TR: Kennywood July 19, 2005

[Marko]

The drive from Sandusky went very smoothly and we arrived at the paid parking lot at Kennywood around 5:30 PM. This was my second visit to the park and both times the chairlift from/to the free parking was not running. Still at $4 for the paid parking I was almost happy to pay it! We hung around for a bit and took advantage of their evening admission plan which starts at 6:00 and at $15 is an amazing bargain. The new entrance to the park looks great and the staff are all very friendly.

 

Now let me start off by saying Kennywood turned out to be our absolute favorite park of an 8-day trip that took us to CP, HP, DP, Knoebels, Geauga Lake and Timber Falls in the Dells. There is no better word than charming to describe this beautiful and historic park. Combine a great collection of coasters as well as flat rides and of course great food easily makes KW our #1 pick of the bunch.

 

First stop was Exterminator as I didn't get to ride it last visit. The wait appeared to be quite substantial and the temp in the indoor queue was still very hot so we decided to ride later and headed over to Phantom's Revenge. Initially they were running only one train on PR but by 8:00 they had added a second. My guess is there isn't a procedure for when to add the second train, they just seem to do it when the mood is right. Still the wait for our first ride wasn't too bad, maybe 20 minutes for a back-row ride. PR absolutely rocked, definitely in my top five steel. It's a great example of why terrain and interaction with other rides are so important to an overall ride experience. The Morgan trains are my favorite of any steel coaster out there, so roomy and comfy with plenty of wiggle room allowing for amazing ejector air time.

 

Next stop was The Turtle which I also missed last visit. Holy crap is that an amazing ride for it's age! We absolutely loved it and laughed our way through the whole thing. Never would have imagined it had that much of a kick with a couple of air time moments - love The Turtle! We headed back over to Exterminator and the line was a little shorter/cooler so we decided to go for it. They did a really great job with the theming in the queue, it's all very 60's campy sci-fi. The ride itself has a theme to it but you really don't notice because the coaster itself is so amazing! We laughed ourselves silly on this spinning mouse, the only regret was that we didn't share a seat - you really need someone to slam into. Exterminator absolutely blew away any mouse we have been on including a similar model at SFGAM which oddly enough I would rank as my least favorite mouse.

 

Right outside Exterminator is The Whip, wow what a great ride! We later compared it to similar models at Hershey, Dorney and Knoebels and hands down KW's is the best. The Whip is not to be missed! We loved it so much we got back in line and rode it again.

 

After a stellar start we made our way around the park hitting Thunderbolt, Racer and JR - all of which were incredible. This is the only park I've visited where a wrong choice just can't be found. JR was probably our favorite but they're all amazing with great ride ops. You western PA folk have it too good.

 

As night fell the park became even more beautiful with the lights and fountains. We took a break for their awesome chicken strips and fries with a ridiculous variety of seasonings and sauces to sample. Finished the night with a front row ride on PR and the park had a very nice fireworks show as we were walking back to the car. It was Italian Day and there were quite a few Italian families in the park so maybe it was for them.

 

We had such a great evening at KW, will definitely be stopping there any time we're even remotely in the area. Next time we'll have to check out the new Riverfront area and stay at the new hotel there. Hopefully more hotels will sprout up in the area in the future, that really is the only major missing piece to making KW the perfect park.

 

Next stop, a pantry on Chocolate Ave.

 

Mark

[Sam]

Great report! Having just read your CP report, I was expecting your KW review to be a little negative, but I'm glad I couldn't have been more wrong. I agree 100% on the chicken fingers/fries combo - awesome deal. The charm of the park definitely raises the experience more than any of the rides there. The charm isn't always evident, however, as I can go a few times a year and only experience it one time. But let me tell you, once that Kennywood memory gets created, it never really goes away. If you're ever in the area again, feel free to get in touch and we could possibly get together at a park.

 

Keep ridin ' em,

- Sam

[DenDen]

I have to agree with Sam, that "charm" isn't experienced every day. I've been to KW 100's of times, but maybe experienced that charm 15-20 times. When you're with the perfect people, with perfect crowds, and perfect weather, the atmosphere is just unforgetable. Italian day is one of those days where the crowd is well behaved with many families out together to join in on the fun, and the fireworks from the Zambelli's wraps up the experience perfectly.

 

Great trip report!