OK...The New Diving Show at Kennywood Needs to Go!

[SimpleAndClean46]

OK, I love Kennywood and all, but they seriously need to stop putting on shows in the park. I mean, the shows have always been horrible at Kennywood (anyone remember the Aeroriders? That was SUCH a joke!), and now we've even lost a TWO RIDES for shows...this season, the Swing Around and the Kiddie Cadillacs (a freaking CLASSIC) was removed to put in "The All American Diving Show" and the "Abra KIDabra Magic Show". The diving show plain and simply sucks donkey ballz, and the Swing Around was a really fun ride. And why they would replace a classic ride like the Kiddie Cadillacs is beyond me. Now, the diving show only looks temporary (people who have seen it know what I'm talking about), so does anyone think there is a possibilty that it's only there for this season, and a new ride is on the way? I know a smaller-scale Frisbee would fit nicely right in that area...

[Guest]

Rides are taken out for reasons at Kennywood. After talking with the general manager this season. Both rides are in storage. Swing Around will possibly going to a sister park, that has yet to be determined. The kiddy cadillac cars I believe are in storage for refurbishment, as well as the Bayern Kurve. A lot of rides that are taken out of the park are not scrapped, but put into storage either to be refurbished, or to be given to its sister parks.

 

Kennywood never makes rash decisions. I have always seen shows in the garden theater PACKED every show everyday. You might not like shows but other people do, including families.

 

Also, I highly doubt that they will be putting in a major flat ride in that area to go high, due to the fact that the skycoaster is right above it. I understand your frustration, but eventually when Kennywood expands you will understand why they did so.

[BarryH]

Kennywood had a pretty cool African acrobats show in August 2004. The diving show at Cedar Point wasdn't that good either. How exciting is it to watch people dive for 15 minutes?

[CoasterFanatic]

I am pretty sure that the diving show is a temporary thing, but it didn't have anything to do with the removal of the Cadillac Cars. The cars were all the way in the back of Kiddieland next to the train tracks.

 

As for the Swing Around, it is in storage like Katie said and will either return to Kennywood or end up at Idlewild or Compounce. This isn't the first time that it has been removed. It was also removed in the early eighties to make way for the Raging Rapids.

[Dailey Enterprizes]

The dive show wasn't the reason why the Swing Around was removed; it was the stage underneath the Swing Around. The whole building needed to be refurbished and when costs added up, it was just better in the long run to take out the whole building (including the Swing Around) and wait to build a brand new stage! So expect to see a new stage in the spot in the near future and don't count on any rides being put on top of it because Kennywood has had problems getting some acts to perform there due to the ride noises happening above the stage.

[SimpleAndClean46]

In response to an earlier post...The Kiddie Cadillacs were also removed to make room for a show this season...there is now a magic show in Kiddieland where the Cadillacs once stood.

[FeelTheFORCE]

You have to put in perspective that there are a lot of senior citizens and kids there and not just people who like to ride all day. Some people just like to sit down and watch a couple shows and only ride the merry-go-round all day. Kennywood is America's number 1 TRADITIONAL amusement park so like I said before there are a lot of seniors there who just want to sit down and relax and watch a show or two and remember what it was like when they were kids who need to take a break and dont ride everything.

[SimpleAndClean46]

I understand that...but was removing the Swing Around AND Kiddie Cadillacs really necessary? I just hope they are refurbishing them and we'll see them in a future season...because right now the diving show is very lame and looks very...um..."temporary".

[DerekRx]

The shows may stink, but that's why they only last a season or two, otherwise they get old and stupid. I didn't really watch the dive show this year other than what I saw in line for the Auto Race, but I kinda think any dive show is stupid. Who wants to watch people get refreshed in a nice pool while you're sitting there baking in the heat watching them. I've got my own Dive Spectacular that includes my Grand Finale Rapid Fire Nestea Plunge Assault. Truly its better than the dive show at Kennywood.

[Jon Sabo]

I think production cost for shows in general are really on the rise (as is everything else). While some (very few nowadays) parks still do production/development of shows in-house, many parks sub-contract the work out to design, develop, and produce the shows. Like one post was stated earlier, shows generally may have a life-cylce for about 1-3 seasons and then change the format. I wonder if there is just a dwindling amount of talent and creativity in the production of these shows or perhaps the costs are outweighing the quality. Some old time members from past BG production teams have retired (and sold the company). Ever since that happen, I noticed many shows in general appear rather "rushed" in how it is put together. That is why I don't attend too many shows in recent years. The general quality has declined and production costs have risen. Just my observation.

 

A couple of BGE's new show (formats) have been terrible-at best. Especially the new one at W/C-USA. It almost appeared as if it was a high-school production (and the high-school would win too). According to A-T golden ticket awards, SFFT always wins in the 'best shows' category. But, if the record holds true, the company/team that produced most of those shows also did production on other shows that were all in the top 10.