"One train is all you get!"
Sunday was a bit of a strange day. We had planned all along to go to Kentucky Kingdom. But after the strange end to the Stark Raven Mad activities the night before...I have to give credit to Paul Drabek for making an excellent suggestion. Sunday morning, at Paul's suggestion, in search of some kind of healing, we joined him for the morning Mass at St. Nicholas' church. Nothing special, just a regular Sunday service in a community where one "little" accident hits really hard. I don't happen to be Catholic, but I come from a Protestant tradition that didn't fall too far from the tree, so it was all familiar, sort-of. Kind of like bad Karaoke...I knew all the words but couldn't follow the tune to save my soul. Er...something like that. Anyway, we all decided it had been a good idea after all we'd been through the night before. We went on up the road to Dale and had lunch at a very crowded Denny's filled not only with the usual after-church crowd, but also people who had planned on going to Holiday World and didn't know the park was closed. We got a brief scare when the lights went out, but luckily when it happened our food was already coming out. And they came back on after a couple of minutes anyway. Finally, after what became a very late start, we hit the road and proceeded to Kentucky Kingdom, a 75-minute drive that takes two hours because of the time zone change.
Kentucky Kingdom sits on the grounds of the Kentucky State Fair and Expo Center, which is now charging $4 for parking. In July, we were told, the parking rate is going up to $5, meaning it's still half what Six Flags would charge. That works for me! What also works for me is that for admission, they just scanned my Wyandot Lake pass (which, oddly enough, I have not yet used at Wyandot Lake), allowing me to avoid the long line at the customer service window. I think they were using that window to sell tickets.
Immediately inside the gate is Hellevator, America's first Intamin vertical drop tower. It also had a hellish-looking line, so we decided to avoid it. We continued around the circle in the front of the park until we got to the Damn Bridge, that is the bridge across the Expo Center ring road, which separates the two halves of Kentucky Kingdom. We drove under the bridge on our way in, so we knew the one ride we were there to try, Greezed Lightnin', wasn't operating. Our first stop was the Giant Wheel.
The Wheel sits parallel to, and right next to, the ring road, on the far side of the Damn Bridge. It's only about half-way down the ramp from the Damn Bridge to the waterpark, and it's built on a hillside. The wheel is supported on huge concrete anchors while the queue is constructed on an open steel-grid floor suspended from trusses over the pit on the road side of the wheel. If you suffer from fear of heights, you might not make it to the boarding platform, let alone onto the 40-tub wheel!
From the wheel we could see workers doing something to Greezed Lightnin' that involved a crowbar and a very large hammer. We decided it looked...er...promising. Apart from that it was an uneventful ride on the Wheel, which is much better than that time a few years ago when we were instructed to exit when the tub was some 40' above the nearest landing (we refused, obviously. Occasionally there are reasons for not complying with ride operator instructions.). They seem to have that problem sorted out now.
Onward we went. Chang was running one train and had a long wait. John decided he could ride it later. Chang is a B&M stand-up coaster. I have ridden it, and that means I don't have to ride it again. It's a whole class of unpleasant coasters that I simply don't bother with anymore.
We found a similar situation at T^2, a long line not moving because only one train was in service. I actually like some of Vekoma's suspended looping coasters, with the one at Geauga Lake deserving special mention. The one at Kentucky Kingdom deserves special mention for an entirely different reason...because as the world's second SLC installation (first in the US) it is the one that was built before most of the problems were worked out of the design. The ride is a notorious headbanger, and we decided we wouldn't be missing much if we skipped it unless the line were shorter. Gee, we're not doing too well!
Past T^2, we went around behind Thunder Run, since the path under Thunder Run is still stupidly blocked. This took us down the desolate path past the Top Eliminator Dragsters. It's amazing how much the whole facility, which was built a significant number of years ago, resembles Cedar Point's midway across from Corkscrew, complete with the drag racers, bleachers to sit on, and a Christmas tree for signalling the start of the race. In this case, top-fuel drag race cars (only they're not nitromethane powered; they are propane-powered) are attached to a guide rail. Once enabled by the control computer, the participants mash the go pedal on signal from the Christmas tree and race each other to the finish line. There, a trigger on the car shuts down the accelerator, and a set of roller coaster brakes on the track brings the car to a stop. I said something about building a tower for the cars to climb instead of using the roller coaster brakes. Brad amused himself as the drivers waited for the go signal by hollering, "Arms down, head back, and hold on!!" 8-)
We watched a couple of races, noting that even though the price is down to $10 for two races, the attraction's popularity doesn't appear to have improved much. It was time to move on. I shot some video of Thunder Run, and we moved on to Twisted Whatevers.
