| Kentucky Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| The entrance to Kentucky Kingdom when it was owned by Six Flags. | |
| Location | Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
| Website | Official website |
| Owner | The Commonwealth of Kentucky/Six Flags |
| Operated By | Ed Hart and the Kentucky State Fair Board/Six Flags |
| Opened | 1987 |
| Closed | 2009 |
| Previous names | Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom |
| Operating season | April-October |
| Area | 58 acres (23 ha) |
| Rides | 27 total
|
Kentucky Kingdom (previously known as Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom) is an amusement park located in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. The park is located on 58 acres (23 ha)[1] of land which includes a collection of 27 amusement rides and a water park named Splashwater Kingdom.[2] The park is currently standing but not operating until funding is approved when it will reopen under new management and owner with additional rides and attractions.[3][4]
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Kentucky Kingdom opened on May 23, 1987, leasing 10 acres (4.0 ha) at the Kentucky Exposition Center property.[5] The park was an extension of the State Fair. It closed before the end of the season. One of the original rides was a roller coaster named Starchaser. The owners filed bankruptcy and auctioned off the rides.
The park remained closed through 1989 after its purchase by Ed Hart and a group of investors. It reopened for the 1990 season with the new owners and management team.[5] Despite the Starchaser being sold it had remained on-site at the amusement park allowing Hart to purchase it back.[1] Additionally new rides were added including Tin Lizzies, The Enterprise, Whirling Dervish, and The Vampire. In 1992, the Kentucky Kingdom made a large expansion and opened the Hurricane Bay water park (which was later renamed Splashwater Kingdom.[1]
At the end of 1997, Kentucky Kingdom was sold to Premier Parks for $64 million.[5] At the time, Kentucky Kingdom was one of the main tourism attractions for Louisville, receiving more visitors than Churchill Downs.[5] The following year on June 21, 1998, the park re-opened as Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.[5] It was the ninth amusement park to use the Six Flags name.[6]
In 1999, corporate Six Flags planned to re-theme the one side of the park as "Gotham City", renaming and repainting several rides. Later that year, the idea was shelved and the rides retained their original names despite many of them having a different coat of paint.[1]
In 2002, the Twisted Sisters roller coaster was forced to be renamed to Twisted Twins upon a threat of a lawsuit from the band Twisted Sister.[1] Before the opening of the 2007 season, Hurricane Bay was rebranded as Splashwater Kingdom.
On September 21, 2009, Kentucky Kingdom confirmed that the park's main attraction Chang was being removed for the addition of Bonzai Beach, a new water park region that has a separate theme from the existing Splashwater Kingdom.[7]
On February 4, 2010, Six Flags announced the park would cease operations immediately due to the rejection of the lease by the Kentucky State Fair Board.[3]
On May 27, 2010, the Kentucky State Fair Board announced that former Kentucky Kingdom owner Ed Hart, along with several other investors in the Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Company, will operate the park with a reopening expected by Memorial Day Weekend the year after funding is approved. The fair board and Six Flags were still required to negotiate the ownership of rides and attractions.[4][8][9]
On July 25, 2010, the Kentucky State Fair Board and Six Flags settled the dispute over the land and rides among other issues. In the settlement Six Flags received a ride of their choice which was chosen to be Road Runner Express. Six Flags was forgiven $2.8 million in lease related payments owed by Six Flags. The Kentucky State Fair Board used $2.35 million from Ed Hart to purchase Six Flags' 20-acre (8.1 ha) stake in the park. Six Flags in return gave up its property rights to the Kentucky State Fair Board, which includes the offices, furniture, fixtures and equipment relating to the park, as well as all intellectual property.
In early 2011, State of Kentucky denied the 50 million dollar bond.
In March 2011, they requested 20 million from the City of Louisville. Louisville denied the request.
