Holiday World and Kentucky Kingdom are likely my only 2 parks I will go to aside from going to Kings Island late in the season when 2017 passes go on sale.  I'm now starting to work out the logistics for both my trips to KK and HW.  I will be making them separate trips. I only have a few requests for those who've been there before.  As I've stated before elsewhere, KK will be a day trip whilst HW will involve me staying near Santa Claus, IN and going 2 days to take in both Holiday World and Splashin' Safari.  

 

- Best places to eat (specifically, where to find things that are light on the stomach)

- Any miscellaneous things about either park that might be worth looking into

- Any other useful tips for either park, a specific one I want to request is on what lines are like for the 3 HW woodies at night (a Raven night ride is high on my priority list)

- Any recommendations for lodging around Holiday World

As far as Holiday World lodging, I recommend Santa's Lodge (http://www.santaslodge.com/). It's slightly pricey, but worth it for the convenience of staying a quarter mile from the park. If you want budget, it's worth investing in a small tent and a sleeping bag to camp at Lake Rudolph next door to the park for about $40/night. Lake Rudolph even offers free shuttle service to and from Holiday World's front gate.

Why can't Cedar Fair have as much info on food on their websites as HW and KK do?

Tips for HW:

 

Plymouth Rock Cafe.... EAT THERE!!!!

Ride the coasters in order the first time, I did that on my first visit in 2010 and was very happy I did.  Raven fills up quickly, which is another good reason to do so.

All of HWs coasters are great at night, ESPECIALLY VOyage and Thunderbird.  The entire rosebowl area of Voyage... actually the entire back half of Voyage... is absolutely dark which makes the ride phenomenal.

Gobbler Getaway is a fun, and very nicely air conditioned, ride... and the Turkey Blasters are usually in very good working order.

Make a point to allow time to ride both Wildebeest and Mammoth.  Both rides can have wait times ranging from 45 minutes to 2 hours, and I promise both are absolutely worth that wait!!!

If possible, allow enough time to get a Thunderbird and Voyage night ride, and if you have to skip Legend to slide into Raven's queue before the shut it down, DO SO!  Raven is an absolute riot, and a very good way to end the night.

Ride the Rough Riders bumper "animals".  They are a LOT of fun, and quite fast.

 

Finally, and most importantly, if you like Voyage after riding it once, make a point of riding it this year as many times as your body can possibly handle it.  Then, ride it one more time.

Not sure if your going by yourself or not but Wildebeest and Mammoth both have single rider lines

I have a few questions regarding Kentucky Kingdom.  

 

On the issue of the neighborhood, should I treat it like a trip to Clifton and hide all the valuables in the car?  Also, on the days they close at 9 (if I choose one of those dates), should I be making my way out of there prior to that?  

 

I'm thinking of a mid-June visit.  I'll definitely be going with the out-of-state ticket discount.  

Be sure to ride that expedition force at Holiday world. I am wanting to make a trip there this summer.

^That's in Germany.  I'm probably not going over seas anytime soon.

 

Also, its Expedition Ge-Force at Holiday Park.

 

Link

Right now, I'm aiming for one of the dates of June 15, 17, 22, or 24 for going to the Hartland.  I'm aiming for the week after July 4th to go to Santa Claus, IN.  I'm giving myself 4 days for HW, one to travel there, 2 for the actual park visit, and 1 to drive back and give myself R&R before working the next day. 

Lucky for you, all the information about food is on their websites. Both Holiday World and Kentucky Kingdom have their menus, prices, and locations listed.

 

http://www.holidayworld.com/park-tickets/food-snacks/

https://www.kentuckykingdom.com/experience/dining/

 

As for the question of safety at Kentucky Kingdom... the location is not the greatest. Keeping valuables in the trunk would not be a bad idea.

But then, keeping valuables in the trunk is never a bad idea at any park.

I don't care where my car is or how safe the neighborhood is. I never, ever leave anything of significant value (including black market value, such as prescription medication) in a car where it is visible. I always hide it in either the glove box, center console, or trunk.

