Park Review
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Louisville, Kentucky August 4, 2001 It made sense for me to fly into Louisville early on Saturday and get in a quick visit to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. I debated driving up to Paramount�s Kings Island instead and riding my #2 woodie, Son of Beast, as SFKK had little to interest me aside from Chang. However, I had heard numerous reports that Thunder Run was running well and I had already spent a few hours at PKI after Stark Raven Mad, so SFKK it was. I was scheduled to depart Baltimore at 7:20am, and after a brief layover in Charlotte, arrive in Louisville at 11am. Just out of sheer funniness, I set up a 12:30pm meeting time with my buddy Mike from Cincinnati. I figured I would make it with plenty of time to spare (more famous last words). The day started off pretty bad. I got a real late start out on the day and wound up not making it to the gate until 7:15 (yikes!!!). The gate attendant said to me, "Running a little late?" I thought, "No ish, Sherlock" but simply replied, "yes". She then proceeded to scold me by saying, "We only have a seat left because someone didn�t show up. Next time you need to check in 30 minutes before departure." Now, this is the same airline (US Airways) that has wasted almost a days worth of my time with the numerous delays over my trips. I simply muttered something about a female dog and got on my plane. When I get to Charlotte, I find that my flight to Louisville (SDF) is delayed (figures, right?). I felt somewhat vindicated! Anyway, I get to SDF about 11:30, get my rental car, and change into some shorts. Now, SDF is literally adjacent to SFKK (according to Mapquest, it is 0.9miles). However, this day there was a show in the fairgrounds by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and the traffic was horrible. I followed the street route that the cops were directing us to, and found no one was moving. I said to heck with this, busted a "U," headed back to the airport, and hit the interstate. The actual KK exit was also backed up, but I was able to get around most of the traffic. They had me park far away from the KK gate. Now factor in the long hike over the bridge towards Chang. It's amazing that I made it to the meeting spot with one minute to spare :). Mike (and his friend) were waiting there, but he said that he had only just gotten over there so it was cool. We joined the line and within about 35-40 minutes, I was on the one coaster I loved on my last visit to SFKK:
CHANG (B&M Stand Up) After this, we headed towards the two CCI coasters that I didn�t get to ride last time I was there (I went the week Six Flags Inc shut down all the G-Train coasters in the chain). However, it was really hot and I recalled the laurels Nate heaped on the rapids ride, so we joined the line for:
PENGUIN'S BLIZZARD RIVER (Intamin? rapids ride) Now. being soaked to the core. we took the path by the drag racers (note the path under Thunder Run is now blocked off) and came across:
TWISTED SISTERS (CCI dueling woodies with steel
supports) Now it was time for me to ride the coaster that has been getting such rave reviews this year. From what I remembered, it was pretty much just like the Hurler coasters at Carowinds and Paramount�s Kings Dominion, two coasters that I don�t like. I don�t dislike them either, but feel they are just taking up space. The one at PKD is especially offensive because the curves will rattle your teeth loose. So with much skepticism, I strapped myself near the back of:
THUNDER RUN (Summers/Dinn triple out & back woodie) Having done the major coasters (left T2 alone, too long a wait for a beating) I suggested we ride the weird looking flat ride called:
THE QUAKE (Vekoma Wakki Wave) It was about time for Mike and friend to leave to go back to Cincinnati, so I suggested we hit up Breakdance for the last ride, since I knew I would need a partner. It turned out the Breakdance was closed (boo, hiss) so instead we rode:
Road Runner Express (Maurer-Sohne wild mouse) I bid Mike adieu and took a quick spin on the Enterprise and Rainbow. I then headed to Swampwater Jack's to sit in some air and eat. (Sid I mention it was damn hot?) I got a chill cheese dog, onion rings and a drink for a little under ten bucks. I wandered around aimlessly for a while until I found myself in a rather long line for:
T2: Terror to the Second Power (Vekoma, slightly
custom, SLC) After that, I was really hot and just decided to chill in the shade and watch Chang for a while. I must have rested for an hour or more, debating on leaving and checking into the hotel. However, I wanted to stay as late a possible to clear out the NHRA traffic. So I just chilled. When I got a little of my strength back, I headed back towards Twisted Sisters. On the way I ran into fellow enthusiasts John K and the Reids. We chatted briefly and said we'd meet up the next day at Holiday World for the Discovery Channel shoot. I went back and rode both sides of TS, this time near the fronts and had the same feelings about them; good, not great, pink somewhat better. What was really cool, though, was the ride ops were really getting into it. They all put on these paper towel bandanas "Karate Kid" style and got both trains to say "We love Twisted Sisters" and cheer and so on. Leaving there, I went and caught a front seat ride on Thunder Run. If the back was wow, this was woah! TR is an airtime machine! I was out of my seat more than in it. That was a really fantastic ride. It was getting close to closing, so I queued up for the simulator ,Dino II. It turns out that that is the same Escape From Dino Island 3-D film that has been playing at Six Flags Great America for a few years now, sans the 3-D glasses. I enjoyed it more because of it (and I like the two person sims better than the �whole row� sim at SFGAm). After that I went in the gift shop for the obligatory t-shirt and found the perfect Chang shirt. It was the only one left and was the right size. (score!) Then I rolled out to my hotel to catch some much needed sleep before the big Discovery Channel shoot on the Raven the next day. Thank you for reading.
lata,
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