Jarrett
Most Obnoxious Member 2016
My opinions on Kennywood have been made known in the past. It's a dump with lame rides that's run horribly and attracts the worst fan culture. When I went in 2015 it was just alright, when I went in 2016 it was a total mess that left me annoyed and ready to never come back. I made this opinion known and man oh man has it caused me problems as a coaster enthusiast. It was never because I don't respect the classics, it was never because they won't RMC historic rides, it was never because I'm incapable of having fun, and it was never out of disrespect for coaster preservation. It was because both times when I went, I was treated to a crowded, run-down, poorly operated dumpster fire that was covered in trash with no rides to justify the trip back.
My dislike of Kennywood has been based on three observations from my past visits:
So when last summer it was announced that they were getting a decent-looking coaster from a manufacturer that produces rides I tend to like, it put me in a strange spot. On one hand, I was thinking, "ugh, I have to go back to that dumpster fire!" But on the other hand, I saw it as a chance to head back and give the place another chance, see if I could enjoy myself more than I did in the past. So time went on, they built it, they continued building it...they were still building it, and the next thing you know it's ready for the season in mid-July! Better late than never, Kaylee and I both had this weekend off so we decided to go for it!
Day 1
The night before our trip, Kaylee and I hit up Kings Island for Island Nights, their nighttime waterpark event, so we were kind of beat the next morning. We woke up around 9-ish and then got on the road. Stopping in Columbus, we visited my grandparents and had lunch with them before continuing to Kennywood. On the drive there, Kaylee gave me the news that her mom had gone to the ER and when she called her dad about it, he said her dog had gotten out and he would call her back when he was home safely. So she was already kind of concerned and worried Kennywood would be the final nail in the coffin to ruining her day.
Eventually the rolling farmlands of Ohio crested up into the wooded peaks of Pennsylvania and things started to get a bit...older. We were in Pittsburgh! After about an hour in Western Pennsylvania, we turned across a bridge and saw Phantom and Steel Curtain peaking out from behind the trees! Making a left to the park, we had decided to do preferred parking to avoid the hill, which ended up being a smart decision as they weren't even charging for it that day. Which was the right move, they weren't running the chairlifts and making someone hike up and down that in that heat is inhumane.
It was HOT. Like, heat advisory, sign taped to the turnstile booth, EMTs on standby hot. Kaylee literally had to hold my hand in the parking lot because she felt unsafe in that area, shows how welcoming the park is. So we got in, hit the bathroom (which smelled like hot sewage...yuck!) and refilled our water, knowing we would need it. At that point we had noticed that the heat for that day was a legitimate concern and we were in for a brutal afternoon. But Steel Curtain was only 45 minutes so we elected to just take it and roll with it.
There's these transluscent awnings over the queue and a lone mister to cool it down, but no fans. So the air was getting hot and humid under those awnings and there was nothing to adequately ventilate them. Kaylee and I were splitting a lone bottle of Kroger brand water my grandma had sent us with, making a point to conserve it. We were almost to the station when the girl in front of us went down! She sort of went limp and collapsed onto the concrete as her boyfriend caught her. I waved my arms and screamed for the paramedics that were on standby while Kaylee poured the remaining water we had been drinking into the girl's mouth. EMS got over, helped her into a wheelchair, got her some cold water, and took her away.
With us crossing our fingers she was okay, we got to the station, picked row two, and got ready to score a touchdown on Steel Curtain!
The Steel Curtain is a very different experience than I was expecting, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. You start off with a steep 45-degree lift, one that wouldn't be half as intimidating if it wasn't at the very edge of Kennywood's hill, set to music I couldn't identify that I was later told was Renegades by Styx (the unofficial Steelers theme song). The second it disengages from the lift, you can tell just how high up you are, and how high you're about to be dangled in that lap bar! After hanging upside-down, it plunges down that drop and you notice the ride's unusual quirk: a very slight but noticeable vibration. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't jostle you around, it feels like one of those vibrating barrel foot massagers you see in park western areas. From there, the ride flies up into a relatively forceless but graceful banana roll, and then into a forgettable sea serpent. However, from there the ride starts to shine, as the ride from here starts to feel less B&M and more Centerline. The airtime hill over the midway is chock full of solid ejector, probably stronger than Lightning Run's but weaker than what you'd expect on an RMC. The raven turn and subsequent stall both provide some awesome snapping action, much better than Intimidator 305's, and then the ride just goes crazy. The final set of turns and cutback are very nice and aggressive before one pop of air brings the train to safety. All in all, a solid package with some great elements but also some lackluster ones, but overall I liked it. It's unique, the visuals are great, like Copperhead it got me a bit more interested in certain inversions, and it's the investment the park needed.
