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KENTUCKY KINGDOM
Louisville, Kentucky
 Park News - (2/2/12) It looks like we may have a reason the Koch family was asked to go out to Kentucky Kingdom and kick the tires. According to this report Mary Moseley, CEO of Al J. Schneider, has been in talks with them about providing the same kind of financial backing she offered Ed Hart in order to get the park open again.
As a large hotel operator in the Louisville area, bring the park back to life would also help increase tourism to the city and increase the number of hotel beds that get filled every night. But as I said in the last update… I believe it would be entirely foolish for the Koch family to get involved with the revival of Kentucky Kingdom as they have little to gain and everything to lose, and will only end up cannibalizing their own success in the process.
(1/18/12) In an interesting turn of events the local news reports that the owners of Holiday World may be interested in taking over Kentucky Kingdom. According to the Koch family, nothing is near being finalized yet, they are just starting their initial investigation and fact finding process to even see if this is a business opportunity worth their effort to take on.
To be brutally honest, I’d be very surprised to see Holiday World take over and reopen Kentucky Kingdom. After all, Holiday World was their closest competitor park and they have the most to gain from Kentucky Kingdom remaining closed. Plus the off-sided dealings and terms from the Kentucky State Fair Board was enough to drive away Six Flags and turn away Ed Hart, the man with the most experience to revive Kentucky Kingdom. So why would Holiday World and the Koch family want this kind of headache when they can simply keep on doing the excellent work they’ve been doing with Holiday World for years and profit from it?
While it’s not quite the same situation, I’m reminded of when Cedar Point purchased Geauga Lake… and we know how well that ended. I can see Holiday World and the Koch family wanting to possibly expand their empire, but I think they would be better off doing it in another market and seeing if they can reenergize a failing park elsewhere with a little Holiday World magic.
(11/7/11) I’ve been waiting for this… Ed Hart’s company has now filed a lawsuit to recover the $1.4 million they invested in the effort to revive the Kentucky Kingdom park.
(10/5/11) According to the local news, Ed Hart is puzzled by how things turned out between his group and the Kentucky State Fair Board, especially in light of how close they were to finally putting all the pieces together to make it happen, with little no to help from the same state government who was willing pour $43 million in tourism tax incentives and $11 million in promised highway improvements for the privately owned Ark Encounter pipe-dream project. Instead they are willing to let Kentucky Kingdom rot and deny the city of the guaranteed tax dollars that it would bring in, not to mention the 1000+ jobs reopening the park would create immediately.
For the record, I’m puzzled as well... as I think Ed Hart was going to pull this off with ease. Sorry Ed, but I think there may be another struggling park project down in Myrtle Beach that could really se your help right now instead...
(10/3/11) Extremely bad news for any hope of reopening Kentucky Kingdom came out over the weekend. According to the local news, the Kentucky State Fair Board has decided to end all talks with Ed Hart and his efforts to reopen the park. According to the fair board president himself, Ed Hart is “out of the picture as a potential Kentucky Kingdom operator.”
As Ed Hart was really the only person who has had experience with not only successfully running Kentucky Kingdom in the past, but also reviving the park and building it up into a well known attraction once before, I’m shocked they would blow him off now after everyone has worked so hard over the past year to revive the park.
Meanwhile the state has thrown money at the crazy Noah’s Ark park project concept, but they’re willing to let a fully built park like Kentucky Kingdom just wither and die. They seem to think they’er going to find another qualified operator to take the problem off their hands, but I don’t think it’s going to be quite that easy, as most companies out there really are not going to want to even touch any kind of deal like this where they have to deal with the greedy Fair Board… who in the end was really to blame for Six Flags bailing out on the park as well.
With all this in mind I’ve got to say that unless they can get someone else on board before the end of the year, you might as well stick a fork in Kentucky Kingdom, because it’s done.
(9/29/11) Click here to read through Ed Hart’s presentation to the Fair Board regarding reviving the Kentucky Kingdom park.
(9/23/11) Bad news for Kentucky Kingdom this week. According to the local news, it has been confirmed that Kentucky Kingdom will not be able to reopen in 2012 due to what seems to be a lack of commitment from the various government funded groups involved who have yet to pledge any funding at all for their $20 million share of the project, despite the private funding of $29 million being available right now. On top of it all, Ed Hart’s current deal with the fair board to revive the park will expire at the end of the month unless they sign a new deal or an extension, but so far they’ve done nothing.
At this point, they now have to wait for the General Assembly to reconvene in January 2012 before they can begin the budget talks for the needed $20 million to reopen the park.
(9/15/11) According to this article, Ed Hart says he is close to an agreement for securing the $23 million needed to reopen Kentucky Kingdom. However Hart only has the rights to do this until September 30th and currently he is waiting for the Fair Board to offer him new lease terms he can accept. In the conditions are right, he would consider waiting until 2013 to reopen the park, which is likely to be necessary anyway give how little time they have left for a 2012 reopening. Given that Hart has nearly doubled his original $3 million put into the park, he does expect to be able to swing a better lease deal with the fair board. You can view Ed Hart’s latest press conference over at YouTube. And finally, one of the local news stations takes a detailed look at the park from the ground and the air and has posted a video of it here.
