Kennywood "Solo" Tr:

[Dailey Enterprizes]

Today I randomly decided to go to Kennywood for their Night Rider discount ($16 opposed to $31). Unfortunately, I had to get through most of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area to get there, so on like most occasions… I got lost!

 

Well I didn’t quite get lost because I knew where I was going, but I felt like an idiot for getting off at the wrong exit heading into Pittsburgh (Fort Pitt Tunnel/Airport exit rather than the correct Veterans Bridge exit), so with doing that I added a good 45 minutes to my already lengthy drive. I eventually get back onto the Veterans Bridge, but the traffic was a bottleneck when it came to getting off at the Monroeville exit. With some illegal merging (everyone else was doing it) I got to the Boulevard of the Allies and ran into some routine traffic on the Parkway while heading to the Squirrel Hill tunnel. That was another 45 minutes wasted just sitting in traffic, but once getting through Swissvale (I avoided the waterfront because of the construction on the bridge) I was Kennywood bound and got there soon enough.

 

I was expecting to pay the usual $5 parking when I got there, but I noticed that their Kenny Parkway (chairlift) was operating and that meant that the free parking lot level was open. With a duh! decision I headed up to the parking lot. I don’t see why more people use the lot because it provides an excellent view of the park, it gives you a free ride down to the gate and the parking itself is free. Well who knows; the ride down from the top was really nice and got me psyched to ride some coasters.

 

Once I got past the ticket people, security and such I noticed that there was a new electronic sign that displays information about school picnics. That stuff used to be displayed on an old bulletin board.

 

I wasn’t sure where to go first when I came out of the freshly painted tunnel advertising Kennywood’s sister parks. I went straight figuring that I’ll jump on the Jackrabbit or something. I walked passed it and went on the Racer first. The wait wasn’t too bad and for those who like to win, board the train that’s on your right as you enter the station because whatever train that’s there will always win (it has the last inside turn).

 

After that I found myself over by the Thunderbolt. I know that you need a partner to ride it, but I felt like being bad; ha, so I got in line and got a partner. The Thunderbolt really let loose and I didn’t know it at the time, but our train was synchronized with the Phantom’s Revenge train. As soon as our train went through the MCBR the Phantom’s train was already going down its second drop and when we made the turnaround we got a good look at the Phantom’s train traversing the track before it went under us again (I wish I had video).

 

I had an appetite after that, so I got some Potato Patch fries and watched some people broadcasting a new commercial for Kennywood (it was a bunch of kids attacking an adult for Potato Patch fries).

 

I walked around Lost Kennywood for awhile and then I went on the Phantom’s Revenge. I felt so old when I was waiting because almost all of the kids were between 15 and 18 years old. It used to be normal for me to look at teenage girls because, well… I was attracted to them, but now that I’m 20 it feels like I’m doing something wrong. I guess I should have brought a girlfriend or something…

 

The Phantom was great. I got onboard the second to last car and got whipped around pretty good. I barely noticed the new trims on the double dip, so that’s good news for those worried out there.

 

I was pretty much done after that, but I wanted to see the Cosmic Chaos in action. It looked pretty impressive, but I didn’t feel like riding it. I caught a ride on the Jackrabbit before calling it quits, so I got on and sat in the last car. This coaster never stops delivering that awesome pop of airtime.

 

I stopped by the souvenir shop and bought my brother a shot glass. Then I stopped by the fudge shop and got my mom and dad some chocolate covered pretzels and then left.

 

Overall it was a nice visit. I forgot to mention that the whole park was alive with kids from the school picnics and such. I forgot what my school picnics were like when I was younger; it was pretty cool seeing all the youngsters running around. Until next time…

 

Btw I would have called this a Photo Trip Report, but I only took a few good pictures, so I rather leave this labeled as a regular old Trip Report.