Kennywood 09 - opening day!

Greetings one and all.

 

As you may or may not know, Kennywood opened yesterday and, despite gloom and doom weather forecasts, it didn't rain. This Photo TR is basically meant to show off some of the changes Kennywood made for 09, and thus doesn't really follow a certain order or focus on the park as a whole. But before we get on with the Photo TR, I thought I'd go over what some of those changes are.

 

Bayern Kurve - The most noticeable addition this year, the Kurve makes it's return after a three year refurbishment. The cars have all been repainted, the ride facade has gotten a facelift, and most importantly, it has a nice, new, and very loud horn.

 

Phantom's Revenge - The other major addition this year is new track on the Phantom's first drop and second hill, compliments of Chance Morgan. Chance Morgan has also reprofiled it slightly by stretching out the bottom of the first drop and easing the transition into the second hill. Unfortunately, Morgan also reprofiled the top of the second hill, resulting in a sharp bank and two horrible transitions. Kennywood also modified its brake system by adding disengageable magnetic brakes on the final brake run.

 

Other additions:

- Jackrabbit on-ride photo op (not working yet)

- A new paint job on The Whip

- LED lighting on the Volcano and Bayern Kurve

- The trees between the Log Jammer and Racer have been removed.

- The Racer's braking system has been computerized.

- A BMX stunt show.

 

EDIT: Some captions rewritten.

I'll see you again soon.

Goodnight, Kennywood...

Time to leave, but first, one last night shot of the Bayern Kurve.

Musik Express at night.

A ride operator is leaning to get out of this shot, lol.

Warning: Exploding hands and feet will make you sad.

"Elissa... you know you want me."

People are leaving, the lines are thinning. What does that mean? Exterminator time!

^

The Bayern Kurve looks stunning at night.

The Thunderbolt at night. I really wish they would restore the headlights.

When evening comes, The Racer is one of the first rides to turn on its lights.

Apparently the Whip has a new paint job this year.

This is the most important part of the Bayern Kurve.

It still has a few bugs to work out.

Now back to the real star of the show, the Bayern Kurve!

^

The Pittsburg Plunge. This is NOT an acceptable amount of wetness for temperatures in the 60's, although it is photogenic and fun to photograph.

Noah's Ark has cool light bars that form images if you move your eyes.

The 'storm at sea' room. For some reason, I don't find this effect very convincing.

The only scene inside the ark that I was able to get a clean shot of.

Some of the animals that adorn Noah's Ark.

The Pittfall, imposing as usual.

The yellow things on the underside of the train are the chain and anti-rollback dogs. It seems Kennywood has painted a lot of the critical ride components yellow this year, for some reason.

Obligatory lift hill shot!

A train emerges from the depths of the ravine.

You can almost hear the screams of agony as the poor, unsuspecting passengers are slammed into the side of the train.

The support modifications are obvious in this shot.

Here's where you hit the bank and transitions of death! >

More Phantom's revenge goodness.

Just a random shot of the Thunderbolt...

Phanom's Revenge and Swingshot.

Speed blur makes everything better, kinda like salt.

No, we didn't forget about you, Mr. Phantom.

The Racer is perfect for high-fiveing people in the other train.

The tree removal opens up a new view of The Racer.

"Look ma, no hands!"

Mother and child + Bayern Kurve = photographic win.

First up, the Bayern Kurve! I actually met and talked to Devious here, but neither of us knew it.

Very nice. The Kurve looks great, especially at night. I wonder if they'll do anything about the crappy Phantom transition, though...?

Cool TR! I love old Schwarzkopf flats like the Bayern Kurve. Good on Kennywood to keep it going.

Man looking at these pictures really makes me miss the curve we used to have here at Carowinds. I can't wait for August to get here and I will be going to Kennywood. It's such a nice park.

Nice TR! The new supports on Phantom really look noticeable now that you pointed them out. Is the ride smoother than last season? When I rode it last June it didn't seem that rough to me.

^With the exception of the top of the second hill, yes.

 

Do I think retracking the Phantom was worth it? Unless Kennywood does something about the second hill, then no.

Excellent pics! The "new" Racer views are beyond sweet. Same goes for Bayern Kurve shots. I'm rather excited to see this Schwarzkopf beauty back in operation at Kwood.

 

I'm a wee bit concerned that Phantom's Revenge transitions are less than smooth. What happened? Hmmm.

 

Still, thanks for posting these. I plan to visit Kwood when Knoebels' Flying Turns takes flight this summer. Yes, I have faith that this WILL happen in '09.

I want to go there to bad The park looks so pretty! And all the rides are different in their own ways...and look AWESOME!

 

-Zach

To me, the top of phantoms second hill is only really "Rough" in a bad way in the very back car

 

Out of the 9 rides (2 front, 4 back, 3 in cars 4/5) i had, only the back car ones had any really "Rough" jerk to them, and even then, it wasnt that bad, it gave a suprising pop of airtime on the right side of the back row back car, if being a little rough

 

The Kurve is rougher at turbo to me than that hill is, but i'm pretty tolerant

 

Also: i should post the lovely picture of the back of your head from when we were in the line for Kurve

^Go for it. The back of my head is more awesome than the Kurve, anyway.

 

In other news, I've decided I don't like the Whip's new paint job. Too Willy Wonka-ish.

Great photos, and I'm so thrilled that the Kurve is back! The first shot you had of the mother and kid is totally brochure-worthy.

 

Cameron.

AWESOME pictures! I can't wait to ride the Phantom, the new track looks soooo good, can't wait to ride it. Bayern Kurve looks nice too.

Great pictures! Can't wait to get there. I wonder why those trees were removed?

^According to Jeff Filicko, they were removed to give people a better view of the Racer. Personally, I think it was a good move.

Yeah, makes sense. For as long as I can remember, Racer has always been hard to see.