Kentucky Kingdom park info, rides and attractions

Opened	23 May 1987 (original) 24 May 2014 (re-opening)
Season	April to September
Owner	Kentucky State Fair Board & Ed Hart
Website	www.kentuckykingdom.com
Nearby	Holiday World (64 miles) Kings Island (112 miles) Camden Park (175 miles) Dollywood (206 miles) Lake Winnepesaukah (224 miles)

Kentucky Kingdom is a regional theme park and water park in Louisville, Kentucky.

The park was originally opened in 1987 in the grounds of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, but went backrupt after a single season. It was bought by Ed Hart, a local entrepreneur, and reopened in 1990. Hart successfully operated the park until 1998 when it was sold to Six Flags and renamed Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. However, as a result of Six Flags' bankruptcy in early 2010, the park was shutdown again after several years of decline under the chain.

Ed Hart came to the park's rescue and Kentucky Kingdom was officially reopened in 2014 under the ownership of the Kentucky State Fair Board. Since then, the new management has worked diligently to restore the theme park and repair its reputation as a family oriented destination.

The new Kentucky Kingdom inherited several of the park's former rides. Thunder Run is an unfortunately almost unrideably rough woodie from Dinn Corporation. T3, formerly known as T2, is a refurbished Vekoma SLC, although sadly the refurbishment hasn't been enough to cure the ride of the standard SLC awfulness.

Much more positively, Lightning Run was a new rollercoaster launched with the reopening of the park. Surprisingly it is the only Chance Rides Hyper GT-X Coaster in the world, as the smoothness of the ride would make the model a great fit for many other parks. And just two years after Lightning Run, Kentucky Kingdom opened Storm Chaser, one of the most underrated Rocky Mountain Construction coasters out there.

From the stories people tell, the park had a terrible time under the control of Six Flags. However, it has quickly been revitalised and cleaned up, with some exciting rides being added and a much nicer atmosphere which now makes it a very pleasant place to visit.

Attractions