I need to get back down there sometime this year and ride the stuff I didn't get to ride when I was there last month - particularly the Giant Wheel.

It is fair to note that this year the Kingdom seems to be avoiding the bad publicity and bombast created last year by its patron saint and de facto CEO.

That's a very good thing. Hopefully, this continues the rest of this season.

Their Troll here seems to have left as well, which is good.

 

I wish the park the best, everyone I know that has been has really enjoyed the place.

i have been pleased with my experiences at the park.  It has some work to go, but has come a long way from my singular SIX experience in 2009. 

 

On another note, which park would anyone suggest I visit next:

 

Dollywood

SF St Louis

SF near Chicago

Beech Bend

 

These parks are all about 6-7 hours away and doable with my work schedule.

Notice that FUN parks are not on this years list, as I plan to get a platinum pass in '16 and will hopefully hit up CP, KD and CW.

if you want to go to both SIX parks you might want to look into a season pass

If you've not been to any of those, I'd recommend Dollywood as first choice.

Been thinking of getting down to KK and Holiday World in a two day trip. They're not too far from each other.

Not sure yet if it's in the budget, but it sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?

if you want to go to both SIX parks you might want to look into a season pass

It's one or the other, not both.  St. Louis is about 4 hours away, Chicago is about 6 hours.

Great seeing KK on the Waterpark show on travel channel pretty cool.

Finally gave up on waiting for my pass to arrive in the mail and drove to the park today. I was in and out of the season pass center in literally less than a minute with this:

 

 

Now watch the original pass show up in tomorrow's mail.

 

Overall, the park seems decent this year. The only area I can seriously complain about is food service. On both lunch (Swampwater Jack's) and dinner (Junior's BBQ), I had to wait a couple minutes for someone to even recognize I was waiting for service, then a couple more for that person to find someone else who actually knows how to serve the food (?) and then even longer while that person wastes time chatting with other co-workers instead of serving customers. And yes, I had to go through all three of those steps on both meals.

 

Also, the pulled pork sandwich at Junior's BBQ was so rancid that I literally took three bites and threw it away. I couldn't get it replaced since they were already closing down and cleaning up (to be fair, I did walk in about two minutes before they were scheduled to close for the day), so I went to Guest Services and filled out a complaint form. Guest Services did not offer a refund, so I went hungry since I was out of cash and did not bring a credit card.

 

I ran out of time and didn't get back to Twisted Twins to see if any work was being done. I saw one train cycle on T3, but that was it as far as testing. A very short time later, I snapped this shot from near T3's entrance:

 

 

Yes, that's a maintenance guy studying something with binoculars. From the angle, it looked like he was studying the lift hill, but I might be wrong. The employee sitting outside the fenced-off entrance emphasized the words "very soon" when saying that it would open very soon, but somehow I don't believe that. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised for T3 to eventually be advertised as "new for 2016!", and then fail to open on time again.

 

I did, however, buy a T3 shirt:

 

 

I wonder if that will suddenly become valuable on eBay if for some reason T3 never reopens?

 

And on a final note, I present a representative sample of the handrails on the stairs to the station in Thunder Run's queue:

 

 

...yeah.

 

 

And that pic of the railing right there reminded me why I dislike some of the GP at Kentucky Kingdom

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An exciting Twisted Twins announcement coming "VERY SOON".

 

 

They also say that T3 is opening VERY soon.

 

 

 

I have to agree about the BBQ at Junior's. I ate there once last year and it was not impressive. Swamp Water Jack's is just typical amusement park quality. The new Taco Tequila place is actually very good. I have eaten there three times this season and all three times the food was great and the service was prompt and friendly. It's by far the best place to eat in the park. 

 

 

 

 

I have to agree about the BBQ at Junior's. I ate there once last year and it was not impressive. Swamp Water Jack's is just typical amusement park quality. The new Taco Tequila place is actually very good. I have eaten there three times this season and all three times the food was great and the service was prompt and friendly. It's by far the best place to eat in the park. 

 

I haven't tried Taco Tequila yet.  I went in to the Italian place (can't remember the name) and left because the food in the warmers looked terrible.  Swamp Water Jack's was not much better, but I asked them to make "new" food and they did and it was actually decent.  Junior's was good for me!  I liked the pretzel roll bun. 

Junior's may have improved since last year, I just have not been in a hurry to go back after trying Taco Tequila. I have had the Fish, Chicken and Brisket tacos there and they were all good. 

Update on the rancid pulled pork: I woke up today with diarrhea. I have nothing to point my finger at except that pulled pork. Apparently those three bites were enough to upset my digestive system.

So are we pretty sure KK will re-open next year because I want to go, but I've already been to Holiday World and CP so I'm kinda stuck with going to KI because my beautiful pass of artificial, plastic gold unless a friend invites me. If there is a large chance of it not making it, I can save up some money somehow.

I didn't go to Hard Rock Park.

I was going to go the next year.

What if people here tell you KK is apt to open next year, then it does not?

I didn't go to Hard Rock Park.

I was going to go the next year.

What if people here tell you KK is apt to open next year, then it does not?

Ugh. Do not let me down Hart.

I mean, chances are that it will probably open next year.

 

But, as Terp wisely said, you can't be sure.

On the KK FB page, someone created a meme that has a picture of Mr Hart. The text days something to the effect of "all superheroes don't wear a cape." I thought the folks on here might get a kick out of that.

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If considering a visit to KK, visit this year because next year is not promised.  As Terpy said look at Hard Rock Park and some would argue it had more going for it than KK does.

Did Hard Rock Park ever release attendance figures? Obviously they fell far short of expectations but I was wondering just how bad it was. 

They also say that T3 is opening VERY soon.

Sigh... even the rides at Hartland aren't free from the tyranny of the GP adding superfluous articles.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see an announcement this weekend. Major announcements often occur on holiday weekends. Then again, Hartland has shown no evidence that they like to follow typical industry trends...

Never released as far as I know, but they their initial overly optimistic projections were over 3 Million visitors the first year with a $50 admission and almost zero advertising.

 

One of the many reason the park was almost empty most days 

Wait, 3 million? So we're in like, the estimated attendance figures of long-established parks like KI or Cedar Point, and they were expecting to get those numbers in year 1 with high ticket prices and no advertising?

Correct.  They were estimating daily attendance around 30,000 people.

Not the best pic but here is Twisted Twins today.

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I still can't figure out how the company that bought the Hard Rock Park for pennies on the dollar out of bankruptcy failed just as quick.  I guess they learned NOTHING from the previous operators mistakes. 

Letting four people in for $17.76 didn't help...