However, Steelers Country is still very much a work in progress. You can tell it was a rush job to get Steel Curtain open in the middle of the summer season, but there are still construction fences and dust being pardoned by the buildings. End Zone Grill, the Brand Experience thing, and maybe a few other buildings are still under construction. However, they seem to have started details at least, with a large jumbotron mounted on a wall (presumably to watch the game) and theming inside what looks like an airplane hangar. The only building that is open is the gift shop, which they really outdid themselves with.
After our ride on Steel Curtain...my Pats hate broke it! In the continuing trend of Jarrett breaking stuff, Steel Curtain hit the brakes for us and stopped. This was expected...us remaining there was not. Second time I've gotten trapped baking in the hot sun on Pennsylvania's tallest coaster but this one lasted a good ten minutes while I had to pee. They sent an employee out to tell us what was going on before finally moving us back into the station, and my friend Jamie from my Coaster Crew days (also sort of my main contact regarding anything and everything Kennywood) was off to the side! He snapped that photo of Kaylee and I and we headed into the gift shop for a much-needed A/C break.
Jamie had an ADA time for Curtain that we were going to use, but shortly after they fixed our issue, they needed to unlock the restraints to walk of shame a big boi and for some reason, the control system did NOT like that! It ended with them evacuating everyone off the brake run and leaving those poor people chilling in line. We headed out, Jamie and some of his other ACE friends decided to go elsewhere while Kaylee and I mopped up credits. But I did run into Vinnie from my RMC group and his son, who had just been spited out of another Steel Curtain ride, and he suggested we go grab a ride together. So we got Kaylee over to Jack Rabbit to get her that double down credit!
Holy throughput Batman Jack Rabbit was running two trains! In the past, I'd been stuck in that overgrown alley switchback between that building and the low zone fence chilling with the trash on one train ops while two more perfectly good trains sat there ready to go. But on two trains, this thing flies! That one ride op just has to yank on your seatbelt and you're out of there, just like the Steel Curtain crew they were cranking out riders pretty well by Kennywood standards. So we got on and we took the back, with Vinnie and his son taking the second to back...OMG!!!! I've experienced it before and knew it was coming but that was easily the best ride I've had on it. I've never been so close to feeling like I'd fall out of a coaster and while it's not as good as, say, Steel Vengeance's final hills, this ride is now one of the few classics I actually enjoy. Wild One, Phoenix, Twister, Blue Streak, and now Jack Rabbit.
Next up we did Thunderbolt as the sun began to set. Line wasn't too bad but Palace Entertainment struck again, with one train on and two others, one of which was perfectly good, sitting idle on a transfer track. The employees even had their bags, jackets, and McDonald's trash just kind of thrown in one of them! We got a ride towards the front and honestly, I stand by my opinion that it would make a good RMC. I got no airtime on it, the pacing sucked, typical Thunderbolt complaints. Not only is this the most overrated coaster here, but it might just be the most overrated in general. It gets good ridership, but with modifications being a literal part of Thunderbolt's history, "preservation" is no longer a valid argument for this, and the second its ridership starts to suffer they should just call Alan and get it over with.
The intent was to get a night ride on Phantom, so we headed into Lost Kennywood only to find that Phantom is down and cycling empty trains.
With the sun going down, Lost Kennywood took on lights of its own and I have to admit, it's pretty at night when you can't see the paint flaking off of everything! We both kind of fixated on this fountain and got some photos of it.
Kaylee calls these Inception Shots, taking a photo of someone taking a photo.
Well while we were taking those photos, a bright crack of lightning shot across the sky and a loud boom echoed across Kennywood's hill. A storm was on the way! Not wanting to get our clothes and expensive cameras drenched, we hightailed it towards Exterminator. Exterminator is down for a weather delay despite being indoors! So we did a 180 and power walked to the parking lot.
Good night Kennywood!
Our night at Kennywood might have been rained out (or not, I was later told that it never even rained and everything opened back up like ten minutes before close), but Kaylee and I still hadn't been Pittsburghed out for the day! We elected to do dinner at another Western Pennsylvania icon, Primanti Bros! The drive there was kind of annoying since Pittsburgh's roads are strange with the terrain but we managed to find parking right up front on a packed Saturday night and went right in.
