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"Such a nice park should not be so poorly run."
I had just finished taking my ride inventory and a back-seat ride on the Raven, when I looked at my watch and decided I had a major decision to make. When I drove through Louisville this morning, I hit some really nasty weather, and it had rained sporadically all day at Holiday World. Did I want to go on to Kentucky Kingdom, or just stay at Holiday World? I decided to call The Thrill Park to find out. The conversation was something like this...
KK: Kentucky Kingdom
DA: Hi! I know you had some bad weather today; I'm trying to find
out if today was a washout or not.
KK: Right now we're open, and it is pouring down rain. We're planning
to stay open until 11.
DA: So are the coasters running?
KK: Yes. Everything is running.
DA: And you are open until 11.
KK: That's right.
So I jump into the trusty Taurus and head down IR-64. At 7:49, I arrive at the park gates. The sun is just barely beginning to set behind the cloud cover, and the rain has stopped. In fact, it is quite comfortable. Things are looking good for an evening of roller coasting. Except for one thing...the sign on the gate that reads, "Kentucky Kingdom closes today at [9:00 p.m.]."
Wait a minute...this means that either the decision was made after the rain stopped, or the decision to close early had likely been made before I made my phone call. So why didn't they say so? I'd have stayed at Holiday World instead and gone to Kentucky Kingdom after the fair ended.
I'd be less upset about this, except that evidence is mounting that it is Kentucky Kingdom's policy to lie to people on the phone. On Friday evening, I called to find out if T^2 would be running or not after the incident, and I was assured that it was in fact up and running. But when I walked past it, not only is it not running, but half of the lift chain is lying on the station floor. That ride has not run since it got stuck, and is blocked from the rest of the park by construction fences.
I entered the park, and knowing that I only had about an hour, began circulating on a whirlwind tour of the grounds. I bypassed the (operating) Hellevator, happy I had ridden it last year, and went to the right, past the Himalaya. The Thrill Park Theater facade is really sharp-looking...like a classic movie theater facade, only a lot bigger. Past the Enterprise, Skyrider (Huss Rainbow), Tin Lizzies (Arrow Antique Cars), and bumper cars, then over The Bridge.
Once across The Bridge, I turned left. I had heard that a new path existed on this side, and I saw no reason to go under the bridge and up the hill to Thunder Run. I walked past the Vekoma wheel, past the picnic shelters and waterpark, and down a new midway. Here one could find games, food, an unusual kiddie carousel, and the only J&J Go-Karts I have ever seen that are equipped with brake lights. I knew the insurance industry had been suggesting them for a long time to cut down on rear-end collisions...
And so I approached Chang. No wait, but the train in the station was fully loaded and waiting. The second train pulled up behind, so both trains waited. I paced off the length of the 7-car train in the station (12 paces). Still waiting. Is this ride going, or not? I returned to the front-seat row. I noticed that the lift is directly out of the station. Aren't they ready yet? I counted the rows again to make sure I got it right. I failed to take an interval timing. The train finally went. Thirty seconds later, I was standing in the front row of the next train, waiting for the bars to latch. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Finally, the seats and bars latched. The attendant checked the bars, pushing down on them. We waited some more. I became aware that, as on Mantis, the seat is too wide. We continued to wait. I began to wonder if I was on the phone with Microsoft tech support, and I was really getting irritated because I only had about 40 minutes left before closing. We waited some more. Then, finally, we stated up the lift.
Chang!
Chang is NOT Mantis: The Coaster Formerly Known as Banshee. The
two coasters have some similar elements, positioned in comparable order, but
the rides are very different. As for what Chang is, let me first offer
a few caveats...
Please keep those disclaimers in mind as you consider my impressions of Chang.
