DerekRx Posted July 17, 2006 Posted July 17, 2006 So yesterday was the annual ACE event at Kennywood known as KennyKon. The Western PA region has a great relationship with the historic park, and yesterday was another showing of that, with ERT, food, and lots of little things. Unfortunately, my camera died on the trip, so I didn't get too many photos. I will say the event was pretty nice; crowds were lite, the park was fun, and we all had a great time as usual. The only thing that wasn't that great were the weather (brutally sunny and as hot as can be!) Thunderbolt was a little sluggish, and only running 1 train. Did you know this used to be Pippin!! It was too hot out for us to want to do the indoor version of Swing Shot Pitt Fall was awesome as all Giant Drops are mmmm, maybe not! Maybe we should have ridden the Plunge to stay cool Nicole finally experienced a whip, and we had a great time On this hot day it sure would have been nice if the Whip had a roof again While in the 45 minute long wait for Exterminator, Heath and Kim gave a shout out to Ryan, whom they have never and hope to never meet Exterminator "opened" at the end of ERT and we all got a complete dark ride, which I failed to understand the reason for having One of the many airtime moments on this monster The train drops into the ravine and thru the Thunderbolt Hey bunny, you don't belong at Phantom, you should be over at Jackrabbit Whoa! They've even got a Jeff Johnson dummy, and apparently he's been 'fixed', that's good news, right Lou? Just a bunch of dummies hanging out in the back of a pickup truck (think of them as rednecks who don't go out in the sun much!) Much better than Rush at Thorpe Park, probably because of the longer ride cycle Also opened for ERT was the new S&S Screaming Swing, Swing Shot Some BACT members enjoy their ERT. (you can tell Mark doesn't really hang out with us much, he's still giving last year's hand sign) This used to be the only airtime on the ride back in its Steel Phantom days And ran as awesome as a Arrow/Morgan hybrid-hyper could! Phantom opened just before 9:30, for 1 hour of ERT The day started off with ERT on Phantom's Revenge. You can tell from the number of people lined up that this ain't no TPR trip! And here we are at Kennywood, the old park with a new entrance We start off with Nicole in the shower...just to show Casey that the Holiday Inn in Pittsburgh should meet his approval!
DerekRx Posted July 17, 2006 Author Posted July 17, 2006 more photos Finally, we got to ride the Racer before my camera died. It made me miss Grand National The longest wait of the day was for the log flume, which wasn't surprising considering how hot it was Hey Mark, what's up with your company's ride? and now you can, even without a child, as Mark happily demonstrates Another credit to get! Nicole enjoyed her first visit to Kennywood and its Traver Auto Race, which is also celebrating being almost as old as Jeff Johnson You know its hot and not crowded when the Potato Patch has no line! The turtle was still fun, and a little bit more now that the nonsliding padding is wearing away All the animals are ready for the birthday party I would have rather gone to Blackpool, but we decided to walk thru it here at Kennywood Noah's Ark celebrated being old this year, and it seems like they're removing more and more stuff from it
SharkTums Posted July 17, 2006 Posted July 17, 2006 Great TR! I love all the new indoor versions of rides they seem to have there! I kind of like the idea of riding Exterminator with out hurting the rats. Haven't been back to Kennywood since PR opened, and there's still a credit there for me, I think it's almost time!
dandaman Posted July 17, 2006 Posted July 17, 2006 That indoor Screamin' Swing looks interesting enough... Hey, nice to know that the shower is Casey-approved. Exactly how tall is he, anyway? Thanks for the pics.
Ed Posted July 17, 2006 Posted July 17, 2006 Yay for Blackpool!... I mean Kennywood! It kinda looks like a half-blackpool of America.. With less Irish Sea!
TheGreatOne Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 SwingShot's cycle was longer than Rush at Thorpe? Man, that cycle must really suck! -Bryan "I liked Swing Shot" Wood
tinflowers Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 So Phantoms Revenge is really that much of an airtime machine huh? I can't wait to ride it.
CaseyFish Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 LMAO! That first pic was awesome Nicole and Derek...hahaha Great trip report! Now I know I can go there and not have to worry about not fitting in the shower. Casey "Another Casey Approved Shower!" Childers BOTBC
jamesdillaman Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 ^ The bunny hills at the end are amazing. I think PR's an awesome ride. -James Dillaman
Erik Johnson Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Darn it, Niiico is not allowed to hit any more parks this year. I want to finally top her in credits this year... Great Photo: TR as always.
niiicolaaah Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 ^Ha ha, Erik! I'm winning! Phantom's Revenge is great. It easily beats any other hyper I've been on (S:ROS SFDL, Magnum, Big One). It's fast, smooth, has those two incredible drops, and great airtime towards the end. Another great Kennywood coaster for airtime is Jack Rabbit. Oh man, that one hill is insane! And with just a seatbelt! I had a really great time at Kennywood, despite the awful heat. It had a lot of fun, unique rides like the Kangaroo, Turtle, and Auto Race, and some really cool coasters. I enjoyed hanging out with all kinds of cool people ("Here's your group photo!"), especially one person in particular. Yay for Kennywood! I'll be sure to return some day.
