Kentucky Kingdom is the premier amusement park in the bluegrass state. Located in Louisville,
this park has had a tumultuous history. Ed Hart saved the park in the early 1990s. Six Flags then
took over for a decade and while they expanded the park, they ceased operation and gutted it in 2010.
Ed Hart again stepped in to save the park and now its owned by Herschend. Today, the park features
6 different roller coaters, including two of the best in the world for ejector airtime.
Then the park also features the sizable and highly popular Hurricane Bay water park with some notable
water slides. So in this video, I will rank the top 15 rides and slides at this theme park.
Before starting the countdown, I want to note that it will also include some defunct attractions.
While I never experienced them at Kentucky Kingdom,
I did ride them at their new homes in the northeast.
15) Giant Wheel- This Vekoma ferris wheel is surprisingly the park’s tallest attraction.
Standing 15 stories tall, this observation ride offers incredible views of both Kentucky Kingdom
and downtown Louisville. It’s a must if you love photography like myself.
14) T3- One of the prototype Vekoma SLCs, this coaster is comically rough. It’s so
rough that even the park pokes fun at their own attraction on social media.
The tracking will shake your body like a ragdoll, but the restraints on the Kumbak trains
do eliminate all headbanging so it’s not unbearable. The biggest thing you
have to watch out for is the restraints tightening on your thighs in the valleys.
It’s a shame this ride isn’t smoother since the layout is actually pretty exciting with 5
rapid-fire inversions and several near-misses. 13) Mega Wedgie- This tube slide features a
swift and sizable descent into a toilet bowl. Everything that follows isn’t too
thrilling, but it’s always a neat visual spiraling around in the oversized bowl.
Vampire- This Vekoma boomerang was relocated to Six Flags New England where it operates
as Flashback. This is one of the older boomerangs so it has some headbanging,
but I can tolerate it since my head clears the top of the over-the-shoulder restraints.
The highly cloned layout does have its merits with the exciting initial drop
and 3 forceful inversions you experience both forwards and backwards.
Road Runner Express- This Maurer wild mouse was also relocated to Six Flags New England
where it operates as Gotham City Gauntlet: Escape from Arkham Asylum.
This mouse features some strong laterals on the initial hairpin turns and a few of the final
bunny hills can give weak pops of airtime depending how harshly it is being braked.
12) Skycatcher- This ARM star flyer stands 13 stories tall.
The rotation has some moderate force to it, but the ride is all about the visuals.
You get the same great view of the Giant Wheel just on a faster and more thrilling attraction.
11) Raging Rapids- This river rapids ride still has some penguin theming
from the former Blizzard River days, but it did lose the infamous phallic rock statue.
This layout isn’t a soaker, but is has solid length and some rapids that will spritz riders.
10) Mile High Falls- This Hopkins creation is one of the largest shoot-the-chutes rides in
the world, standing 90 feet or 27 meters tall. The drop has some nice zip to it
and the resultant splash is ginormous, so you come off absolutely drenched.
9) Tornado- This ProSlide funnel slide features the familiar plunge at the start
that can give a little airtime. Then you have that cool visual being engulfed by
the massive funnel as you rock back-and-forth. 8) Cyclos- This Zamperla inverting frisbee runs
a solid cycle. The downswings offer strong positive Gs that try to rip your legs off.
And the super slow inversions are teeming with hangtime. This one is deficient in the airtime
department, but the other forces compensate. 7) Deep Water Dive- One of the tallest water
slides in the world, this ProSlide creation loads riders in a trapdoor 12 stories above the ground.
You then plummet back down to earth at a 70 degree angle. The visuals- if you
can keep your eyes open- are shocking and the entire experience is a quick rush.
6) Thunder Run- This may be the best coaster from the Dinn Corporation
because of how it’s maintained. Thunder Run has a similar layout to the Cedar Fair Hurlers,
but this ride has zero trim brakes and Kentucky Kingdom has invested in a lot of trackwork,
so it runs fast and fairly smoothly. The outward leg offers some underrated airtime
ranging from aggressive pops to sustained floater. The second half is neutered by an excessive amount
of straight track though. It really is baffling why some additional bunny hills weren’t added.
5) Deluge- The prototype ProSlide hydromagnetic water coaster has had a ton of downtime in recent
years. I don’t know the last time it operated and it’s not even listed on the park’s website, which
is a shame because it’s a really good water slide. This one has a series of
steep drops giving some fun airtime and the uphill ascents keep the pace going.
Chang- This Bolliger & Mabillard stand-up coaster opened as the tallest, fastest, and longest of
the genre. It was relocated to Six Flags Great Adventure where it now runs as Green Lantern.
This ride gets a lot of hate due to comfort issues, but I’ve always enjoyed Green Lantern.
I have a video how to ride B&M stand-ups comfortably,
which has allowed me to appreciate this ride’s power. All of the ride’s valleys
try to jam you through the floor of the train. They make it feel like your legs are going to
explode. And this is paired with 5 different inversions, including a sweet inclined loop.
4) Kentucky Flyer- This junior Gravity Group wood coaster is the perfect family coaster.
It has a low height requirement and minimal size to appeal to younger guests.
And the layout has nearly a dozen airtime moments to appease coaster enthusiasts,
including a quadruple down sequence in the second half that is particularly strong in the back.
This ride isn’t the fastest nor most intense, but every hill offers airtime without fail
while also offering a very smooth ride experience as I cover in a review.
3) Fearfall- This Larson drop tower is intense. It
may not be the tallest drop tower in the world at 14 stories tall,
but it’s one of the most forceful. You drop like a rock with almost no warning. I levitate
out of my seat for the entire descent while also getting a thrilling stomach-dropping sensation.
I always come off this ride shell-shocked and want to run right back in line.
2) Lightning Run- I always come off the prototype Chance hyper-GTX asking myself
one thing. Why aren’t there more? This little coaster has the power of an RMC.
You have some powerful airtime, most notably the final few bunny hills.
These are some of my favorite hills on any attraction. They are profiled so sharply
and try to launch you into the ionosphere. The ride doesn’t have the greatest sense of speed,
but the flurry of airtime makes it a standout attraction as I note in a separate review.
1) Storm Chaser- This Rocky Mountain Construction conversion of the former Twisted Twins roller
coaster is one powerful coaster. This ride is notorious for running faster than the
other small scale RMCs, which results in some aggressive ejector airtime. I particularly love
the sustained airtime on the second hill and the tenacious pops on the trick-track double up.
Then the ride also mixes in some fun inversions, most notably the barrel roll downdrop loaded with
hangtime. I also have a review on this ride, but that reflects my 2020 rides when it was running
slower. In all my other visits- including my 2021 ones- Storm Chaser ran stronger.
So that is how I rank the top 15 rides and slides at both Kentucky Kingdom and Hurricane Bay. What
are your favorite attractions at this Kentucky theme park? Do you rank the rides similarly?
Let me know your thoughts down in the comments. If you enjoyed this countdown, I’d appreciate it
if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a lot more roller
coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching.