Kentucky Kingdom + Waterville U.S.A. *IN HD* Trip Report!

Welcome, everyone to Thrillography's 


100th POST!!!!!!!


Can you believe that there have been 99 Thrillography updates since that rainy day at Six Flags Over Georgia in 2013 that started it all??? :}

Say hello to my beloved companions on this adventure! You may recognize one or two of them; each are from a totally different epithet of my life (Mark - ACE; Tatiana - college; Stephanie - work), but we all came together today to kick it at the Kingdom!

Kentucky Kingdom has continued to improve since our last visit.

Lightning Run continues to please, but it's not big man on campus anymore!

T2 T3 is open again. Joy. 

Stephanie has made a delightful habit of putting a pair of giant googly eyes on various things she sees on her travels. 

The eyes would end up making quite a few appearances throughout the day!

Ah! Look who's up next to make an appearance!

Squealing polyurethane against metal! Shrieks of terrific horror! What could it be??

It's Storm Chaser! One of the latest installments of RMC's exquisite pedigree of Iron Horse / I-Box retrofit steel coasters!

After finally riding my first RMC coaster in April, nothing pleased me more than riding my second I-Box coaster only a month later! 

There are three stages of riding Storm Chaser. The first is shock. 

The second is hysteria.

And the third is reconciliation. :}

Even fans of Kentucky Kingdom's defunct Twisted Twins could tell you that the spirited-but-troubled dueling woodies never quite lived up to their full potential. 

Almost a decade has passed since Six Flags elected to close the area of the park occupied by Twisted Twins due to a tidal wave of setbacks being faced by both the park itself and the Six Flags chain as a whole.

With new management at the reins (well…technically it's old management, since resident park general manager Ed Hart was also the manager prior to the Six Flags era) and a great relationship with the world's hottest new coaster company, it came as no surprise to many when it was announced that the superstructure of Twisted Twins would be used to a vastly superior new ride. 

While a dueling steel coaster in the tradition of the woodies it replaced would have been super-cool, the much-more-cost-efficient solo steelie leaves very little to be desired.

Storm Chaser follows the path of Lola, the magenta-colored Twisted Twin whose layout was generally favored over her teal-colored sister Stella (due largely in part to Lola's perfect camelback hump following the first drop; the hill has the unique privilege of being the only element from Twisted Twins that was replicated to its original specifications for Storm Chaser).

Stephanie and Tatiana immediately became the world's biggest Storm Chaser fans. 

Off they go!

Storm Chaser features violent airtime of the highest magnitude. 

The way Tatiana is clutching her chest right now is very telling of the ride experience. 

See? It's a chest-clutching kind of ride.

Let's not forget about KK's resident woodie! Thunder Run runs so well; it makes me wonder why Carowinds can't get Hurler to give a similar ride. 

Here is the "slightly wet" Mile High Falls. 

"HEY! What's the big idea??"

I say "slightly wet" because people are often slighted by how wet it is. 

Over at The Little Shop of Screams you can find not only great Kentucky Kingdom merchandise, but also stuff commemorating Louisville's lost Fontaine Ferry Park, home of the Comet.

The American Coaster Enthusiasts have a great relationship with Kentucky Kingdom. :}

The shop also features an homage to the long-gone Vampire coaster!

:}

The giant goggly eyes were made for the Flying Dutchman!

How perfect! <3

Stephanie is ever so proud of her adorable creation. 

Flying Dutchman takeover!

The googly eyes had to be secured before the Dutchman could fly. :}

How can one resist taking a selfie in a giant clog? :}

Thunder Run also got in on the googly action!

The walkway behind Thunder Run re-opened this year, affording photo ops not seen in almost a decade! 

Alright, let's see how this is riding these days.

The entrance has been moved to a much more convenient location. Its right on the midway now, instead of in the ride's infield. :}

The new trains, provided by KumbaK, seem to be going over well with the general public. 

The ride still shuffles more than a blackjack dealer, but it's a much more pleasant ride thanks to the new trains. The girls approve of the ride, even in the back seat!

Ed Hart had the ride painted red to match its original color scheme. He'd actually picked red the first time too, but Six Flags painted it black for a Batman re-theme that ended up not taking place. 

The red is quite dashing. It's the exact same shade it was when it opened in 1995. :}

No agonizing headbashing here!

It's really not a bad-looking ride. Kentucky Kingdom does a great job with landscaping. 

The googly eye thing just got better and better as the day went on.

If you want to see more, follow @googlytravels on Instagram! 

