KPfan Posted January 20, 2021 Share Posted January 20, 2021 I probably should add it was closed in my 2017 visit as well, but I thought that was just a fluke at the time. I saw the ride operate in 2016, but that has been it. The only other Zamperla discovery I've seen with this much downtime is the one at Great Escape. The others seem to run outside of a small technical delay here and there.2018 was the last time that it operated with riders. It tested several times in 2019 while maintenance worked with Zamperla to troubleshoot but ultimately it wouldn't reach full height. Took over 6 months to get the custom gearbox which eventually arrived and was installed but also failed. Sat idle all through the limited 2020 season and was reportedly fixed after the park closed in September. Staff still working in the park at the time confirmed that it completed tested. It's expected to be ready for opening day this year. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Thanks! Was this one the prototype? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Parques Reunidos should spring for Amazon prime. It always takes them months / years to get parts for literally anything. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPfan Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Thanks! Was this one the prototype?I don’t think so. As far as I know it was the first in North America but the 5th or 6th overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 5 hours ago, coasterbill said: Parques Reunidos should spring for Amazon prime. It always takes them months / years to get parts for literally anything. And it's possible they order the wrong parts anyway as seen with the wheel issue on Phobia a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mary.pesik Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 I'm actually gonna miss Garfield. Garfield was my life around age 6. I know, it sucked in terms of mechanics, but the story was cute and it appealed to kids. Keep in mind, I'm 18, and I'm also a Six Flags stan so... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CenturyFlyer Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Kennywood had a sweepstakes contest for the Jack Rabbit's 100th anniversary last year with 100 winners of a season pass. They postponed the party to this year, but it finally happened yesterday, Opening Day. Since I was one of the winners, we got to enter the park early for an hour of ERT. Of course, Kennywood really took a nosedive this past offseason with the removal of four rides. But the rest of the park is not even close to being up to standard. Steel Curtain apparently valleyed, despite being hyped up by the park to be ready for opening day. You could see one of the trains in pieces from the Jack Rabbit (along with pieces from the Paratrooper). Black Widow is also now officially in its third season of being closed. The third train on Thunderbolt is gone and isn't coming back because they built a fence around where it was kept on the transfer track. They never used three trains at once but just kept a spare like the Jack Rabbit, which also has three. I'm hoping that they'll still run two in the future, but on Opening Day, just one was being used. Phantom was on one train too. Shocking, right? You can see how they're filling every row, which is done now on every coaster. Alright, here's the four pictures you might be interested in! You could mistake the Volcano as just being down for the day if you didn't look too closely. The social distancing markers are even still in the queue line. The most depressing fence in the world took the place of Bayern Kurve. I heard that it may have been sold to California's Great America for parts (not to Knoebels for parts). Paratrooper had some trees planted on its plot. But I was glad to see that the door still may be open to a return of the Kangaroo. Like the Volcano, the control system, operator booth, and queue line all still exist. If the park has a profitable summer, I think it could come back in the future. I mean, If you look at the Kennywood Facebook page, literally every post - 6 months after its removal was announced - has at least one troll saying KANGAROO or whatever. The simple move of bringing this one ride back would get them so much good publicity and would make people forget about the other three ride removals. Along with Racer (my favorite KW coaster - weird, I know) the Old Mill is one of my favorite rides in the park even though it's a low-budget retheme. At the complimentary lunch in the pavilion next to the Jack Rabbit, there was a trivia contest, and I was very happy to win an old decorative piece from one of the trains for answering a nerdy question. Crowds were high all day, but I wonder how many of these people are just using their free passes from last year (like me). I would guess that they made up the majority of people visiting. Not the best of times at the park, but at the end of the day, I can't complain about a free season pass and a free lunch! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytterbiumanalyst Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Thanks for the photos! Kangaroo and Bayern Kurve were two of the best rides at Kennywood. Sad to see them go, and fingers crossed for Kangaroo's return! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Thanks for the report, hopefully they at least get all of their current rides operating soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJLehto Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 16 hours ago, SharkTums said: Thanks for the report, hopefully they at least get all of their current rides operating soon. Yeah, I was worried about this given covid and all because it may have been a bad day...but they didn't have all rides operating/enough staff when I went in 2018! In general I had a pretty bleh day actually, the park ops/running were kind of a mess and maybe it was just a local bashing on their home but dude I was with made it seem like this wasn't exactly uncommon. Speaking of, park opens 1030 I see. Is this guests are let in, but rides open at 11? I recall last time being caught off guard by the half hour of park open but not rides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CenturyFlyer Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Yep, the 10:30/11 thing has been the norm for as long as I can remember. