Kennywood (KW) Discussion Thread

[Password121]

Thanks guys! We'll prioritize Black Widow, Bayern Curve and Kangaroo and if we have time try for Whip, Swingshot and the train. We're for sure doing all the dark rides and coasters and maybe the flume if we feel like it.

[boldikus]

^Good call on that because I had completely forgotten about that ride. Oh and I can only hope my report is half as awesome as yours, it's what made me want to this trip so badly in the first place.

 

Don't worry about reports. Just go and have fun, Kennywood is a great park!

[Password121]

^Good call on that because I had completely forgotten about that ride. Oh and I can only hope my report is half as awesome as yours, it's what made me want to this trip so badly in the first place.

 

Don't worry about reports. Just go and have fun, Kennywood is a great park!

Oh I'm totally kidding about that. I'll put one together for sure but it won't be anything I'm concerned about during or after the trip. Almost there!

[bert425]

Thanks guys! We'll prioritize Black Widow, Bayern Curve and Kangaroo and if we have time try for Whip, Swingshot and the train. We're for sure doing all the dark rides and coasters and maybe the flume if we feel like it.

 

as for Dark Rides -- don't miss Ghostwood Estates, or Noah's Arc. . and tho I didn't care for Exterminator, (it's an indoor, themed spinning mouse) do that one EARLY. .the lines get insane.

 

but absolutely SKIP "Garfield's Nightmare". . it's interesting in a throwback "tunnel of Love" type ride. . but certainly not worth your time if you have limited time in the park, and there are better things to ride.

[boldikus]

but absolutely SKIP "Garfield's Nightmare". . it's interesting in a throwback "tunnel of Love" type ride. . but certainly not worth your time if you have limited time in the park, and there are better things to ride.

 

I wish we did Ghostwood and Noah's Ark because they seem to get lots of praise but yeah I agree skip the Garfield boat ride. We did do that on a whim while walking out just because of the freaking weird ass theming but it was kinda dumb lol. If you want a WTF experience go for it but its definitely worth skipping for more laps on better stuff.

[Password121]

Just left the park. I'll post everything next week but holy crap this park is awesome. Almost everything about it.

[bluestreak]

Just left the park. I'll post everything next week but holy crap this park is awesome. Almost everything about it.

 

Good back. Phantom at night is something to behold.

[Password121]

Just left the park. I'll post everything next week but holy crap this park is awesome. Almost everything about it.

 

Good back. Phantom at night is something to behold.

I totally would but have a three hour trip to the motel before Kings Island tomorrow morning. Gives me a reason to go back sometime!

[bluestreak]

Just left the park. I'll post everything next week but holy crap this park is awesome. Almost everything about it.

 

Good back. Phantom at night is something to behold.

I totally would but have a three hour trip to the motel before Kings Island tomorrow morning. Gives me a reason to go back sometime!

 

Thats understandable at least you'll have beast at night to look forward to!

[DILinator]

Which flats are seriously worth waiting more than a few cycles for?

 

Bayern Curve.

 

So freaking crazy and just as good as I remembered it when I used to ride them as a kid. We did walk right on. You've read my report, we didn't do many flats, but don't skip that one.

 

 

I wholeheartedly second this! Definitely don't skip Bayern Kurve! SO much fun!

 

Just left the park. I'll post everything next week but holy crap this park is awesome. Almost everything about it.

 

I completely agree! Kennywood really is a hidden gem of a park! I loved it when I had family that lived in Pittsburgh, and we could go whenever visiting them. Still, I'd gladly stop by again, even if just I'm passing through!

[boldikus]

Just left the park. I'll post everything next week but holy crap this park is awesome. Almost everything about it.

 

Glad you enjoyed. I'm a little jealous. Looking forward to reading about your experience!

[ejot]

Just had a ridiculously awesome first visit to Kennywood. Was skeptical about the primanti sandwich but it delivers!

[Password121]

^You and I both. Speaking of, if anyone wants to check out my photo TR from last week, check it out!

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=72161

[KPfan]

Just had a ridiculously awesome first visit to Kennywood. Was skeptical about the primanti sandwich but it delivers!

 

You picked a good day to go. Weather was nice and the crowd was decent. Other than the Pirate being down, everything was operating and lines were short. The park isn't big but it's got something for everyone. Including a water park about 3 miles away.

