Kennywood (KW) Discussion Thread

[KPfan]

9 hours ago, coneyislandchris said:

Kennywood and extended ride closures go together just like chocolate and peanut butter.

They haven't closed Phantom's Revenge yet for the repainting, have they?

Revenge is not expected to close for painting.  And yeah, the new management team is not happy about some of the prolonged downtime or repetitive issues with certain rides.  Obviously not everything can be addressed at once but expect to see more work being done to improve.  

[coasterbill]

I don't know the specifics of what's wrong with this thing, but considering it's Kennywood I think it's fair to assume that the park probably shares in the blame along with the manufacturer. I'm not giving them the benefit of the doubt on anything.

[bert425]

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.

[BRTeller]

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.

[partycat]

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:

Kenny was in his halloween best!

love sky rocket! such a fun ride

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

the purple track looks cool!

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

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

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!

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

have to ride the whip! such a great ride!

Lots of photo-op areas everywhere!

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

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).

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

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

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

Mark showing off one of the secret doors

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

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

gotta take that spooky mirror selfie!

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! 

had to get some pictures back there too!

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

RIP

Also RIP (I really miss this one)

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

love seeing real chainsaws being used for haunts!

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

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

had to take a spooky tunnel selfie

 

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!

[PKI Jizzman]

Great report! It's a shame how many rides are closed, but at least the Halloween event gives some new things to try. Black Widow down again?! Damn, that thing is so much fun. 

[PennStater]

Black Widow has been open every day for PFF, but usually not until a little later in the day due to staffing and it being a lower priority in the morning part of the event.

[CenturyFlyer]

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...