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Kennywood (KW) Discussion Thread


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5 hours ago, bert425 said:

the moment they pulled out Kangaroo and Bayern Kurve ?  

this park went from "must do again next time in Pennsylvania" to "eh . . been there, got to ride the unique rides and classics before they retired several of them (including the log flume).. no rush to go back"


Would I like to ride Steel Curtain?  sure. . but not making a trip just for that.

You're smart for that, because every year this park manages to take away something I love about It. I'm still a bit hostile on the Garfield's bad acid trip being remodeled, I mean sure I miss the other classics, but nothing ever has given me a "WTF" moment like that ride and it'll be forever missed. Steel Curtain is good, I'd even say REALLY good, but it's not enough of a pusher with all of it's issues to go to the park, you'll just be angry that you enjoyed it so much and realize you don't want to wait in a 3 hour line to do it again.

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  • 1 month later...

Cassy and Travis's Trip Report for Phantom Fall Fest Preview :

Yesterday Travis and I attended Kennywood's Preview event for their new halloween event, Phantom Fall Fest. We have spent a lot of time at Kennywood, but have not been to their halloween events, so we didn't know what to expect! From my understanding, they used to have two separate halloween events; one for kids in the day, then they would close and reopen for the haunt event in the evening. Kennywood's new event Phantom Fall Fest combines the two events and lets families enjoy the festivities during the day and at 6pm the haunting starts, so families with small children know when to leave if they needed to. 

They had five mazes:

1. Villa of the Vampire-vampire themed maze that takes place in the arcade building, they clear out all the arcade machines and build this maze inside the building, very well themed! (I liked the skull wall) 

2. Shady Grove Memorial Hospital-you are going undercover through this maze, to see what's going on with the patients and hospital staff, there's rumors of an evil doctor (where did all their eyes go?)

3. Dark Shadows- this is their "blackout" maze, which was the first of these that I've been in that was outdoors, and we went when it was slightly light outside and we still couldn't see anything! (I love these kind of mazes)

4. Kennyville Cemetery- Very cool cemetery themed maze, located at the front of the park (loved the ghost in the water!)

5. Voodoo Bayou-cool voodoo themed maze that takes place in the rapids ride, they empty out the water and you get to walk around where the water was which I thought was really cool! Also we were told they use their old dying plants from the season as decor for the maze!

They also had four scare zones: 

1. Fear Fest- this is a carnival themed walkthrough section where the kangaroo used to be (rip kangaroo😪)

2. Manor Estate Sale- cool little area that makes it seem like you are in someones house looking at their belongings

3. Hellbilly Hollow-name says it all, your classic hillbilly-zombie themed area, some very good scare actors! (they were always chasing someone)

4. The Departing-the final walkthrough, this takes place in the tunnel when you leave the park, they put scare actors in the tunnel and pump up the fog! (this starts later in the evening, I think 90 minutes before they close)

Here are pictures from our evening:IMG_8521.thumb.jpg.120d436a3c0aed375d762632153c9bea.jpg

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Kenny was in his halloween best!

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love sky rocket! such a fun ride

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next was phantoms revenge, loved the theming of decor since they are currently working on painting the track

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the purple track looks cool!

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sad that this ride was blocked off, but thought it was funny they decorated the blocked off area

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had to try the "scary waffle cone" you could choose the ice cream flavor, then it had orange sprinkles and gummy worms

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for the preview we tried some of the new seasonal offerings they have this year such as roasted corn, turkey legs, hamburger steak, and spooky desserts!

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Noah's ark is one of my favorite attractions here, its so unique!

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have to ride the whip! such a great ride!

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Lots of photo-op areas everywhere!

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picture of the voodoo bayou sign in the day, this was my favorite sign for the mazes

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I loved the effort they put into theming the haunt decor to what was going on, these guys are doing a little construction!

 

Next for the preview event, we went on a behind the scenes tour of Villa of the Vampire. Like I said before, this maze was inside the arcade area and is built from scratch every year after they move all the arcade machines out. Super cool to see all the detail you don't get to admire when the maze is dark (and avoiding vampires).

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I thought Laffin' Sal was scary as she was! Now she's hanging out with the vampires!😰

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this is the main room where they explain the rules of the maze

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we got to go where the scare actors go, and see all the doors and windows they use

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Mark showing off one of the secret doors

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my favorite area! I want the skull wall for my house!😍

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the woman in the picture on the wall was an employee for that attraction for years before she passed away and they honor her by putting her photo in the room where she worked the most

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gotta take that spooky mirror selfie!

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one of the cool effects they use for the bug rooms is they have fishing wire that brushes against your face and hair making you feel like you're walking through webs

 

Then we got to go behind the scenes and see makeup being done on scare actors, and look at some of their masks and props they use to transform scare actors for the the night! 

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had to get some pictures back there too!

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this is where they work on everything for the upkeep on their wooden coasters

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RIP

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Also RIP (I really miss this one)

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Glad we went on this earlier in the day cause the whale was full! 🤣

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love seeing real chainsaws being used for haunts!

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they pumped fog into the carousel, I thought this was a really cool touch!

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we left a little earlier than when they started this walkthrough area, but there were some scare actors at the end of the tunnel

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had to take a spooky tunnel selfie

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Overall we had a good time, and really enjoyed the night! Our favorite maze was Voodoo Bayou, and we loved that all the areas had a ton of fog and really good scare actors! This is a great family event, with something for everyone to enjoy!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Racer and Jack Rabbit will get a coat of paint, meaning that along with Phantom, all three wooden coasters will hopefully look their best next year.

For next season, I'm pretty sure Kennywood will get the treatment Lake Compounce received this year. As long as they don't "update" the logo...