I guess for the moment it is "Twisted Twins". It used to be "Twisted Sisters," but the park mysteiously changed it a couple of years ago. This is the coaster or pair of coasters...personally I count it as two as they are totally different even though they share a platform and some structure and run in sync...that [was|were] the first to use Gerstlauer trains. What a combination...a CCI coaster with lots of strong laterals and a Gerstlauer train; this looks like trouble right from the get-go. But that didn't stop Sean Flaharty from taking 113 laps on the combined rides one day years ago (heck, I got 80-some rides myself that day...). And that was with the old narrow lap bars. Anyway, after that experience I got to know Lola and Stella pretty well. On this occasion we started with a ride on Lola (pink train) and followed it up with a ride on Stella (teal train). Neither ride even came close to living up to past performances. Lola in particular seems to be rubbing the wrong way in a lot of places, screeching and barking a lot, losing a lot of energy to fighting its way down the track, and just in general not running well. Stella, on the other hand, being a slightly less curveaceous layout with a bit more airtime, seems to be running noticeably better. But the feel is deceiving, as Stella is habitually tardy when returning to the station, suggesting that while Lola is running slowly, Stella, which seems faster, is actually running even slower. Quite simply, these rides have not aged well. After riding both, we noted that while the coasters were serving a small crowd so that the platform was basically "walk-on", it is a long and annoying walk, and there were too many riders to allow for the famous "Crittenden Fire Drill". We opted to move along.
From Twisted Whatevers we passed between Thunder Run and Mile High Falls. That took us past the closed game joints, past where they took out the Thriller Bees, past where those kiddie rides were, past what was once a food joint...walking through this part of Kentucky Kingdom reminds me of asking directions in a small town ("Turn left where the filling station used to be, right where the barn burnt down, down the hill to where they chopped down that old tree; you can't miss it"). We returned to civilization in the form of the old Belgian village, where we rode the Roller Skater. This is the original layout Roller Skater, smaller and more compact than the one at Cedar Point, and in some ways it's a more interesting ride as it trades helixes for S-curves. Fun ride, but it's no Thunder Run.
Thunder Run was, however, only steps away. It had only a short line, but even a short line takes forever on this thing because it has only one train. If ever a coaster needed a second train, Thunder Run is that coaster. Thunder Run needs a second train worse than Raven, and Raven could seriously use a second train. Capacity on Thunder Run is terrible, and it is a terrible shame because Thunder Run is easily the best thing Kentucky Kingdom has to offer. It doesn't look like much, but looks can be deceiving.
After too long of a wait (did I mention this thing needs a second train?), I plopped down in the front seat of Thunder Run's only train. After the Gerstlauer steel-and-molded-foam seats on Twisted Whatevers and the raw gelcoat of Roller Skater, the single PTC train on Thunder Run has the look and feel of a series of rolling couches. I'd prefer to forego the headrests, but if we gotta have 'em, this is the way to do it. I fastened the seat belt, which was a bit of a challenge because the outboard (non-adjustable) end is about two inches too short, and pulled down the ratcheting lap bar. I pulled and pulled and pulled, but I never heard any "clicky-clicky" bit until I got it down about where I wanted it, when it clicked once. Hmmm...two clicks seem to be missing here. I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, the third notch is still there, that's where I want the bar, and the attendant had no problem with me putting the bar there (unlike the typical situation at Kings Island). So to that extent, I don't really care. On the other hand, that's two layers of ratchet failure protection missing, on a ride where lap bars have been known to fail. Well, I guess that's why it has a seat belt. Besides, even Thunder Run's legendary third hill isn't gonna throw me far enough to do any damage...
It's funny how these things go through your mind when you have cause to think about them...
Anyway, eventually the solo train was loaded and we cruised out of the station, around the innermost curve, and up the lift hill. I know the second car used to do a weird dance on the lift, but I couldn't see if it was doing that or not as I was sitting up front. I tell you from experience, Thunder Run is a front-seat ride. At the top of the lift, we turn 180 degrees to the left, then plunge down the hill, and into a severely-banked low turnaround. Mind you, this coaster was built many years before Darien Lake's Superman: Ride of Steel, but it has that same first turn element. At least now that Thunder Run's only operating train has articulated coaches instead of the original trailers, it doesn't shuffle through this turn. It is smooth and fast. Then there is a pull-out, and that's where the fun really starts. Because this is where Thunder Run's lone train cruises over three short, parabolic hills, each delivering more incredible airtime over the top than the hill before. Wheee! Where Lola and Stella (Lola in particular) were giving lackluster ride, Thunder Run was shining as usual. Yee-haaah! And I can say that about this ride; after all, it's in Kentucky! And it doesn't stop there! Now back by Twisted Whatevers, there is another high-banked turnaround, and another airtime-filled leap into the air, a high turnaround through the lift hill structure, then around the back again, then finally a leap back up into the final brakes to a quick stop with the wheels still spinning. We then pull into the station and sit there for a minute or two while the operator chats on the telephone before thinking perhaps she could open the lap bars and platform gates. I guess there's no hurry, it's not like she has to worry about stacking the second train since the ride hasn't got one. But in truth that's really the ride's biggest fault. It really, really, really needs another train.
