Alicia Bennett

Review of Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom

I'm not one for reviews, and this will be a quite ...

I'm not one for reviews, and this will be a quite lengthy and followed by full details, but please evaluate your options and consider visiting a better park for about the same price and distance, such as King's Island or Holiday World. To sum it up, these parks in comparison to KK & HB are more kid friendly, have way better trained and attentive staff, house Gold Ticket holder rides and attractions (The Voyage at Holiday World, Mystic Timbers and Planet Snoopy at King's Island), and better food, with King's Island now being home to a nationally accredited bbq menu, and an all day meal plan for families.

Now to the bulk of this review.
A little background: I've been working for Cedar Fair for 3 years now, have been visiting parks for about 8-10 years under the Cedar Fair name, or the Six Flags name. I know these parks are the example when it comes to amusement parks, completely dominating the industry. Completely understand that an independent park such as KK & HB will operate differently.

Getting that out of the way, there is little to no excuse for what I experienced yesterday at this park. Maybe it was just a bad day, but most of the guests around us were rowdy, line jumped on multiple occasions, had little to no spacial awareness, and were disruptive; apparently this got to a point where we witnessed a man being escorted out in handcuffs at the park. The ride operators did their job, but that's about it. On Stormchaser, my restraints weren't checked the first time I rode it, but were on the second time around about a half hour later. Before we got on the ride, we witnessed a ride op pressing down a man's restraint by STEPPING ON THEM AND JUMPING. When riding Thunder Run, the staff there was rude, quite literally shouting at patrons over the mic, refusing to answer questions, and when asked, didn't know answers. The staff had no idea what to do except keep people away from the yellow line, take off sunglasses, and press the button to operate the ride. Being a ride op requires significant customer service skills, an exuberant personality, and a comprehension of rules. None of that seemed apparent to me, with the exception of understand that sunglasses can't be on rides.
As far as atmosphere, the park seemed clean. Landscaping was nice, most of the lawns, structures, and rides seemed to be well up-kept appearance wise. I have no say in the food, as we didn't eat while there, but they did have access to clean and cold water. I was under the impression that there was a Pepsi Oasis like at Holiday World, but the only free drinks we had were ice water. Maybe I was misinformed on that, but it did set a mood that there was some false advertising somewhere.
Security and park management seems to present throughout the park, but not near the entrance, and didn't perform bag checks on us at the BAG CHECK STATION at the entrance. Maybe it was late enough in the night they didn't have to, but I'm not sure.
The rides seemed decent, Stormchaser is a must ride for RMC fans, but we only went on that and Thunder Run because we were wary of the staff and legitimately felt concerned for our safety. Most of them just seemed quickly put together, not permanent, 3ft chain link fences surrounding a fast coaster, and just the overall mood of 98% of the park being fair rides from the Kentucky State Fair.
We left after just over an hour, confused and questioning what just happened. Fortunately, our tickets were free because of the Cedar Fair ID. Quite honestly, I would be upset if I had spent money there, especially when there is a nationally accredited park right up the highway for about the same price. Overall, my trip was extremely disappointing, and left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I probably will not return, and if you made it to the end of this, I once again suggest you reevaluate your options before deciding to make the trek to Kentucky Kingdom & Hurricane Bay.