Kennywood (KW) Discussion Thread

[CenturyFlyer]

Black Widow is closed again, likely for the long haul

[coasterbill]

I've been waiting to go to this place until they actually had all of their coasters open at the same time so long-story-short I've been waiting for like 3 years.

I understand that they're Parques Reunidos so there's a 75% chance they'll break one by then and not fix it until Summer 2023, but we're planning on heading out there in two weeks otherwise. Has everything seriously been running aside from the frisbee? That doesn't seem possible.

[teacherkim]

On 6/7/2022 at 11:41 AM, coasterbill said:

I've been waiting to go to this place until they actually had all of their coasters open at the same time so long-story-short I've been waiting for like 3 years.

I understand that they're Parques Reunidos so there's a 75% chance they'll break one by then and not fix it until Summer 2023, but we're planning on heading out there in two weeks otherwise. Has everything seriously been running aside from the frisbee? That doesn't seem possible.

FYI - CoasterCon will be there June 23 & 24

[coasterbill]

Thanks for the warning! We're going the week before so that won't be an issue for us.

[Dan the Coaster Man]

I was at Kennywood yesterday. Every credit was open except lil phantom (at least the one time I walked back there). Actually, every coaster was eventually running multiple trains except Steel Curtain.

[coasterbill]

I wouldn’t be caught dead on Lil Phantom so that’s fine  

[CoasterAuditor]

Making my first ever visit here unfortunately Saturday June 25th on my way back to Richmond from Cedar Point.  How is this park on Saturdays?  Is it manageable?  I plan to go open to close that day.  Thanks for any notes on KW!

[jarmor]

I don't see the park being an open to close park, even if it's busy.  The park is kinda small (barely 80 acres, no telling how much is actual park as most of the coasters sit on the perimeter) with 7 coasters.  I would suggest doing steel curtain first, as it seems to send a train every 10 mins.

[AmyUD06]

For anyone thinking about a trip to Kennywood this week/end:

The entire area is closed off today. Major bummer. 

[coasterbill]

We ended up putting that trip I just posted about off by a few weeks so we could be home for Father's day. Joke's on me... Thunderbolt and Steel Curtain are down now.

I'll try to finally go here in another 5 years when they manage to have all of their coasters open at the same time for like 3 days before they break another one for a year.

[AmyUD06]

On 6/29/2022 at 2:08 PM, coasterbill said:

We ended up putting that trip I just posted about off by a few weeks so we could be home for Father's day. Joke's on me... Thunderbolt and Steel Curtain are down now.

I'll try to finally go here in another 5 years when they manage to have all of their coasters open at the same time for like 3 days before they break another one for a year.

Seriously. The last time I was here was 5 years ago and I skipped Exterminator and a bunch of the classic flat rides, partially due to time constraints and partially due to nonoperation. The Iron Curtain wasn't at the park then, so I was hoping to be able to stop in here on my way further west and grab those missing credits. We'll see if Exterminator is running. I arrived at around 1:30 and have only gotten on Old Mill (better than Garfield but disappointing) and Racer. About halfway through the line for Jack Rabbit as I type this. 

Edit: Just in case someone doubts Bill:

Edit: Oh, and Sky Rocket was down when I came in too, and probably still is because Kennywood.  It opened later.

[tndank]

Thunderbolt is expected to open this weekend.  Steel Curtain is back to "working with the ride manufacturer" status again.

 

[AmyUD06]

On 6/7/2022 at 9:44 AM, CenturyFlyer said:

Black Widow is closed again, likely for the long haul

Running as of today at least.

 

[teacherkim]

We were there 6/23 & 6/24 for CoasterCon; Thunderbolt was never open, apparently went down right before we got there, although we did see multiple people working on the track in what I assume was a frantic effort to see if it could be operational but to no avail. Steel Curtain was open on one train ops during the day on 6/23 and for that night's ert and the next morning's ert. Right as ert ended and the park opened on 6/24 it went down, they closed the area, and announced it would be down for the rest of the weekend. Sorry. We really didn't mean to break it. 

All the other coasters and the old, unique flats were open. We'd never been here before. How weird is Kangaroo?

BUT serious shout out to the park's culinary team. We had two dinners there, the first night they served legit filets and the second night prime rib.....both cooked to perfection. That was for 859 people. Outside. Buffet style. Amazing. And they gave us a DJ both nights which turned the dinner breaks into much more of a party than those types of events usually are.

[KPfan]

For anyone that might be interested, Kennywood recently revamped their VIP coaster tours into Speedy Pass.  The new website not only has pricing information but also now includes estimated wait times.  

https://kw.speedy-pass.com/#

[AmyUD06]

So Kennywood has removed the notice from the Rides page on the website about Steel Curtain...can anyone local confirm that it's running?  I could always detour there on my way to Cedar Point in two weeks (if they manage to not break it again by then LOL).