Eager to try Primanti's famous sandwiches, I went with the pastrami on mine and I think Kaylee did ham. It's pretty good! Portions are huge, free refills on milk, and best of all it's not that expensive. Why can't we have this in Dayton?
After dinner, we were both knackered and sweaty and just wanted a cold shower and a bed. So I got us to the hotel, which turned out to be really nice considering the area we were in, and checked us in. But then we got into the room, Kaylee unzipped her suitcase, and half her clothes were missing! We went back to the car and discovered that her suitcase hadn't been zipped up all the way and some of her stuff, including clothes she was wearing to the park the next day, had fallen out and were all over the parking lot. We laughed it off, picked it up, and from there just kind of crashed for the night.
Day 2
I was up earlier than Kaylee that morning, as usual, so I ran out and nabbed us McDonald's to coax her out of bed. Both of us got ready, braved Pittsburgh roads once more, and headed to Kennywood!
Our first ride of the day was quirky Exterminator, which almost always has a line. False! Kaylee and I managed to walk on with them loading the rats to full capacity (last time I went they were putting two people per car, they can hold four and anyone who's even ridden one knows this). Kaylee doesn't like spinning at all so she was dreading it but both of us ended up having a great time. It spun pretty violently for us, but the bearing was making an awful noise so it might need oiled or something.
With the heatwave warming up for round 2, Kaylee wanted to ride Pittsburgh Plunge. I don't like walking around parks with wet clothes so I didn't, but I did get some photos!
Kaylee in a nutshell for ya, folks.
After that, Phantom was a virtual walk on so we took it. One train allowed us some station wait time to get a few good shots of it, and I was able to redo a good but flawed one I took on #Penn2015 that's been bugging me. Ride was great as always but Kaylee is in my boat, it's overrated and doesn't do nearly as much as people think it does.
RANT ALERT: I got this photo as a do-over of one from #Penn2015 that I took on my point and shoot and overall, I love how it came out. However, when I went in to edit it, you can look towards the back of the train and see some stupid little idiot clearly throwing a loose article from the train. Hand extended, article matches the trajectory perfectly, he was caught red-handed in this photo. People, this is heavy machinery, don't go playing around with it! Phantom in particular gets some serious speed going, whatever he threw could have seriously hurt a fellow passenger or a bystander. I'd have shown a ride op on the spot had I noticed this when I took it but it was part of a burst so it was sadly buried. Though I was told that Kennywood doesn't care about loose articles so they might not have done anything anyway.
Kaylee still trying to beat the heat!
Then, back from the dead, we headed over to Sky Rocket! This Premier coaster has sorely underwhelmed me in the past, much worse than Full Throttle or any Tempesto clone, but it was working again after missing the first half of the season so I was just glad we got to ride it in the first place. In line, I was wearing an RMC button taking pictures of the coaster when a kid behind me asks me, "excuse me, sir, I saw you work for RMC, are they replacing this with a T-Rex?" I explained I just run a Facebook fan group and don't actually work for them but I was honestly kind of flattered!
So...Sky Rocket. Kaylee and I were next in line when they had a fat person crammed into the train and the restraints didn't want to release her. It took them like ten minutes but they managed to manually unlock them and send them on their way, leaving it time for us to ride! Sky Rocket has always been one of my lower tier Premiers but this ride changed that. I'd not ridden it in the back, and that changes everything. There's no airtime coming into the vertical spike but it's there leaving it! There's some nice snap through the inversions, plus airtime all around including ejector when you come off the MCBR! Great little coaster, I really underestimated it based on previous rides and I might even say it's better than Phantom now!
Took a quick water break at Johnny Rocket's and man were they accommodating for the heatwave well! A/C was blasting, free water cups, Kennywood sure knows how to handle a heat advisory!
Finally we headed to my FAVORITE ride at Kennywood, Racer. And as one might expect, it's a snoozefest. Rode in the front on one side and back on the other, it did nothing interesting and just farted around the whole time. Now I was told that the park is trying to use it as a family coaster, which is fine from a budget standpoint, but even compared to other family coasters (FireChaser, Verbolten, Whizzer, Thunderation), it's still seriously underwhelming. Our Racer back at home, which is 50 years more advanced, is the far superior ride.
