2006 3 Coasters Around Louisville Area

Shaggy was hinting that there could be 3 new roller coasters that open for 2006 around the Louisville area. Holiday World recently announced their new Gravity Group wooden coaster for 2006 the Voyage. That coaster is shaping out to be a sure fire hit for next year, and probably a top 5 wooden coaster.

Beach Bend is getting a new GCII wooden twister, that should be a lot of fun. I have not seen the layout or stats but it should be around medium sized wood coaster, and have lots of twist and turns. Should be a another hit from GCII.

Which leaves the mystery third new coaster. Their are a few parks near the area, including Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, Paramount Kings Island, and Indiana Beach. Also their might be a few small parks I might be missing.

Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom would surprise me if they got a new coaster. They have enough trouble operating the coasters, rides, and shops that they have. Also the waterpark seems to be their biggest draw, so another addition there makes more sense.

Paramount Kings Island just added the Italian Job. However a Nick Central Expansion seems likely for next year, and a family coaster themed to a Nick Character is definately a possibility. SpongeBob seems to be popular with the kids, and could be a theme for a new family coaster in Nick Central.

Indiana Beach I recently visited, and enjoyed the park. However there seemed to be not much land to expand and most of their rides run through each other. However they do such a great of fitting in rides, you never no, and they could buy more land and expand. I remember chuck mentioning that they are buying houses, so you never no.

There have been some rumors about Indiana Beach putting in a looping steel coaster for 2006 although I'm not sure how "around Louisville" that is for Shaggy to hint at.

Rumors for Kings Island point at expanding Nick Central and probably phasing more of the HB Land out and I'm *guessing* we'll see the return of a rethemed Antique Cars and possibly the SpongeBob water coaster that was in the surveys last year. It would be a good time to add something near-major for the whole family while the capacity of Italian Job this season has been sort of disappointing for a lot of people to even out those crowds. Plus everyone seems to want to get a little wet lately with all the waterpark love.

I have no idea what Kentucky Kingdom might be up to, but I guess we can hope they'll *finally* get a "new" coaster since Roadrunner Express in 2000. The last major coaster before that was Twisted Twins in 1998. They have some pretty steep competition going on in 2006 down the road. =p

I would say coasters are a possibility for all three parks and while we haven't seen PKI put in a coaster two years in a row since 99/00 (it was even -e-four when you count Ghoster Coaster in '98 -e-and Reptar in '01), I'd say they're likely planning one. I wouldn't be surprised if a major one was on the block to come for 2007 since that's when Coaster Con is and we haven't seen a major *likable* coaster at PKI since.. Flight of Fear in '96? And that didn't even become likable until 2001. ;)

Edit: Well, Italian Job counts as well, but I see no reason not to want to expand that count. I know a lot of people who love PKI, but just wouldn't come for their coasters and are being pushed back to CP or GL if they're in the north due to MaxAir and GL's waterpark up there. They luckily still have the kiddie and family set mostly in their pocket and I'm excited about Winterfest coming back, so I'm sure they're not hurting overall anyways.

+Danny *** Edited 7/16/2005 7:07:04 PM UTC by +Danny***

Coney Cincy?

there is something posted on screamscape about IB expanding into the side of the parking lot. for those of you who say screamscapes never right. The president of IB said htis during i believe the 85th? anniversary celebration

How about Coney Island in Cincinnati? I don't see PKI getting Sponge Bob Boating Course

capacity of Italian Job not being adequate?

I have been on the coaser around 10 times and average likely a 25 to 30 minute wait. Even though I have a season pass, I have been on it a saturday night and that was my longest wait of around an hour. For a new ride, this is the shortest I have waited on average in a while and probably the most I have ridden in such a short span.

I think if you compare Italian Jobs capacity to Son of Beast, the Beast, Tomb Raider, Delirium, and a few other major rides at the park, you will see that it is very comparable.

Actually Kings Island added coasters 4 years in a row if you consider the kiddy coaster. 1998 Ghoster coaster, Face off 1999, Son of Beast 2000, and Rugrats 2001. I think it is better to not view whether it is a coaster, but more what audiance does it appeal.

So going back the last 10 years or so.

1996 was Flight of Fear, 1997 was a waterpark expansion, 1998 was HB additions, 1999 and 2000 was 3 major thrill rides in the new action zone, 2001 was Nick Central Expansion, 2002 was Tomb Raider, 2003 was Scooby and Delirium, 2004 was waterpark expansion, and 2005 was Italian job.

So that is 4 major adult coasters, 3 steel and 1 wooden. Italian Job being the most themed, but probably more suited for a wider audiance. 3 other major thrill rides in Delirium, Tomb Raider, and Drop Zone. So that is 7 rides for the thrill seakers.

Two kid expansions, one in HB and one in Nick. Scooby was a new ride in HB. So 3 years they added something for the kids. Also two waterpark expansion

So 2004 was a waterpark expansion, 2005 was a themed coaster that apeals to families and thrill seakers, so 2006 appears to be something for the kids. A new family coaster similar to Rugrats in intensity, but more theming seems likely.

Back to the other parks, yeah Kentucky Kingdom has not added one in a while, but really why should they? The waterpark is where there money is, so keep adding stuff there. Holiday World is providing tough competion, and even has signs right outside SFKK.

Indiana Beach is a possibility, although not sure where they could put it. A steel Coaster would be ok, but I rather see another wooden coaster there. They could fit a Boomerang/Invertigo from Vekoma, but not sure what else.