[prozach626]

On 6/9/2022 at 8:19 PM, coasterbill said:

I wouldn’t be caught dead on Lil Phantom so that’s fine  

That's because you're normal. I will ride kiddie coasters soon... but because I have a daughter who won't be able to ride alone. I figured out quickly that it used to feel weird being an adult and riding a kiddie coaster just for an imaginary "credit," because it actually was weird.

[tndank]

4 hours ago, Mike240SX said:

So Kennywood has removed the notice from the Rides page on the website about Steel Curtain...can anyone local confirm that it's running?  I could always detour there on my way to Cedar Point in two weeks (if they manage to not break it again by then LOL).

Up and running today. Don't hesitate to use their new flash pass website to check rides. FWIW, instant rides for SC today were $29.99.

 

 

[KPfan]

On 7/15/2022 at 4:26 PM, AmyUD06 said:

So Kennywood has removed the notice from the Rides page on the website about Steel Curtain...can anyone local confirm that it's running?  I could always detour there on my way to Cedar Point in two weeks (if they manage to not break it again by then LOL).

Curtain resumed operation on the 14th.  The park has been running 1 or 2 train ops depending on the crowd & wait times.  I would expect it to be open open for the remainder of the regular season.  But given the rides track record, it’s reasonable to skeptical.  

[AmyUD06]

41 minutes ago, KPfan said:

Curtain resumed operation on the 14th.  The park has been running 1 or 2 train ops depending on the crowd & wait times.  I would expect it to be open open for the remainder of the regular season.  But given the rides track record, it’s reasonable to skeptical.  

Awesome!  Thanks for the update.  Guess I'm stopping there on my way to CP on Tuesday.

[AmyUD06]

I know this is way late, but figure better late than never.  I did end up stopping by Kennywood on both my way to and from Cedar Point during my late-July trip.  On the way out, I did stop in for a ride on Steel Curtain.

The queue was about halfway full, and it was a 53 minute wait for the front row.  In addition to the one-train running, operations were kinda horrible - at points they weren't letting anyone even line up in the station until after the previous train had de-boarded.  As for the ride itself, it was pretty good but nothing too spectacular.  I had a couple of pops of air, but the ride is basically non-stop inversions.  I did like the "Banana Roll," which is basically a cobra roll with a corkscrew sandwiched in the middle, which I'm pretty sure I invented in my 2007 No Limits creation, DecaDemon (attached for anyone that still has No Limits).  The ride really does seem like someone's No Limits design in the way it just slams you with inversion after inversion.  Anyway, the ride itself is a 7/10 I guess.

Here's a photo of the empty station while they let the previous train's passengers exit:

The theme, and the theme of the area, as a non-Pittsburgh native, however, is a -20/10 for me.  The announcement recording during the queue by the former Steelers Coach with all of the horrible football puns is an absolutely joke.  I can see how locals eat it up though, since just about everything in the region is Steelers-themed.

Anyway, on that brief stop, I also wanted to grab Lil' Phantom but it was closed, so I swung by the park on my way back from Cedar Point and got that credit.  Whatever, it's a kiddie coaster.  I unfortunately somehow lost my Zippo lighter on it, though.

Anyway, just thought I'd follow up my previous report with the conclusion.

DecaDemon (Arrow Multilooper).nltrack

[Rai Fox]

Shots fired at Kennywood earlier tonight.  Not a lot of information yet.

https://www.wtae.com/article/emergency-response-ascends-upon-kennywood-park/41371801

Not a whole hell of a lot to say except how damn depressing this crap is.

[boldikus]

I expected the article to say it happened in the parking lot, not in the Musik Express queue. What in the actual f*ck? I haven't been to this park in years, but do they not have metal detectors at the gate?

[AmyUD06]

5 hours ago, Rai Fox said:

Shots fired at Kennywood earlier tonight.  Not a lot of information yet.

https://www.wtae.com/article/emergency-response-ascends-upon-kennywood-park/41371801

Not a whole hell of a lot to say except how damn depressing this crap is.

Yeah, it is really sad how people are not able to settle things with words and it always devolves into violence.

So, failure of the fast-scanners, or failure of the fact that they have perimeter fences (with gaps big enough to pass a handgun through) clearly accessible from within the park?

  

1 minute ago, boldikus said:

I expected the article to say it happened in the parking lot, not in the Musik Express queue. What in the actual f*ck? I haven't been to this park in years, but do they not have metal detectors at the gate?

They have the fast-scanners like most SF parks do these days.

[anonymouscactus]

^ ugh wtf. That's crazy. So much violence all around the industry and the country but this one being in the park itself is particularly scary.

-- (EDIT: just realized yesterday was the first and only night of the event hope none of you had to experience what was going on) -- did anyone have a chance to do Malice in Wonderland or do the malice feast during the event? Probably the last thing on your mind if you went, I'm curious when they will reopen the park as it is closed today understandably. Just sad all around.

Edited September 25, 2022 by anonymouscactus
Halloween started this week at Kennywood.. sorry