Kentucky Kingdom (SFKK, KK) Discussion Thread

Has KK specified what their COVID safety standards are going to be?

Here ya go:

https://www.kentuckykingdom.com/today

 

There's lots of details in there, and highly recommend reading through if you're curious about certain aspects of operations.

 

A few takeaways from the PDF:

-Discounts for online purchases to incentivize visitors to purchase tickets online instead of at the gate.

-Visitors over 65 are told not to visit (the at-risk age factor as stated by the CDC).

-Temperature screenings required to enter the park.

-Face masks are encouraged for guests to wear, and would be sold in the park.

-No more than 16,858 visitors will be allowed in the park.

 

-The park will implement stickers in queue lines to visually keep guests socially distanced while waiting for an attraction.

-Attractions: Specific seats and trains will have markings to show what's available. Unavailable ones will be blocked off.

-Water park: Attractions requiring grouping to meet minimum rider requirement will be closed (I'm assuming that's Deluge, Plummet Summit, and Tornado).

-Indoor dining areas are closed, and mobile ordering would be available.

-Workers will be wearing face masks, and can't report to work if they have signs of flu-like symptoms.

EDIT, new link on KK's new procedures: https://www.kentuckykingdom.com/plan-your-visit

Thanks. Limited capacity on rides. Damn.

The waterpark's opening got bumped up to opening day with limited attractions!

Do any locals have any insight on locker needs and if certain coasters don't have spots to put bags and such? And locker pricing, or moveable locker type stuff?

Thanks.

Only paid lockers are the mega size ones near the park entrance and in the water park. Virtually all rides have cubbies or lil bins in the station or ride platform to put your stuff in.

^Oh totally! I’ve ridden them both, as well. Great rides! I just find the experience to be quite similar to both Lightning Run and Storm Chaser. I’d love to see a gimmick (read: launch) added, but I haven’t seen any hard evidence of RMC making that available for the Raptors, yet.

RMC didn't do so hot with the last launched coaster opening. Granted, it was the first wooden launch coaster, but still...

So we are gonna make a stop on 7/28. Will let everyone know how it goes.

Went to the park yesterday, for their opening day. Entry was quick, they took your temp then you proceed to the entry gate. Most people were social distancing, but only about 20% were wearing mask. All employees were wearing masks, and there were Hand Sanitizer stations all over the park and at the exit of every ride. Saw several employees out cleaning all day long, more so then normal. All rides were open, except for the Raging Rapids. The Giant Wheel, 5D Theater and Bumper Cars will remain closed all summer. All the coaster were loading every other row and flats would let families sit next to each other but would put empty seats between groups. Wait times was anywhere from 10-20 minutes for most rides. Everything went well, except for occasional first day break downs. The old part of the water park was open yesterday and the new part will open starting Friday. Deluge will not run this Summer, social distancing wouldn't work on that they say. Going back Sunday to hit the water park.

New mural by Hurricane Bay

this makes a lot of six flags style

When’s the last time Deluge actually operated?

this makes a lot of six flags style

?

At the park today and Storm Chaser just closed to replace a screen*??? That's all they told me, no idea when it will open back up? Has this happened to anyone else? Any idea if the ride will open back up before the park closes?

Update: Matinence says it's probably gonna be closed for a while "not for the the rest of the season, but it won't be back up today"

Touch screen on the operators panel?

At the park today and Storm Chaser just closed to replace a screen*??? That's all they told me, no idea when it will open back up? Has this happened to anyone else? Any idea if the ride will open back up before the park closes?

 

Update: Matinence says it's probably gonna be closed for a while "not for the the rest of the season, but it won't be back up today"

Pretty sure I met you at Lightning Run (I was in the El Toro shirt) and thanks again for warning me it was down for the day before I made the hike all the way back there. At least Lightning Run is a great way to end the day!

When’s the last time Deluge actually operated?

Deluge was open all last season and into the September weekends as well. I've been told because of the minimum/maximum weight it requires regrouping of groups at times, which is not allowed while social distancing is still a thing. I personally think it should be open for individual groups wishing to ride as the weight minimum is 300 and maximum is 700 so I have a feeling its closure has more to do with not waiting to put wear and tear on the ride than being worried about regrouping.

I'm just now realizing this year's big Keys to the Kingdom event is on the very last day of the KY State Fair! The pros is you get more rides than you bargained for with the midway right on KK's front doorstep! Easy walking distance! The con is that attendees might need to prepare for much different parking and potentially walking some further distance to reach park gates. Depending where you park, a tractor might be available to bus you around the Exposition Center too.

On top of that, I'm ALSO just now learning that KY State Fair switched ride vendors this year from North American Midway Entertainment to Kissel Entertainment! This feels similar to Bluegrass Fair in Lexington who switched from Belle City Amusements to Kissel Entertainment last year, and the ride lineup was SO MUCH better for it! I'm hoping the same can be said for this year's State Fair ride lineup. NAME's midway felt like it had been... lacking, the few times I've been back to the fair.

Is Storm Chaser back up and running?

I believe it is, based on this post I saw on Reddit from Friday. Also no mention of Storm Chaser on the park's ride closure page: https://www.kentuckykingdom.com/today

I'll be at the park later this week, so hoping everything is open as well.

Cool, thanks looking forward to the report! I am tempted to do a trip this weekend as well.

We visited KK this past Saturday (evening) and Sunday (morning).

After visiting a couple of Cedar Fair and SF parks after their reopening, I have to say that between KK and Holiday World, we were very uncomfortable with the 99% of guests not wearing masks.

It's a bit easier to get over a couple of groups crowding you in a queue, but add this on top of them not wearing masks, and it makes for a rather unpleasant experience.

I feel especially bad for the ride ops - having to lean over and check restraints right in the faces of guests not wearing masks.

Sunday AM was much better in terms of crowds, and there are social distance markers throughout the park with plenty of hand sanitizer - but they completely miss the mark by not requiring masks (and it's obvious that "recommending" masks does nothing).

From an operational standpoint, we only hit the "dry" rides - every coaster was running well - Storm Chaser and Lightning Run both at two-train ops. T3 seemed to take the longest (running one-train).

Governor is signing an order requiring mandatory mask wearing in Kentucky starting tomorrow afternoon. This could affect the park, so just a heads up to anyone thinking of swinging by soon. For now, it'll only be for the next 30 days.

Is Storm Chaser back up and running?

Was at the park today, all coasters were running. Most wait times were less than 15 minutes, even with every other row being used. Would be interesting to see how a mask requirement changes things, as I saw maybe 5% of guests wearing them today.

Good call from the Governor... I might actually make an effort to visit KK this year if they force the locals to actually care about the safety of those around them and wear masks.

I've already had to cancel my Mt. O and IB trips because it's clear that the locals don't understand science and are extremely selfish.

Well check the news before you go if it's a concern because the AG of Kentucky has filed a challenge to the Governor and a judge has temporarily blocked the order on some state law red tape/loophole.