User blog:RCTFan2002/What If? Episode 1: What if Six Flags never sold Kentucky Kingdom?

(NOTE: This is all cross-posted from my blog on Theme Park Fanon Wiki. You can find this series on there as well under the same name)

This is the first “episode” in my new blog series, “What If?” Inspired by several YouTubers like Theme Park Predictions and Cedar Flags, I will tackle several hypothetical theme park scenarios. Today, I will talk about a hypothetical scenario in which Six Flags keeps the Kentucky Kingdom park in Louisville, KY.

Please note, this scenario is all purely based off of speculation, as I am trying to imagine what Kentucky Kingdom would look like as a Six Flags park today. For these scenarios, I will try to blend realism with my personal preference as much as possible. If you disagree with any of my predictions, please comment why below.

Introduction
Kentucky Kingdom opened in Louisville in 1987, with an inclusive water park named “Hurricane Bay” being added in 1992. In 1998, Six Flags bought the park and renamed it “Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom”, and operated it until 2010, when the park was put up for sale in February of that year due to Six Flags’ bankruptcy at the time. The park remained standing but not operating until 2013, when it was purchased by Ed Hart (who previously operated the park independently from 1990-1997) and reopened it in 2014 under its original name. But what if things were different? What if Six Flags didn’t close the park and continued to keep it as a Six flags park today? What rides would be there and what rides would be gone? Well, you’re about to find out.

Year-by-year predictions
(NOTE: Since Six Flags never sold the park in this scenario, all of SFKK’s rides and attractions that were closed/relocated after the 2009 season will stay at the Park, except for Chang which was already being relocated prior to Six Flags selling the park)

2010 - Kentucky SkyScreamer, Twisted Twins and Mile High Falls reopen: Since Six Flags’ replacement for Chang, a water park expansion by the name of Bonzai Beach, wasn’t planned to open until 2011, I predict that this year, they would open a 210-ft tall Funtime StarFlyer in the former spot of Superman: Tower of Power, the park’s drop tower that closed in 2007. In my opinion, the ride’s location would be perfect since it’s literally right in front of the park entrance, so when guests enter the park, the first thing they’d see is a towering thrill ride right in front of them. Since the spot is already vacant, and Six Flags started installing StarFlyers at some of their parks this year, I think this is pretty much a no-brainer decision for the park. Oh, and Twisted Twins and Mile High Falls finally reopen after being shut for years. (With Chang’s removal, i think it’s only fair that they’d reopen the only other closed coaster in the park as compensation). Eliminator Dragsters on the other hand is finally scrapped after sitting there rotting for 4-5 years, and the lot would remain empty until…well, you’ll see.

2011 - Waterpark Expansion, Amphitheater(?) Closure: This was pretty much obvious to everyone. In 2011, Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom will finally open their newest waterpark area, “Bonzai Beach”, in the former spot of Chang, right next to the go-karts. Since I don’t think we ever heard what rides would be in the new area (if I’m wrong, please correct me in the comments and I’ll fix it), so I’m just going to speculate. For capacity, we would probably see a 6-lane Mat Racer slide. For families and kids, we would probably see a new family pool area with a play complex and some water slides attached to it, similar to “Monsoon Lagoon” at Six Flags New England. Finally, for thrills, I think we’d probably see a half pipe slide like the one at Six Flags America. Again, all speculation, but based on how big the park is and where it stood in the Six Flags chain, I think these are the most likely rides that we’d get. For ride removals, I predict that the amphitheater(?) located just to the right of the kids area would be torn down to make room for our next prediction:

2012 - Kids Area Capital, Twisted Twins Closure: Finally, after 12 long years, the park’s kids area finally receives some well-deserved love in the form of some new kiddie rides added right where the old amphitheater was. Though it would most likely be an expansion of the already existing kids area, I could also possibly see a new kids area entirely, called “Kidzopolis”, like the ones at Six Flags New England, Great Escape, and more. I know it sounds weird to have two kids areas right next to each other, but if Six Flags Great Adventure can have Looney Tunes Seaport and Safari Kids right next to each other, then why not Kentucky Kingdom? Besides, since Kentucky Kingdom is only a moderately-sized park, a new kids area entirely would definitely drive some more attention to it, especially from kids and families. I also predict that this year, Six Flags would finally close Twisted Twins for good, to make way for the park’s newest coaster:

2013 - RMC Twisted Twins: After floating for the last few years without a major thrilling coaster (I always considered Chang to be “the” park’s thrilling coaster), Six Flags would finally give the park back the major thrill coaster it needs by converting Twisted Twins into a RMC wood/steel hybrid coaster. Since Six Flags was working with RMC around this time already, it only makes sense. But it wouldn’t just be a hybrid - I also predict it would be the world’s only RMC möbius loop coaster (“Storm Chaser” is great, but I think for Six Flags, RMC would try to fully utilize the dueling layout of the coaster like it did for Twisted Colossus, only with 2 stations instead of 1). This coaster would definitely draw many more guests into the park and help restore Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom back to it’s old glory (pre-2010). For names, the only one I could come up with that I like is “Wicked Twins”, and even I don’t know if I fully like that, so if anyone can come up with any better names, please tell me in the comments.

2014 - Park improvements, Holiday in the Park, Enterprise closes: After the massive expansion of the waterpark, expansion of the kids area, and all-new hybrid coaster, I think Six Flags would take a break from adding rides to the park this year and just focus on making park improvements. While not as appealing as a new coaster or thrill ride, this would show some park guests just how much Six Flags values their park and customers, so I definitely think it’s be a good idea. Also, I think the park could possibly open a “Holiday in the Park” event this year, just to bring more guests into the park. However, while teasing their new attraction for next year, I think Six Flags would remove the park’s Enterprise (it already operated for 25 years, it deserves to rest in peace).

2015 - Flat ride package, Thrill Park Theater closes: Originally I planned on removing Greezed Lightning and Skycoaster for a medium-sized Premier Sky Rocket I (like “Sky Rocket” at Kennywood) this year, but after re-reviewing my plans carefully and seeing what kind of park Kentucky Kingdom is, I decided to go with a flat ride package instead, like what Six Flags Over Georgia and Six Flags Fiesta Texas did around this time. For rides, I predict the park would get a Larson Super Loop in the former spot of the park’s Huss Rainbow, a Mack Aqua Twist/Twist n Splash in Enterprise’s old spot, and a Zamperla Disk’O around the area where Fear Fall, the park’s current drop tower, resides today. Also, even though this is unlikely, I like to think that the park would (finally) move it’s old pirate ship ride closer to the Disk’O just so they can finally get rid of that annoying-AF dead end path it sits in today. Also this season would be Thrill Park Theater’s final season. The building would still remain though and be used for…

2016 - Justice League: Battle for Metropolis, Mt. Slide Hai and Mile High Falls close: Not much to say about this one. This park definitely needs a good dark ride, and if Six Flags still kept the park today I definitely think they would add one of these rides to the park. Not to mention, the spot for the ride is literally sitting right there in the form of the (now) 5D theater building - it would be the perfect location for a dark ride like JL. Also, I think after 24 and 23 years respectively, Mt. Slide Hai and Mile High Falls would have reached the end of their service lives by now so they would be torn down after this season and replaced with…

2017 - Batman: The Ride 4D Free Spin Coaster, Bonzai Pipelines: Originally back in the late 90s, T2 was to be rethemed to Batman: The Ride while Chang was to be rethemed to The Riddler as part of “Gotham City” area conversion. Sadly, those plans fell through and since then the park has never received a Batman coaster, which is practically unheard of in a Six Flags park. This year, I predict that the park would finally get a Batman coaster in the form of an S&S 4D Free Spin coaster, just like Six Flags Fiesta Texas did. I assume that this is the only way the park would get a Batman coaster, since Six Flags has recently added a lot of these style coasters to their parks and slapping DC themes onto them, so it makes sense. It’d go in the former Mile High Falls spot, with the lake being filled in for the ride to be built on top. As for Bonzai Pipelines, it’s been a while since the waterpark received their last addition (6 years) so it’d make sense to finally add a new attraction now. This 6-slide trapdoor complex, built where Mt. Slide Hai was, would definitely help with capacity, compared to the former 4-slide complex.

2018 - Indoor Chance Freestyle ride, T2 refurbishment: Six Flags has added these rides to some of their relatively smaller-sized parks like Great Escape and even Six Flags New England, so I think it’d be a perfect fit for a moderate-sized park like Kentucky Kingdom. This ride could be located right next to the Batman 4D Free Spin coaster, in some of the space that Mile High Falls was on but that the new coaster didn’t take up. Also, I think the ride would be located in a newly-built building and maybe sport a Cyborg theme like the one at Six Flags New England does. Even though I think the extensive theming would somewhat over-hype the ride, it’d still look enticing and maybe attract some more park guests back into that area of the park. Also, like Mind Eraser at SFNE, I predict that around this time Six Flags would finally give T2 a much needed refurbishment, including newly-painted track and supports and new trains from Vekoma. This would make the ride much more comfortable and appealing for park guests, and bring a lot more riders onto the once rough SLC.