 

This would apply equally regardless of whether I am parked on the street in the neighborhood around Kentucky Kingdom or parked in my own locked garage in the safest neighborhood on Earth (not that my garage is clean enough to park a car in or that I live in such a neighborhood, mind you).

Ok, I have dates finalized now- 

 

Kentucky Kingdom- July 1

 

Holiday World- Week of July 25

Holiday World question- any particularly good discounts on tickets?  Particularly multi-day tickets?

Holiday World question- any particularly good discounts on tickets?  Particularly multi-day tickets?

 

AFAIK, I don't think they really do much in the way of discount tickets. Your best bet, if you have an active membership in a coaster club accepted for HoliWood Nights, is to show your unexpired membership card at the ticket window to purchase a very cheap ticket ($34). Details on that are here, on the right side under "Partner Club Discounts". Failing that, I'm not aware of any other discounted tickets available, as they tend to maintain pricing integrity (hi, Terpy).

 

As for additional days, they don't offer multi-day tickets up front. However, once inside the park on a one-day ticket, you can go to Guest Relations to purchase a Next Day ticket for $30.

^Would AAA be an option to get a discount?

^ Louisville-area & Indianapolis-area Kroger stores sell discount Holiday World tickets, as of the last time I checked. You should call your intended store first, of course, if you go that route. (I'd recommend the Kroger in Carrollton, KY, which also tends to be one of the cheaper places on I-71 for gasoline.)

 

Each AAA region stocks their own list of attraction tickets; Holiday World tickets weren't stocked by AAA Ohio or AAA Ohio Valley when I last checked.

All booked for my Santa Claus trip!

 

Does anyone have any dinner/lunch recommendations anywhere between Cincinnati and Louisville/Santa Claus, IN?

Kentucky Kingdom PTR July 1st

 

My day began at 7 am.  Got up early, took some time to wake up and check email and such before I left, and proceeded to my local Frisch's for breakfast.  Was on the road at 8 am.  There was a steady overcast for the early portions of the trip, but just after I passed Sparta/Kentucky Speedway, a giant wall of black clouds loomed ahead.  The forecast I saw was a 40% chance so I didn't expect it all day, but it was pretty slow going from Sparta until I just got within the Louisville city limits (I was approaching I-264 as the rain stopped).  Louisville itself has a massive 3 way interchange between I-71, I-65, and I-64, and I-264 (some of those are merged).  On top of that was loads of construction downtown.  The mileage going around the loop was about the same, but I imagine it would have been just as hectic with everyone detouring around downtown.  It got better as I passed a part of the world that has all things evil to Cincinnatians (U of L).  

 

The parking situation at KK is odd.  There are several entrances to the Expo center area, some of which require massive looping around to get to Kentucky Kingdom, like the one I picked to enter.  I did get to drive under what was soon to be the aggravating bridge at KK to see how all of this was put together.  Despite the black death rain cloud and the construction, I pulled in with a great parking spot at 10, an hour before opening.  Hey KK/Fair Board, would you please install restrooms outside the park gate?  Would have helped me out a lot after hydrating on the way down.  Sky was still overcast with some sprinkling (like a drop here and there every minute or so).  

 

The park opened and the way they open rides is that they wait until there's a group large enough to fill a train/cycle and then let people in line.  I went to Lightning Run first out of proximity and was told such by the employee at the entrance.

 

 

 Got 2 rides on that (I'll get to coaster reviews later) and started with the coasters first.  Then hit Thunder Run and Storm Chaser (T3 was down until around lunch).  Oddly enough, they had 2 trains on LR and 1 going on SC (contrary to most trip reports I've been reading).  I rode TR and LR twice for front and back seat rides while only getting 1 in on SC during that time.

 

 

 After that, I was feeling the heat as the clouds were breaking up so I did Raging River Rapids and Mile High Falls.  RRR was pretty quick for a rapids ride and it had way more spinning than WWC does, though didn't get that wet on it.  Mile High Falls was a nice soaking, but it didn't have that pop of air like Congo Falls.  MHF also felt like the track underneath the turn was tacky sheet metal with the noises going on up there.  It had this nice wall of water come up as it bottomed out.  I was trying to buy time to see if T3 was going to open, so I took a breather and ate an early lunch.  Had some decent flat bread pizza at the stand by Thunder Run.  I forgot which one was the flat bread, but it turned out to be just the right food.  

 

I walked back over the bridge to Enterprise.  I haven't ridden one since Skylab left and was eager to get back on one.  Someone check on this, but did Skylab go full vertical during its cycle?  KK's did.  I also don't remember the cars swaying like they did.  I did make me quite dizzy, too.  I went back for another round on the coasters and whlie on Thunder Run for round two, I saw that T3 had opened.  Made a bee-line for that before going for Storm Chaser on round 2.  

 

 

The combination of T3 and SC gave me a bit of a migraine, but this breather was sort of planned as I met up briefly with jrto223 to TCB.  I set out to ride Fearfall and Skycatcher.  Fearfall was actually nice for being a smaller dropping tower.  It goes up pretty fast and doesn't hold you at the top and also have the view above you blocked by the car, so you get 0 anticipation.  An odd design I saw about Skycatcher is that the entire tower spins, not just the mechanism that supports the seats.  It seemed rather inefficient a design choice to me, especially considering the weight.  It did run despite slight winds.   I contemplated Cyclos, but 1) I didn't know the ride cycle was so long and 2) I didn't know it swung all the way around.  I'm pretty sure it would have kicked my butt.  

 

I was starting to run out of gas, so I got 1 more ride on the big coasters not named T3 and left, though I initially wanted to get 3-4 in on Thunder Run, but it developed a bit of a temper as the track dried and it got hotter.  Grabbed a map for my collection as well as a Thunder Run shirt and left at about 5:15.  

 

Also, I did spot the Greezed Lighting train behind LR and the front portion of the train in the shop by Enterprise. 

 

 

Had a great day overall.  If some of you have noticed, I have been avoiding posting in the KK thread as I wanted to genuinely give the park a fair chance at winning me over.  In terms of good things, the landscaping was very nice, it was very colorful overall in aesthetics, especially around the entrance, the area by Lightning Run, and the water park.  The overall park layout was odd.  The part on the side of the main entrance was okay overall.  The bridge could be done better.  I found it easy to get to from the main entrance side, but the incline was awfully steep.  I imagine some people might have a hard time getting up to it.  At least they had a street crossing as well.  I didn't like the water park side of the bridge.  To get up to it via ramps from that side requires a lot of circling around.  There's also an awful lot of stairs and narrow paths along the midways. The water park side was all sorts of what the heck.  It's like they took a bunch of small rides, water park rides, and the remaining 4 coasters, put them in a blender, and then went with whatever layout it spat out.  Flycatcher is just sitting way out on its own on a far side of the water park, T3 and RRR are by their lonesome on their own path, and Storm Chaser is way, way out of the way from the rest of the park.  The entrance to Lightning Run was kind of tucked away as well.  The area by Storm Chaser and the former home of the drag racers looked a bit messy.  I hope they either fill it in or make it look a bit nicer.  It looks like SC was just plopped on top of a demolished warehouse.  I also think the 3 steel coasters could use automatic restraints.  I found it odd they were fastening the seat belts even on seats with no riders.

 

OK, so things KK does better than KI-

 

1. Landscaping

2. Food Service (by a mile)

3. Staff in general (all very courteous and professional, though the ride ops weren't very on the up and up on dispatching, a few times I saw them call all clear while employees were still checking restraints). 

4. Staff who enforces rules (KK was on their A-game going by the few encounters I saw that required such responses)

 

At least going by what I saw and heard from other people, there was a great deal of satisfaction of how the park was handling their business.  People like the rides and like having something closer to Louisville than trekking out to KI or HW, though HW seemed to be many of the guests 2nd option.  I think KK is going in the right direction, they just need to solidify some things.  I'm still baffled there is a park where KK sits, but if they can get to a point to make it work well and in a way that benefits all parties involved (including tax payers), then I say let them try it.  Obviously, we've gone over the crap that goes on between the Fair Board and Ed Hart, but it is what it is.

