Kennywood 5/31/14 PTR

[PhantomTheater]

Coming soon, my experiences at the Roller Coaster Capitol af the World.

[GamesAndRides]

Looking forward to reading this! Have fun!

[PhantomTheater]

Part 1: Getting to the park.

From my home just west of cleveland to the park is about 3 hours, not bad considering I took some back roads to avoid Gateway toll plaza. The best part of the juorney is exiting the Fort Pitt Tunnel in which out of nowhere appears downtown pittsburgh. Then comes the fun part, getting from 376 to the park in which one must traverse through Swissvale and Rankin. The road involves many stoplights, three stop signs, several confusing intesection, steep grades, narrow widths, nearly all just two lanes and a less than desirable neighborhood. Then comes Rankin Bridge with a view of some of the taller structures in the park off in the distance to the left. After the bridge its a nice four lane road known as Kennywood Boulevard. Once nearing the park a sign explains the parking options, most notably prefered for $7 or general for free. The parking lot is on the side of a hill and divided into three levels with prefered and handicap on one, general on two and overflow on three. If you get stuck on three, fear not for a bonus ride awaits, Kenny's Parkway, a chairlift that only operates when level three is in use (only once have I seen that happen). I park on two in the shade near the escaltor, after which the walk to the front gate is about the same from old Gold Pass lot to KI's main gate. Once at the Plaza, this is awaiting to greet you.

As one enters the gate, you can see someting not seen at large parks, people bringing in coolers and bags of food. After security its down to the tunnel and on to "America's finest traditional amusement park."

[PhantomTheater]

Part 2a: The Roller Coasters part 1.

There is a reason why Kennywood has been called the Roller Coaster Capitol of the World. It's seven coasters are nothing to overlook, infact they are revered with some acheving national landmark status. 2 and a half (stay tuned for why that is) of them are among the oldest in the world. Now I shall review them in the order of which I rode themon saturday.

Phantom's Revenge - With a sign out front notifying that only one train would be operating, i made a bee line straight to Phantom's entrance. Rebuilt by Mogan in 2001, the original Arrow headbanger became an airtime machine. With the odd stat of 160 ft lift hill but a second drop of 228 ft demonstrating Kennywood's maverlous use of topography. With it's ejector air, drop through ThunderBolt, cozy trains, overall smoothness and double dip element I find it equal if not sometimes better than magnum.

Lift Hill

First Drop

Second hill leading into the ravine drop

Thunderbolt - Originally built in 1924 by John Miller as Pippen, it was rebuilt and greatly enlarged in 1968 by Andy Vettel to its current state (thus the half an oldest coaster stat). With beautiful NAD trains, terrain features and picturesc bowl it is a favorite in the coaster community. There is a catch though, you MUST have a partner to ride, there are zero exceptions. Why? You and your partner are part of the restraint system as the bowl would toss and possibly eject a single rider. The ride starts off unique enough with several drops before reaching the lift, after which is some of the best laterals found on any coaster. T-bolt can be a little bumpy at times and a little rough to a novice rider, but once you get you love it. Oh and the turn from the bowl back into the ravine is one of the best transitions there is on any coaster.

Thunderbolt as seen from the midway

NAD Train!

T-bolt and Phantom have modern station operations, except with no platform gates.

Racer - Over to the lagoon area for this Miller classic from 1927 in which one exits in the middle of the ride on the oppisite platform. One of the last of it's breed, Racer is a Mobius coaster, meaning it has one track yet runs pararell to its self in all but one instance. Everyone, including myself gets confused the first time when pulling into the oppiste station. It's a fun ride and everything a racing coaster should be, and quite smooth for being over 85 years old. Racer also utilizes a ravine like the previous coasters in this TR as well. Loading Racer is done the old fashion way, when ready the front of the que is let on to the platform with the exact amount to fill the two trains, there is no waiting for a specific seat. Finally it's station is iconic and easily reconizable.

Racer at twilight

Thats it for tonight, the second half of the coasters plus everything else coming soon!

[PhantomTheater]

Part 2b: The continuation of coasters.