Can anybody confirm or refute that Thunder Run's design should be credited to Mr. Twister himself, John Fetterman?
Pity
that single-train operations make for such a long wait. I'd like to ride Thunder
Run all day, but the line, though short, moves so slowly that might only
be a couple of rides. So we instead set off across the park. We paid our disrespects
to Kentucky Kingdom's red and purple lawn ornament known as the Quake,
and debated when and how they would haul this piece of junk out of the park.
It's never been a good ride, it hasn't run in years, and it never works right.
Why is it that Kentucky Kingdom has no trouble removing perfectly good rides
while this heap of scrap metal continues to sit here taking up valuable space
and serving as a general embarassment to Vekoma and Kentucky Kingdom alike?
We commented on this and other points, then headed back across the Damn Bridge.
Back on the front side of the park, we started hitting flat rides again. The
Rainbow mostly doesn't have that frightening fore-aft shake that it had
last year, and for some strange reason it has been equipped with seat belts
this year. I guess it is a good thing the belts aren't necessary, as they are
knotted into place (tying the belt cuts its strength by a significant percentage).
The operator was doing a great job, though, running a ride that is simple to
run, but somewhat difficult to manage, and John was careful to commend him as
we exited.
Across
the midway, we rode the Enterprise while a really really bad show (or
at least a really really bad sounding show; we couldn't see it from the Enterprise
queue) played in the ampitheater across the midway. We wandered through the
Looney Toons store where Starchaser used to be, and rode the Himalaya.
In three words: Slow and dull. It was a long ride, and I clocked it at 10 RPM,
not 12 as permitted by the manufacturer. Sitting in the seat I noticed the uncovered
wheels only inches from the long hair on the person in the seat ahead of me;
the pinch points where the side walls of the cars come together, the opening
at the top of the footrest just big enough to get your foot caught, the lap
bar latch that invades the side of the seat...you know, this is a Reverchon
ride, and it confirms all my worst prejudices about French engineering. I think
if I had a park, I wouldn't want one of these rides anywhere near it, particularly
when there are other versions that are much nicer. I wonder why Kentucky Kingdom
installed one of these. But then, this IS the park that installed the Quake,
so maybe that explains it...
Hellevator still had a hellish wait so we skipped it. Brad wasn't feeling
great after the Himalaya, but John really wanted to ride the Break
Dance, so I joined him as Brad stared at Greezed Lightnin'. Break
Dance is a kind of a rare ride in the US; the only other one I have ridden
is at Adventureland out in Iowa. Theirs is a later model, called "G-Force"
probably because break dancing is virtually unknown in their culture. Kentucky
Kingdom's Break Dance is one of the most heavily modified rides I have
ever seen.
I seem to recall that once upon a time, there was a handle in the center of the car that would allow the rider to turn the car, but the car was too heavy for that and the handle was removed. The headrest on the back of the seat was extended long ago, and a deep contoured bucket was added to the seat to immobilize the rider's lower body. The drop-down lap bar was originally designed for self-loading, but the release handles have been removed, and the multi-position latches have been removed in favor of a single position latch on the side of the tub...which now has to be released by an operator weilding a viscious looking skewer. For reasons which are not entirely clear, bicycle handlebar grips have been attached to the bottom of the lap bar to fill the gap between the bottom of the lap bar and the top of the contoured bump in the middle of each seat. As if that isn't enough, little plastic doors have been added to either side of the tub. Between the need to secure 32 doors and the need to manually release all 16 lap bars, loading and unloading on this thing has come to be a pretty torturous process, which explains why the queue is always full. I still don't understand the doors. Obviously they are to keep feet inside, but the way the seat is contoured I don't see how anybody could get a foot outside! Anyway, I didn't think it detracted too much from the ride, but John pointed out that the ridiculously long loading procedure resulted in a measure to dramatically shorten the ride cycle...the speed of the ride is not varied, Condor-style, during the cycle anymore...it's just brought up to full speed, run for half a minute, and shut down. That speed variation is what used to kick the tubs into a random spinning frenzy; now more often than not they just sort of lazily rock back and forth.