 

As for Primanti's, it's a good sandwich and always recommended to try at least once. One thing visitors don't realize is that Pittsburgh had a lot of good food spots. Primanti's just gets the most attention.

[TrashcanMan]

Will be attending Kennywood next week for the first time. Couple questions, if nobody minds

 

[*] Will be going on Monday, will crowds be any issue? If so, do they offer a fast-pass type solution that might be needed?

[*] I've seen some good discussion about some don't miss flats, any other park specific must-see's that are unique or fun?

[*] If I brought a small backpack, do the ride platforms have bins?

 

Anything else that I need to know, would love to hear! Sad I'll be missing Kennycon by a day, but looking forward to my first visit.

[vistaway]

We visited Kennywood yesterday and had a great time. Got there at 10:45 and we were able to hit every coaster, plus all the key flats, Ghostwood Estates, Noah's Ark x 4, and the water rides (except the rapids) by 3:00 pm. Pretty much a walk-on for everything. Cannot beat that! It had been five years since our last visit, and although not much had changed, the park looked great and operations were excellent. No need for the VIP Tour!

 

It's such a photogenic place.

No lines!

Thunderbolt was a walk-on all day

As was Phantom

This was my first time riding Kangaroo - can't believe I had missed it on previous visits!

[jynx242]

^Great pictures!! Thanks for sharing them.

[ejot]

So I have badly wanted to visit Kennywood for a couple years but it's just outside of my daytrip range, and has eluded me on two tightly scheduled Cedar Point trips. Finally I got the chance to take a Monday off work and spend a long weekend hitting up Idlewild and Kennywood, with a stop at Knoebels on the way back for good measure. I even spent the 11 minutes at Lakemont on the way out that it took to get a ride on Leap-the-Dips. (Actually I also did a few laps on Skyliner because, frankly, it rocks.) Hopefully you won't mind a few non-Kennywood pics to open.

 

Made it to Idlewild just before 4pm on Saturday for their discounted evening ticket. The guy at the ticket booth seemed genuinely torn whether to grant me the cheaper ticket three minutes before 4:00, but did. I headed right for the Storybook Forest since it closes early and did a brisk walk through, attempting to be as minimally creepy as possible. Checked out the waterpark next and did one slide, but the lines were pretty long, and nothing seemed outstanding, so headed back into the park.

 

Main objectives here were their Flyers ("Flying Aces") and Rollo Coaster. Flying Aces is an interesting ride. Apparently it was manufactured by Premier (what?!), new for the park in 2007. However - to appearances at least - it is a near exact clone of the old Bisch-Rocco design. Unfortunately, the ride experience itself was marginal - virtually un-snappable and a very short cycle. But the ride does look great in it's simple, rugged military fighter pilot theme. Attractive rides is a common motif at Idlewild - they keep their equipment beautifully maintained.

 

 

Onto Rollo Coaster, right across from the Flyers. The wait appeared fairly substatial, filling up the small queue and spilling deep into the walkways.

Everyone in this photo was waiting for Rollo.

But it's a very short ride, and with good ops running one train, I was boarding in maybe 20-25 minutes.

I <3 manual brakes.

The trains were completely awesome! Spotless, classic, and incredibly comfortable with big, soft, immaculately upholstered cushions.

So how is this tiny little coaster? It is GREAT! I rode backseat. There isn't any wild airtime or big forces, or stomach-churning drops, but it put a HUGE smile on my face. It's totally a baby Boulder Dash, and while it doesn't offer that kind of thrill, it is a completely adorable little gem of a ride in a quaint, charming setting. 8/10.

 

Next I headed over to Wild Mouse, expecting to see a standard-issue wild mouse-type coaster. What a surprise I was in for upon seeing this wacky 1985 Vekoma ride that first ran at Prater! It has some mouse elements to it, but it's definitely an interesting ride with some bigger drops. The setting is also great, tucked into the woods, with a great rustic paint scheme that blends right in.

I waited about 15 minutes and was about halfway through the line when, unfortunately, the operators got the call on the radio to shut 'er down due to an incoming storm. So .... ended up missing out on the first mouse I was actually excited to ride. I also now regret somehow not knowing about the handcars and missing those too. But no matter, bigger and better thing ahead for the next day!

