Louisville, Kentucky: Kentucky Kingdom Adds Midnight Showdown Indoor Wooden Coaster for 2027

Kentucky Kingdom will open a horse racing themed indoor wooden roller coaster called Midnight Showdown in the spring of 2027, the Louisville theme park announced on Thursday, Nov. 5. The park calls the ride the world's largest indoor wooden roller coaster, and it will be the centerpiece of a new land called Bluegrass Downs.

Midnight Showdown will run on 1,130 feet of wood track, stand more than three stories tall and carry riders in two trains with 10 seats each, according to the announcement. The Courier Journal reported that the dark ride will have 11 airtime moments and immersive special effects, and that it replaces the park's former 5D Cinema. The coaster was built by The Gravity Group of Cincinnati, the park said.

The centerpiece of Bluegrass Downs

Bluegrass Downs, the new land built around the coaster, takes its theme from Kentucky horse racing. The park said the area reimagines five existing rides and will be decorated with white fencing, grand spires and jockey silk colors. The Courier Journal reported that the land sits at 937 Phillips Lane, the park's address in Louisville.

In its announcement, the park described the ride as a story in motion for all generations that brings one of Bluegrass Downs' greatest racing legends to life, with the rush of the track heightened by the feel of racing through the dark.

A second new land, Happy Valley Farm

A second rethemed land, Happy Valley Farm, draws on Kentucky farm life. The park said it will include eight reimagined rides, among them Friendly Frogs, Loopy Lambs and Country Cruisers, with a barn at its center, sunflowers, farm outposts and bluegrass music. Happy Valley Farm is also home to Flying Fox, the suspended family coaster that opened in May 2026.

The park said the two new lands will complete the transformation of the theme park section that began after Herschend acquired Kentucky Kingdom in 2021.

Nearly $50 million invested since 2021

Herschend, the Georgia based attractions company whose holdings include Dollywood and Newport Aquarium, bought the 67 acre park in 2021. The company said it has invested nearly $50 million in Kentucky Kingdom since then, the largest transformation in the park's history, adding the Discovery Meadow land, new and reimagined rides, and fall and Christmas season events.

"We've been building toward this for years, and 2027 is the moment guests will see just how far Kentucky Kingdom has come," said Carly Uglow, the park's director of sales and marketing, in the announcement.

The park gave no exact opening date for Midnight Showdown beyond the spring of 2027. Season passes for 2027 are on sale now starting at $69.99, the company said, and include the rest of the 2026 season, including Christmas at Kentucky Kingdom.