Afterwards, Steel Curtain was down for a weather delay on this lovely sunny day but we were heading out, so we snapped a few photos of just track.
Kaylee got some good shots of me taking photos...
...and some not so good ones.
But after all was said and done, we hopped into the car and went to Sheetz before the sky opened and a monsoon descended upon Pittsburgh. And from there we drove home into the sunset.
So this was definitely one of the biggest improvements I've seen in a park from visit to visit. Steel Curtain alone was worth the trip out there and I'd advise getting out to it if you're in the area, but having my previous thoughts on Kennywood altered was quite the pleasant surprise as well. But just how much were they altered? I'm going to go back over the points I listed at the start of the report and follow up on them, with color coding indicating how true or untrue I still believe that point to be. Green indicates improvement, red indicates lack of improvement.
Kennywood is four hours from me and this is my first time going from my house and back, without just kind of doing it because it's on the way. And honestly, having a good experience there was almost like getting a new home park. It's within day trip distance of my house but I've never done it, so that's going to be a priority next year. I'd be fine with this being a once a year park if we're going to have the same experience I had on this trip. Plus I'm down for more Steel Curtain rides!
My dislike of Kennywood has been based on three observations from my past visits:
- Kennywood's ride lineup is boring- None of their rides really impress me that much. The steel coasters are okay but the wooden coasters are among the most boring rides I've ever had to sit through. Sky Rocket is just kind of there and doesn't do much after the first half, while Phantom is my favorite because it's the only remotely interesting ride there.
- Kennywood is run down and poorly maintained- The first thing you notice is the smell. You walk into Kennywood and notice paint peeling off of coasters, overgrowth covering what nature has decided to take back, trash all over the midway, and just a general disregard for how the park looks. Doesn't exactly make for the charming trolley park it's made out to be.
- Kennywood's operations are abysmal- One train is Kennywood's standard. In 2016 when I went, Phantom was the only ride running at full capacity on a Saturday. One train on Sky Rocket, one train on all the wooden coasters (bar Racer which has to run at least two despite being able to handle more), even loading Exterminator at half capacity. If a train is out of commission I can understand why it's off, but when you have a few extra trains just chilling off to the side because you don't want to bang them up despite the huge line, that's unacceptable. But it's Kennywood's norm.
So when last summer it was announced that they were getting a decent-looking coaster from a manufacturer that produces rides I tend to like, it put me in a strange spot. On one hand, I was thinking, "ugh, I have to go back to that dumpster fire!" But on the other hand, I saw it as a chance to head back and give the place another chance, see if I could enjoy myself more than I did in the past. So time went on, they built it, they continued building it...they were still building it, and the next thing you know it's ready for the season in mid-July! Better late than never, Kaylee and I both had this weekend off so we decided to go for it!
Day 1
The night before our trip, Kaylee and I hit up Kings Island for Island Nights, their nighttime waterpark event, so we were kind of beat the next morning. We woke up around 9-ish and then got on the road. Stopping in Columbus, we visited my grandparents and had lunch with them before continuing to Kennywood. On the drive there, Kaylee gave me the news that her mom had gone to the ER and when she called her dad about it, he said her dog had gotten out and he would call her back when he was home safely. So she was already kind of concerned and worried Kennywood would be the final nail in the coffin to ruining her day.
Eventually the rolling farmlands of Ohio crested up into the wooded peaks of Pennsylvania and things started to get a bit...older. We were in Pittsburgh! After about an hour in Western Pennsylvania, we turned across a bridge and saw Phantom and Steel Curtain peaking out from behind the trees! Making a left to the park, we had decided to do preferred parking to avoid the hill, which ended up being a smart decision as they weren't even charging for it that day. Which was the right move, they weren't running the chairlifts and making someone hike up and down that in that heat is inhumane.
It was HOT. Like, heat advisory, sign taped to the turnstile booth, EMTs on standby hot. Kaylee literally had to hold my hand in the parking lot because she felt unsafe in that area, shows how welcoming the park is. So we got in, hit the bathroom (which smelled like hot sewage...yuck!) and refilled our water, knowing we would need it. At that point we had noticed that the heat for that day was a legitimate concern and we were in for a brutal afternoon. But Steel Curtain was only 45 minutes so we elected to just take it and roll with it.
