Who would own the rides? The Fair Board or "Bluegrass Boardwalk" if this was to go through? Or would that be one of the negotiating points?

In a contract/lease, everything's negotiable, or not. Ask Ed Hart. Or Six Flags, for that matter.

I assume the Fairboard. Six only owned some of them and took the ones they wanted. I think the Fairboard owned the rest from when the park was originally built. Either way, the whole fairboard situation is awful.

Will the Koch's bring back wrestling?

Such wonderful demographics they bring. I don't think the Kochs are used to dealing with some of the inner city demos that park attracted.

Park Name May Change If Kochs Lease Park:

http://www.courier-j...ssey=nav%7Chead

I find the following quote from this article to be highly amusing (emphasis added)

The fair board last fall ended more than a year of negotiations with Louisville businessman Ed Hart about operating Kentucky Kingdom. He had raised significant money toward reopening the park.

And is/was seeking the return of much of that money. I feel for the Kochs. I really don't think they have a clue about the type of people they are now attempting to deal with. Kentucky politics is a VERY high stakes game. Hart. Lunsford. Workman. Those three couldn't make this work to their mutual satisfaction.

I've yet to figure out what's in this for the Kochs. Somebody (or several somebodies) has goals including pride, proving relative competence, etc. There is every potential for major, apocalyptic pecuniary loss here.

^That's what I was thinking after reading this thread and it hits very close to home for me. I recently lost a lot of money and cut ties with my sister over a something born of similar familial issues!

Proving yourself can be very expensive... damaging family relations and finances can be catastrophic!

I agree. I am still quite puzzled by the Koch`s interest in that park. Clearly they seem something positive in it, and at this point the positive outweighs the potential risks.

The biggest thing that gets me is the proximity of this park to their current Holiday World property. Won`t reopening Kentucky Kingdom cannibalize some of the customers from the Louisville area that would normally go to Holiday World? In turn they would simply go to Kentucky Kingdom.

I wonder if this plan was put in place (or at least the idea) before Will`s untimely death.

Thursday we will know what's up.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120220/NEWS01/302200055/ky-kingdom-lease-pending?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CHome%7Cs

Well, it certainly sounds like a deal has been reached. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

http://m.14news.com/autojuice?targetUrl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.14news.com%2fstory%2f16976455%2fkentucky-state-fair-board-votes-on-thurs

I agree. I didn`t expect a deal to be reached this quickly. I take it the Koch`s liked what they saw. It will be interesting to see what exactly their plan of attack is for the park.

It will be interesting to see how the deal works out, especially keeping in mind this is not a Holiday World venture but by a separate formed group. So all of the individuals involved in the newly formed group have various roles in running Holiday World and I would assume at this point will continue to do so. How will this time split affect both parks and strategic marketing decisions. Holiday World has great success with water parks and I think they will keep pushing in that direction in the short and mid term in the years ahead.

I am watching to see if the free beverages marketing gets integrated to the new park.

Governor Wants Workman Out?

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120221/BUSINESS/302210060?odyssey=mod%7Cmostcom

This could drastically affect Kentucky Kingdom, or not.

Mr. Avatar...

Do you mean integrated instead of interrogated?

Yes and thanks. I need to stop relying on spell check as much as I do. Changed post to reflect the change.

I think the HW folks know what they are doing. You can run both parks and have them appeal to two demographics. The KY park being the thrill park and HW being the traditional park. They can price the KY park right too and keep out the trouble. The SF days it was the cheapest park in the chain for a pass. I could get a pass and did so for many years for less than admission to KI. Price the pass higher and offer visits to Holiday World too and you can get the families and keep out trouble.

The markets are close enough to be mutually beneficial.

And Bluegrass Boardwalk is a go. You can follow their twitter at @Bluegrassbwalk. Something interesting I saw posted on there:

Free soft drinks at @BluegrassBwalk ... free sunscreen ... free use of inner tubes. #BB2013

So they are going to try and do the free soft drink/sunscreen thing also. Good luck to them. They also tweeted new attractions in 2013. Interesting indeed.

