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Kentucky Kingdom

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

“A new and promising Hershend Family Entertainment project”

Welcome to Louisville, the home of Kentucky Kingdom. This amusement park opened in 1987 and it’s had its fair share of challenges since then. Management changed regularly and the park remained closed for multiple years at the start of the 2010s. In 2014, it made a comeback under the leadership of businessman Ed Hart and today the park is operated by Herschend Family Entertainment. This is the successful company that’s also responsible for Dollywood and Silver Dollar City, so it seems like a step in the right direction. However, we shouldn’t expect Kentucky Kingdom to immediately match the quality and beauty of its famous sister parks in Tennessee and Missouri. After all, Herschend has only just begun working on Kentucky Kingdom’s major overhaul and transforming a theme park isn’t done in the blink of an eye. That’s why we find a theme park in full development during our visit in the summer of 2025.

ROLLER COASTERS

Herschend has only recently taken control, but the first results are already visible. The biggest news can be found in the central park area, where Discovery Meadow opened its gates. This is a themed land with 15 rides, including 3 roller coasters. For the kids, there’s Hollyhock and Roll, a standard Vekoma Junior Coaster. It’s a fine ride, but it obviously doesn’t deliver an overwhelming experience. The nearby Woodland Run managed to surprise us in a pleasant way, though. This wooden roller coaster was built by Dinn Corporation and it’s been operating at Kentucky Kingdom since 1990. Despite its respectable age, this coaster delivers a relatively smooth ride with a good amount of floater airtime. The layout isn’t particularly exciting, but Woodland Run turns out to be a fine family roller coaster nevertheless.

The roller coasters at Discovery Meadow all target a different audience. The previously-mentioned coasters are for there for children and families, whereas Wind Chaser was built to appeal to thrill seekers. This is an IBox installation by Rocky Mountain Construction, which was erected on the foundations of an old wooden coaster. Wind Chaser’s lift hill is 100 feet (30 metres) tall and the layout is approximately 2,750 feet (836 metres) long. These are relatively modest figures for an RMC… and it shows. Although I’d never describe an RMC coaster as boring, this certainly is one of the weaker RMCs I’ve ridden so far. In all honesty: our underwhelming experience might be due to the fact that we were seated in a virtually empty train early in the morning. We therefore wanted to give Wind Chaser a second chance later in the afternoon, but this wasn’t possible due to technical difficulties.

Kentucky Kingdom consists of a regular amusement park and a water park, but there isn’t a clear border between both sections. This is mostly noticeable when riding Kentucky Flyer, a hybrid coaster that can be found right next to swimming pools and water slides. And although its location may be a bit weird, Kentucky Flyer turns out to be an excellent family coaster. In fact, this feels an American version of Twister at Gröna Lund: the coaster is extremely compact and the layout consists of tight turns and sudden drops. It is by no means a giant, but Kentucky Flyer proves to be an incredibly enjoyable ride nonetheless.

Americans love to name their roller coasters after bad weather. I already knew Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Storm Runner and Lightning Rod, and Kentucky Kingdom adds Lightning Run to the list. This is a so-called Hyper GT-X Coaster from manufacturer Chance Rides. However, there are very few similarities with a classic hyper coaster, as Lightning Run is simply too small. The lift hill is just 100 feet (30 metres) tall and the layout isn’t longer than 2,500 feet (760 metres). But please don’t judge Lightning Run before you’ve taken a ride. Chance Rides still managed to design an incredibly intense coaster with a steep first drop, powerful airtime hills and sharp turns. Despite its limited stats, Lightning Run delivers a very complete and blissfully smooth experience.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

Mile High Falls allows visitors to get soaked while joining the Mile High Club. This is a solid shoot-the-chute, similar to the ones you’ll find at virtually every American amusement park. This soaking adventure can be found in Discovery Meadow and it’s surrounded by an enormous amount of funfair-style flat rides. Visitors get to enjoy a swinging ship, a wave swinger with Dutch clogs, a 130-feet-tall free fall tower, a Break Dance that seems to be turning at a snail’s pace, and much more.

I was always intrigued by the Funtopia scenario in RollerCoaster Tycoon. This park was split in two separate parts by a street and I found that a crazy idea. The inspiration for Funtopia may have come from Kentucky Kingdom, as it also has a road that cuts right through the park. Moving between both parts can be done by using a footbridge or a classic crossing, which is permanently manned by two traffic wardens. It’s an unusual sight, but it’s pretty cool.

On the north side of the street, updates are still in full swing during the summer of 2025. Herschend has already installed a bakery selling its legendary cinnamon bread, but it’s surrounded by a huge construction site. Most of the attractions are available, though. The lineup consists of an old-timer track, a Himalaya-themed Musik Express, a modern version of the Enterprise and several small-scale children’s attractions. And then there’s that giant soundstage housing 5D Cinema. The exterior of the building desperately needs a coat of paint, but the actual film is quite okay. Interestingly, Kentucky Kingdom chose a film starring Happy Family, characters that were originally developed by MackMedia for Europa-Park.

WORTH A VISIT?

Our day at Kentucky Kingdom was preceded by visits to Cedar Point, Kings Island and Holiday World. These are all impressive amusement parks with one or more world-class attractions. That’s why I was expecting a rather disappointing experience at Kentucky Kingdom. It wasn’t too bad, though. For a medium-sized amusement park, Kentucky Kingdom offers a surprisingly impressive collection of roller coasters and family-friendly rides. We also noticed that Herschend Family Entertainment is working hard to add more theming and to improve the overall atmosphere of the park. Discovery Meadow is an excellent first step, and I’m sure that other parts of Kentucky Kingdom will soon see a lot of visual enhancements. So give this park a few more years to grow. As long as Herschend remains in charge, I see a bright future for Kentucky Kingdom.

This article reflects my personal experience at Kentucky Kingdom during a visit in August 2025.