In April 2011, Kentucky Kingdom is trying to reopen in two phases.The first phase is to just open it the year after funding is approved. The second phase is to double the size of the water park, add 4 new rides including a steel 8-10 million dollar roller coaster to replace Chang, and possibly a smaller coaster, to be built the year after Kentucky Kingdom opens.[10][11]
On August 23, 2011 it was reported that Schneider Cos. would be willing to guarantee up to $20 million dollars in loans for Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Company. They have not yet released the specifics as both parties are still in negotiations. Schneider Cos. is the parent company of both the Galt House and the Crown Plaza Suites.[12]
On September 30th, 2011 Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Company announced through a Facebook status update, that the fair board had ended negotiations with the Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Company
| Ride | Opened | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Thunder Run | 1990 | A Dinn Corporation built wooden roller coaster, designed by Curtis D. Summers and John Fetterman.[13] |
| Roller Skater | 1994 | A Vekoma junior roller coaster, with roller skate shaped cars.[14] |
| T2 | 1995 | A Vekoma SLC roller coaster. It was the first installation of its kind in the United States and the second in the world.[15] |
| Twisted Twins | 1998 | A Custom Coasters International dueling wooden roller coaster. The ride was originally named Twisted Sisters with the two sides are named Lola & Stella. The ride name changed due to a legal dispute however the track names remained.[16] |
| Greezed Lightnin' | 2003 | An Anton Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop roller coaster.[17] The ride was previously located at Six Flags Over Georgia[18] and Six Flags Great America.[19] |
| Ride | Opened | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Breakdance | 1990 | A Huss Breakdance. Ride spins on a platform with a group of pods that spin in addition to the platform. |
| Bluebeard's Bounty | 1990 | Swinging pirate ship |
| Tin Lizzies | 1990 | Antique cars that run along a track. The ride was remodeled due to the construction of the rollercoaster Greezed Lightning. |
| Bumper Cars | 1990 | Known as the Road Rage Cage in October for October fest. |
| Enterprise | 1990 | Ride starts out flat, has an enclosed carrier with little restraints, ride begins spinning and lifts up onto its side like a Ferris wheel and then back down. |
| Thrill Park Theater | 1996 | Motion picture simulator, Hydraulic pods/seats move in accordance with a movie. |
| Himalaya | ||
| The Giant Wheel | 1992 | 150 ft (46 m) tall Vekoma Ferris wheel |
| The Penguin's Blizzard River | 1999 | A white water raft ride. Parts of the ride were moved from the closed Opryland theme park |
| Flying Dutchman | 1991 | Ride was previously located at Kings Island |
| International Carousel | 1996 | |
| Mile High Falls | 1994 | |
| The Zeppelin | 1991 | Zeppelin themed spinning ride |
Since the closure of Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, all rides are standing but not operating since 11/1/09.
| Ride | Opened | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Looney Tunes Acme Fun Factory | 1997 | SCS Interactive kids foam ball play area |
| Rio Grande | 1998 | Zamperla Rio Grande, kiddie train ride. Opened for one season, then closed, new location opened in 2001. |
| Speedway | 1998 | Kids spinning car ride |
| Sylvester and Tweety's Pounce and Bounce | 2000 | Zamperla Jumpin' Star – Kids drop tower |
| Frightfully Funny Free-Falling Fire Engine No. 9 | Zamperla Crazy Bus | |
| Daffy's Star Parade | 1990 | Kids Ferris wheel |
| Bugs Bunny's Big Band Carousel | 1990 | Kids Carousel |
| A'wound the World in 80 Seconds | 1990 | Zamperla Samba Balloons |
| Bigfoot | 1990 | Kids battery powered jeeps |
| Taz's Filmworks | 1990 | Kids swing ride |
| Yosemite Sam's Hollywood Flight School | 1990 | Kids biplane ride |
Since the closure of Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, all rides are standing but not operating since 11/1/09.
| Ride | Opened | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Wall | 1999 | Climbable rock wall |
| Thrill Karts | 1997 | Go-Karts |
| Ride | Opened | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Big Surf Wave Pool | 1992 | Wave pool |
| Mt. Slide Hai | 1993 | 4 slides named - Voodoo Express, Forbidden Passage, Conquistador Canyon and Vanishing Falls |
| Hook's Lagoon | 1998 | SCS Interactive Discovery Treehouse |
| Castaway Creek | 1993 | Name changed from Lazy river |
| Tornado | 2005 | ProSlide Technology Inc. Tornado Rattler - funnel shaped tube slide that uses four person "cloverleaf" or two person "whirly wheel" tubes |
| Buccaneer Beach | Remodeled 2007 | Kids play area |
| Deluge | 2007 | ProSlide Technology Inc. HydroMagnetic Rocket slide |
| Mega Wedgie | 2008 | ProSlide Technology Inc. Bullet Bowl |
Like all theme parks, Kentucky Kingdom has closed attractions and has replaced many with more contemporary attractions. The following is a list of the former attractions of Kentucky Kingdom.