Jack Rabbit - This 1920's Miller would be an average coaster if not for one element, the double dip. The trains give a false sense of a tame ride, with a fixed grab bar and only a seat belt to keep you in one is fooled into thinking that there wont be much air. My first ride 12 years ago, I learned quickly that holding on was a wise descion. At the time only a thin loose leather belt was the restraint, hitting the double dip with my hands up I thought I was going to fly right out of the car. Since then I've held on every time into the ravine. The ride really comes to life at night, with no light in the dark ravine you feel like you are well outside the car at the moment of ejector air. The ride is best experinced in the back, so if you get lucky to have the first choice take it. A word of warning, you will go thump and may jostle your tail bone if you are not careful.

Jack Rabbit's historical sinage

Not to be out done by it's lagoon partner Racer at night, Jack Rabbit features neon lights to make it stand out.

Exterminator - Kennywood's indoor spinning wild mouse, is in a warehouse looking building so far at the end of the park it looks like a random building from the road! The theme apparently is mutant mice take over a power plant, and riders are the mice trying to avoid the exterminators. It has low lighting, but most of the time you can see whats happening. The ride compares to most of the other spinning mice out there, only complant is the lack of A/C in the queue. It is also the only coaster I know where anyone over 52" is to not where their seat belts, the ops will get grumpy if you do. Exterminator tends to have the longest lines of any ride in the park.

Exterminator's building entrance.

Cool sign in the queue, I wish other parks had this.

Sky Rocket - Kennywoods newest coaster is located at the front of the park. Built in 2010 by Premier Rides, features an LSM launch and 3 inversions. It may seem small (only 95 ft at the top of the top hat) and a tame launch (0-50 in 3 sec) but does it deliver. It zips around bends, gives pops of airtime and dangles riders on the top hat. The trains are cozy for smaller people, with only a lap and ankle bar there is no head banging to be had. Sky Rocket is what I wanted Maverick to be like, instead of the pain inducing machine that it is. My only complaint is a MCBR the nearly stops the ride dead, the second half could be much more intense if the sped it up a bit.

Bunny hills!

It's compact design and low to the ground turns gives the feel of an out of control rocket.

Lil Phantom - The parks kiddie coaster has no max height, and it's restraints are roomy enough (the bar goes to it's lowest setting on me) for those who want to experince or just get the credit. However, those above 54" may give them selve whip lash or a tweaked back if not prepared for the mole hills it has. This coaster may be the roughest in the park.

That concludes the coasters, up next will be the unique rides that make Kennywood the finest traditional amusement park.

[PhantomTheater]

Part 3: Unique rides of Kennywood.

One of the great aspects of Kennywood is their commitment to preserve classic rides, featuring some that cant be found else where. The park also boast a fine selection of dark rides and is a favorite amongst dark ride fans. This section will be presented in the order of with they were ridden.

Turtle - One of the last remaining full size tumble bugs in the world (the other can be found at Conneaut), is like Boo Boo's baggage claim but bigger. It is a fun ride going around and over the little hills, and a nice long cycle make it all the more enjoyable. The only bad part is the shiny metal seat bakes in the hot sun.

Noah's Ark - A one time standard in most park is now only found here. This is a dark walk through attraction with moving floors, stairs, narrow passage ways and a constant rocking of half the building. The walk through begins in the caverns of an archeological dig but soon goes up into the ark. Inside one will see Noah, his wife and the animals in various scenes. The park does a great job in keeping everything operational, with only one trick not working on my walk through. This one is a must for any dark attraction lover.

The Ark from the midway

Ghostwood Estate - The only modern ride in this section, it sits where the old Goldrusher used to be. During queuing, Lord Kenneth Ghostwood gives you the run down of the ride experience. Ghostwood shares similarities to other blaster type dark rides, but what makes it unique is the lack of track. The buggies follow sensors in the floor as you traverse through the estate, this allows the buggies to do a 180 at one point during the ride. With cool tricks and working guns and effects, it is one of my favorite dark rides. Everytime I ride it I think, "if Kennywood can keep theirs working, why not KI?".