 

Next, my good googly moogly moments-

 

1. Seeing a slide (Deep Water Dive) that's taller than T3 (which is over 100 ft tall)

2. Getting what I'll call a 'plane ride' on my 2nd time on Storm Chaser- here's what my brain was doing

 

- Brain relaxed going up lift

- See's plane, its how far above us?  The noise takes you by surprise, even over the fairly loud anti-rollbacks

- Oh wait, I'm sitting in the back and we're already dropping

- Going through the turn, I'm still contemplating seeing a plane that close to a coaster

- Oh CRRRrrrraaa... as I'm going down the first drop, which is an inversion too

 

3. Seeing SC and LR fly through the hills in person before riding them along with the actual air time they delivered. 

4. Seeing Cyclos go all the way around without having prior knowledge of such a thing

 

 

Lastly, here are my coaster reviews.  I rode all but T3 at least 3 times, at least once in the front and back seats for each to get acquainted. 

 

Lightning Run- I was very impressed by it.  Every single hill has you up against the lap bar, very similar to the hills on Magnum on its return run, but all of LR's hills are like that.  Its very smooth, the restraints are comfortable, but it does have this bump on the back rest that, I guess, is supposed to line up with the small of your back.  Wasn't too big a factor, but on the lift and as it finished on the brake run, it was uncomfortable.  I'm hoping Chance-Morgan's actual hyper coasters deliver similar air. 

 

Storm Chaser- Air time similar to LR but the transitions were smoother, except for the hills after the 2nd roll.  The first drop is funky, in a good way.  As it inverts, it starts out as hang time, but at the angle its dropping, it instantly converts to air time.  Once you start rolling, you stay in that 0g sweet spot until you bottom out.  A lot of the hills from the first drop until the 2nd roll had some sort of lateral motion at the crests (except the first camel back which is just straight up air time), so it throws you around quite a bit.  The transitions from negative to positive g's are very quick like LR.  LR's excuse is the track is constantly changing direction.  On SC, its raw speed that makes them quick.  As smooth as LR is, SC is smoother.  I also dug the head choppers.  However, I do still like GCI better. 1) I simply like wood coasters better  than steel and 2) all the non-inverted elements on SC feel better to me on a GCI.  SC is still an amazing ride regardless though.  

 

T3- This was my introduction to Vekoma full circuit SLC's.  I went in expecting the worst.  The restraints on the new trains are similar to the new restraints B&M has been using, but instead of metal bars with that rubber material, its seatbelts.  It kind of resembled a 5 point harness with part of it being an overhead lap bar.  That lap bar crushes into your legs throughout, and with it being a positive g beast, that part wasn't fun.  It was quite smooth, my head didn't rattle around much, and I did rather like the layout.  I could tell it was the prototype though.  Some of the elements didn't feel shaped right in how the g forces weren't consistent and with a bit of a lot of the pulsing shifts in the pacing.  I do want to get on the newer ones to see how they differ.  Overall, it was just alright.  Wasn't horrible, but didn't stand out  much.  One ride was enough for me.

 

Thunder Run- This is the absolute crown jewel of Kentucky Kingdom.  I got lucky in that my first 2 rides were after a good soaking rain, so it ran like gold.  It started to get rougher as it got warmer, but it still ran great.  Perfect air time for a woodie.  One of the best bits are the first bunny hop as there is a slight turn to the right as you go back down.  Your butt is still in the air and it suddenly slams to the side as its not banked.  A lot of the drops except for the first set of hops have some sort of turn or difference in banking which adds some nice lateral motion to it, plus with it rattling below you, its just great at being a good wooden coaster.  The turns later in the course also seem to get tighter in radius as you go through them.  The pacing is phenomenal.  A fantastic coaster overall. 

