PennStater

Let me just throw this out there... you'll never see me moving slow while checking restraints. However, yes many of the team members at Kennywood do have this issue. Why? I wish I knew. It seems there's just an unfortunate lack of motivation and enthusiasm. They are not rewarded for working fast and therefore see no reason to do so. It's just not in their mindset, I guess. To my knowledge, none of our coasters have cycle counters on them (maybe Sky Rocket does but I've never worked controls there) so there's no way to make it a "contest" like at some parks. I wish there was an answer. If only we could hire all 21+ and also air condition the park... maybe that would help?

It's basically just a padded ratcheting bar that lowers from the outer edge of the train. You can definitely get some good air. However, there is the pesky seat belt as well...

As you come through the tunnel entering the park, turn left and you'll run into the Phantom's Revenge entrance. Do that first. The Phantom exit will put you out in the Lost Kennywood area. Turn right, and do Black Widow if you are so inclined. That line can get up to an hour long when it's full. When you leave Widow, turn right again and hit Exterminator... another line which can be horrifically long later in the day. After that, I would suggest Thunderbolt while it's still relatively early and then the other coasters in any order.

Opening Day is the 28th and I'm looking forward to it!

Yes! They actually had it ready ahead of schedule and open first thing on opening day! I must say... I think they did a fantastic job with the refurb and it's definitely a must-do for anyone visiting the park.

Just purchased season passes for my wife and me!

^^ Just an FYI... not sure when your trip is planned for, but since you mentioned Noah's Ark I wanted to point out that it likely won't be open until late May. It's currently undergoing quite a substantial refurb with the return of the whale's mouth entrance and the classic feel of the attraction. I may be slightly biased, but definitely don't miss Phantom's Revenge... Try not only the back seat of Thunderbolt, but also a seat in the front car... you'll know why after you ride it. Back seat of Jack Rabbit is mandatory and basically a given. Depending on the team member doing the counting, they may or may not be okay with you waiting if you don't manage to get the back... definitely try if you can! If there are people in front of you, chances are they'll go to the front anyways. By the way, our Kennywood fan site posted our 2016 off-season photos recently if anyone is interested. There are some Ark exterior pics in the album, and we'll be posting interior pics as soon as we get permission from the park. There are some very cool changes happening inside that we can't wait to share!!

Couldn't they install some strategically placed netting to allow it to duel again?

It won't be back. The Ark is getting a good bit of attention this Winter.

Haha... Yes you do. [emoji13]

Pitt Fall had maintenance issues. I do miss it, but Black Widow is an awesome replacement in my opinion so I can't complain. What don't you like about Widow? Have you ridden it? I think it's much better than the Huss version.

Yes, they do offer VIP tours for the rides and RIP tours for the haunts during PFN.

They're backpack friendly. The only exception ordinarily is Exterminator which requires you to use free lockers at the entrance to the ride. However, the lockers have been down for a while so I'm pretty sure you can use the old loose article boxes in the station currently.

I wouldn't lose any sleep waiting for it to open if I were you.

I would LOVE to see something from RMC at Kennywood, but I'm not getting my hopes up! As far as the railroad property, they have already made great use of the main building and one of the other smaller buildings on the property for storage purposes. If anyone is interested in seeing what they've done down there so far, check out our tour photo album here:

Here it is:

^ Airtime is still as amazing as ever! One other cool change with the new brakes is that if the other train has cleared the station block, the train coming in will never fully stop on the brake run and continue slowly into the station. IOE does good work!

I usually recommend staying at one of the hotels at the Waterfront in Homestead. It would only be about a 5-10 minute drive from the park and easy to find (straight North on 837, the main road that the park is on). https://goo.gl/maps/46HCK Another option a bit futher away but perhaps a bit cheaper would be on Lebanon Church Road in West Mifflin. These would be more like a 15-20 minute drive. https://goo.gl/maps/tWU3r

Blue Streak and Tumblebug are basically their two top priority rides to have operating, so if the park is open it's almost guaranteed that those two rides will be open as well (unless there is some major issue or they're waiting for a part).