Lord Kenneth's Estate

Kangaroo - The last remaining flying coaster, is a unique flat ride. With riders sitting on a bench like car, the ride goes on a flat circle till it hits the launch ramp. Then a glorious pop of airtime that many coaster can only dream of achieving (Millie, I'm looking at you). After which the car slowly descends to a smooth landing as not to jar riders. The seats are nicely padded as well, unlike certain PTC trains in Ohio. If you love airtime, this ride is for you.

Auto Race - This classic car ride appears to be your standard turnpike cars until you ride it. The first thing one notices it uses side rails to keep it on course, and to power it. That's right even though its older then most antique car rides, it runs on electricity. Then the ride start and zooms out...well use too. This year brings a new computer system to the ride with many censor to pace and space the cars, and it has drastically slowed it down. It now feels like it runs at half the speed it use to go. I am sad to report that it went from one of my favorite, and more thrilling flat rides to almost a bore. I hope they speed it up again.

A person in the group I was with pilots her car.

Olde Kennywood Railroad - A minurture train that offers views of the Monongahela River valley, while the history of Kennywood is narrated. The engines were originally from the 1939 Worlds Fair. At the rides entrance is one of the few remaining Laffin Sals, a truly terrifying creature.

The view of the river from the train.

Whip - A 16 car model from 1918, makes it one of the oldest attractions in the park. The ride still thrills as well with great whipping action on both turns. unfortunately after a tragic accident during a storm, the ride has not had a roof since and bakes in the sun.

Merry-Go-Round - This beautiful 1926 Dentzel still runs fast and smooth, and up until this year featured a working band organ. It has 50 jumpers, 14 standers, a lion, a tiger and two chariots.

The Merry-Go-Round all light up at night.

Garfield's Nightmare - I did not ride it, nor will I ride it until a retheme takes place. Originally called The Old Mill, the ride featured animatronic skeletons in a ghost town. Now it is just cheap two dimensional images in Day Glo paint. Only reason to ride it is for the classic ride system it still utilizes, which was widely used back in the golden age of amusement parks.

That concludes the unique rides, next up other rides of note.

[PhantomTheater]

Part 4: Other rides (Most of these I did not ride on this trip, but have ridden in the past.)

Kennywood has an assortment of the usual rides found at amusement parks. Paratrooper, Waveswinger, Bumber cars, a swinging ship amongst others. Their Musik Express carries a sixties theme, and has one of the best light packages around. Unfortunetely right as I was going to take the picture, they turned off the lights. The park also boast three water rides; Raging Rapids a Thunder Canyon like ride, the Log Jammer a log ride that has an non lift uphill section after the first drop, and the Pittsburg Plunge.

Pittsburg Plunge (spelled correctly, there is no H) is a modern shoot the chute made to resemble it original counterparts. Found in the Lost Kennywood section, it is quite photo genic.

From the front

The back

Splashdown!

Black Widow - This ride mocks me, as it is either down or has a very long line, thus I have yet to ride it. It is a pendulm style ride, and appears to have quite a swing to it. Black widow sits where Pitt Fall use to reside before the Kentucky Kingdom incident.

This swing is about 2/3 of its full swing.

Aero 360 is an invertor ride themed to the famous Kennywood arrow.

Volcano is your typical Enterprise, just with added theming. Originally it was a plain ride, but in 2003 was rethemed to fit in with it's short lived neighbor King Kahuna.

The park also has a Disk-o and a Screamin' Swing along with occasional operating Bayern Kurve. In the lagoon are paddle boats for hire and a Skycoaster.

Part 5, Food, Live E, Atmosphere, Operations, Thoughts and everything else to note. Stay Tuned!

[XGatorHead 8904]

I love reading this, it's getting me pumped for when we go back in August. Less than two months to go!

Sad to hear about Auto Race being slowed down though, I liked that ride. I'm with you on Garfield's Nightmare, but it sounds like I'll be forced to ride that since Hydra, who's going with us, didn't ride it last time he was there and he wants to see just how bad it is. If I was in his position I'd be the same way though. GatorGirl & Mrs. Gator were a little creeped out by Laffin Sal!