There's these transluscent awnings over the queue and a lone mister to cool it down, but no fans. So the air was getting hot and humid under those awnings and there was nothing to adequately ventilate them. Kaylee and I were splitting a lone bottle of Kroger brand water my grandma had sent us with, making a point to conserve it. We were almost to the station when the girl in front of us went down! She sort of went limp and collapsed onto the concrete as her boyfriend caught her. I waved my arms and screamed for the paramedics that were on standby while Kaylee poured the remaining water we had been drinking into the girl's mouth. EMS got over, helped her into a wheelchair, got her some cold water, and took her away.
With us crossing our fingers she was okay, we got to the station, picked row two, and got ready to score a touchdown on Steel Curtain!
The Steel Curtain is a very different experience than I was expecting, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. You start off with a steep 45-degree lift, one that wouldn't be half as intimidating if it wasn't at the very edge of Kennywood's hill, set to music I couldn't identify that I was later told was Renegades by Styx (the unofficial Steelers theme song). The second it disengages from the lift, you can tell just how high up you are, and how high you're about to be dangled in that lap bar! After hanging upside-down, it plunges down that drop and you notice the ride's unusual quirk: a very slight but noticeable vibration. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't jostle you around, it feels like one of those vibrating barrel foot massagers you see in park western areas. From there, the ride flies up into a relatively forceless but graceful banana roll, and then into a forgettable sea serpent. However, from there the ride starts to shine, as the ride from here starts to feel less B&M and more Centerline. The airtime hill over the midway is chock full of solid ejector, probably stronger than Lightning Run's but weaker than what you'd expect on an RMC. The raven turn and subsequent stall both provide some awesome snapping action, much better than Intimidator 305's, and then the ride just goes crazy. The final set of turns and cutback are very nice and aggressive before one pop of air brings the train to safety. All in all, a solid package with some great elements but also some lackluster ones, but overall I liked it. It's unique, the visuals are great, like Copperhead it got me a bit more interested in certain inversions, and it's the investment the park needed.
However, Steelers Country is still very much a work in progress. You can tell it was a rush job to get Steel Curtain open in the middle of the summer season, but there are still construction fences and dust being pardoned by the buildings. End Zone Grill, the Brand Experience thing, and maybe a few other buildings are still under construction. However, they seem to have started details at least, with a large jumbotron mounted on a wall (presumably to watch the game) and theming inside what looks like an airplane hangar. The only building that is open is the gift shop, which they really outdid themselves with.
After our ride on Steel Curtain...my Pats hate broke it! In the continuing trend of Jarrett breaking stuff, Steel Curtain hit the brakes for us and stopped. This was expected...us remaining there was not. Second time I've gotten trapped baking in the hot sun on Pennsylvania's tallest coaster but this one lasted a good ten minutes while I had to pee. They sent an employee out to tell us what was going on before finally moving us back into the station, and my friend Jamie from my Coaster Crew days (also sort of my main contact regarding anything and everything Kennywood) was off to the side! He snapped that photo of Kaylee and I and we headed into the gift shop for a much-needed A/C break.
Jamie had an ADA time for Curtain that we were going to use, but shortly after they fixed our issue, they needed to unlock the restraints to walk of shame a big boi and for some reason, the control system did NOT like that! It ended with them evacuating everyone off the brake run and leaving those poor people chilling in line. We headed out, Jamie and some of his other ACE friends decided to go elsewhere while Kaylee and I mopped up credits. But I did run into Vinnie from my RMC group and his son, who had just been spited out of another Steel Curtain ride, and he suggested we go grab a ride together. So we got Kaylee over to Jack Rabbit to get her that double down credit!
Holy throughput Batman Jack Rabbit was running two trains! In the past, I'd been stuck in that overgrown alley switchback between that building and the low zone fence chilling with the trash on one train ops while two more perfectly good trains sat there ready to go. But on two trains, this thing flies! That one ride op just has to yank on your seatbelt and you're out of there, just like the Steel Curtain crew they were cranking out riders pretty well by Kennywood standards. So we got on and we took the back, with Vinnie and his son taking the second to back...OMG!!!! I've experienced it before and knew it was coming but that was easily the best ride I've had on it. I've never been so close to feeling like I'd fall out of a coaster and while it's not as good as, say, Steel Vengeance's final hills, this ride is now one of the few classics I actually enjoy. Wild One, Phoenix, Twister, Blue Streak, and now Jack Rabbit.
