Sisters but after a member of the rock band “Twisted Sister” threatened to sue Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom they changed the name. Twisted Twins is a CCI coaster from 1998. The ride was a little rough, but I think that was more from the trains then the coaster. It would have been a much better ride if the racing/dueling aspect was happening. It was still a good coaster and I would love to ride it again once both sides are operating.

After grabbing some lunch at the newly branded Papa John’s we went to Roller Skater, the parks kiddie coaster. For a kiddie coaster, this ride really had a decent layout, speed, and elements. It was one of the most enjoyable kiddie coasters that I have ever been on.

Once our credit whoring was over, we went to the parks hidden treasure, Greezed Lightnin’. It’s a Schwarzkopf shuttle loop that was moved to the park in 2003. This was my first ever shuttle loop, and let me tell you, I loved it! The old school slow, weighted launch is perfect. You “rocket” down a straight potion of track, through a loop, and up and incline, only to fall back to earth and do the same in reverse. You then fly through the station and up another spike, head up it, and come back down. You hit the brake and return to the station. The park was so empty that we were allowed to just stay on the ride over and over; I think we did it 10 times in a row. I love Six Flags for allowing us to do that.

We finished up our coaster riding on Road Runner Express, the parks wild mouse. It was nothing out of the ordinary as far as wild mouse rides go, but the themeing in from of the ride is top notch.

The last ride of the day was a non-coaster, the parks break dance. Overall I really enjoyed the few short hours that I was at Kentucky Kingdom for. There was enough to do to spend a whole day, but it was empty enough to let us ride all of the coasters in three hours, with re-rides. One amazing fact about the park is that its only been operating since 1987. In that time they have grown a substantial collection of coasters and rides. The park is really three parks because there is a road the cuts it in half, and there is also a water park. If you ever near Louisville, I highly suggest getting out to Kentucky Kingdom and grab some quality credits.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 10:16 am and is filed under Trips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.