And it should be realized Six Flags then was in turmoil and was desperately trying to save a sinking ship. Astroworld was closed, Worlds of Adventure was sold. Magic Mountain nearly suffered the same fate.

SIX was doing the best it could with what it had. Gary Story had already sewn the seeds of failure.

Today's SIX shares only a name with the various Six Flags managements of the past.

And long before Jay Thomas, Melinda Ashcraft identified what was needed to make Kentucky Kingdom a true contender. When Flags was unwilling or unable to invest that freely, she moved on, ultimately to Six Flags Over Georgia, where she virtually single-handedly saved Monster Plantation and Mindbender.

By the way, her identified investment needs for Kentucky Kingdom were many fold more than what Hart & Co. plan to invest.

On the contrary, I have spoken to lots of people who enjoyed being a sweep. The job is what you make of it. You will be encouraged to interact with park guests early and often every day and who knows, you could inadvertently help make someone's day at the park a lot more worthwhile. When I worked at Disney, I was in Rides, and was originally assigned to be a Jungle skipper, but got switched to another attraction at the last minute which I wasn't nearly as excited about at first. It was a lot of fun, but I often was envious of the park sweeps who seemed to be always having a good time (they could wander around and observe, while at Rides, I was fixed in just a few places every day). Don't poo-poo it solely based on your disdain for picking up trash.

At Disney Parks, the sweepers are the creme-de-la-creme of the cast members. They pick their best people for these roles simply because they interact with guests the most often.

I couldn't agree more.

The sweeps throughout Disney parks make some of the most lasting memories for kids. Always referring to Little Miss RailRider as Princess, taking the extra minute to make her fee special. Plus they are great knowledge for hidden Mickey's and character meet up tips. Plus they get to hand out all the awesome buttons. First Time, Celebrating, Anniversary and the like. Then again Disney views their sweeps very differently than most parks.

The sweeps throughout Disney parks make some of the most lasting memories for kids. Always referring to Little Miss RailRider as Princess, taking the extra minute to make her fee special. Plus they are great knowledge for hidden Mickey's and character meet up tips. Plus they get to hand out all the awesome buttons. First Time, Celebrating, Anniversary and the like. Then again Disney views their sweeps very differently than most parks.

I know I always tried my best regardless if it was hot as heck or raining cats and dogs or in Florida it was gators and pythons,

I even met Keith Harrison at Disney one night in a downpour. I don't know if I was more impressed by him or he was with me having that much fun in the rain. That would be my only memory with KIFan1980.

I'm guessing Disney doesn't cross train their sweeps for other jobs. Do they?

I know at BGW I was host supervisor, but I was cross trained on almost every ride in France, New France and Germany.

And long before Jay Thomas, Melinda Ashcraft identified what was needed to make Kentucky Kingdom a true contender. When Flags was unwilling or unable to invest that freely, she moved on, ultimately to Six Flags Over Georgia, where she virtually single-handedly saved Monster Plantation and Mindbender.

By the way, her identified investment needs for Kentucky Kingdom were many fold more than what Hart & Co. plan to invest.

Out of mere curiosity, Terp, do you know what her investments would have involved? I really have no purpose in asking, apart from wondering what Kentucky Kingdom could have been. I very much enjoy Mindbender and Monster Plantation (MP is VASTLY underrated in the enthusiast community--its eyes-in-the-fog effect does more for me than BBoBH's ever did) so I'm wondering what she had in mind for KK.

Let's just say much of the money needed for her plan (which was very water park-centric) was diverted to and ended up being spent at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (including the folly of buying SeaWorld Ohio).

I'm guessing Disney doesn't cross train their sweeps for other jobs. Do they?

I know at BGW I was host supervisor, but I was cross trained on almost every ride in France, New France and Germany.

The only cross training they did at Disney was at different parks, resorts, or Downtown Disney.

This may be a slightly minor complaint as it isn't quite as baffling as some of the things the park has/hasn't done, but why did they name their new coaster in a way that so closely resembles Thunder Run? I've already seen a lot of general public posts confuse Thunder Run and Lightning Run.

Again, minor complaint, but a little originality goes a long way.

Not to mention Hersheypark's Lightning Racer with two sides: Thunder and Lightning. Definitely lacking in originality in Jefferson County...

Not to mention Hersheypark's Lightning Racer with two sides: Thunder and Lightning. Definitely lacking in originality in Jefferson County...

Well, it is a park themed to candy, so I don't see how any kind of electricity has to do with me buying chocolate.

Kentucky Kingdom on Facebook:

"More Lightning Run supports making their way into place!"

Photo : Kentucky Kingdom via Facebook

Terp, I'll give you the lightning part. BUT I do believe Thunder Run opened prior to Lightning Racer and I think Kentucky Kingdom was going for something to contrast the Thunder.

Another update from the Wikiwiki Wai Slide Complex!