2019 - Zamperla Giant Discovery: Since Six Flags has added one of these rides to most of their Six Flags parks already, it’s only a matter of time before Kentucky Kingdom ended up getting one as well. Due to the size of the park though, I don’t think it’d be a record-breaking tall ride like the one at Six Flags Magic Mountain or SFGAdv, but still relatively high compared to the rest of the rides in the park. I predict that it’d be 150 ft tall at most, and finally take up the long vacant spot where the Eliminator Dragsters once were. Also, this year, Six Flags would suddenly make the shocking announcement that Thunder Run is being removed after the 2019 season….….JK! XD As old as the ride is, I don’t think Six Flags would remove it just yet, as it’s the only classic wooden coaster left in the park and since the park already has a RMC hybrid, I don’t think it’d be converted to a hybrid either. Either way, it’s safe. The real ride removal would be the theater behind T2 (if anyone knows the name of this theater let me know). This removal would open some new space in the very back of the park, which is great for the next attraction:

2020/21 - RMC Custom Raptor Coaster, Waterpark Rebranding, Go-Karts removed: It’s about time Kentucky Kingdom finally receives another original one-of-a-kind coaster, and since Six Flags has currently installed these Raptor coasters at two of their parks already, I predict Six Flags could very possibly open one of these coasters at Kentucky Kingdom. I know this may seem unlikely, but hear me out: since Chang and Twisted Twins are already long gone, T2, Roadrunner Express and Batman: TR are mass produced clones, Greezed Lightning is a hand-me-down and Thunder Run is 30 years old, it’s obvious that the park needs some kind of new original thrill coaster. This Raptor coaster would be approx. 115-ft tall and feature a customized double out-and-back layout throughout the very back of the park, starting from where the theater behind T2 was and winding all the way behind the Penguin’s Blizzard River rapids and the Zamperla Giant Discovery, before turning around when it gets to the RMC Twisted Twins and looping back to the station. And for those of you wondering why this attraction is marked ”2020/21”, it’s because like most other Six Flags parks, this ride would’ve opened as new for 2020 but due to COVID-19, it would be delayed back a year to 2021, so it wouldn’t open until this year instead. This coaster would finally show Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom some true coaster love after 20+ years and put the park on the map for thrill seekers across the region. Also, after years of being called “Hurricane Bay” and “Splashwater Kingdom”, I predict that in 2021, the waterpark finally receives some recognition and be renamed “Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Louisville”. Since Six Flags did the same thing recently to it’s waterpark in Six Flags Great America, and rebranded several other independent water parks across the country in the same manner, I think it’d make sense for Six Flags to do it to this park also. Sadly, I think the go-karts ride located right next to the waterpark would also be removed this season, due to old age and the possibility of a future waterpark expansion.

2022 - Zamperla Air Race(?), Tornado Wave Slide:  Originally I said that I predicted the park would get a Zamperla Air Race and a water kids play area in Hurricane Harbor for this season. However, after reviewing my blog post and looking at some other similar-sized Six Flags parks, I decided to change it a bit. I can still see the park possibly receiving a Zamperla Air Race like Six Flags Fiesta Texas did, but only if these types of rides start to catch on in the rest of the chain. So really, I’m like 50/50 on that decision for now. As for the water kids play area, I no longer support that prediction because the park already has “Hook’s Lagoon”, so I find it kind of moot that Six Flags would put another one in. Instead I would predict that Six Flags would build over the old go-kart area a new major waterpark attraction: specifically, a ProSlide Tornado Wave named “Wahoo Wave”, similar to what Six Flags Darien Lake has (if the park didn’t already have “Deluge”, I would’ve also predicted a water coaster like “Tsunami Surge” at Six Flags Great America). This ride would be perfect for a medium-sized Six Flags park like Kentucky Kingdom, and attract a lot more guests to the waterpark. This would be great for park attendance and sales, especially after the whole COVID-19 pandemic which has really affected the Theme park industry financially. So I could definitely see a water ride like this going to the park today if it was still owned by Six Flags.

Conclusion
In conclusion, this is what I believe that Six Flags might have added to Kentucky Kingdom had they not shut the park down before the 2010 season and sold it. Do you agree with my predictions? If not, then why? What do you think your predictions for this park would’ve been had it remain a Six Flags park? Please leave me your answers in the comments below.