The guy who owns those rides (and also the Toboggan) wanted to get them out of the park before the potential Sheriff's sale from what I understand. It's sad to see where this is heading.

^ They had gotten it running somehow for us Saturday night for an ERT, but I had heard they weren't going to run it except for special occasions due to the risk of ruining the motor beyond repair. I guess they're taking their chances for the benefit of the guests.

Okay, I can't just let this post go without defending the park a bit. I was just on Saturday for an event, and Mr. Adams addressed our group about some of these issues. First of all, Hostile Hostel wasn't really a brand new attraction built by Mission Amusement. There was already an existing haunt there for Ghost Lake. The show simply went in and added/changed/improved some stuff. However, having gone through it both before and after the "upgrade", I would say it's mostly the same. Mission Amusement wrongly takes credit for building a full new attraction. The reason it normally isn't open is due to the number of staff needed to properly staff the haunt. They would actually lose money by having it open. Secondly, oh no.. a car seat belt on a ride... the horror! It still functions as a seat belt, right? Third, not that long ago there were actually 8 functioning bumper cars. That number has decreased in part due to scrappers coming into the park at night and literally stealing the motors out of the cars. Mr. Adams said the problem has only increased since the announcement of the possible sheriff's sale. They have caught people trying to take many things, even carousel horses. They really are fighting an uphill battle, and people burning down buildings and stealing parts from the rides doesn't help at all. Some of these parts are very expensive to replace and others are hard or impossible to find (requiring them to be machined from scratch). Regarding the Tumble Bug, the word is that Knoebels doesn't want it because it's too loud for their park. Otherwise, I agree it would probably be the perfect home for it. If only my home park Kennywood ran Turtle that fast... Tumble Bug isn't open currently due to their last spare motor blowing. They have to send it out to be rebuilt from scratch, and that of course costs a decent chunk on money as well. Music Express was originally going to be fixed by Adams, but the ride's owner stated he wants his ride back after hearing about the potential sale, so they are not going to sink money into a ride only to potentially lose it at the end of the season. Regarding the sheriff's sale, Mr. Adams stated it's not over yet and they are working with the new trustees on some ideas. I believe the September sale has been postponed to October due to nobody filing (I'm no tax expert either, so I can't really go into any more detail than that). Lenny said he won't be leaving until a sheriff shows up with handcuffs.

Here's an update from today, and the news is not good... http://www.meadvilletribune.com/breakingnews/x197384338/Commissioners-move-forward-with-sheriffs-sale-for-Conneaut-Lake-Park Commissioners move forward with sheriff's sale for Conneaut Lake Park By Keith Gushard Meadville Tribune MEADVILLE — Conneaut Lake Park is being moved toward a sheriff’s sale to pay off its more than $925,000 worth of property tax debt owed to four government entities. Calling the collection of back taxes owed by the amusement park their fiduciary due, Crawford County commissioners voted unanimously this morning to begin proceedings with a sheriff’s sale of the amusement park. The commissioners’ action this morning comes in the wake of similar moves previously by the Conneaut School District’s school board and supervisors of both Summit and Sadsbury Townships. The boards of the school district and two townships have gone on record in support of forcing a sheriff’s sale of the amusement park to settle its tax debt. A sheriff’s sale could happen as soon as October, if foreclosure action is filed with the Crawford County court system by next week. At Wednesday night’s Conneaut School Board work session, the consensus of the board was to have its attorney move forward with foreclosure action to force a sheriff’s sale of Conneaut Lake Park though no formal vote was taken by school board members. The amusement park owes Conneaut School District, Crawford County and the townships of Summit and Sadsbury a combined $926,031.41 in back property taxes, interest and penalties dating back to 1997, according to the Crawford County Treasurer’s Office. As of August, Conneaut Lake Park owes $633,949.87 to Conneaut School District; $236,164.64 to the county (which includes $23,066.18 in costs associated with the county tax claim bureau); $43,750.85 to Summit Township; and $12,166.05 to Sadsbury Township, according to the Treasurer’s Office. Those taxes go back as far as 1997.

Awesome, thanks for sharing! I'm curious, how long does it take to walk the length of the track?

Sadly they do not