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 I’m hopeful that they take the next month and get things under control… I’m visiting for the first time next month and it would be a bummer to have so many of the big coasters down. They’ve yet to update their site with VIP Coaster Tour options and pricing for this year… Other than finding references to previous years, I can’t get any valuable details that explain what their fast lane/quick queue equivalent is or how it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CenturyFlyer Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 I'm assuming you know that the unlimited pass is really expensive for what you get. It was $130 in 2019. I saw some people using it last weekend but don't know any details. You have a sheet of paper which the ride op has to sign, holding up the line for everyone while they walk across the train to fill out their name, birthday, and favorite color. Only if you're lucky will they then open the queue gates. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Yeah, I’ve found references to 2019 pricing… I was looking at the standard (non-unlimited) option that looked closer to $50 but I’ve found mixed references to it having assigned times for each ride. We’re stopping at Kennywood (for our first time) for 4-6 hours before driving to Hershey, so I’m just trying to figure out an economical way to experience the best of in the park that works for our schedule. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJLehto Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 14 minutes ago, CenturyFlyer said: Yep, the 10:30/11 thing has been the norm for as long as I can remember. Cool, long as its still the case. I just wont bother getting there till 11. Hopefully all opens! Only had my 1 visit but not everything did indeed open at 11 some took a while longer, and yeah there was so little staffing/lines were so long it was insane. This one ride they had non ops (they were clearly employees but almost certainly not normal ride ops) having to do this one ride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPfan Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 1 hour ago, jedimaster1227 said: I’m hopeful that they take the next month and get things under control… I’m visiting for the first time next month and it would be a bummer to have so many of the big coasters down. They’ve yet to update their site with VIP Coaster Tour options and pricing for this year… Other than finding references to previous years, I can’t get any valuable details that explain what their fast lane/quick queue equivalent is or how it works. The only big coaster that was down this past weekend was Steel Curtain but that may have been weather related since there was rain/hail and low 40 degree temps. The VIP tours stand wasn’t open so I’m not sure if they’re planning to open it anytime soon. Perhaps after they have the park fully open after Memorial Day. You should also know that they are having their food & drink event during select days in June. So that’s likely going to boost attendance on those days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tndank Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Steel Curtain valley'ed on Thurs or Friday, presumably because of cold weather. I think the plan is to have it running next weekend. If it were me, I'd get there at 10, get in the park, and head to Steel Curtain. Knock it out. Lines will be big for it this year. Skyrush (whoops, Sky Rocket) has run 1 train last year or two and will hold a line. Then get Racer both sides. On my visits last couple years those 3 were typically the longest waits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CenturyFlyer Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Skyrocket has been running 1 train? really. . damn that would be a hella slow moving line with only 12 seats per cycle. that said, I didnt' love it, and it ranked near the bottom of the coasters at Kennywood for me. (I cared for Exterminator less). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CenturyFlyer Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 Two trains are on Sky Rocket now! (Sorry for the troll post.) There was some major maintenance issue with the second train last year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tndank Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 That's great to hear. I actually skipped it last year because the line was so slow. Already had the credit and they were sending the 1 train every 5-10 min it seemed. Got 5 or 6 more rides on Phantom in the time I would have waited on Sky Rocket. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinU Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 3 hours ago, bert425 said: Skyrocket has been running 1 train? really. . damn that would be a hella slow moving line with only 12 seats per cycle. On 9/13/2020 at 10:23 PM, MartinU said: I was perplexed why this major coaster, currently the only looping one running, was only running one train! And then I got to the station and saw it was not even fully assembled. With one train of 8 people, and a dispatch every 3 minutes that comes to about 160 PPH. I'm glad we caught this right after a break down, and only waiting maybe 15 minutes. Fun ride, but this would have been painfully slow to wait for this one. Here is a photo I took in September 2020. The second train was largely stripped and just sitting there. It was a slow line, so we only caught it at the end of the day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grsupercity Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 Is Steel Curtain running yet? Crazy to think with a whole year off its still having issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPfan Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 21 minutes ago, grsupercity said: Is Steel Curtain running yet? Crazy to think with a whole year off its still having issues It wasn’t closed because of issues. It was a combination of COVID and improvements/modifications that they decided to do to the trains. It would have been open to the public this past weekend had it not been for unexpected weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPfan Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 Steel Curtain is expected to open this Friday (possibly with single train operations) if anyone is planning a trip. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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