Volume 3, No. 9. May 9, 2003
New Arrivals
It’s
a roller coaster!
Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky, announces the arrival of
Greezed Lightnin’, April 19, 2003. Measurements: 722-foot-long track
(220 meters), 142-foot-high (43-meter-high) and 100-foot-high (30.5-meter-high)
inclines, 60 mph (96.5 km/h), one 28 passenger train. Delivered by Schwarzkopf.
One thing about the Schwarzkopf shuttle-loop coasters: they may not look like
much, but they are addictive. And never mind that Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom’s
“new” Schwarzkopf is a journeyman coaster, most recently residing
as Viper at Six Flags Over Georgia in Atlanta. In its new home it has
merited travel section cover photo status for newspapers as far away as Cincinnati
and Indianapolis.
This at the beginning of Kentucky Derby week, no less.
Located between the park’s Tin Lizzies and the public highway that
slices through Kentucky Kingdom, Greezed Lightnin’, the park’s
eighth roller coaster, brings a much-needed thrill structure to the front gate
side of the park. “We needed another steel coaster, we needed something
on the original side of the road,” said Jim Kunau, the park’s director
of marketing. “It’s going to contribute to distributing people throughout
the park and will be a nice anchor for this side of the park.”
For media day the Thursday before the public opening Kunau and company had to
contend with a bleak forecast of thundershowers. “It looked ominous at
times, but no raindrops,” he said. The park invited children from the Make-A-Wish
Foundation to cut the ribbon and take the official inaugural ride, and opened
four other rides in the area for the kids, too. Once Greezed Lightnin’
made its first official pass, invited coaster enthusiasts took over the train
and didn’t relinquish it for the rest of the day, only moving from car
to car between rides.
Typical park guests apparently would do the same thing if they could. Since
Greezed Lightnin’s public debut Kunau often witnesses guests running
from exit to the entrance. “The idea that people immediately want to jump
right back on is the best feedback you can get,” he said.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
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