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Koch family re-opening Kentucky Kingdom

Brett7710

Brett7710

Mega Poster
Holiday World have recently posted this link on their facebook page:

http://bluegrassboardwalk.com/

Maybe there's still life in the place yet. If they did manage to acquire the park, considering some of the rides have now been relocated and the park hasn't operated for a couple of years, doesn't opening for the 2013 season seem a little optimistic?

Edit: Another link with a slight update has now been posted.

http://www.wfpl.org/2012/02/15/workman- ... reopening/
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

Pat Koch is fab therefore I fully support her involvement in anything theme park related.

I really enjoyed my visit to SFKK in 2007 so I've kept an eye on the closure story but it got boring when it became bogged down with legal crap. This could reinvigorate my interest.
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

Is it a potentially decent going concern? Was footfall good prior to closure and how much is left on site (and what condition is it in)?

Was it just a "least profitable so ditch" move by Six Flags, or was there some underlying economic issue that made it an obvious choice for closure?

Obviously new parks and potential new coasters are always exciting news, but it's good to get a feel for size, scale and potential for success :)
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

Both. And more. Least profitable and the underlying issues of not owning the land (like CF at CGA) plus not owning the parking lot, plus having to deal with the Fair Board. The only place 6FI wanted out of more was Six Flags Underwater (6FNO)

Can it be profitable? Of course.

It is all going to come down to how well the Fair Board works WITH the Koch family.

The rides and structures should be fine, they've been idle, but the place hasn't been completely abandoned.
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

Oh god...please let this happen! Sure, they may put in 2 more of the proslide whojimawhatsits for more useless records, but the park could potentially prosper underneath their family.

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Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

The place operated profitably for years under Hart before 6F bought it out when they were trying to own every park in the US.
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

UC said:
Can it be profitable? Of course.
Click to expand...

See, this is where I'm not sure.

It's never been successful. It barely survived as part of the State Fair (and only then, just enough to be sold), and struggled even more as a fully-fledged park.

This isn't a situation like, say, Geauga Lake, where it was killed over time. This place was kind of doomed from the start.

Best of luck to the Koch family with it, but I have significant doubts about the profitability of the park. I think the best option now is to remove anything cost-heavy and just keep it open as a super-seasonal park. It was never designed (or functioned well) as a "regular" park.
Click to expand...

Your wrong. Kentucky Kingdom was once known at the U.S.A.'s fastest growing park. In 9 years (1990-1998) Kentucky Kingdom was one of the most popular parks in the country attracting 1.4 million visitors while competing with Kings Island. Under Ed Hart in those years, the park added 6 new roller coasters, several major thrill rides that you couldn't find anywhere else like the quake (1992), mile high falls (1994), the hellavator(1995), and lots more.
When Six Flags took over, they didn't invest as much into Kentucky Kingdom as Ed Hart. Six Flags literally took out several key rides and moved them to Geauge Lake. Six Flags also used some of Kentucky Kingdom profits at other Six Flags parks. Because of this attendance at Kentucky Kingdom started to decrease year by year and 70 miles east of Kentucky Kingdom was Holiday World who invested year by year during the Six Flags era at Kentucky Kingdom and that made Holiday World steal the spot light from Kentucky Kingdom. Later on in 2007 the STOP accident occurred, so attendance dropped even more and we all know what happen after that.
Now when you are talking about the state fair, Most people don't care about Kentucky Kingdom during that time. People will rather ride fair rides over Kentucky Kingdoms' because the fair rides will only be there for a week or two and you could ride Kentucky Kingdoms' rides at just about any time.
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

^A more interesting name would by Koch Kingdom. It's a rebranding away from the old Six Flags name, while still letting people know it's the same place, all while incorporating the family name.
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

gavin said:
^A more interesting name would by Koch Kingdom. It's a rebranding away from the old Six Flags name, while still letting people know it's the same place, all while incorporating the family name.
Click to expand...

Haha! they should totally do that. Imagine the publicity they would get...
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

Superb idea Gavin. Ride rebranding too.

Big Koch
supermantower.jpg


Greezed Koch
7287.jpg


and Twisted Kochs
7323.jpg
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

It's not all that outlandish when you consider they named the entire state after a bucket of fried chicken.
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

Apparently this is going through. Lease agreements are gonna be decided upon Thursday!

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Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

Damn real life getting in the way of a **** joke... DAMN YOU LIFE!!! ;)
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

^^Along with a couple of feet.

Ian & I went on that ride 3 weeks before that awful accident, a pretty sobering thought.
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

Fair board voted and approved the Bluegrass Boardwalk management deal.

Park name is officially changed and the lease was set at one million USD per year.

Also, as a side note, I saw a separate article where the governor was asking the chair of the state fair board to resign... I haven't found it again to confirm it was Kentucky or a different state.
 
Re: Kentucky Kingdom may be re-opened by Koch family

^It actually starts out at $400,000 a year for the next three years.
Terms of the 50-year lease include a base rent of $400,000 per year beginning in 2013 with escalated amounts until 2016, when the base amount rises to $1 million annually.
Click to expand...
Source:
http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/news/2012/02/23/fair-board-oks-lease-agreement-for.html

Governor Steve Beshear did ask the Kentucky State Fair Board President & CEO Harold Workman to resign, but the board voted to keep him until his contract expires on June 30, 2012.
Source:
http://www.wdrb.com/story/17004504/kentucky-fair-board-ceo-harold-workman-keeps-job-for-now
 
Ace news! With the Koch's track record with wood, I hope that Twisted Twins and Thunder Run get some good ol' TLC.

However, I won't be fully happy until I see a photo of fab Pat Koch with her perfect teeth and heavily set hair riding T2 <3

20110307-090952-pic-153926607_t607.jpg
 
Another article today about the forces at work trying to replace Workman (Fair Board CEO) and possibly several board members and the hiring of a new board position for finances...
 
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