Carnage Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Great TR. I can't wait to get back to Kennywood this year. PR gives crazy airtime in the back. I remember getting thrown forwards a bit, before getting whipped back over the next dip. The backseat really caught me off guard the first time.
Meteornotes Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Kennywood rocks. I haven't been there since 2002, and need to get back there. dt
Tomizzle For Rizzle Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 It looked hot as hizzzell they. Great pics. I have not been to Kennywood since 2002, so it's time to go back!
bgwfreak Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 My plans are for a big PA trip next year or the following. Can't wait to ride PR.
CoasterFanatic Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 ^ Why wait till next year! [points to signature] Nice Report Derek! Sorry we weren't around any longer, but it is pretty hard to try to keep a big group together. Especially when everyone is just trying not to die of heat stroke. ^^ Tommy, it was every bit as hot as C3 last year, but with a big difference ... the Fudge Shop is the only air conditioned building in the whole park. So hot that I even rode the Raging Rapids for the first time in like 15 years.
bgwfreak Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 ^ We will be doing our own Finale for Myrtle Beach Pavilion that weekend, so no dice. The only way we won't is if there is a hurricane (the real ones) coming through there that weekend.
PittfallFan Posted July 18, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Speaking of airtime on PR, the backseat has been tamed down a little due to the new computer/braking system. The last hill is tame in general. The way the new system works, every train comes to a complete stop on the brake run regardless if there is another train in the station or not. The magnets along the last hill and the magnetic brakes on the brake run pull that sucker to a stop extremely fast. All the other bunny hills still provide monstrous ejector airtime though, no worries I personally prefer the front seat now when it comes to airtime. On the last hill, the front car makes it through the brake run before being pulled to a stop, so it actually gets the most airtime on the last hill
Shockwave Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 Good stuff Derek. So it's not just the UK that's too damn hot at the moment! Kennywood looks as good as ever, hope they can both trains on Phantom again soon, like before next June!
Wes Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 Nicole finally experienced a whip, and we had a great time Derek is a lot kinkier than I thought....
CoasterExpert13 Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 Glad you guys had fun!...I usually hit Kennywood at least 6-9 times a summer since it's about a 20min drive away but my job has been time comsuming this year. Last trip was June 18th or 19th 2006....I have to visit within the next 2 weeks or this summer will suck
gregleg Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 Kennywood looks as good as ever, hope they can both trains on Phantom again soon, like before next June! They were running both trains on Phantom when I was there the weekend before KennyKon (crowds were MUCH heavier that weekend). I think they just felt that the crowds on Sunday weren't heavy enough to warrant it. I don't know why Kennywood is hesitant to run both trains, if I have one complaint about the park it's that. After Derek and Nicole left, the BACT members that were left hung around through the evening ERT. I hadn't planned on staying the entire day, but once the sun went down and the Kennywood nighttime magic kicked in, I couldn't leave. Good times.
CoasterFanatic Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 I totally agree. I don't understand why they are so hesitant to put the second train on. They usually wait till the line is damn near the entrance before adding it. To makes things even stranger, they have no problem adding the second train to Thunderbolt and Jack Rabbit. C'mon. We all know it works
Dailey Enterprizes Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 ^ They actualy start off the Jackrabbit with two trains automatically (Racer too take that Colossus). Anyway, on the Phantom, they used to wait until the line was clearly half way down the bridge to add the second train because they didn't want half empty trains on the track, mainly due to the magnetic braking slowing the train down to a crawl into the station. Now that the train is stopped no matter what, I have no clue why they don't add it. I think it's because the computer still has problems running the two trains at the same time, just like on opening day when a safety cut-out occurred. I would know because I was there, but it was running great for most of the day. Well I'm glad you had a good time Derek, I kinda wish I was there for the event, but I had work and forgot to register! However, I do have a Giant Eagle sponsored Kennywood ticket in my dresser and I'm saving it for someday this summer and hopefully I'll get to meet some TPR peeps because I've yet to done so.
niiicolaaah Posted July 19, 2006 Posted July 19, 2006 After Derek and Nicole left, the BACT members that were left hung around through the evening ERT. I hadn't planned on staying the entire day, but once the sun went down and the Kennywood nighttime magic kicked in, I couldn't leave. Good times. Aww, I wish we could have stayed for the whole event, but that would have meant getting home at like 3 am lol. Having to leave my house at 8 am for an 8 hour day of class, that would not have been a good idea.
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