A boomerang/invertigo really wouldn't be classy enough for IB. =p

I'm thinking more along the lines of Bullet from Flamingo Land?

+Danny

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SheikraBGT said:
for those of you who say screamscapes never right. The president of IB said htis during i believe the 85th? anniversary celebration

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Well, it's not to hard to report common knowledge, is it? Nothing against Screamscape, but this logic makes no sense.

Screamscape passed along something said by a high ranking official. How can you be wrong in that case?

Also, capitalization and punctuation are your friend. Makes your post much easier to read. :)

That Bullet that ReturnofDanny mentioned, that certainly has been the object of enormous speculation....I know that some people know what they ain't telling....;)

But does anyone know IF that coaster is in fact being sold....as opposed to what's happening to the Schwarzkopf at SFMW, I'd at least like to know that it's going SOMEWHERE...even if it's someplace I'll never get to...

SFKK *would* be a good place for a "Pandemonium"-type ride though...just not as good as the *transit* skyride across the road that I've been trying to get built there since....hmmmmm, '99 I guess...LOL! ;)

IB can just keep being IB as far as I'm concerned...I *got* my plane tickets to Indy! :)

(But I seriously don't think IB is "around Louisville)... ;)

What's the buzz around Coney Island since there have been a couple mentions of it?

+Danny

I did not think about it but is Dollywood consider close to Louisville. Anyone know how far it is? Maybe Shaggy is referring to them and they could receive a new roller coaster. I think a while back they did have a survey about possible new rides, and a few were roller coasters.

Although some were family coasters in the survey, it will be interesting to see what they get. Is there any park I am forgetting. Last I checked Americana or whatever name it is now is not slated to open up so a new ride is out of the question there. I doubt Stricters Grove is getting a new coaster, same for coney island in cincy. I think that covers all the parks that could be considered close to Louisville.

If there was going to be a coaster at any of these parks (I'm hoping SFKK if it's true), wouldn't we all ready be seeing at least markers, if not actaul construction beginning?

Dollywood has already announced 2006...no new coaster.

I have never considered IB as being in the Louisville area. I don't think IB was the park being suggested. That would leave SFKK or PKI.

I think IB might be talking about a new coaster. It would likely be wood if there is going to be anything new.

Is there room for it? Was there room for Hurricane or Cornball? No there wasn't. For anyone who has watched the IB DVD released this year, Tom Sr. taught his kids that it is possible to do it.

I thought the DVD was great. It was well produced. You should buy one if you happend to enjoy amusement park shows.

Well if dollywood is out and IB is not really in the area. That leaves SFKK and PKI. Well not sure if either park would start construction this soon, unless the scope of the ride was similar to Son of Beast or Voyage.

So my personally belief is that Shaggy is referring to PKI. He was a former riide operator there, and I would imagine still has some connections with people there. The general rumor is that PKI is getting a Nick Central Expansion, and getting rid of the water maze, and the nick theater. So a family coaster themed to a Nick Character, is my personal prediction on one of the additions for PKI's revamped kids area.

Six Flags kentucky Kingdom could eventually build a new roller coaster. However there past history gives me no reason to believe that Six Flags will spend any type of money to build one. There last coaster was a shuttle loop from SFOG.

I think that it is very possible for SFKK to get a new coaster. With the announcement of Holiday Worlds new coaster and that the latest trend for the park ever since being converted into a Six Flags(new coaster every 3 years dating to 2000) I think they will get a new one soon. They are going to have to do something in the next two years.

Beast Fan,

What's so hard to believe about SFKK getting a new coaster? They could use one, and SF seems to be very good about spending $$$ on coasters.

Plus, Greezed Lightnin' is a great coaster! It may be short! But it packs a mean punch, (esp. on the return trip). You say it like it wasn't a big deal for them to add it. But for people regionally it seems to be a pretty big hit. There's not too many times I've been there where there hasn't been a fairly consistent line for GL.

Whether they buy new, or get a transplant coaster from a SF sister, either way it will be a welcome addition. I would love to get one of the Batman compact inverts closer to home, but they seem to be pretty popular at the other SF parks and probably won't be given up. Anyway, they already have that inverted deathtrap T2. But whatever they do is good as long as it's not a kiddie!

Something I could see SFKK doing is in the near future, buying new trains for T2 and adding a Mr. Six's Pandemonium. I think the gauntlet uses them. Vekoma says the new design makes the ride smoother. I don't how much smoother they are, I haven't seen any reviews.

There is no way SFKK is getting a new coaster for 2006. Six Flags Inc. isn't doing well enough right now to invest that much money in a lower tier park. Plus they got Greezed Lightnin only a couple of years ago. The only lower tier park that I can think of getting a new coaster right now is SFSTL (not saying that because its my home park) since we haven't gotten one since 2000 and because of the tough competition with SDC and WOF. The chance for SFSTL getting a new coaster for 2006 isn't even that good too. *** Edited 7/22/2005 3:24:25 AM UTC by stlcoasterguy77***

mudinthevayne...I've ridden Gauntlet, the SLC at Magic Springs. Whatever you've heard about it being *different* from other older SLCs...don't believe the hype... :)

A Pandemonium-type ride I could see (MS or Gerstlauer spinner). They really can't get one of the Reverchon-type spinners since it would be TOO similar to their current mouse. The MS spinner at Waldameer was a BIG hit with the crowds, was compact, fairly cheap (we ARE talking SFKK), and loads of FUN...I can see this being a VERY good investment for SFKK.

P.S. As always, I don't know squat....but I just *love* the hypothesizing...next best thing to actually RIDING, hehe... :)