Kentucky Kingdom

Kentucky Kingdom is an amusement park in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It originally opened in 1987 and was operated by Six Flags from 1998 to 2009. It is currently operated by Herschend Family Entertainment under a lease from the Kentucky State Fair Board.

History

Kentucky Kingdom originally opened on May 23, 1987 as an expansion for the Kentucky State Fair. The park closed in October after low attendance and financial problems.^[1] Many of the original rides were removed from the park, and Kentucky Kingdom did not reopen until June 1990.^[2]

In 1998, Kentucky Kingdom was sold to Six Flags and became Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.

As part of a wider restructuring of the company following its bankruptcy, Six Flags exercised its right to renegotiate its contract with the Kentucky State Fair Board, who own the land on which the park sits. On February 4, 2010, Six Flags announced that it was pulling out of negotiations with the Board and that it would not reopen Kentucky Kingdom.^[3]

In 2012, the Koch family, owners of Holiday World, announced that they would reopen the park under the name "Bluegrass Boardwalk" in May 2013.^[4] These plans were eventually cancelled in June of that year.

The park reopened on May 24, 2014.^[5]

On February 23, 2021, Herschend Family Entertainment announced that it had acquired Kentucky Kingdom.^[6]

Roller coasters

Present

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Status
Kentucky Flyer	Gravity Group	Wooden Hybrid	April 28, 2019	Operating
Lightning Run	Chance Rides	Sit-Down	May 24, 2014	Operating
Hollyhock and Roll	Vekoma	Sit-Down	April 15, 1994	Operating
Wind Chaser	Rocky Mountain Construction	Sit-Down	April 30, 2016	Operating
Woodland Run	Dinn Corporation	Wooden	August 1990	Operating

Past

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Closed	Fate
Chang	Bolliger & Mabillard	Stand-Up	1997	2009	Relocated to Six Flags Great Adventure
Greezed Lightnin'	Schwarzkopf	Launched Shuttle	2003	2009	Scrapped
Road Runner Express	Maurer AG	Wild Mouse	2000	2009	Relocated to Six Flags New England
Starchaser	Schwarzkopf	Enclosed	1987	1995	Relocated to Darien Lake
T3	Vekoma	Inverted	April 8, 1995	2022	Unknown
Twisted Twins	Custom Coasters International	Wooden Hybrid Twin	June 20, 1998	2007	Scrapped, structure and supports used for Storm Chaser
Vampire	Vekoma	Shuttle	1990	1999	Relocated to Six Flags New England

Attractions

Under construction

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opening
Cumberland Express^[7]	Unknown	Miniature Railway	2025
Scout's Squirrel Race^[7]	Unknown	Jump Around	2025
Redbird Racer^[7]	Unknown	Junior Suspended Whip	2025

Operating

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened
Break Dance	HUSS	Breakdance	1990
FlutterFly	Zamperla	Magic Bikes	2015
Garden Carousel	Unknown	Carousel	2024 or earlier
Giant Wheel	Vekoma	Ferris Wheel	1992
Himalaya	Reverchon	Superbob/Musik Express	1990
Honeybee Buzzers	Larson International	Flying Scooters	2014
Mile High Falls	O.D. Hopkins Associates	Shoot The Chute	1994
Musical Carousel	Zamperla	Roundabout	1990
Nature's Bounty	HUSS	Pirate Ship	1990
Rock-A-Bye Swings	Zamperla	Happy Swing	2014
Scream Extreme	Zamperla	Endeavour	2018
Skycatcher	A.R.M. (USA)	Star Flyer	2015
Spring Fling	Intamin	Flying Dutchman	1991
Tin Lizzies	Arrow Dynamics	Antique Cars	1990
Treetop Drop	Larson International & A.R.M. (USA)	Drop Tower	2014
Zeppelin	Zamperla	Balloon Race	1992

Closed

Name	Manufacturer	Type	Opened	Closed	Fate
Chaos	Chance Rides	Chaos	1998	2005	Scrapped
Crystal Carousel	Unknown	Carousel	1987	1987	Unknown
Cyclos	Zamperla	Frisbee	2015	2024	Unknown
Enterprise	HUSS	Enterprise	1990	2017	Scrapped
Eye of the Storm	Larson International	Super Loop	2017	2024	Unknown
Force 10	Unknown	Unknown	1987	1987	Unknown
Free Falling Fire Engine	Zamperla	Junior Flying Carpet	1993	2018	Scrapped
Jester's June Bugs	Zamperla	Junior Jets	1990	2001	Relocated to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure
Kentucky Whirl	Zierer	Chairswing	1987	1987	Unknown
Looney Balloney	Zamperla	Samba Balloon	1993	2018	Scrapped
Mini Tea Cups	Zamperla	Tea Cup	1998	2001	Relocated to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure
Ohio River Adventure	Arrow Dynamics	Log Flume	1987	1987	Relocated to Silverwood Theme Park
Quake	Vekoma	Top Spin	1991	2004	Scrapped
Raging Rapids River Ride	Intamin	River Rapids	1999	2024	Unknown
Rainbow	HUSS	Rainbow	1994	2008	Scrapped
Skycoaster	Sky Fun 1 Inc.	Skycoaster	2001	2009	Scrapped
Slingshot	Funtime	Slingshot	2002	2004	Relocated to Six Flags Elitch Gardens
Starcastle Voyage	Vekoma	Swing Carousel	1997	2001	Relocated to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure
Superman: Tower of Power	Intamin	Drop Tower	1995	2007	Scrapped
Thrill Karts	J&J Amusements	Go-Karts	1997	2009	Scrapped
Thriller Bees	HUSS	Ramba Zamba/Swingaround	1998	2001	Relocated to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure
Tornado	Unknown	Unknown	1987	1987	Unknown
Whirlaway	Chance Rides	Trabant/Satellite	1987	1987	Relocated to Michigan's Adventure