New KW logo.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

Surprised this didn't make it on here, but Kennywood put this on their socials yesterday...

Hearing some rumors that it is Six Flags buying the park...which to me sounds like something straight out of theme park hell! I know Palace/Parques Reunidos gets a bad rap but come on...they got to be better than Six Flags?!?!?! Right....? (Also, why can't Six Flags try and buy parks that they could actually benefit...like Wild Waves!!)

I'll leave the Steel Curtain and Batman joke too someone else...but other than that I haven't seen any hard evidence, so we'll have to wait and see. If it is true...I'm hoping Six Flags at least learned something from Geauga Lake...I would hate to see Kennywood come even remotely close to that fate.

Personally I'd rather have the original family owners reacquire the park, or of all the parks that I'd want to see Herschend buy Kennywood was probably near the top of my list. Really hoping this ones a dud, but thought I'd put some foam on the runway just in case...

Heard mixed things on if the rumored sale includes any of the other Palace parks, so for me all bets are off there.

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As much as I rag on Parques Reunidos, I agree they're better than Six Flags.  I can only imagine the fate of their three woodies (You get a seatbelt, and you get a seatbelt, and you get a seat belt!) and Noah's Ark.

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3 hours ago, swfan1988 said:

I know Palace/Parques Reunidos gets a bad rap but come on...they got to be better than Six Flags?!?!?! Right....? 

Nah…

That said, I don’t buy that for a second. They’re probably just teasing the removal of like 5 more rides or something (or announcing what six days Steel Curtain will operate next season).

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Kennywood has announced on Pittsburgh Today Live that the Kangaroo flat ride will be returning for the 2022 season after an extensive refurbishment!

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https://www.kennywood.com/plan-your-visit/experiences/what-s-new

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/11/19/kennywood-kangaroo-new-attraction-announcement/

A Kennywood Classic Returns

A true Kennywood classic will rejoin the park’s world-class collection of rides in 2022.The iconic Kangaroo will return fully refurbished and ready to thrill riders with its unique ride experience – a rite of passage for younger guests seeking bigger thrills. 

More than a ride, Kangaroo is a timeless Kennywood tradition. Riders have looked forward to the feeling of weightlessness aboard the attraction for generations. Now, the ride that served as the inspiration for Kennywood’s mascot will make its triumphant return 60 years after its initial debut. 

In partnership with Premier Rides – one of the amusement industry’s leading ride manufacturers and innovators – Kennywood has begun a total refurbishment of Kangaroo. This work will enhance the experience with an all-new LED lighting package, vibrant new colors, and state of the art operating systems while still providing the classic “Flying Coaster” feel.

Choose the Roo's New Look

We heard you, and now that Kangaroo is bouncing back, we want you to choose the ride's new logo and theming. Vote now between two design options: Classic or Vintage. You can vote once per day through Sunday, Nov. 21 at 11:59 p.m.

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“Hey we’re removing 3 classic rides and closing another one for a year” - Everyone hates Kennywood

“Hey, we’re removing 4 classic rides… oh, just kidding we’re only removing 3 classic rides and closing one for a year”
- Yay, we love you Kennywood

It’s impressive PR, and I’m probably being more biased than I should be because I don’t like that company but I’m really not giving them a cookie for this.

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as I said on FB: 

we can ride a Paratrooper, an Enterprise, and a Bayurn Kurve elsewhere (hopefully at Knoebels within a year).. but the Kangaroo was/is the last of it's kind.

so yeah. . I'll give them a cookie here.  

Even if it's clearly because they bowed to pressure/anger from Theme Park fans.

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I'm so happy to be wrong about that rumor! "I will not spread unfounded rumors on TPR, I will not spread unfounded rumors on TPR, I will not spread unfounded rumors on TPR, I will not spread unfounded rumors on TPR..."

Also, really glad that Kennywood listened to their fans and is moving to bring back a classic for the park. Hope that trend continues!

I wonder if Premier can now partner with someone (or I guess go it alone if they wanted to) to make Kangaroo rides for other parks? I think I could get behind having a Kangaroo at every Six Flags park!

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I'm going to have to get to Kennywood before they do something silly like remove it again.
We had the "Flying Coaster" at Waldameer when I was really young, but I was never tall enough to ride it before it was removed, so it would be nice to get on one of those.

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11 hours ago, bert425 said:

  Even if it's clearly because they bowed to pressure/anger from Theme Park fans.

Not just theme park fans... a lot of people in Pittsburgh REALLY care about what Kennywood does. I heard multiple people talking about this at school today.

Also they're bringing back a decorative backdrop in the spirit of the one it had years ago.20211119_183950.jpg.c75856cb43f7822866587cab3f7caff7.jpg

Hopefully they don't butcher the restraints.

This is a good centerpiece for the park's rebranding and "new look" next year!

 

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Very cool to read about The Bounce. My only time riding one of those, was in 1962, at age 9! It was at the Seattle 1962 World's Fair, and the ride was located right beside a Calypso. It's neat to read about the ride having a longer life span, than expected. Good for Kennywood on that decision.

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There it is, between Calypso and the Go Kart track.

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  • 4 weeks later...

So I guess I was kinda right...(still sorry about that...😬)...there really are big changes coming to Kennywood next year!

Park's website page with more info: https://www.kennywood.com/content/knw/en/discover-the-park/plan-your-visit/experiences/what-s-new.html

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(Photos courtesy of Reddit, because that was the easiest place to get them)

Looks like they are really committed to rejuvenating the park, and honoring the park's history! Seems like a step in the right direction to me!

They say that more will be announced in the coming months, so looks like the 125th at Kennywood is gonna be a big one!

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  • 1 month later...

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