Next up we did Thunderbolt as the sun began to set. Line wasn't too bad but Palace Entertainment struck again, with one train on and two others, one of which was perfectly good, sitting idle on a transfer track. The employees even had their bags, jackets, and McDonald's trash just kind of thrown in one of them! We got a ride towards the front and honestly, I stand by my opinion that it would make a good RMC. I got no airtime on it, the pacing sucked, typical Thunderbolt complaints. Not only is this the most overrated coaster here, but it might just be the most overrated in general. It gets good ridership, but with modifications being a literal part of Thunderbolt's history, "preservation" is no longer a valid argument for this, and the second its ridership starts to suffer they should just call Alan and get it over with.
The intent was to get a night ride on Phantom, so we headed into Lost Kennywood only to find that Phantom is down and cycling empty trains.
With the sun going down, Lost Kennywood took on lights of its own and I have to admit, it's pretty at night when you can't see the paint flaking off of everything! We both kind of fixated on this fountain and got some photos of it.
Kaylee calls these Inception Shots, taking a photo of someone taking a photo.
Well while we were taking those photos, a bright crack of lightning shot across the sky and a loud boom echoed across Kennywood's hill. A storm was on the way! Not wanting to get our clothes and expensive cameras drenched, we hightailed it towards Exterminator. Exterminator is down for a weather delay despite being indoors! So we did a 180 and power walked to the parking lot.
Good night Kennywood!
Our night at Kennywood might have been rained out (or not, I was later told that it never even rained and everything opened back up like ten minutes before close), but Kaylee and I still hadn't been Pittsburghed out for the day! We elected to do dinner at another Western Pennsylvania icon, Primanti Bros! The drive there was kind of annoying since Pittsburgh's roads are strange with the terrain but we managed to find parking right up front on a packed Saturday night and went right in.
Eager to try Primanti's famous sandwiches, I went with the pastrami on mine and I think Kaylee did ham. It's pretty good! Portions are huge, free refills on milk, and best of all it's not that expensive. Why can't we have this in Dayton?
After dinner, we were both knackered and sweaty and just wanted a cold shower and a bed. So I got us to the hotel, which turned out to be really nice considering the area we were in, and checked us in. But then we got into the room, Kaylee unzipped her suitcase, and half her clothes were missing! We went back to the car and discovered that her suitcase hadn't been zipped up all the way and some of her stuff, including clothes she was wearing to the park the next day, had fallen out and were all over the parking lot. We laughed it off, picked it up, and from there just kind of crashed for the night.
Day 2
I was up earlier than Kaylee that morning, as usual, so I ran out and nabbed us McDonald's to coax her out of bed. Both of us got ready, braved Pittsburgh roads once more, and headed to Kennywood!
Our first ride of the day was quirky Exterminator, which almost always has a line. False! Kaylee and I managed to walk on with them loading the rats to full capacity (last time I went they were putting two people per car, they can hold four and anyone who's even ridden one knows this). Kaylee doesn't like spinning at all so she was dreading it but both of us ended up having a great time. It spun pretty violently for us, but the bearing was making an awful noise so it might need oiled or something.
With the heatwave warming up for round 2, Kaylee wanted to ride Pittsburgh Plunge. I don't like walking around parks with wet clothes so I didn't, but I did get some photos!
Kaylee in a nutshell for ya, folks.
After that, Phantom was a virtual walk on so we took it. One train allowed us some station wait time to get a few good shots of it, and I was able to redo a good but flawed one I took on #Penn2015 that's been bugging me. Ride was great as always but Kaylee is in my boat, it's overrated and doesn't do nearly as much as people think it does.
RANT ALERT: I got this photo as a do-over of one from #Penn2015 that I took on my point and shoot and overall, I love how it came out. However, when I went in to edit it, you can look towards the back of the train and see some stupid little idiot clearly throwing a loose article from the train. Hand extended, article matches the trajectory perfectly, he was caught red-handed in this photo. People, this is heavy machinery, don't go playing around with it! Phantom in particular gets some serious speed going, whatever he threw could have seriously hurt a fellow passenger or a bystander. I'd have shown a ride op on the spot had I noticed this when I took it but it was part of a burst so it was sadly buried. Though I was told that Kennywood doesn't care about loose articles so they might not have done anything anyway.
Kaylee still trying to beat the heat!