Here's the rest of my photos.  I'll probably drop a few in the random photo thread from time to time as well.

 

http://s515.photobucket.com/user/Strobelyte/library/Kentucky%20Kingdom?sort=3&page=1

BTW, in terms of crowds, early on rides were 1 cycle wait (flats) or walk on (coasters).  LR averaged around 15 minutes, SC about 20, TR was 30 minutes though it died down later in the day, and T3 was 10.    

 

Also Terpy, I saw a guy walking around in a Blue shirt with a Hoosier hat on.  Thoughts?

I like that you made a point to get a shot of the big water cup.

Seeing a slide (Deep Water Dive) that's taller than T3 (which is over 100 ft tall)

And that didn't make you want to go over and ride it?

(That slide is one of the very few amusement devices that scare me just thinking about it. Of course, that will probably get me over there to ride it. The slide is reportedly smoother than Tropical Plunge, which gives me some relief.)

Glad you had a good time, and it was good to see you.

 

The reason Storm Chaser was a one train operation was that they were replacing the wheels.  It was interesting to watch as I was on the stairs.  The new wheels are much better than the nylon   wheels they were using last week--no weird vibration, much quieter, and it felt quicker on the helix at the end.

 

Also, where the dragsters were, I would venture a guess there will be some flats there next year.  The "Fun Under Construction" signs were a nice touch, but should either put up a wooden fence or clean up the area because it doesn't look good.  But I am glad the pathway is open.

Another thing I should throw in- there were lots of Six Flags references still present.  The front entrance has 6 American flags, RRR has its Batman/Penguin theming, and the shop and theater for the Angry Birds show looks heavily influenced by WB/Six Flags (I've been to NJFTP, a lot of things looked similar to the way those shops and buildings looked).  

You may have missed it, but over by the Flying Scooters, there is still a Wiley coyote stamped into the concrete.

I like that you made a point to get a shot of the big water cup.

 

Seeing a slide (Deep Water Dive) that's taller than T3 (which is over 100 ft tall)

And that didn't make you want to go over and ride it?

(That slide is one of the very few amusement devices that scare me just thinking about it. Of course, that will probably get me over there to ride it. The slide is reportedly smoother than Tropical Plunge, which gives me some relief.)

 

 

I was referring to the fact my jaw was agape when I saw it.  Seeing a slide that tall in person doesn't do the pictures a justice.  I'm sure I would have gone on it...eventually. 

 

So for my HW trip later this month, I'm thinking of leaving mid-afternoon the day before and get dinner around Santa Claus.  Any good restaurants in the area?

Random question about Voyage- how many trains is it currently running?

My Santa Claus Itinerary

 

Monday- Drive to Dale, IN, explore the area, may swing by Owensboro for dinner at BBQ place suggested by Terpy

 

Tuesday and Wednesday- HW&SS, one day at both water and dry park, one day at just the dry park (depending on weather)

 

Thursday- Leave Dale for Kings Island, arrive after 4 for the after 4 pricing, make a bee-line for Beast and Diamondback, ensue shenanigans with fellow KICers, stay for the announcement

I just read (or re-read, I can't remember) your Kentucky Kingdom Trip report; good stuff. When you said that Thunder Run is rougher when it's warmer, you are absolutely right! It was super-hot yesterday and TR ran like a beast (and not necessarily in a good way...). Also, let's agree to disagree on T3. I loved T3, quirkyness and all (well, except when one gets stapled; then it's super-painful!). I also enjoyed your in-depth analysis on Storm Chaser. I probably won't read your Holiday World thoughts until I've gone (which I hope to be sometime next month...), but I look forward to "comparing notes" ( ) to see how our experiences varied.

Thunder Run has the single greatest bunny hop on any coaster ever along with a nice row of airtime filled hills thereafter to kind of make up for its roughness. 

Thunder Run has the single greatest bunny hop on any coaster ever along with a nice row of airtime filled hills thereafter to kind of make up for its roughness.

You must not have ridden el toro...