 

After rolling into the Pittsburgh area, I checked into my hotel and made a beeline for the (unfortunately not original) Primanti Bros conveniently just down the road. With a 24oz Yuengling and an incredibly tall sandwich full of fries and slaw in front of me, I took a deep breath and dug in....

 

Holy. Crap. I really did not expect to enjoy this so much - more of a "just have to do it" thing... .but, no! It was delish! The craziest part is how absolutely impossible it appears to eat, but once you get your mitts around it, totally works! I absolutely devoured the sandwich, headed back, and somehow got some sleep amid my excitement for the day to come.

 

Kennywood. I was excited beyond words and up for a day of heavy riding. So my first stop was the skip-the-line booth where I waited first in line for it to open up at 11:00. I wanted to ensure getting one of the 26 unlimited passes they sell each day. As long as you get into the park by 11:00 I can't imagine having any trouble snagging one of these. The booth is across from Sky Rocket.

 

Let's jump right into the rides. I had no plan of attack and took a wildly inefficient course through the attractions, doubling back all over the place and walking from one end of the park to another on a whim. It was great! Didn't take all that many pictures, but I'll mix in a few as we go.

 

Gran Prix (bumper cars), x1 - This was a rather modern bumper cars ride, so not too special. But they let you drive wherever you wanted, instead of in unidirectional laps, which made for a few good hits and laughs. Drove with a fun group. 6/10.

 

Bayern Kurve, x2 - Awesome, wild ride. Rode in the front and back, both were excellent. The greatest part is how the pitch of the drive tires hitting the train gets higher and higher as the ride speeds up. After the first few laps, I was all "that's it?" when suddenly the drive tires start HOWLING and I'm all "holy &^%$% this is fun!" Also, I had no idea about that little... er... "surprise" halfway through the cycle. Just an awesome overall experience! 9/10.

 

Swingshot, x2 - This was a complete walk-on all day long which was perplexing. Screamin' Swings are great, and with a fantastic view of Phantom right in front of you, this did not disappoint at all. 8/10.

 

Whip, x1 - A very whippy Whip. I like the lack of a roof. Whiptastic. 8/10.

 

Kangaroo, x1 - Ba-hahahahaha. This still has me giggling. Boing....boing....boing.....lol. The line got long quick and stayed long all day, so I didn't snag any rerides, which I'd have totally been up for. Goofy as it looks, DO NOT MISS Kangaroo! 9/10.

 

My coaster tour wristband was really tight, and at this point started to bother me enough to go get one put on more loosely. Since this brought me right next to Sky Rocket, I hit this up next, and had really bad first experience with my pass. Line was pretty significant, maybe 30-40min. Walked up the exit ramp and ride op was very attentive, immediately gave me choice of any seat except back or front on the next train. I chose row 4, hopped on, pulled the restraint down ... and then the girl whose ride I intruded on started tearing into me, loudly. I had broken up her group of four so that half would be on my ride and half on the next. She was seriously pissed, I was embarrassed, and if she hadn't been so rude, would have asked to get back up and let them on.

 

Luckily, this was my only bad experience with the pass all day. It worked out amazingly and drama-free in every other case. I highly recommend it!

 

Sky Rocket, x2 - Great launch, great first few elements. Kind of peters out after the mid-course brake, although I actually loved the slo-mo trick-track section. 7/10.

Flat track inversions are beautiful!

Noah's Ark, x2 - Best walkthru I've done. Don't miss this one either. 9/10.

 

Potato Patch Bacon/Cheese Fries, x1 - No line! And, meh, they were good-ish, at least the cheesy, bacon-ey part. Fries toward the bottom were pretty soggy and got tossed. 5/10.

Phantom's Revenge, x9 - I had incredibly high expectations for this coaster and could not imagine it exceeding them. But it ..... BLEW. THEM. AWAY. The combination of huge drops, insane ejector airtime, magnificent terrain usage, interactions with other rides, head choppers, and overall relentless intensity makes for a ride simply beyond description. I also managed three magical night rides. Still figuring out where it will fit in my top-10. Strangely, the line for this was basically nil most all day, and I was often better off using the regular queue than the fast entry bracelet. 11/10.

 

Black Widow, x3 - Yes, this eats up maXair and, figuratively speaking, craps it all over CP. Has got to be the greatest frisbee-style ride out there by far. The queue line was very long for this and being able to ride it at will felt a little wrong. 10/10.