Then, back from the dead, we headed over to Sky Rocket! This Premier coaster has sorely underwhelmed me in the past, much worse than Full Throttle or any Tempesto clone, but it was working again after missing the first half of the season so I was just glad we got to ride it in the first place. In line, I was wearing an RMC button taking pictures of the coaster when a kid behind me asks me, "excuse me, sir, I saw you work for RMC, are they replacing this with a T-Rex?" I explained I just run a Facebook fan group and don't actually work for them but I was honestly kind of flattered!
So...Sky Rocket. Kaylee and I were next in line when they had a fat person crammed into the train and the restraints didn't want to release her. It took them like ten minutes but they managed to manually unlock them and send them on their way, leaving it time for us to ride! Sky Rocket has always been one of my lower tier Premiers but this ride changed that. I'd not ridden it in the back, and that changes everything. There's no airtime coming into the vertical spike but it's there leaving it! There's some nice snap through the inversions, plus airtime all around including ejector when you come off the MCBR! Great little coaster, I really underestimated it based on previous rides and I might even say it's better than Phantom now!
Took a quick water break at Johnny Rocket's and man were they accommodating for the heatwave well! A/C was blasting, free water cups, Kennywood sure knows how to handle a heat advisory!
Finally we headed to my FAVORITE ride at Kennywood, Racer. And as one might expect, it's a snoozefest. Rode in the front on one side and back on the other, it did nothing interesting and just farted around the whole time. Now I was told that the park is trying to use it as a family coaster, which is fine from a budget standpoint, but even compared to other family coasters (FireChaser, Verbolten, Whizzer, Thunderation), it's still seriously underwhelming. Our Racer back at home, which is 50 years more advanced, is the far superior ride.
Afterwards, Steel Curtain was down for a weather delay on this lovely sunny day but we were heading out, so we snapped a few photos of just track.
Kaylee got some good shots of me taking photos...
...and some not so good ones.
But after all was said and done, we hopped into the car and went to Sheetz before the sky opened and a monsoon descended upon Pittsburgh. And from there we drove home into the sunset.
So this was definitely one of the biggest improvements I've seen in a park from visit to visit. Steel Curtain alone was worth the trip out there and I'd advise getting out to it if you're in the area, but having my previous thoughts on Kennywood altered was quite the pleasant surprise as well. But just how much were they altered? I'm going to go back over the points I listed at the start of the report and follow up on them, with color coding indicating how true or untrue I still believe that point to be. Green indicates improvement, red indicates lack of improvement.
- Kennywood's ride lineup is boring- Steel Curtain is a great coaster and the perfect addition to the park. Their lineup spans the timeline and Steel Curtain brings the 2010's to the table in a quirky way that only Kennywould could. My opinions on Phantom and Sky Rocket also improved drastically, with emphasis on the latter. As for the wooden coasters that are responsible for most of this opinion, I've gained an appreciation for Jack Rabbit but Racer and Thunderbolt are both still very much #RMCitorWreckit. So yeah, the wood here might be ancient and outdated but the steel does a nice job picking up the slack.
- Kennywood is run down and poorly maintained- It was much better taken care of this time around. Path sweeps were on point getting the trash off the midway, planters actually had flowers in them, and it looks like they've at least gotten the overgrowth issue under control. However, while the landscaping and paths are decently taken care of, the actual structures have only continued to decay since I was there last. Paint is still chipping off of both wooden coasters (and now starting to extend to Sky Rocket and Phantom), buildings still look old and run down, and it still feels like they don't want to put the money into giving this park some love in some areas. However, Lost Kennywood (usually an area where I just run to and from Exterminator) is extremely nice and well-maintained, and Steelers Country looks like it'll have a well-presented look that's appropriate for the theme, now if they could spruce up the rest of the park it would be beautiful.
- Kennywood's operations are abysmal- This one I'll continue to hold against the park. I've been told on decent authority that speed of dispatches simply isn't something they care about there and it shows. Five-minute dispatches on everything bar Jack Rabbit were the norm, with one Thunderbolt taking a good seven minutes. One train continues to plague some of their rides, others they've improved on. The Steel Curtain crew was crushing it by Kennywood standards when we got there, let's hope that's about to be an example and not an exception.
Kennywood is four hours from me and this is my first time going from my house and back, without just kind of doing it because it's on the way. And honestly, having a good experience there was almost like getting a new home park. It's within day trip distance of my house but I've never done it, so that's going to be a priority next year. I'd be fine with this being a once a year park if we're going to have the same experience I had on this trip. Plus I'm down for more Steel Curtain rides!
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