[Hendrick]

It looks like you were there at night, how did Thunderbolt's headlights look?

[calakapepe]

Awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Never thought to look how far away Kennywood was from Cincy.. A 4 hours and 30 minutes makes me wanna consider a trip over here!

[XGatorHead 8904]

^It's worth it, especially if you love classic parks!

[PhantomTheater]

It looks like you were there at night, how did Thunderbolt's headlights look?

Unfortunetely I didnt make it over to T-bolt at night. I spent dusk-dark in the lagoon and volcano area.

[PhantomTheater]

Part 5: Everything that is not a ride.

Food - Kennywood's food service has a tough competitor, their own picnic groves. As the park allows outside food and beverage to be brought in, and have a plethera of peaceful and serene pavilions, they must provide food that is both tasty and affordable. There is a wide variety of options on top of the standard park fare, including my favorite of the hot sausage at the pagoda. At Parkside Cafe, one can get full dinners in a cafeteria style operation. The newest addition to the park will be Johnny Rockets, whenever it gets done. However for most park guest, there is a must have item and they will wait in the longest line through out the park for it. I am talking about Patato Patch Fries, the parks famous fresh cut fries and yes they are delicous. The following they have though is beyond me, i dont get waiting half an hour for fries.

The Pagoda, home of my favorite Kennywood food, Hot Sausage.

Landscaping and pathway system - The park is beautifuly landscaped with flowers, lawns, big trees that give shade and manicured hedges to near perfection. Winding pathways adorned with statues, fountains and even a windmill can cause one to forget they are in an amusement park. The park like design does make getting from point A to point B rather dificult sometimes as there are few straight midways, but it is what helps kennywood keep it's old fasioned charm. The one bad aspect of the paths is they are all black asphalt, so it can get toasty in non shaded areas.

George Washingtom statue looks to be in a public park and not an amusement park.

One of the fountains at Kennywood, this one reminds me of the old CP one.

Architecture - Kennywood has kept up many of it's old buildings, and keeping them appearing as they did when first built. However, in the 60's-80's in atempt to modernize, buildings were built modern looking with the Gran Prix area a good example of this. Then came a return to nostalgia with more effort put into making the buildings fit into the traditional historic amusement park feel. The Lost Kennywood area is an example of this, built in 1995 yet designed to appear like a turn of the century Luna Park.

Lagoon Area building, at night a screen is unrolled for the night show.

Lost Kennywood fountain and gift shop building

Live E - Not a strong point of Kennywood, but the Kennyville band is decent. The night show is lower scale vesion of CP's old Laser show, however they dont skimp on the fire effects.

Operations - For a smaller park, they do well in station times and excell in safety. Spieling is done in short auto spiels, only clear is said by the ops over a microphone. Some rides open later than others, and others close earlier then the rest of the park. Also rides cut thier lines when they feel the last person in line would get on at closing, which can be 30 minutes or more before close.

Cleanliness - Kennywood is quite clean, my only complaint are the areas and roofs around phantoms queue.

Atmosphere - Kennywood maintains it's old fashioned laid back charm, with the up tempo thrills and faster operations of todays amusement parks. It is at night when the park really comes alive! With colorful ride lights, neon signs and globe bulbs, they achieve the night time ambiance CP is trying to capture on it'ss main midway.

Closing Time - This is the greatest mystery in the amusement buisness, even at 8pm the four employees at guest relations didn't know. The standard is 10pm but can be either later or earlier depending on crowd and weather conditons.

Leaving - Torture, the parking lot is chaotic as no one directs, then trafic gets backed up as hundreds of cars try to navigate the one lane of egress to the highway.

Final notes - I highly recomend Kennywood, I always have a good time and many experinces can only be experienced there. I hope I have convinced some of you to juorney to West Mifflin, it is closer then you think, just follow the arrow!

Me with the parks mascots, Kenny Kangaroo and the Arrow.

P.S. I will answer any question you may have about the park!