Kennywood
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
By
August 13, 2001
Note: I use the Griswold rating scale of �3 to +5, with 0 being slightly favorable
THE PARK: General Impressions. +4.5
Kennywood was my first real traditional park, and I had a lot of fun.
It�s a really pretty park, nicely shaded, and the rides are well
mixed in with the landscapes. It's nice to see families enjoying all the
traditional rides just as much as the newer, more modern rides. It kind
of says a little something about why newer isn't necessarily better, a
reoccurring theme at Kennywood.
It was my goal to ride all the traditional rides, and I came pretty
close. The only ride I didn't get on (and really regret it) is the
Turtle (a Traver Tumble Bug). I didn't really have a choice, but going
to Kennywood on a Sunday wasn't the best idea. The crowds were present; not
totally unbearable, but large enough to really increase the waits. I
believe the wait for Noah's Ark was at least an hour (and yes, I waited
that long for it). I also rode, and thoroughly enjoyed, the Auto Ride (a
Traver auto race), the Kangaroo (flying coaster flat ride), the Old Mill, and the
Gold Rusher, a dark ride I was really pleased to find.
The dark rides at Kennywood (Old Mill, Gold Rusher, Noah's Ark) had very
classic effects; laughable at best, but still highly enjoyable. When I
rode the Old Mill, I ended up seated with two kids who were about twelve years old. Most
of the ride, they complained about how "boring" it was, but I
really enjoyed it. After Kennywood, I think I would rather ride dark
rides than most spin 'n' pukes.
One small gripe I had about Kennywood was the lack of park maps. When I
finally asked at Guest Relations for one, I was handed a single sheet,
black and white map of the park that didn't really help me navigate.
There were other stationary maps scattered around the park, but there
weren't enough of them. But in a way, it made the experience more
enjoyable, as I was always finding something new around every corner, but it was an annoyance when I really wanted to know where I was going.
Of course, I had to visit the Potato Patch (in front of the Thunderbolt),
as the fries there come so highly recommended. And rightfully so.
Though the wait for these French fries was longer than almost every ride
in the park (no kidding) it was well worth it.
I arrived at the park a little later than I expected to, and I had no
idea which ride to proceed to first. I figured it would be best to hit
up the Exterminator first, not only because it's a small, less thrilling
coaster, but because it has such a low capacity. For some reason, they
were letting the line really build up outside the building before letting
huge groups of people in, leaving the queues inside almost entirely
empty. Even in the morning, the wait was almost a half hour; I'm glad I
didn't wait later on in the day.
EXTERMINATOR-1999 Reverchon indoor spinning wild mouse. Theming by R&R
Creative Amusement Design. +4
Wow! This was probably the biggest surprise of my entire trip. I
absolutely loved this ride, and if the lines weren't so long, I would
have been satisfied spending my entire day riding this coaster. The
theming is wonderful and elaborate, and the Exterminator is by far the
best dark coaster I've ever been on. Of course, it's an exceptionally
short ride, but the ride is so much fun! At times, especially when the
car starts spinning, it actually becomes quite thrilling. I wish parks
looking at buying wild mouse-type coasters would get spinning ones
instead of those horrible Arrow Mad Mice. I could go on and on about
this ride, but if you want to read more, check out this Thrillride article.
THUNDERBOLT-1968 John Miller wooden terrain coaster. Rebuilt from Andy
Vettel's 1924 Pippen. NAD trains. +2.5
Well, this really wasn't what I was expecting. The trains are
absolutely beautiful, as is the fabulous layout. But for some reason, I
got little to no airtime throughout the entire ride no matter where I
sat. I found the lack of banking on the curves to be confusing. Is
there a reason these turns were built so flat? Were all coasters built
in the 1960's constructed with such little banking on the turns? Still,
it's a nice ride and some of the larger drops are fun. It really throws
you around on the turns (because of the lack of banking) but that didn't
bother me so much. Nice ride, but not one of my favorites.
THE RACER-1927 John Miller racing figure-eight woodie. PTC trains. +2.5
Racer just isn't anything special. It was okay, and featured a few
spots of nice airtime. The elements of racing seemed barely there, as
one train was way ahead most of the time. Again, another fun ride, but
not one of my favorites. And what's with that horrible color???
JACKRABBIT-1920 John Miller woodie. Trains by Ed Vettel, Sr. +3.5
Fantastic! Way too short, but it features probably the second-best
airtime I've ever gotten (the famous Cyclops drop gives slightly more).
The rating suffers here for a few reasons. For one, you can't pick your
seats. If you're lucky enough to be first into the station, you're
ushered into the back, and thus get a back seat. But if you're one of
the last (which always happened to me) then you end up with a front or
middle seat. The double dip (which is good in the front, excellent in
the middle) must be fantastic in the back (especially with no lap bars!).
The ride's too short for me too, but that didn't keep me from enjoying
it. Great ride.
STEEL PHANTOM-1991 Arrow megalooper (4 inversions). +2
After I got off this, my first thought was, "Nice choice by Kennywood to
reprofile." The ride barely does anything for me. The "big drop" is
nice, but from there it's horribly bumpy and jerky. Heck, they even do
"earring checks" before you board to make sure your earrings are removed.
I can't wait to see what Morgan does with this ride. There's certainly
room to create a really good ride. Here's hoping...
That's it for Kennywood; thanks for reading!
-Nate
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