The whole ride shakes quite a bit these days. We had to use a lot of tape to keep the googly eyes fastened. :}

Kentucky Kingdom has so far resisted the urge to put up photo-ruining, loose-article-catching nets in the areas where T3 passes over the midway. We'll see how long they can hold out. 

I think someday I'll probably ride this tall-ass monstrosity.

Not today, but someday. 

Time for some air conditioning! Angry Birds: The Ride is a great motion simulator film. Super cute!

LOOK AT THIS AMAZING T-SHIRT! 

LOOK AT THIS AMAZING PHOTO OP!

Mark is so proud of his park. <3

Yes. You knew it was coming. 

Had ourselves a nice Enterprise ride!

And here's one we rode that I almost never ride. The Himalaya!

Of course we also rode Professor John's Flying Machines!

The Tin Lizzies are still goin' strong!

Pizza for lunch. It was good!

Gotta go for a spin on the park's other shoe-themed ride!

Did you happen to notice that the last six captions all ended with exclamation points? :}

(I bet you scrolled back up to see if there were really six.)

…and back for more Storm Chaser love! :}

It's my understanding that Storm Chaser has both a blue train and a purple train.

However, the shades are so similar that I sincerely could not tell you which one is featured in any given photo. 

Is it purple? Is it blue? Who knows???

Actually a lot of people know. I'm just not one of them. Such is the nature of being red-green colorblind. :}

However, despite being red-green colorblind, I can say with a reasonable amount of certainty that these trees are green and that Storm Chaser is red!

I can also say with a reasonable amount of certainty that Storm Chaser is amazing. :}

The double dip right here is especially brutal.

There's that camelback hill I was talking about earlier!

I'm so pleased they were able to keep these trees. :}

This barrel roll comes at the perfect time in the ride. By this point your thighs are already so beat up that they need a break. x}

I think we have time for one more ride...

Let's get a little wet!

The rapids ride formerly known as Penguin's Blizzard River still gives a good ride after all these years, but operations are atrocious. It should not take half an hour to put 50 people through this ride! 

Adequately drenched, Stephanie and I bid a fond farewell to Mark and Tatiana and head back to work (after a shower and a change of clothes, of course).

And suddenly…!

Gulf Shores, Alabama!

At an amazing seafood restaurant!

LOOK AT THESE OYSTERS!

Say hello to my family! You may recall them from my Christmastime Six Flags Over Georgia trip reports. :}

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Emma!

Ok no but seriously here's a roller coaster. 

Waterville U.S.A.'s Cannonball Run opened in 1995. Its not often talked about due to its out-of-the-way location, but it's a fine specimen!

What's funny is you load from inside the arcade.

Technically this is just the exit, but on slow business days they just load and exit through the same door.

When the park is swamped, the entrance to Cannonball run is upstairs above the arcade. You then take the stairs down to the air gates for loading. :}

Cannonball Run is just a little thing, but it packs a punch!

It's got a nice bounce to it and has some great airtime!

Waterville U.S.A. is a combination water park and family entertainment center. Cannonball Run is built primarily over and around Waterville's parking lot. 

Because it's a pre-1997 CCI coaster, Cannonball Run features buzz bars! 

Ratcheting individual lap bars would hardly be necessary anyway. :}

Here we see some local coaster fans marathoning the Cannonball. Front seat rides are great and all, but I gotta give props to the folks marathoning in the back!

From the upstairs balcony (near where Cannonball's entrance technically is) you get a great view of water park side of things. 

Not only does Cannonball Run ride great, but the ride looks quite nice too! It blends perfectly with the sky today. :}

Looks like our marathoners rotated seats. Glad to see that they all appreciate variety and contrast. :}

Passing by the water park.

All together now! 

Like the water park and coaster, the mini golf course is in great shape.

The foliage is pruned and the moat is clean! 

Waterville U.S.A. also boasts of a very large go kart track.

The following content is sponsored by Emma. 

I know it doesn't look like it here, but Emma is having the time of her life right now.

She just takes her amusement park rides very seriously. 

But occasionally she lets herself relax and enjoy the ride.

Ring the bell, Emma! 

Emma is really into firetrucks. It apparently has something to do with a kid's TV show called Paw Patrol. Idk. 

She is a little fire-fighting thrill-seeker!

With our appetite for rides satisfied, it's time to hit the beach!

Ride on, my marathoning friends!

I love getting to spend some quality time in the south, don't you? :}

Tune in next time for a wild ride through the midwest as we take on Adventureland, Silver Dollar City, and Six Flags St. Louis! So many great surprises are in store! <3