I had never been to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, so when I heard about an ACE event there, I decided to attend, with a side trip to Holiday World on the way there and back (I can't just drive by there without going in).

Holiday World, July 10, 2009

I WENT to bed early on Thursday night, planning to get up at 4am. I woke up at 3:30am on Friday and I was wide awake. I took my time and was on the road before 5am. I don't mind the drive the HW, because it's far more interesting than the miles and miles of flat farm fields around here.

I got to HW about 9:15, waited for the rope drop, and headed straight for the Voyage. Everyone else headed for Pilgrims' Plunge, and I walked into an empty Voyage station. The ride ops asked me if there was anyone behind me, and I said I though they all went to the Plunge.

I hopped in the front seat. No one else showed up, and soon I was dispatched on my first Zen ride on the Voyage - now that's the way to start a day!

After five or six rides I headed to the Legend and Raven, and the crowds built until about 12:30 when the coaster lines nearly disappeared. After a lot of rides I took some photos, and then rode some more.

I determined that front rows of cars on all of HW's coasters were smoother (at least to me), so that's where I rode, and I had a fantastic time.

I left about 6:30pm to head for Louisville, and arrived at the hotel at about 8pm, which was now 9pm EDT. I found a room full of ACErs eating, drinking and generally being merry, and we relaxed and hung out until about 11pm.

ACE Storm, SFKK, July 11, 2009

After a good night's sleep we made the short drive to SFKK, and I managed to figure out where the parking lot was. Registration was quick, and soon we were headed for an hour of ERT on Deluge (a very cool waterslide with real airtime and magnets to propel the boat), Tornado (a funnel-type raft slide), and Mega-Wedgie (a "go-around-the-bowl until you drop through the exit" ride that had one- or two-person tubes). All were a lot of fun.

A half hour of ERT on Chang, a B&M stand-up coaster, preceded the park's 11am opening, and I instantly loved the ride. It's right up there as my favorite stand-up coaster with a smooth ride and lots of fun elements.

On one front-seat ride we were just about to go over the first drop as an airplane was on final approach to the Louisville airport right in front of us.... and we were ABOVE THE PLANE until we started down the hill! That was freaky, but very cool. I waved at the plane.

After a few rides, and a train to myself at the end of ERT, it occurred to me that the ride was somewhat smoother than Mantis, but the padding on the harnesses was much softer where your head might bump into it, so it SEEMED much smoother.

Nick and I headed to the back of the park, and we rode Thunder Run four times before moving on. I like the front seat very much, and I rode there twice. The three airtime hills were lots of fun. The back was a bit rougher, but also a lot of fun.

While the layout of TR isn't that imaginative, it still gave a good ride in the morning. It was noticeably rougher in the evening during ERT, but they have more track work planned, so hopefully it will improve even more.

After TR we headed to T2, and the back row was actually a fun ride. Later on the front two rows were quite rough. Next was Roller Skater, which was coaster #99 for me. I was told I should make Greezed Lightnin' my hundredth coaster, so we were ready to go ride it after we ate some lunch. We met up with a large group of ACErs as they were finishing their lunch and we were starting ours (see photo of them at a large table below).

Lunch finished, Nick and I headed for GL, and Brian wanted us to wait for some people. He made a poor attempt to conceal a "surprise" for this occasion, and while he delayed us by making phone calls I bugged him and acted impatient. Finally some park employees showed up with a sign and a camera, and they even announced it over the PA in the station after taking photos of me holding the sign while sitting in the front seat. They gave me a copy of the photo after dinner, another nice gesture from a great park staff.

We closed out the six coasters at the park with Roadrunner Express, a fun wild mouse coaster. Nick and I rode the Enterprise, the first time I'd been on one, and I enjoyed it. We skipped the parade, and I got some photos of Nick on Chang, which he skipped the line for using the park-provided fastpass that gave us five rides without waiting.

Next we got a behind-the-scenes tour of the waterpark, and then I went to take photos of rides. After stashing my camera in the car, I used up my flash pass before our scheduled dinner at 7pm. Dinner was good, with excellent cheesecake for dessert. Then we had door prizes, a group photo, and ERT began on GL and Roadrunner Express. After those two, it was Roller Skater and TR, and finally T2 and Chang.

I ended with 1/2 hr+ on Chang without getting off, and I enjoyed every ride, most in the front seat. It was really nice to ride a B&M standup without any pain from headbanging, and they even had the midcourse brake mostly off for us. Finally, it was dark, which is always great for coasters.

At the end of the night the park gave us a discount in a gift shop, and some more freebees.

Overall, the park treated us like royalty, and the staff (from management to ride-ops to restaurant employees, to random employees walking around the park) was happy, willing to talk to us, and enthusiastic.

Bottom line, I have not been treated better at any park.

ERT started on time, and was delightfully free of lines. The food was good (especially the chicken strips at lunch), and the weather managed to be cloudy to keep the temperatures down.

I can't thank the SFKK staff, ACE organizers, and my friends enough for making the ACE Storm a fantastic event.

On the way home, I returned to Holiday World on Sunday, found Andy at the Raven, and had lunch with him on his break. The park was not too crowded, so after a lot of rides when I saw dark clouds approaching around 5:30pm I made a break for it and headed home. It was cloudy the whole day, so I didn't take any photos. I'll wait for a sunny day to do more of that. -Mike

And the rest of the SFKK photos... -Mike

Awesome TR, and great pictures. Thanks for a great trip!

Mike,
Thanks for the great TR. Was my attempt to keep you from riding GL that poor? LOL They told me about it only 15 minutes before so didn't have much time to think of anything.

Thanks to for room sharing.

Brian

OK, the photos mysteriously disappeared, so I have added them again. Let's hope they stick this time....


Yes, it was that poor. It was clear something was up, but I had fun and they didn't even bother to "punch" our fast passes. -Mike

Good trip report and the pictures were fun to look at as always but you were not in any of them-why. I try to always include myself once in a bunch of pictures.