• Bluegrass Boardwalk sets opening date

    by
    Caine
    Published on 05-15-2012 01:53 PM
    8 Comments Comments
    The former Kentucky Kingdom amusement park located in Louisville, KY, now known as Bluegrass Boardwalk has finally set a tentative re-opening date of May 13, 2013, the weekend following the world famous Kentucky Derby.

    The current owners of Holiday World in Indiana, the Koch Family now owns Bluegrass Boardwalk. Dan Koch, park president, has said that financing and incentives are now in place and is very confident that the park will be set to reopen next spring.

    Currently, it is unclear which rides will be back, and which will not. Koch stated, "I can't speculate what we'll have open because we haven't broken down all the rides and slides to take a look at it. And candidly, some are just gonna be beyond the repair standards of Holiday World."

    The initial investment will be somewhere between $15 and $20 million to reopen the park. Plans are to employ 800 seasonal and 25 full-time staff members. Also similar to Holiday World, Bluegrass Boardwalk will offer free soft drinks, sunscreen, and inner tube use.

    For more information please visit WKU Public Radio and Bluegrass Boardwalk.
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    Comments 8 Comments
    1. Leo C - 05-15-2012, 07:57 PM
      That's fair to follow up the weekend after the Derby. It's big enough I hope they have a big push that weekend in advertising for the park. Derby Weekend I've thought of Chang here in NJ no longer in Louisville but now the Green Lantern. Great ride.
    1. Steven - 05-15-2012, 08:52 PM
      A reason to go to Louisville .
    1. Steven - 05-15-2012, 08:56 PM
      Hopefully we don't have duplicate discussion threads out of this!
    1. KY_THRILLBILLY - 05-16-2012, 12:29 AM
      I'm kinda disapointed. While the people of Holiday World are some of the best in the industry, it appears to me that they have no idea of what they are gettin themselves into. They have experience running a great park, but have no experience of reassembling one that was left in shambles, where several rides are beyond repair. Twisted Twins is done for, and their is no chance in it being saved. Its days are over. I hear Mile High Falls is in pretty bad shape too, but who knows how bad it actually is. I can imagine that Thunder Run needs some serious TLC, like a re-tracking, so it should be able to be salvaged. I just dont think 15 to 20 million is gonna cut it, thats probably how much its gonna cost for all the repairs. Plus, they are expecting to bring in around 600,000 people in attendance, which I dont see happening either. After all, they lost two coasters from Six Flags, those being Chang and Roadrunner, plus an additional two more in the dueling Twisted Twins. Not to mention, they also lost Hellevator several years ago. So I dont see how they are gonna get the attendance they want, when alot of the good popular rides are gone. They need a new attraction for 2013 or else Kentucky Kingdom will not survive. I promise you that. As Ed Hart said "its all about the rides".
    1. Rick B - 05-16-2012, 07:12 AM
      I'm sure they know what they have gotten themselves into and I'm sure they had experienced maintenance personnel inspect the park before they moved forward. It's not like they haven't run an amusement park before.

      Like any new venture, I'm also sure they are prepared to not be an instant success. Getting an amusement park back off the ground is a long term strategy. At the very least you hope you can come close to breaking even the first year on operating costs and have the financial means to make reopening a park a 3-5 year plan. Not many people who have tried to come in and open a park with a one year plan have been successful. I've seen it happen twice recently in the Carolinas.
    1. Steven - 05-16-2012, 07:58 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by KY_THRILLBILLY View Post
      I'm kinda disapointed. While the people of Holiday World are some of the best in the industry, it appears to me that they have no idea of what they are gettin themselves into. They have experience running a great park, but have no experience of reassembling one that was left in shambles, where several rides are beyond repair. Twisted Twins is done for, and their is no chance in it being saved. Its days are over. I hear Mile High Falls is in pretty bad shape too, but who knows how bad it actually is. I can imagine that Thunder Run needs some serious TLC, like a re-tracking, so it should be able to be salvaged. I just dont think 15 to 20 million is gonna cut it, thats probably how much its gonna cost for all the repairs. Plus, they are expecting to bring in around 600,000 people in attendance, which I dont see happening either. After all, they lost two coasters from Six Flags, those being Chang and Roadrunner, plus an additional two more in the dueling Twisted Twins. Not to mention, they also lost Hellevator several years ago. So I dont see how they are gonna get the attendance they want, when alot of the good popular rides are gone. They need a new attraction for 2013 or else Kentucky Kingdom will not survive. I promise you that. As Ed Hart said "its all about the rides".
      One can argue that the family in general didn't have previous park experience when Santa Claus Land/Holiday World was started. Just saying.

      Also, I don't think we're going to see blockbuster rides the first year. We may see rides, yes, but bigger rides take years to plan. They just don't happen overnight.
    1. Brian H - 05-16-2012, 08:51 AM
      I also think the public realizes at least a little bit, how much effort is needed to reopen the park after sitting and collecting dust for several years. Since the new management is well known in the area, I don't think they are going to have problems convincing people they know how to take care of the park. Give them a year and we'll see what happens.
    1. Austin - 05-16-2012, 04:09 PM
      The Kochs know what they are doing. They are already hard at work with the park as well.

      A side note.. Guess where I'll be spending my birthday in 2013? Lol