| Ride | Opened | Closed | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranger | 1990 | 1994 | Huss Ranger - replaced by Rainbow |
| Round Up | 1987 | 1995 | Hrubetz Round Up |
| Starchaser | 1987 | 1995 | An enclosed Anton Schwarzkopf Jet Star roller coaster.[20] It was removed in 1995[20] due to a pending lawsuit from guests who were injured on the ride in 1994.[21] The ride was originally located in Beech Bend Park before being moved to Kentucky Kingdom.[22] It was then moved to Darien Lake in 1996[23] before moving to its final location at The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom, where it was called Nightmare at Crack Axle Canyon. The ride is now defunct.[24] |
| The Squid | 1990 | 1997 | 4 wet/dry water slides, Located where Road Runner express is. |
| The Vampire | 1990 | 1999 | A Vekoma Boomerang roller coaster.[25] It was removed in 1999[25] because of multiple breakdowns. It was moved to Six Flags New England where it is now known as Flashback.[26] |
| Jester's June Bugs | 1990 | 2001 | Moved to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (Geauga Lake) |
| Starcastle Voyage | 1997 | 2001 | Kids Carousel - moved to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (Geauga Lake) |
| Mini Tea Cups | 1998 | 2001 | Tea cup ride - moved to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (Geauga Lake) |
| Thriller Bees | 1998 | 2001 | Huss swing ride - moved to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (Geauga Lake) |
| The Quake | 1992 | 2004 | Vekoma Waikiki Wave - ride was replaced by Tornado water slide |
| Slingshot | 2002 | 2004 | Extra charge Funtime Sling Shot - portable - moved to Six Flags Elitch Gardens |
| Top Eliminator Dragsters | 1996 | 2005 | Extra charge 3/4 scale dragsters |
| Chaos | 1998 | 2005 | Chance Chaos - replaced by a smoking area in 2006, replaced by Deluge in 2007 |
| The Great Race | 1998 | 2006 | Spinning kids ride - Replaced by Deluge in 2007 ( the ride is however still in storage at the park) |
| Superman: Tower of Power | 1995 | 2007 | Intamin 177 ft (54 m). giant drop - Closed due to serious accident that resulted in a 13-year-old girl losing her feet; was located just inside the entrance to the park; originally named Hellevator (1995–2006). |
| Rainbow | 1995 | 2008 | Removed following a serious malfunction of the Rainbow at Liseberg in Gothenburg, Sweden. Many Huss Rainbow rides were dismantled following the 2008 incident at Liseberg. |
| Turbo Bungy | 2000 | 2008 | Extra-Charge attraction |
| Chang | 1997 | 2009 | A Bolliger & Mabillard stand-up roller coaster.[27] It opened in 1997 as the tallest, fastest and longest stand-up coaster in the world but has since been bumped down to second. It was one of Kentucky Kingdom's main attractions. Chang has been relocated to Six Flags Great Adventure and will begin to operate as the Green Lantern replacing The Great American Scream Machine for their 2011 season.[28] |
| Skycoaster | 2001 | 2010 | The up-charge attraction stood at 180 ft (55 m) tall. It was the tallest attraction in the park. |
| Road Runner Express | 2000 | 2010 | A Maurer Söhne wild mouse roller coaster retained by Six Flags as part of the settlement.[29] It was relocated to Six Flags New England for the 2011 season and re-themed into their 10th roller coaster.It is called Gotham City Gauntlet: Escape from Arkham Asylum.[30] |
Two major incidents have occurred at Kentucky Kingdom, both resulting in serious injury. The rides involved in the two separate incidents were Starchaser and Superman: Tower of Power. Both incidents resulted in the rides being closed and removed from the park.
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