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Kennywood (KW) Discussion Thread


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well its something new at a park that had never offered a season pass.. I dont think its as big of news as the sale to Parque, but its noteworthy at least. at least its news and not just some crap thread asking which coaster youve been on has the most inversions

 

I'm kinda shocked it took this long with Lake Compounce offering passes for a few years now!

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Forgive me if this is a stupid question...but what is the big deal?

 

Kennywood in its history was infamous for "standing their ground" on new operation ideas, and for rejecting the season pass idea (and the ride-all-day concept 30 years ago) for years, stating it didn't want to be baby sitter for McKeesport High School.

 

But as times change, all these "Hell would have to freeze over" promises of keeping the park running the same year after year have been broken.

 

Another example: Kennywood used to preach that it would NEVER be open after Labor Day. As well all know, that was broken the year Kennywood held a "make-up picnic day/Kennycon" one year because of extreme in-climate weather. (I think that was either 1990, or 91!) The golden tickets we had said something along the lines of "The first, and only time we're open after Labor Day, be part of history". PPP blew that idea away.

 

Give it a couple years, they'll get q-bots next. LOL

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Haha, I knew they would adopt the season passes; though they could end up with a few "babysitter" circumstances, but it really can't hurt them to do this. I personally won't be getting a season pass because I'm becoming a coaster coward (going to amusement parks is no longer a necessity for me), but I'm sure this will go great for the park.

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Now that I am back from my latest adventure and have time to actually post my opinion ... here it is:

 

I think it is a bad idea. Mostly because the bread and butter of the park (the people who have supported it for years) do not go to the park more than a couple times a year. If you do anything to change the norm, such as longer lines, pricier food or even pay parking, they will turn their backs. This would be the deathblow for the park.

 

I also remember the days back in the 80s when the park had a low general admission and it was scary. The park has really positioned themselves nicely and I hate to see anything throw the balance off. Of course, in the end, I don't think many people will buy the season pass. I would consider it my home park and I wouldn't do it.

 

Now if we could just get Knoebels to do this. It would be a little harder to do since you dont pay for admission or parking, but it would be kinda neat to have a pass for the season.

 

Didn't work out so well for Conneaut, but they did it.

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That is an old article. There is no date, but it is at least before May 3rd because of the statement, "Kennywood Park is set to open for the season on May 3."

 

Take a gander at these two articles:

 

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_567669.html

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2008/05/19/daily20.html

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^ Which translates into more money, hopefully... And better park improvements in the future.

 

-James Dillaman

 

Sounds good. But, unfortunately Kennywood is in a situation where they don't have any room to make major improvements.

 

As it is, they need to tear out their "revolving door" coaster every time they want to build a new one.

 

They've tried to make a huge deal out of Ghostwood Estates, which is absolutely awful. Virtually every ride that was in that same spot was better, but they need to remove something every time they want to change anything.

 

So, those who think this is a bad thing are probably correct. Longer lines for just about everything.

 

Considering I stood in line for nearly 45 minutes for Noah's Ark... on a WEEKDAY... this really isn't good news.

 

With luck, they'll use the money gained from this to expand Sandcastle and Idlewild.

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Sounds good. But, unfortunately Kennywood is in a situation where they don't have any room to make major improvements.

 

Not sure if you were aware of this or not, but three years back Kennywood purchased over 50 acres of land adjacent to the current property for future expansion. However, the expansion was contingent on the completion of the Mon Fayette Expressway, which has yet to be completed. But with the sale of the park completed and under new ownership, I really wouldn't be surprised if the park begins expanded its property, especially after the announcement of season passes for next season. So the park has plenty of room for such improvements, its just the park never had the means to fund such a large expansion, however under new ownership, its now possible.

 

If you're interested here's a link to the purchase a few years back.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_350453.html

 

There's also a few other links on Kennywood's press releases, just scroll down a bit.

http://www.kennywood.com/media/in_the_news.php

 

In regards to the season pass announcement, I would first like to make it clear that from what I heard from people I've talked to about this issue, this has been in the works well before Parques Reunidos came along, so its not like they forced Kennywood to add season passes or anything like that. And while we can expect there to be larger crowds with the addition of the season pass (just look what it did to Sandcastle), you can't really say thats a downside because that's just downright selfish...you can't blame the park for trying to bring in some extra profit.

 

Second, for all the people who feel this is going to make Kennywood some "babysitting service" next year, let me remind you that the price of these things is $90 dollars. Now whilst that may seem like a bargain if you go to the park more than 3 times a year, I just don't see a ton of teenagers breaking down and paying that much money to go to the park when they could just as easily spend $17 and buy a Night Rider pass after 5pm. I personally have always wanted a season pass for Kennywood. I live 6 miles from the park and the main reason I didn't go to the park a lot prior to this year was the rising price of tickets. I now work at the park but that's a whole different story.

