Kentucky Kingdom is an amusement park in Louisville, Kentucky. The 63acre park includes a collection of amusement rides and a water park named Hurricane Bay. The park reopened to the public on May 24, 2014.HistoryFoundation (1987–88)Kentucky Kingdom opened on May 23, 1987, leasing at the Kentucky Exposition Center property. The park was started by out-of-state Texas investors as an extension of the Kentucky State Fair. One of the original rides was a roller coaster named Starchaser. The park also had other rides such as bumper cars and a log flume. However, the 10 acre park closed and filed for bankruptcy after only one season. Most of the contractors and vendors were unpaid and most of the rides were auctioned off to other parks. Only a few rides stayed at the park. The park had four themed areas called "Carousel Plaza," "Old Louisville," "Kentucky Frontier," and "The Enchanted Forest." The latter was a kiddie area which would later become "King Louie's Playground" and then "Looney Tunes Movie Town."Ed Hart era (1989–97)The park remained closed through 1989 after the rights to operate it were purchased by Ed Hart and a group of investors. Hart's first step was paying the 227 vendors and contractors that were unpaid before. Kentucky Kingdom reopened for the 1990 season with the new operators and management team. Despite the Starchaser being sold it had remained on-site at the amusement park allowing Hart to purchase it back. Additionally, new rides were added including Bluebeard's Bounty, The Enterprise, Whirling Dervish (later renamed Breakdance), and The Vampire roller coaster. The Tin Lizzies antique car ride reused the same track as the former car ride, Pontiac's Tin Lizzy Junction, while new antique cars were added in 1995 which were formerly used at Opryland USA in Tennessee.