Conveluted.nltrack

Exterminator, x1 - No idea why I didn't get back for any rerides on this, the themeing made it tons of fun. 7/10.

 

Turtle, x1 - Nicely maintained but Conneaut's Bug runs better, so this didin't meet expectations. 5/10.

 

Racer, x5 - 10/10.

 

Jackrabbit, x5 - Fantastic vintage trains, and a quintessential John Miller design. The double dip fell short of my very steep expectations but the whole experience was a real winner. 8.5/10.

 

Thunderbolt, x2 - First ride worked out great as there was another single rider to pair up with. I ended up as the squishee. My second ride was a bit embarrassing as they had to call out for someone to ride with me, and a girl queued for front row got to ride twice. Thankfully I was again the squishee. Great ride, very intense for its era. Love how the station is set up with the ops working from a lower level. NAD FTW. 9/10.

 

Aero360, x1 - Eh, these rides are alright. The arrows are cool. 5/10.

 

Volcano, x1 - Enterprises are great and this one ran very nicely. I was talking to Waldameer ride op who was visiting the park and he mentioned that Kennywood actually swapped out Enterprises over the off season with the one they got from Lake Compounce, since they were having so much trouble with their old one. He claimed to have helped get the ex-LC ride set up and running. 7/10.

 

Cosmic Chaos, x1 - Big fan of Disk-O's, and this one didn't crush my man parts too badly. 7/10.

 

Beer Garden, x1 - Took me forever to find this, and just made it in for last call. Beer guy was pretty funny.

 

Carousel, x1 - Great, authentic "survivor" Carousel. Needs ring dispenser. 7.125/10

 

Then I had this crazy looking ice cream and rode Phantom, Racer, and JR deep into the night.

 

Afterwards, another Primanti sandwich and Yuengling finished off an incredible journey to Kennywood & Idlewild.

Standing here is the most intense moment at Kennywood.

[Password121]

^Great report. We share a lot similar opinions on the rides. Have to ask--did you ride in the very last row of Jack Rabbit? The middle is still good but nowhere near the insanity of row 9. And I'm super jealous of Phantom night rides. What an awesome park this is and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[ejot]

Twice all the way in front, twice all the way in back. But don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the ride.

[Samuel]

Awesome report! As an original Yinzer, it's nice to see Kennywood getting lots of love lately, plus a good shout-out to Idlewild. I do love the Potato Patch fries, though -- even the soggy ones are fine by me!

 

Your ride list really drew attention to the loaded flats collection at Kennywood. As I visit more parks, I really appreciate how comparatively broad, rare, and incredible Kennywood's flat ride portfolio truly is!

 

There are a few Intamin coasters ahead of Phantom in my rather informal Top However Many list, but I think it's even better than great rides like Fury and Bizarro/RoS. Before RMCing was a thing, Phantom getting Morgan'd was such a great decision -- what an airtime bonanza! I think it slipped under the radar a little bit once Millennium Force and lots of B&M hypers started to pop up, but I think people are seeing that Phantom still out-thrills most of its peers & remains one of the most unique coasters in the world. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[DILinator]

Kennywood is such a great little park! Glad you enjoyed it!

 

And yes, Bayern Kurve is SO much win!

 

Phantom's Revenge has GOT to be in the conversation for most underrated coaster, especially among enthusiasts! I'll never understand how so many people rave about Magnum, yet, in my opinion, PR eats up and craps all over Cedar Point (to coin one of your phrases) Magnum! Such a great, great coaster!

 

I have not yet had the pleasure of riding Black Widow, but considering maXair might very well be my favorite non-coaster ride (I actually like IT more than Magnum! lol), I am very anxious to finally get back to Kennywood again and check BW out! It must be amazing!

[BeansproutMidget]

Nice to see someone else has met the Kennywood magic. Many PA parks seem to have that kinda of atmosphere. And an Idlewild visit!

 

These pics remind me how much I need to go back; I only was able to go for four hours and just barely snagged the main woodies and Phantom, including that insane night ride. That shot of Phantom at night, with the moon in the back, is pretty awesome. Cool TR!

[bert425]

If that ice cream was chocolate, I would have commented that the "surprise" halfway thru the Kurve's cycle really DID get ya

 

 

great report.

[boldikus]

Great pictures of a great park!