Photo Credit: The New Kentucky Kingdom Via Facebook

It's a good thing you are here to tell us.

I've NEVER seen such poor marketing. Camden Park does a better job of it. That's sad.

Maybe they plan on dropping leaflets from a hot-air balloon.

Kinda like they do from the IGS Energy Blimp at Nationwide Arena Columbus Blue Jackets Games!?

As we get closer to the start of the season, I am wondering how many people will be there opening day. It's as if they're not really trying. I've liked Kings Island and Cedar Point on Facebook and followed them both on Twitter, and I see posts every day. Sometimes it's pushing new attractions, sometimes it's park trivia, but every post I see keeps these parks in my mind. Kentucky Kingdom has a treasure trove of opportunity to reach out on social media. They are refurbishing nearly the entire park. Think of the countless photos they could be posting, or the "this day in history" sort of things, or really anything at all. They need to permeate everyone's minds nonstop to maximize the odds of people actually visiting the park. I follow them on the same social media sites as I follow other parks, and I rarely if ever see anything at all. The frequency of posts have gotten better from the beginning of the offseason. Maybe they're building some momentum. I sure hope so, because I REALLY want Kentucky Kingdom to succeed. I'd love to see Holiday World and KI threatened by Kentucky Kingdom's success and all three parks start building greater and greater things. Competition is the greatest catalyst for innovation.

Currently, the only way I could see their marketing being WORSE is if they take a page from KI and play Van Halen on their Drop Tower, but instead of "Right Now", they play the fifth track from 1984.

-Homestar92, honestly not trying to be tasteless with his last comment, only trying to emphasize a point about KK's PR.

Not to mention Hersheypark's Lightning Racer with two sides: Thunder and Lightning. Definitely lacking in originality in Jefferson County...

Well, it is a park themed to candy, so I don't see how any kind of electricity has to do with me buying chocolate.

It's not themed to candy... rather has AN attraction with a chocolate theme. (And even that isn't INSIDE the park.)

If it were themed to candy, we would have seen a waterslide named Hershey Squirts already. ;-)

It's a good thing you are here to tell us.

I've NEVER seen such poor marketing. Camden Park does a better job of it. That's sad.

Maybe they plan on dropping leaflets from a hot-air balloon.

That's still better than dropping live turkeys from a helicopter.

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"

-Gator, showing my age...

Not to mention Hersheypark's Lightning Racer with two sides: Thunder and Lightning. Definitely lacking in originality in Jefferson County...

Well, it is a park themed to candy, so I don't see how any kind of electricity has to do with me buying chocolate.

It's not themed to candy... rather has AN attraction with a chocolate theme. (And even that isn't INSIDE the park.)

If it were themed to candy, we would have seen a waterslide named Hershey Squirts already. ;-)

But....but.....it's Hershey Park! It HAS to have chocolate!

Unfortunately, much of what Hershey sells these days is ersatz chocolate. See, in particular, Mr. Goodbar, Krackel, Milk Duds, just to name three. Instead of expensive cocoa butter, Hershey uses vegetable oil. The products, which can no longer be called chocolate in the USA, now claim to be made with chocolate, an important but rather sneaky legal distinction. Note the iconic Hershey bar is so far not affected, though it has been systematically reduced in size.

This is why competitor Mars goes out of its way to point out its products are real chocolate.

Hershey has also closed several US plants and moved production to cheaper Mexico.

Mexico + Mexican water = Hershey Squirts....LOL

Hersheypark does have attraction in the park themed to candy. The Kissing Tower and the dark ride which name escapes me at the moment.

^^ Reese's Extreme Cup Challenge.

Also - I think Great Bear is/was an ice cream bar.

Trailblazer is/was a candy bar too.

And for those of you who have not been to Hersheypark before, it is a fun park to visit. I was there back in 2011, and can`t wait to get back there again. Its going to be a few years before I can make it out there.

I hope to be able to get down to Kentucky Kingdom this year. I still kick myself for not getting out to Americana when it briefly re-opened for one season.

It's a good thing you are here to tell us.

I've NEVER seen such poor marketing. Camden Park does a better job of it. That's sad.

Maybe they plan on dropping leaflets from a hot-air balloon.

That's still better than dropping live turkeys from a helicopter.

"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!"

-Gator, showing my age...

I will join you with showing my age. That is my favorite episode of all time of any show I have ever seen. We watched it the first night it was on. It is still just as funny today as it was then.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

From the KK Facebook page: Here's a picture of Lightning Run's curved incline, just after you make your way down the 100 ft drop!

Don't know about the rest of you but this here KK hatin, KI Fanboy, is excited to ride this.

It is going to be interesting to see how advertisements change once the park reopens T2 and then in '16, unveils their new coaster to replace the area where the Twisted Twins reside.

At last check, they still said they were going to fix twisted twins.