Holiday World expects a possible boost from Kentucky Kingdom closure

I would imagine that they will see a good boost in attendance. Am I wrong when I say that they are the only major waterpark(and amusementpark) in the area?

I bet they start spending a few more advertising monies in the kentucky kingdom area.

When I was there a few years ago they had a huge billboard right outside of the park. I think you could see it while riding up Twisted Twins' lift!

I would expect King's Island to see the biggest benefit of this. They pull alot of people from the Kentucky & Indiana area.

The Kentuckiana residents will be left with Holiday World, Beech Bend, and Kings Island, all of which will amount to a day trip for most people in the area.

As one who has never had a "local" park to speak of, I can sympathize. It would be so nice to be able to head over to "my" park for the evening instead of having to plan a whole day and spend a tank of gas to get there.

I wonder what becomes of those that have already purchased their season passes?

Maybe someone should look into bringing back Fontaine Ferry!

eightdotthree: that is correct. I saw the billboard through the "slats" of the fence while waiting in line for the Twins during my visit. Found it an amusing place for them to put a Holiday World billboard. :)

I might worry about stagnation in business after a few years, however. A little competition is always a good thing. Keeps businesses in top shape.

RCMAC said:
I wonder what becomes of those that have already purchased their season passes?

Straight from the closing announcement:

Costs for pre-purchased 2010 Season Passes will be 100% refunded. Notices will go out to Season Pass holders shortly. We also invite those Season Pass holders to remain so, as their Passes will be valid at all other Six Flags Theme Parks throughout the 2010 Season. For those guests who choose to keep their Kentucky Kingdom Season Passes, we will be sending them four Bring-A-Friend Free Passes that will be valid at any of our other Six Flags parks as well.

Oh, thanks. Not that I have one...

Now I wonder just how many "keepers" they'll have - my guess is not many!

I would think the closest Six Flags parks to Kentucky Kingdom were Great America, Six Flags St Louis, and maybe Six Flags over Georgia (not in any particular oder). I might be missing something. However due to the distance my guess would be not many pass holders will retain their passes. I would even bet more on that the ones who do are enthusiasts primarily.

In Kentucky Kingdom's letter to passholders (thank you, Gonch.) it states:

"Please know that this action only affects the Kentucky Kingdom theme park — all 19 other Six Flags parks will be open for business as usual in 2010, including nearby Six Flags St. Louis and Six Flags Great America in Chicago."

Closest, maybe, but certainly not nearby! Start writin' them refund checks! Probably more than a few of them were in Christmas stockings this year.

I said on FB that I thought HW would get a 100K attendance boost. Some (most?) seem to think the, ummmm, clientele for the two parks is so divergent as to render my guess unreasonably high.

The waiting....that's the hardest part. ;)

Yikes...I'm actually a bit concerned for Holiday World at the moment.

Believe it or not, the parks are/were more competitive than you would think. Especially for those areas outside the limits of Louisville.

Take my local town, for example. (Keep in mind, this is just a small example.) I live in a small place about one hour from both HW and SFKK. The population is about 4,500 people, and out of that number, probably 500 people visit one or both of these parks annually. Of those 2000, I'd have to estimate (my family owns the local radio station, and does marketing for/receives feedback from both parks...so this isn't a completely wild guess ;)) around 40% would visit SFKK, while the rest would go to Holiday World.

Now that its opponent has been eliminated, Holiday World is the only amusement park (besides Beech Bend...but I'm leaving that out for the sake of this comparison) that advertises in the area, and those 2000 people no longer have to choose between the parks...the decision has already been made for them. Holiday World now has an extra 800 or so people to draw from...and this is only one small town!

If any of you have ever visited the park in late June-August, I'm sure you already understand my concern. Holiday World makes amazing strides to expand every year (and are doing a GREAT job, in my opinion), but the midways in both major parts of the park are still jam-packed throughout this entire portion of the season. I am extremely delighted that Splashin' Safari is adding the breathtakingly good-looking Wildebeast water coaster this year, and I'm JUST as excited to experience the Voyage's new trains...but with these new additions come more and more visitors, and now, with this assured boost in attendance from SFKK closing... Well, I'm just afraid that Holiday World may not have enough capacity to handle the coming crowds.

I am very likely over-dramatizing the situation...but at the same time, it does seem like a reasonably plausible concern.

Maybe now is the time to extend those 8/9:30PM closing hours? ;)

It's a very valid concern, Dan. The potential additional crowds could negatively affect HW, as they are a smaller park.

The closure of SFKK will definitely negatively affect Louisville business, as stated previously in this thread.

AND, if the fairgrounds can't get another attraction installed, it will negatively affect their pocketbook as well. It would have been better to have SF there paying them a little less than no attraction at all.

DantheCoasterman said:
Yikes...I'm actually a bit concerned for Holiday World at the moment.

...people no longer have to choose between the parks...the decision has already been made for them.

In a sense, that's true, but people could also decide not to go anywhere... and who's to say they were't going to both already?

LostKause said:
It's a very valid concern, Dan. The potential additional crowds could negatively affect HW, as they are a smaller park.

I have a feeling Will & company have considered this and are already working on possible solutions.

If possible solutions = steel coasters I imagine we'll hear a chorus of amens.

But in all seriousness with SFKK gone, there really are NO major stealies in the area. I believe a coaster sized in between the major few from KK and the little ones at IB could be the gradual transition HW makes into coasters without wooden tracks.

Heres hoping for an extension of their hours. Ive still not gotten a single night ride on their coasters (thanks to the rain at the Fall Affair this year, not that I could see anything on my last ride anyways though.)

cough::cough::HoliwoodNights::cough::coigh

I cant go, sadly they decided to schedule it my graduation weekend. Cedar Point also rudely scheduled Coastermania and my college scheduled my 5 year reunion that weekend too.

Ummm...aren't Holiwood Nights and Coastermania on the same weekend this year?