References

↑ Shafer, Sheldon (1988-08-17). "Three groups bid to reopen Kentucky Kingdom". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
↑ "Kentucky Kingdom reopens". Messenger-Inquirer. 1990-06-15. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
↑ "Kentucky Kingdom Rejects Lease". Six Flags. 2010-02-04. Archived from the original on 2010-02-06.
↑ "Kentucky Kingdom reopening as Bluegrass Boardwalk in May 2013". Wave3. 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
↑ "Kentucky Kingdom set to reopen this weekend". The Lane Report. 2014-05-19.
↑ Otts, Chris (February 23, 2021). "New owner pledges to take Kentucky Kingdom to 'next level'". WDRB. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 "Kentucky Kingdom announces new rides, family-themed land" (PDF). Amusement Today. 2025-02-01. Retrieved 2025-02-03.

External links

Kentucky Kingdom on the Roller Coaster DataBase.

This box: view edit Amusement parks operated by Six Flags
Current Theme Parks	California's Great America Canada's Wonderland Carowinds Cedar Point Dorney Park Frontier City Kings Dominion Kings Island Knott's Berry Farm La Ronde Michigan's Adventure Six Flags America Six Flags Darien Lake Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Six Flags Fiesta Texas Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Great America Six Flags Great Escape Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Mexico Six Flags New England Six Flags Over Georgia Six Flags Over Texas Six Flags Qiddiya Six Flags St. Louis Valleyfair Worlds of Fun
Current Water Parks (Within Park Grounds)	Carolina Harbor Oceans of Fun Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (Great Escape) Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (Over Georgia) Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (St. Louis) Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Darien Lake Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Maryland Six Flags Hurricane Harbor New England South Bay Shores Splash Works Soak City (Kings Dominion) Soak City (Kings Island) Soak City (Valleyfair) WildWater Adventure Wildwater Kingdom Wild West Water Works
Current Water Parks (Separate Admission or Standalone)	Castaway Bay Cedar Point Shores Knott's Soak City Schlitterbahn Galveston Schlitterbahn New Braunfels Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Arlington Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Chicago Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Concord Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Los Angeles Six Flags Hurricane Harbor New Jersey Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Phoenix Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Oaxtepec Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Oklahoma City Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Rockford Six Flags Hurricane Harbor San Antonio Six Flags Hurricane Harbor SplashTown Six Flags White Water White Water Bay
Former Properties (Theme Parks)	American Adventures Bellewaerde Park Six Flags AstroWorld Six Flags AutoWorld Six Flags Belgium Six Flags Elitch Gardens Six Flags Holland Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Six Flags New Orleans Six Flags Worlds of Adventure Walibi Aquitaine Walibi Lorraine Walibi Rhône-Alpes Warner Bros. Movie World Germany Warner Bros. Park Madrid Wild Waves and Enchanted Village Wyandot Lake
Former Properties (Water Parks)	Aqualibi Hurricane Harbor (Worlds of Adventure) Six Flags Atlantis Island Kingdom Six Flags Splashwater Kingdom Six Flags WaterWorld Waterworld Sacramento
Cancelled	Dubailand Zhejiang

[1] Shafer, Sheldon (1988-08-17). "Three groups bid to reopen Kentucky Kingdom". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 2024-02-02.

[2] "Kentucky Kingdom reopens". Messenger-Inquirer. 1990-06-15. Retrieved 2024-02-02.

[3] "Kentucky Kingdom Rejects Lease". Six Flags. 2010-02-04. Archived from the original on 2010-02-06.

[4] "Kentucky Kingdom reopening as Bluegrass Boardwalk in May 2013". Wave3. 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2024-10-28.

[5] "Kentucky Kingdom set to reopen this weekend". The Lane Report. 2014-05-19.

[6] Otts, Chris (February 23, 2021). "New owner pledges to take Kentucky Kingdom to 'next level'". WDRB. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.

[:"0"-7] 7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 "Kentucky Kingdom announces new rides, family-themed land" (PDF). Amusement Today. 2025-02-01. Retrieved 2025-02-03.

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