 

I personally think this is going to open up Kennywood's opportunities greatly especially with the added revenue these passes will bring in. I just think that a lot of the locals who are big fans of the park are afraid of the park drifting away from the park being a traditional amusement park and becoming too much like parks owned by Cedar Fair or Six Flags. While I too would like the park to stay a traditional amusement park (thats what makes the park special after all), change isn't always a bad thing and there are certain things that need to be up to date in order to stick with the competition.

 

Kennywood is a great park and I think this is going to help develop it into a even better one. I just can't believe so many people are against this because its going to bring more crowds...My question is, how is that a bad thing? So many people want to see a new coaster at the park, but how would you like them to fund it without more people coming to the park. We're talking about a park who considered a $2 million investment one of its largest investments in park history, and they want the park to add a roller coaster that is 3 to 5 times more expensive than Ghostwood Estate. Bringing in crowds isn't necessarily a bad thing when we're talking about park improvements if you know what I mean.

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They've tried to make a huge deal out of Ghostwood Estates, which is absolutely awful. Virtually every ride that was in that same spot was better, but they need to remove something every time they want to change anything.

 

So, those who think this is a bad thing are probably correct. Longer lines for just about everything.

 

First of all, I liked Ghostwood Estates. Everything you shot moved. Very nicely done. Even my dad who hates most dark rides had fun riding it.

 

Secondly, Longer lines and more people translate into more money and more rides being built. It's simple economics. Supply and demand. Look at how rapidly Holiday World expanded, and they're not even near a big city like Pittsburgh.

 

-James Dillaman

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Look at how rapidly Holiday World expanded, and they're not even near a big city like Pittsburgh.

 

Actually, Holiday World is positioned very nicely between many medium-sized cities. The park also includes a water park, easy highway access and almost unlimited expansion area. I wouldn't expect Kennywood to come even close to that kind of expansion without the Mon-Fayette road and they might not even get an exit.

 

Also, Holiday World charges $139.95 for their season pass.

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They've tried to make a huge deal out of Ghostwood Estates, which is absolutely awful. Virtually every ride that was in that same spot was better, but they need to remove something every time they want to change anything.

 

That's your opinion, I, along with many other people, thought it was a great ride, better than any other dark ride at Kennywood.

 

So many people want to see a new coaster at the park, but how would you like them to fund it without more people coming to the park. We're talking about a park who considered a $2 million investment one of its largest investments in park history, and they want the park to add a roller coaster that is 3 to 5 times more expensive than Ghostwood Estate.

 

That was under old ownership, where everything was based off revenue. Being owned by a giant corporation like Parque makes multi-million dollar upgrades and investments not out of the question anymore.

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That was under old ownership, where everything was based off revenue. Being owned by a giant corporation like Parque makes multi-million dollar upgrades and investments not out of the question anymore.

 

I think there is this big misunderstanding concerning the buyout. The only reason for the buyout was the park had split to something like 200 different owners. For lack of a better description, Parque is pretty much acting as a silent (at least for now) investor. The Henninger family will most likely run this park the way it has always been run.

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^^^ I understand it's close to medium-sized cities, but not nearly as close as Kennywood is to Pittsburgh. That was my only point, that growth of a small park was possible. I understand a lot depends on the proposed expressway, but if they play their cards right they can expand if they wish. Plus there are areas of the park that can be reworked to fit more rides in, much like Cedar Point, where nobody ever thinks they have room for a new coaster, yet one is built every few years or so.

 

I just think that this is pretty good news, as parks that embrace history without evolving tend to only be discussed by the older members on this site, as they're long gone, and I don't want Kennywood to be a memory I tell my kids about someday.

 

-James Dillaman

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In case anyone wasn't aware on here, the Mon Fayette Expressway is pretty much DEAD...the road is about partially completed but there has been no progress on it for years. Even during the election for Mayor last year in Pittsburgh, both candidates both agreed that the expressway was pretty much dead due in part to no funding to complete it. So if Kennywood is going to continue waiting around for this road to be completed to start the expansion, quite frankly we're never going to see the park expand its boundaries...ever.

 

The only reason the park said that the expansion was contingent on this expressway was because with the park having its own exit, it would open up its doors to many more visitors a year. However, this was all proposed under the family ownership and with Parque now in control, who knows what the possibilities for this park are. While some say Parque is going to be very hands off and allow the parks to run themselves off their own revenue, if Kennywood wanted to make a large expansion which could bring tons of new guests in, I don't think they'd expect the park to pay for it all out of pocket from their own revenue...but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

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