It was getting late, and by this time we were mostly just killing time and hoping. We rode the Road Runner Express, the park's Maurer-Soehne Wild Mouse, which is heavily braked, but has a classic Wild Mouse structure with lots and lots of small-gauge steel posts that seem really, really close, including lots of horizontal beams poised to remove riders' heads.
On around the corner where Vampire used to be, there are two hidden rides. One is a Zamperla kiddie train that nobody rides because it is hidden from the midway, the other is the smallest Huss Pirat I have ever seen. This one only has a single drive wheel under it, and it felt almost like the motor was reversing it before the boat got clear, so it had a kind of a hitch to its motion. Certainly not as potent as the larger models. Decent, but not great, seemingly a theme for Kentucky Kingdom.
Suddenly we heard a siren (, and everybody started to run [Footnote 1]).
Then we heard a rumble.
Brad took off like a Schwarzkopf shuttle loop.
An empty train rattled through the vertical loop on Greezed Lightnin'. A kid of about 9 remarked that he was gonna be first in line for the "new" coaster. I told him that to do that he would first have to outrun Brad, who was already closing the distance to his beloved Tidal Wave. He had ridden the coaster at Great America and was more than a little upset when they removed it. As for me, I had just missed riding it when it was over Georgia, operating as Viper. We arrived at the entrance where an attendant was talking on the red telephone. As he hung up, we helped him move the two benches that had been blocking access to the ride all day. We weren't the first onto the platform, but we were on the first train out. The train has been totally rehabilitated, and the Six Flags logos molded into the backs of the headrests are a nice touch. The park has applied a lightweight "speedway" theme to the ride, mostly through the use of a couple of signs. I sat down in the train, clearly an Anton Schwarzkopf design, pulled back on the lap bar, and I was ready to go.
And "go" we did. The pusher connected with the back of the train, the brakes released, and we were off. After Top Thrill Dragster, any launch seems just a little tame, but this one is no slouch. The mechanism doesn't work quite the way I thought, but that should be no surprise as I don't think Herr Spieldeiner ever did anything the easy way. The comparison with Dragster isn't a bad one. As I understand it, these shuttle loops were designed by Reinhold Spieldeiner and constructed using Anton Schwarzkopf's track and trains. That's the same Reinhold Spieldeiner whose more recent accomplishment is the hydraulic launching mechanism that drives Top Thrill Dragster. The two systems have a lot of basic elements in common, though the requirements of using a launch on a continuous circuit, multiple-train coaster makes Dragster a more complicated ride. And Greezed Viper Wave is a complicated enough ride as it is. What I noticed was the smell of something really, really hot near the end of the launch track. The train goes through the vertical loop, and up the front spike. Then the ride does it all in reverse. With each cycle, the ride went a little faster, which matches my experience with Conklin's Doppel Looping when I rode it at the CNE a couple of years ago. It's something about Schwarzkopf trains, even launched ones. The ride was fun. I got off and rode again and again.
For me, perhaps the neatest part of the ride came from sitting near the back of the train, when the train ascends the back spike. Partway up the spike there is a sudden aspect change that kicks back-of-train riders into the air just as the train is coasting to a stop with a kick that can be downright frightening if you aren't expecting it. It's a neat trick, and it's high enough on the back spike that you only get it near the back of the train.
I really like this coaster. It may well be the best thing Kentucky Kingdom has done in years; it saved an endangered classic steel coaster, it gave the park an Impulse substitute that comes in under their strict height limits (if you want to build tall rides, don't locate across the expressway from an airport), and it's a lot of fun. I'm a little disappointed that there are very few places in the park where you can actually see the ride (for photos your best bet is the Wheel, which means no detail shots). And I still think it would have been neat if they had turned it the other way and wrapped the loop around the Damn Bridge. Maybe I've just done that too many times when playing Roller Coaster Tycoon. But the ride really is neat enough as it is. And Kentucky Kingdom deserves special recognition for pulling a page out of Cedar Point's playbook and getting the ride operational for us even though it was the last hour of the operating day. I was very happy to have a chance to ride it.
We finished our day on Greezed Lightnin', and made the long drive home. It had been a long, hard weekend. In three days we experienced roller coasters both literal and figurative, we enjoyed two regional parks, I got to add one coaster to my track record, and I was ready to go home. I was glad we stopped at Kentucky Kingdom, though. The place has a long way to go, but since last year there are noticeable improvements. I hope they keep up the good work.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Footnote 1: A reference to a famous lyric by Clarke/Cook/Greenaway dating to about 1972, in case you didn't get it... [Return to text]
--DCAjr
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