(8/25/11) Good news for Kentucky Kingdom as negotiations have begin with an investor who has pledged as much as $20 million to help get the Kentucky Kingdom park reopen again. Click here to read more.
(8/1/11) Some new information about the current plans and thoughts for Kentucky Kingdom over the next few years, if they can get the funding needed to reopen, can be found at ThemeParkTourist.
(7/25/11) The latest status report on Kentucky Kingdom claims that they may pursue tax credits as the primary incentive package to reopen the park. Read more here.
(6/23/11) According to this article, a deal that would see Kentucky Kingdom reopen again in 2012 is very close to being signed.
(6/2/11) A giant set of pictures taken around the edge of Kentucky Kingdom have been posted to AmusementParkAuthority.
(5/13/11) Curious about how the inside of Kentucky Kingdom looks today, after sitting empty since Six Flags closed up shot last February? From the look of the pictures posted here, it doesn’t look like it will take much to get it reopen. Other than obviously being in a winterized state for the off-season, the park looks like it is being well taken care of right now by a staff of groundskeepers and protected by a 24/7 security force in anticipation of reopening under Ed Hart’s leadership.
Meanwhile a few more details about the new pending deal to finance the re-birth of the theme park have been published by the local news.
(5/5/11) Louisville’s Mayor is on board with the plan to issue $17.5 million in bonds to get Kentucky Kingdom up and running in a limited condition for the 2012 season and back in full operation by 2013 pending the approval of a second bond for the remainder that was asked for. Now we just have to wait and see if the council approves it or not. Read all the details here.
(5/2/11) A deadline between the Kentucky State Fair Board and Ed Hart’s group to come to an agreement to revive the Kentucky Kingdom theme park has been extended through to September 2011. The original terms of the agreement would have ended on April 30th otherwise.
(4/18/11) Facing problem after problem with getting funding from the state to reopen Kentucky Kingdom, one might think Ed Hart may just throw up his hands and walk away frustrated. However, as the man who had previously revived this park into a major league player in the industry in years past, only to watch it fail again under Six Flags’ ownership he has a personal mission to see this through it seems. As such, Ed Hart has now promised to increase his own investment in the park, as well as seeking a $17.5 million bond from the city rather than the state. The new plan would give the local government a greater share of the revenue generated from the park, as well as start bringing it to them sooner than with the previous plan. If approval can be granted quickly enough, there is still a chance for a 2012 re-opening for Kentucky Kingdom.
(4/7/11) Bad news for Kentucky Kingdom, after failing to pass a request for a $50 million bond needed to overhaul the park in 2012, they have now officially rejected a second request for a smaller $20 million bond needed to just get the park open at all in 2012. The head of the fair board says they will now renew their quest for the $50 million bond in 2012, and shoot for a 2013 reopening.
(3/3/11) Amusement Park Authority is planning out an interview with Ed Hart and needs your help to submit questions about Ed’s plans to revive Kentucky Kingdom. Click here to read up on the details on how you can submit your burning questions.
(2/28/11) Bad news for Kentucky Kingdom’s plans to reopen in 2012 as the state now seems unlikely to approve the $50 million bond needed to pay for improvements.
(1/31/11) According to the local news, the city is hoping to make a final call on the bond issue for Kentucky Kingdom sometime between late February and early March. The park is also planning on adding 30 areas to the existing property for future expansion, provided by the KFEC, so it wont be landlocked anymore. This will increase the total possible park size from about 60 acres to 90, making it more competitive with other local parks. More land  could also possibly be made available to the park for a future parking lot also.
(1/17/11) Fans awaiting the reopening of Kentucky Kingdom may want to check out In The Loop Monday night (tonight) as they will talk live with Ed Hart and even take live calls and questions. If you want to ask a question in advance, you can submit your questions to Clint by e-mail.
(12/29/10) Lets be honest for a moment, anyone who has visited Kentucky Kingdom in the last decade (under Six Flags management) probably was not very impressed with the park. However those who visited it in the years leading up to the Six Flags purchase would have seen an entirely different park, one that was proud to have added major new attractions each year for a good number of years, which also saw the park’s attendance soar. A great video mapping out the attendance history of the park under Ed Hart’s run and what followed under the Premier Parks Six Flags run and then under Mark Shapiro’s Six Flags run has been posted to YouTube, which is quite an eye opener if you watch the entire video.
(12/21/10) An interview with Ed Hart about Kentucky Kingdom has been posted to ParkThoughts. The big surprise is that Ed claims that the new coaster he wants for the park will be a B&M, though the exact type was not mentioned. With so many other B&M’s in the Ohio area (Diamondback, Mantis, Raptor) I would almost thing that Ed might want to look into a coaster design not already used in the area.