Bluegrass Boardwalk to open in May 2013, Congrats Koch Family

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120223/NEWS01/302230038/Fair-board-approves-lease-former-Kentucky-Kingdom-renamed-Bluegrass-Boardwalk?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home

Does this mean free parking for the first year?

Parking to be equitable fee sharing arrangement determined after first year of

http://www.wave3.com/story/17003520/lease-summary-points

No. The park and KFEC will equally share parking revenue the first season. However, there will be free drinks, sunscreen, and inter-tubes.

As I've said on here numerous times in the past, one of my two worst park experiences was KK back in 1998. During the winter of '09-'10, I decided I was willing to give the park another try, since it was a different owner than when I visited (I went right before Six Flags took over). I even had SFKK's opening day marked on my calendar. But then came the announcment that it was not going to reopen that year.

Now that the Kochs will be running it, I am definitely ready to go again. I have faith in their abilities given how well they've done with HW, but I am still wary of the financial situation they may be putting themselves in. Only time will tell, but I sincerely hope this does not prove to be a huge mistake on their part. I think a lot will have to do with pricing. SFKK was notorious for it's low admission/season pass prices, which from a lot of sources allowed for the park to be overrun by not-so-desireable guests (which certainly contirbuted to my experience in '98). Hopefully we will see an increase in price (while still keeping it a good value for what they have to offer) in order to weed out some of the teen hoodlums that I encountered and have heard others speak of as well.

I hope this pays off for the Koch Family. I for one am more than willing, having been to their other park (Holiday World), to give this park a shot- especially if it's fair-priced (anything less than $39.99, I'm sold...I would also be willing to pay a bit more, especially if new signature attractions are added, and if discount tickets are made avaliable that's fine too). Wonder what new rides they will add...I also LOVE that they are spreading their free drinks to another park. Also wondering if a "Super" Season Pass to both parks might be made avaliable...it would probably cost over $200 though...

Well, it's barley 2012 and here I am planning a 2013 trip...(not to mention a KI Opening Day 2012 trip is already on my agenda)...

I for one, actually hope that it is priced closer to the $45-$50 dollar range. I think that finding the price point that makes this a value for families but also keeps the riff-raff out may prove to be a challenge the first year. I have faith in the Koch family...but I have to say if this was practically anyone else I would have next to no hope of this working out.

According to my local news the Koch's already has plans for the park for the next 5 years or so.

I am very pleased to hear that they were approved because I did like Kentucky Kingdom while it was open.

I hope that they leave but refurbish Greezed Lightnin', and especially T2 because those were 2 of my favorite coasters

along with Chang until he was moved to New Jersey.

Do you guys think that there will be season passes the first year?

Maybe... But if so, I'd expect them to be priced similar to Cedar Fair's Platinum Pass (in the $150 - 160 range).

It does seem like it would need to be that much just to cover the potential soda someone could consume, etc. But after Six Flag's rock-bottom $45 passes that get you into two dozen parks, that might be a hard sell for locals (which has its benefits, to be honest, but alienating that clientele isn't great, either).

And if they do offer season passes, will you be able to visit Holiday World for a season or a day at extra cost? Separate legal identity, sure. But don't you think the Koch's are throwing around the name of the family business as they woo soft drink companies and fair board members and the public? To add a day at Holiday World for an extra cost could grow both businesses. But who knows.

So is Ed Hart totally out of the picture with the park now?

So is Ed Hart totally out of the picture with the park now?

Yes. That's all over but perhaps the litigatin'.

He is, except for fighting for his money back?

And probably mighty jealous that this deal came together so quickly (at least, in the public's eyes) and that his brainchild will now - again - have someone else at the wheel. After all the political tension and gambling he did to win back that park, it just took a single family to swoop in out of the blue and in what feels like weeks, an official announcement had been made. (Where's that topic that promised Kentucky Kingdom would re-open in 2010 under Hart with fantastic new additions?)

That is what I thought. To the points in your post GYK, as fast as it worked out for Kock owners; I think maybe the fair board was not keen on Ed opening that park even if he had his own funds.