Kennywood Phantom Fright Nights

[Dailey Enterprizes]

Last night my friend Anne and I met up with Brian, his friend Kris, and Kris's family at Kennywood for Phantom Fright Nights. We thought we were the ones who were going to be late because we didn't leave the North Hills until 6:45PM (Fright Nights starts at 7:00PM) and if that wasn't enough, we hit some major traffic at the Swissvale Exit going off I376. We didn't get to Kennywood until 7:40PM, but we found out that Brian and Kris were also stuck in traffic and didn't arrive until 8:00PM. Well once we greeted each other we headed for the Phantom.

 

I've been to Fright Nights every year so far and it's been obvious that the park is much busier on a Fright Night than on a summer day. Well that meant very long lines, but luckily during Kennywood's second or third year (I forget which year) extended the closing time to 1:00AM. Anyway the Phantom's line was past the ramp and into the first overflow section. Hey, if anybody remembers the first year that the Phantom was opened, they had 4 of these overflow sections in-use! Well we waited for about 45 minutes (the second train was added at this point) and got aboard. Brian and Kris went for the second row of the first car while Anne and I went for the middle. Somehow Brian and Kris were on before us, but we got on two trains later. We got off and then we headed for the lagoon area of the park.

 

I don't think any of us were in the mood to wait in line for the haunted houses and mazes because we've experienced Fright Nights before and it wasn't necessary to re-visit them. Well anyway, we got some deep fried oreos when we got over there. It was good stuff, haha and with only two hands I figured out that the fastest way to get "rid" of these deep fried oreos was to eat them whole! Yes, powdered sugar went everywhere, but it was delicious.

 

After our snack we got on the Racer (makes sense, don't it). Our train beat the crap out of the other train, I knew ahead of time , but poor Brian had to sit by himself at the rear of the car while Anne and I sat in the front of the car. If you're wondering where Kris was, well he's in the "losing" train with his family. After the Racer, we went on the Jack Rabbit.

 

The Jack Rabbit was great, but for some reason it was making that god awful Mean Streak subway sound. I was thinking that it must have been cursed or something . So Anne and I got the first seat in the last car while Brian and Kris had to get the very last seat since they live so far away from Kennywood. Brian got his ass kicked by the Jack Rabbit, haha he landed on the side of the car when we went through the double dip. After Brian earning his battle scars (bruises), we headed for the Kangaroo.

 

This ride is a must if you're a out-of-towner, so ofcourse Brian and Kris were no exception. We tried to get all four of us to get one arm, but Brian had other plans. He sat with Kris's family in one arm while Anne, Kris, and I were sitting in another. It's a fun ride, but way too short. Anne, Kris, and I screamed and laughed histerically while going over the "hop," but like I said, it was over too soon. Well Brian, Kris, Anne, and I split up from Kris's family because we were going to go ride the Thunderbolt. It's interesting because Kris's younger sister isn't tall enough to ride the Thunderbolt, but she's tall enough to ride the Jack Rabbit. I think that's the reason why this coaster has lasted since the 1920s because a wide range of people can ride it.

 

Well back to the Thunderbolt, it was a rather long wait, but well worth it at the end. Kris and I got in line for the front for which there were only 2 trains ahead of us which is as normal as any of the other seats. Brian and Anne got in line for the first seat in the last car if I do believe so. It was a great coaster and as always, it was even more fun at night. I'm still surprised that there is a little bit of floating air at the top of some of the hills. Oh, almost forgot about Kris running into the Steeler fans at the Thunderbolt (Kris was wearing a Bengals hat you see) and having them scream behind us the entire time. Well anyway, it was a memorable ride.

 

We met up with Kris's family once again and headed for the Grand Prix. While in-line, Kris entertained some kids (includiing everybody else) with his killer dance moves, but as a result, some girls left. While we were getting into our bumper cars, the ride operator stopped Kris. I got into my car thinking that he was just short of getting on, but was let on anyway. After the ride, I found out that the guy was trash talking to Kris because he was wearing an Ohio State jersey. Hey Ohio State is awesome in my opinion, but I have alot of favorite teams, GO PITT!.

 

Anyway, Kris's family had to leave because it was getting late (around 11:45PM), so they said their goodbyes and we headed for Lost Kennywood, oh sorry, Gory Park. We basically made a big loop around Gory Park because the Exterminator had a 2 hour wait and the Pitt Fall had only 2 of the cars working. Well we headed for the Phantom again, but got a little side tracked.

 

Brian had to use the facilities while Anne, Kris, and I went on the Musik Express and guess who was operating the ride, the operator from the Grand Prix. While more trash talking was going on, I got smushed to the side of the car. While I was getting the feeling back into my arm, our restraint got stuck, so our favorite ride operator came over to let us out. I thanked him and headed to where Brian was.

 

We went on the Phantom for one last ride and got the middle-back of the train again. The Phantom is amazing at night and for some reason, even better when it is cold. Well it was 12:55AM, so we all headed for the gate to say our goodbyes and give our last hugs. It was a memorable time and can't wait for the next meet with them.

 

Here are some pictures of mine...

 

 

The following pictures are from Anne's camera...

 

 

and ofcourse, the last group picture

 

Andrew is thinking to himself after looking at that last picture, "my head is too big"

[ForgetRegret087]

um.. yea.. hello.. hi.

 

I enjoy your Trip report.. It almost feels like I was there!

 

.. Oh yea I was..

 

Hello Everybody! I'm Anne.. Yea thats me!

I just registered to comment my buddies Trip Report.

Slide on over to Tommy and James's Ghetto Ass Paradise forum and view mine

 

 

I LOVE IT ANDRIZZLE I LOVE IT!

[Dailey Enterprizes]

^

Haha, thanks Anne and for any of those trigger happy "report post" people, Anne is legit and it's not necessary to ban her... yet!