That knocks out Hypers, Stand-Ups and Inverted designs, and due to height restrictions a Dive Machine is right now as well (unless they go deep underground), so to me that leaves Floorless, Flying and the new Wing Rider style design under construction in Europe right now.
Any of these would be a good idea, but I think a really classy Flyer may be a great idea for the park, and as SeaWorld has shown with Manta, a nice intense Flyer with lots of low to the ground elements can be a fantastic addition. Plus it would blow away Firehawk at nearby Kings Island, which is always a plus.
Other news from Ed Hart included: a dedicated parking lot for the park, with free parking for guests, plus the prices of food will be competitive with outside food vendors in order to keep guests IN the park rather than leaving to eat elsewhere.
(11/29/10) Over 100 pictures taken around the perimeter of Kentucky Kingdom have been posted to the park’s Facebook page this week.
(11/23/10) Kentucky Kingdom has updated their website once again…including a new picture of a Maurer X-Car coaster once again on the front page.
(11/17/10) A few new videos (five I think) have been added to the Kentucky Kingdom YouTube page, where they answer a few more questions about rides and the project’s status. One question addresses the intended new use of the 10 acres used for the old entrance (for bigger/taller rides!), as well as questions about Chang, Quake and Twisted Twins. Oh… and Chang’s replacement is promised to be an “equal if not better than Chang”. The old Chang site will however be used to expand the waterpark.
Twisted Twins, which may have it’s name changed back to Double Trouble perhaps (the intended name Ed Hart had for it) will undergo a $3 million refurbishment and reprofile, as well as have brand new trains purchased for it.
(11/15/10) According to the official Kentucky Kingdom facebook page, the new park operators do plan on restoring and reopening the Twisted Twins wooden coaster. In a public response to a question about that coaster, the official answer was, “At this point, our plan calls to completely renovate it and re-open the dual wooden coasters!”
(11/13/10) Kentucky Kingdom has launched an all new website at KentuckyKingdom.com. While there isn’t much to see, perhaps the most interesting thing is that they have put a picture of a Maurer X-Car coaster right on the front page. A hint about the park’s intended new coaster project perhaps?
(11/4/10) Kentucky Kingdom now has a YouTube channel, complete with several videos of Ed Hart (no relation… I think…) talking about the park plan and answering various questions. A key question of interest is where he explains just how he revived Kentucky Kingdom the first time in just 9 years as well as pointing out how Six Flags pretty much destroyed everything they built in the following decade of their ownership of the park, sending it into a downward spiral. The key to a park’s success? “The Rides”… yep… The Rides. Ed knows what he’s talking about.
(11/3/10) The local news has confirmed that Kentucky Kingdom will not be ready to reopen in time for the 2011 season, so they’re now shooting for 2012.
(10/2/10) The Road Runner coaster at Kentucky Kingdom is coming down. They’ll pack it up and send it all to Six Flags New England soon enough.
(10/1/10) The Kentucky Kingdom Dedevelopment company has come up with an official Facebook page to support the return of Kentucky Kingdom.
(9/13/10) According to this report, Ed Hart is proposing a $50 million investment into Kentucky Kingdom to get it up and running again. $20 million to rehab the park and $30 million in new attractions that will include a plan to double the size of the waterpark. Free Parking and value priced food options are also being considered. Also as part of this additional report, he is working on a deal to add an $8-10 million new roller coaster to the park as well.
(8/31/10) According to this report, the last major legal hurdle to clear the way for Kentucky Kingdom to reopen will take place in a heading on September by a bankruptcy judge, and then Ed Hart’s final business plan will be presented to the Fair Board in October. According to what we’ve seen of the plans, they wanted to make a new entrance and only open the larger side of the park. However Greezed Lightning is located on the smaller side of the park that would be closed, and there are no plans to reopen Twisted Twins for 2011.
(7/24/10) The Kentucky State Fair Board settled the dispute with Six Flags over the Kentucky Kingdom property that will see Six Flags turn over the 20 acres of property that they actually do own to the to the Fair Board, and all but ONE ride. Which ride? The Road Runner Express coaster, a Maurer Sohne Wild Moue that was installed back in 2000 which Six Flags will move to another Six Flags park instead. (Hmmm… a link to another story perhaps?) In exchange they will pay Six Flags $2.35 million, and forgive a $2.5 million tax debt and $2.8 million in rent to the Fair Board.
On the flip side, Ed Hart’s team is working on plans to revitalize the park in the hopes of reopening it on Memorial Day weekend, 2011, if feasible. They just have to get the right financing to back their plans.
(5/28/10) It looks like Ed Hart has come back to the fold and is the one who has been picked by the fairboard to come up with a new business plan to revive and reopen Kentucky Kingdom through a new company, KK Redevelopment. Part of his plan is to expand the waterpark and move the main entrance to a better location.
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