Chang is a fine ride. Among B&M rides, though, I think it compares more readily to Raptor and Kumba than it does to Mantis. M:TCFKAB is a significantly shorter...meaning its overall profile is not as tall...ride than Chang, or at least that is what it feels like. Chang seems to be, like Raptor, a fairly tall ride, with widely spaced elements, run much more slowly than Mantis. The result is a ride on which the forces are much more tightly controlled. On M:TCFKAB, you head up the lift, around the turnaround, down the drop (through the brakes), through the big vertical loop.....and then it just sort of goes wild. The Cedar Point ride looks like a tangle of ground-level track with a couple of loops sticking up. Chang, on the other hand, all sticks up in the air. It's almost like B&M got scared when they rode M:TCFKAB because they had actually designed a good, wild roller coaster...so when Kentucky Kingdom said, "We want that...only bigger," they got conservative all of the sudden. Chang is a good ride, it is a fun ride, but it is a lot smoother and feels slower than Mantis. And unless I simply missed it, my favorite part of Mantis, the double-reverse, was missing from Chang. So Chang isn't M:TCFKAB. Or if it is, then it is a kinder, gentler M:TCFKAB. Bottom line: Chang is a great coaster. I liked it a lot. But it isn't my favorite, by any means.
I believe B&M ought to insist that if a park installs a stand-up coaster, a rest-room building must be put in near the exit. The nearest one to Chang is either on the opposite side of the back-half of the park, or somewhere across the bridge. Either way, it is a long walk. But then, EVERYTHING is a long walk at Kentucky Kingdom.
From Chang, I wandered down the new path behind T^2.
T^2:
Closed and blocked off. Half the lift chain was laying on the station floor.
That, I could see from the ground.
From T^2, the old path to Thunder Run looks like a little hidden path compared to the new midway between T^2 and the Giant Wheel past Chang. The Top Eliminator dragsters look interesting, perhaps even fun. But pricey, and running at very slow throughput...as with the coasters, it looked like they were doing a lot of horsing around between dispatches. No, I didn't try them.
This finally led to...
Thunder Run.
Last season, I declared Thunder Run the Most Improved Coaster of 1996
with its new train. Well, the improvements have stuck. Loading is a problem,
as it is nearly impossible to fasten the individual seat belts once you are
seated...my trick is to extend the belt to its full length, stand in front of
the seat, fasten the belt around my legs, then sit down. Most people just fight
with it, though, and the result is a very long loading time even with very few
riders. Kentucky Kingdom closes the lap bars on all vacant seats, and fastens
the seat belts in unoccupied seats next to riders. But belts in totally unoccupied
seats are left open. One minor concession to efficiency. I took one ride in
the next-to-last seat. That was good...a fast ride, a smooth ride, and a lot
of fun. But something was missing. I moved up to the front seat. Ah...that was
it. Great speed, but the three hills after the turnaround all deliver unbelievable
amounts of front-seat airtime in ever-increasing doses. This is more like it!
Thunder Run has turned from an unrideable mess into a truly awesome coaster.
What a difference a train makes! Thunder Run now has airtime, speed,
and laterals...except for speed, the things that Chang is missing...and
it is a very re-rideable coaster. Or at least it would be if the park hadn't
closed moments after I got off from my front-seat ride. Thunder Run is
most definitely a front-seat coaster. Dave S., maybe you could try marathoning
on this one. 8-)
Unfortunately, about the time I got off my second Thunder Run ride, Kentucky Kingdom closed for the evening. I walked through the park the long way, and tried to finish my ride list in the cloudy, rainless evening.
All in all, Kentucky Kingdom is a very attractive traditional-style park with some really good rides in it. I rode two of their five coasters on this visit, and both are class contenders. Unlike some parks I can name, Kentucky Kingdom's ride selection actually makes sense. Everything even appears to be well maintained. But operations at Kentucky Kingdom are awful. Capacity is not at all a concern, as shown by the terrible inefficiencies and needless delays on the coaster platforms. Grounds layout is atrocious, as evidenced by the lack of a stairway on the 'back' end of the bridge in the middle of the park; the stingy distribution of rest rooms; and the incredibly long walks between attractions. But that the new path from the Wheel to T^2 is built as a new midway is a sign that Kentucky Kingdom is working on that problem. Their biggest problem seems to be in the area of customer service. I didn't encounter any of those rude employees I keep hearing about; most of the employees I met were merely indifferent. But twice I caught the park in bold-face lies. And if I can't trust them with the obvious, easily verifiable things (like, "Is the coaster back in service?"), how can I possibly trust them on the things I can't easily check, like "Is this ride put together properly?". It's a bad way to do business.
In the end, Kentucky Kingdom is worth a visit. But don't bother to call first for information. As the midway shills might put it, "You pays your money, you takes your chances."
Next trip: Stricker's Grove (#3)
1997 Trip Report index
Dave's Adventures
Back to Dave's page
--Dave Althoff, Jr.