Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom
80° drop Rear seatsfor the most thrilling first drop

Kentucky Kingdom, Louisville, Kentucky

Lightning Run

“Very strong and filled with tons of ejector pops.”

POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
What riders love
  • This ride is an absolute airtime machine.
  • This thing has no business having airtime this good.
  • Awesome compact airtime machine that makes use of every bit of its height with a masterfull layout. Every element pops and no track is wasted.
  • Lightning Run is an unassuming little ride that packs insane ejector airtime.
  • This ride easily has the most aggressive airtime of any coaster I’ve been on.
  • Lightning Run is a ride that if you closed your eyes, you would think was an RMC.
  • That drop really surprised me in the back row and then the pacing was really good.
  • The first drop is one of the best there is and the ride is filled with ejector.
  • Gives insane ejector airtime and the first drop is so good in the back car.
Lightning Run Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Lightning Run Front Row (HD POV) Kentucky Kingdom

youtube.com › coastercrutchfield

Lightning Run POV 5K Back Row Chance Hyper GTX Kentucky Kingdom Louisville, KY

youtube.com › East Coasters

Lightning Run on-ride 60fps POV at Kentucky Kingdom

youtube.com › Coaster Fanatic

Lightning Run off-ride 4K Kentucky Kingdom

youtube.com › CoasterForce

Lightning Run Review Kentucky Kingdom Chance Hyper GT-X

youtube.com › Coaster Studios

Lightning Run Review, Kentucky Kingdom Chance Hyper-GTX Roller Coaster | Why Aren't There More?

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

Lightning Run Review - Kentucky Kingdom (Louisville Kentucky) Chance Rides Hyper GT-X

youtube.com › XscreamThrills

Lightning Run - Kentucky Kingdom [Aerial View]

youtube.com › CoasterWorldMX

Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom (Offride 4K, 60FPS)

youtube.com › Coaster Quest™

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Kentucky Kingdom

The airtime is exceptional, and the initial drop, particularly from the rear seating positions, provides a thrilling and highly engaging element.

Gunnar Wegg

Very strong and filled with tons of ejector pops.

Jack L

It’s definitely a fun coaster, it has a good fast paced layout with tons of airtime and whippy elements but it’s definitely overrated in my opinion.

Lucas M.

This chance hyper GTX has a good first half, but the finale is very fun with some fun janky looking hills with strong ejector.

Colton Burns

Didn’t think it would be so awesome, I was lifted out of my seat at least 70% of the ride, and all the turns and dips were placed perfectly

@courtneyb7205

The restraints did tighten significantly on my last ride in 2021, but the ejector was so strong I didn’t mind too much.

@thequackenscoasterchannel2927

Does a good job pretending to be a hyper, and kept smooth better than most of the hypers I’ve done.

Maddux

There are some awesome intense turns thrown in and they are all glossy smooth.

Jack Jack J.

Incredible ride, perfectly smooth and brutally intense the whole way through.

Scott Quisenberry

Think of a wooden airtime machine that is silky-steel smooth and that’s it.

Brian Sheldon

It’s that quick, abrupt, pops of ejector, and can be the most painful moments of the ride.

XscreamThrills

You go into a speedy and lateral filled s-bend that is very underrated before those famous thigh breaking bunny hills.

A Wild Walter

The last three hills really catch you off guard, the drop is one of my favorites, the s bend is very intense and snappy.

J&B FitzTubeKidz

I got the chance to ride in the back row, and this thing was relentless, even riding early in the morning.

Nathan F

A lot of fun and contains some proper intensity despite modest dimensions.

Sean Reardon

A fast paced, intense coaster with plenty of airtime and tight turns.

Eric Esty

That first drop was very aggressive and took me by complete surprise.

XscreamThrills

I’d say it’s more aggressive than Stormchaser.

Coaster Studios

An incredible fast paced ride, Lightning Run has little to no dead spots with an action packed adventure throughout the whole layout.

Liam Dodds

The next airtime hill is a banked die turn, leading right into a fast-paced S-turn.

XscreamThrills

The coaster does loose a little bit of steam during a few sections though.

Carter Eckhart

With a 0-20 min wait, you need to ride it at least once in the back.

T U N A

Lines moved fast even with single train operations.

Sean Reardon

However it has the worst ops I’ve ever seen on a major coaster, they were running a single train and averaging 8 minute dispatches.

Scott Quisenberry

Nice ride but it’s crazy that they only run one train on busy days, I’ll probably never get on this ride again so eventually it’ll fall and fall in my rankings

Stormin Norman

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

102 ftHeight
102 LightningRun 100 WindChaser 90 WoodlandRun
100 ftFirst drop
100 LightningRun 74 WoodlandRun
55 mphTop speed
Lightning Run55 Woodland Run53 Wind Chaser52 055 mph
80°Drop angle
80°LightningRun78°Wind Chaserdashed line: straight down, 90°
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

Strong airtimeFunEjector airtimeSmooth rideFeels fast

Criticised for

Too shortLong waits

Thought it was fine after first ride but on re-ride it was amazing, especially in back row.

Carson, Captain Coaster review

The twisting layout is packed with airtime, and the finale is reminiscent of ArieForce One’s, albeit to a more reasonable extent.

Birb from not Canada, Captain Coaster review

Awesome compact airtime machine that makes use of every bit of its height with a masterfull layout.

VelociGOAT, Captain Coaster review

The airtime is phenomenal, and the layout, while a little short, is paunchy and exciting.

Parker Davidson, Captain Coaster review

Very ejector filled layout and is in my opinion the best ride at this park.

TheClassicRemake Man, Captain Coaster review

9 air time moments, 10 if you count the first drop in the back at least.

Glass Cannonn, Captain Coaster review

Photos

Lightning Run Charting through its route
NotDart, CC BY-SA 4.0
Lightning Run, located at Kentucky Kingdom, seen here on May 31, 2019
BlueShirtz, CC BY-SA 4.0

2 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History and awards

May 24, 2014Opened

A hyper gt-x coaster, built by Chance Rides, designed by Joe Draves.

$7 millionTo build

Golden Ticket Awards, top steel coaster: ranked in 4 polls, 2014 to 2017

25th2014, its first poll
41st2017, most recent

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, youtube.com, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Jeremy Thompson (CC BY 2.0), NotDart (CC BY-SA 4.0), BlueShirtz (CC BY-SA 4.0). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Quote at the top of the page: Jack L, Captain Coaster review.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Brian Sheldon, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Air on top of air on top of air…”; Carter Eckhart, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This ride is an absolute airtime machine.”; Zach S., rider review on Captain Coaster: “This thing has no business having airtime this good.”; VelociGOAT, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Awesome compact airtime machine that makes use of every…”; Jn Lz, rider review on Captain Coaster: “My first ride in the front row nearly took…”; Nathan F, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Lightning Run is an unassuming little ride that packs…”; J&B FitzTubeKidz, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This ride easily has the most aggressive airtime of…”; TheClassicRemake Man, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Lightning Run is a ride that if you closed…”; A Wild Walter, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It starts off with a good looking lifthill and…”; David, rider review on Captain Coaster: “That drop really surprised me in the back row…”; Jack Jack J., rider review on Captain Coaster: “The first drop is one of the best there…”; Garrett, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Gives insane ejector airtime and the first drop is…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: East Coasters's back row POV, Lightning Run POV 5K Back Row Chance Hyper GTX Kentucky Kingdom Louisville, KY (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.