summerof72

both Kennywood and West View Park we went to West View Park for our school picnics; i graduated in 1974 and then the park closed in 1977 : ( we started going to Kennywood in about 1972

West View Park (closed in 1977) White Swan Park (closed in 1989) Conneaut Lake Park (went there once when i was little) Idlewild Park/Storybook Forest Kennywood *these are my home parks Hershey Park Sesame Place (when Rachel was about 3; cant even remember if its an actual ride-type park) : ( Geauga Lake Park Cedar Point Six Flags Worlds of Adventure Busch Gardens Williamsburg Universal Studios Orlando Universal Islands of Adventure Walt Disney World, which includes Magic Kingdom EPCOT Center Disney's MGM Studios Disney's Animal Kingdom Universal Studios Hollywood Disneyland Disney's California Adventure

the best advice is what USRoadTripper said....definitely get a book and some information, and plan what you want to do even with less ppl than you would have in the summertime, (in June when we go its always nuts, but we love the hot weather) the parks have so much ground to cover that you will waste precious time if you arent a bit familiar with where things are and have some idea of what you want to see. you can spend an hour finding something that you didnt realize was just around the corner in the other direction.... we use the Birnbaum's Guide to Walt Disney World, which is a great reference for hotels, restaurants, the parks and other activities such as what you can do in Downtown Disney have a great time!!! you will be hooked for life!

great.....i collect the old Disneyland postcards....be sure to hang onto these : ) i wish i had been able to go there when i was little.....

very cool video....really makes me homesick for Disneyland : ( thanks for sharing it....looks like you had a great time!

would really like to see some more comfortable seats! its pretty hard on me, and i worry about my back when i ride this one.... (my chiropractor cringes every June when Disney time rolls around... : (

the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood

an awesome account....you rode all my favorites except the Matterhorn...its tough on a person (very raw, bumpy, no padding there!) but always a must when we visit the parks cant wait till i can go back again (i live in PA, so its always a major save-up for us to get out there). hopefully Rachel will do Disney College Program out there..... thanks again

i like the seats where you hang your legs, like Alpengeist at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.... of note, being on the petite side, Big Bad Wolf is so hard to get out of! i always have to stand on the seat and hope i dont twist my back on the way!

an awesome report!! i have never been there for Fright Night.... Phantom's Revenge is so smooth, but that last section into the station is my chiropractor's nightmare! i always have to brace my feet HARD against the seat in front to keep away from major pain! : ( SwingShot was also running only one side the two times we went this summer....and the lines were super long and then it stopped a few times....makes a person crazy!! Thunderbolt is still the best!! thanks for sharing your nite with us!

another "local" park that i have never been to.... : ( it looks like a really nice little place, tho. will have to plan on that one of these days....

that is exactly what we were wondering.....

Kennywood is mine..... Steel Phantom was awesome, but it always beat up my ears (coz im a bit short) Phantom's Revenge (which replaced SP) is excellent as well, a really smooth ride! as im getting older, i find i enjoy this one more than Thunderbolt coz its not so hard on the body....a friend of mine broke ribs from hitting the side when she put her arms up on Potato Patch curve Thunderbolt is our most famous resident, and tho its still my favorite i really loved the rush of Steel Phantom

definitely a sad day..... i was just talking in another post about when they closed our beloved West View Park in 1977....i spent many happy days there all thru my childhood up till my senior year in HS... i hope you guys have lots of pictures, coz that is something that i didnt do and now im way sorry : ( a great book was made about West View which i have .....i read it often and remember the good times!!

i have always loved the sky ride.... went to Busch Gardens in VA this past summer and rode on theirs a half dozen times or so (saving up : ) the one i remember the most was at a park we had here in Pittsburgh that closed in 1977, West View Park....it was such a sad day. we always went there for our school picnics. i had never been to Kennywood until 1974 (when i was a senior in HS). West View's sky ride was just like a ski lift, where you simply stood in painted rectangle and sat down when the chair came around. your feet would dangle as you went over those below...i remember thinking that was the coolest ride they had! also was mad that they got rid of them at Disneyland and WDW Magic Kingdom.....the Fantasyland stations are still there, and at least the Tomorrowland Station at WDW...one can always hope!

i think its a good thing to give the choices....normally Rachel got the kids meals with the carrots and milk (she is a HS senior now, and she still packs her lunch and takes carrots every day, so hopefully that means i did a good thing!) now when we go to the parks, we have started ordering a salad (fruit or greens) and a burger platter, and sharing both....it works out well. we get our fix of the "good" food and the Good Food..... : ) as for the fudge, that is an EVERY DAY occurrence while at Disney....cant go without it! once i bought fudge in the little tin pan on the cruise ship, and it was NASTY....not doing that again...

we were at MGM the day that one of the books was released.....there were about a dozen copies at TOT gift shop first thing in the a.m., and by the time we went back to ride again around noon, they were GONE! ppl were carrying those thick, hard-cover books all around the park that day.....

i agree....i could see this as a "land" with places like Diagon Alley, Hogwart's, Hogsmead, The Leaky Cauldron (as a restaurant), etc.....

this reminds me of being at Universal Studios out in California...we saw a girl in line for ET wearing slippers that said Bates Motel.... she told us that she had lost a shoe on a ride and had to wear these slippers coz it was all the foot wear they could find in the park! and they were about 3 sizes too big for her (she was only about 12 years old)....

i dont like having my feet exposed at the park....i worry about getting cut : ( i did wear them once when we went on Grizzly Rapids Run at DCA coz i didnt want to have wet shoes all day, but we carried them in our pack and just put them on for that one ride...... we have a few rides here at Kennywood where you cant wear shoes that would fall off, like Pittfall, Aero 360 and SwingShot....

i love Niagara Falls....thanks for sharing these great pics. it looks like you had a beautiful time : )

what awesome pictures!! i have only been to HersheyPark one time (sad when i dont live all that far) and it was when Rachel was about 3, so we pretty much didnt ride anything but kiddie rides.... i think ill plan on that next summer. Disney World will have to wait a year coz Rachel is graduating from HS and im planning on being really broke by June, which is when we usually go.... : ( we are going to Myrtle Beach with the marching band in May for strawberry festival.....i hear our hotel has 19 pools and is on the beach. ive never been there, so that will be our big vacation in 2007! : )

...i hadnt thought of this as a ride, but someone mentioned it..... i dont know if there is any way i would ever bungie jump....maybe if there was a LOT of money down there, but probably not for anything else! Rachel didnt like the Sun Wheel either when we rode on the cars that move. the funny thing is that im not fond of when the stationary cars rock, so i did like that coz it was constantly moving...does that make any sense?

yes, i agree.....i enjoy it! the funny thing is that Rachel cant get enuf of TOT....i think its being outside that gets her! we have Pitfall here at Kennywood, which is really such a mild ride (just a simple drop) but it took me years to get her on that one, too....again, i think because its outside and gives the feeling of might fall out!

excellent pix of the AT-AT.....its my favorite Star Wars character! i got a cool one this summer of me next to the foot (right at the ride entrance). was happy to see him back this year (just wasnt the same).... also loved the stunt show from Paris Disneyland. i hope they keep that one..... the Tower of Terror is on our top five list....i think its the best ride at MGM : ) thanks for sharing them!