Location: West Mifflin, PA (near Pittsburgh)
Date: 7/8/96
Weather: Just Right
Crowd: Light
Admission: $15.95 (POP on weekdays) -OR- $4.95 general admission and $.25 ride tickets. Rides take up to 6 tickets each.
Description: Historic traditional park. Has blend of old-time rides as well as some modern age rides. Like being in a time machine.
A 1921 John Miller terrain coaster. (Happy 75th)
Description: A deceivingly small profile at first., a double out and back shape layout. The station is on one end on flat land, the train leaves the station, does a 180 degree turn and heads towards the back where it drops down into a ravine, and then back up another hill through a tunnel, drops back into the ravine and comes up on flat land to go up the chain lift (which is in the middle of the ride) you circle above the station and then into the rides feature double-dip. You first drop back down to the flatland, and then immediately level off and drop again into the ravine (massive airtime). Back up on the other side for a turnaround and one more dip in the ravine before coming up into the brakes.
Trains: Running 2 custom Ed Vettel trains (blue and pink) The trains feature no headrests, no seat dividers, and no mechanical lap bar, only a stationary lap bar that you slide in under. Also has a leather, highly ineffective 'seatbelt'. (3 cars/ 6 per car)
The park owns a 3rd White train but considering the shortness of track (approx. 2000') and the way they rush for 2 trains, I don't think 3 train operation is possible (Kennywood seems to own an extra train for all of it's coasters, sort of like a spare I guess)
Platform Procedure: 2 stop loading, loading is first come first serve.
Opinion: Cool ride, with the accentuated airtime. Seems too short and one burst of airtime was not worth repeated 30 min. waits (Only running 1 train the second time) Rode twice. Back seat both times.
A 1996 Miller co. Kiddie steel coaster. A modern kiddie oval. I was too tall.
A 1927 John Miller single-track (mobius) racing coaster.
Description: A racing coaster, laid out in sort of a figure-8, the trains travel close enough together to allow for inter-train interaction (in which I participated fully). To give it more of a racer feel, the ride separates only for the turn out of the station and the lift hill, it then travels together for the rest of the ride. It has it's airtime moments, especially the drop as you start the home stretch. Has one long continuous track, start on left side of station, finish on right side, or vice versa.
Trains: 3 trains by PTC (2 red, 1 blue, why not get a 3rd different color so you can always tell which train is which when watching the race). The trains have traditional lap bars and low seat dividers. But no headrests.
Platform Procedure: Flush-loading (disorienting if you don't know the trick about switching sides), first come-first serve. Since there are two trains this allows a great many people (48) to enter at a time to allow for a fast moving line, as well as 2 back seats or 2 front seats to allow more people a chance at them.
Opinion: Great! A racer that actually races, what a novelty these days. A fun ride with sudden direction changes and airtime. This ride seems to be lacking something if the other train is not into interacting. Rode 5 times. (All back car, 4 back seat).
A 1991 Arrow multi-inversion coaster
Description: Starts out with a 157' twisting drop and back up another hill, then you drop 225' at 80 mph through the ravine section of the Thunderbolt. After a left turn and some dull track the intense speed is fed to a mid-course brake before entering the inversion section which features 4 inversions: a vertical loop, a boomerang (2 inversions) and a corkscrew.
Trains: Running 1 blue Arrow multi-element train with high seat backs and OTS restraints. They have a 2nd train which was not in service (7 cars/ 4 per car)
The yellow car shells can be seen behind the Turtle.
Platform Procedure: Flush loading, has seat queues for each seat which would appear to allow for individual lines for each seat. Even though the ride was a walk-on, rather than dispatch a half full train for a 2min 15 sec. ride, they would spend 5 minutes grouping all single riders together in order to fill the one train. In other words you could not wait for the next train if there was an empty seat for you on the train being loaded. Since I only visited the park once, I don't know which system prevails.
Exit: This ride wins the award for making re-rides a pain in the A$$. After riding you walk down a long exit ramp to go through a cave and out next to the Lost Kennywood Arch, then to re-ride you have to walk around the games area, all the way next to the first drop, to get back in line to go over a bridge that passed right over the exit. I've heard that during coaster ERT's they don't subject you to this.
Opinion: I like multi-elements, I liked Magnum. So you would think that putting them together would form one awesome ride, right? Wrong, the hyper-coaster segment ends to quickly with all that nice speed being eaten up by brakes and then you go into the inversion segment which is headbanging city. I found this headbanging worse than on Outer Limits (at PKI). Rode 4 Times (well spaced out)
A 1968 Andrew Vettel Terrain coaster / a makeover/reconfiguring of the 1924 John Miller Pippin coaster on the same site.
Description: The coaster your mother warned you about! After loading the train you are sent right out of the station and down a drop into the ravine, you come back up, turnaround, and drop again into the ravine, you are then brought back up and then engage the chainlift for a trip up 70', coming off the chain you turn right and drop into the 'spaghetti bowl' as i've heard it called . A double helix with hills in the back half. The helix generates ungodly laterals that squash the person sitting on the left. After the helix you hit the mid-course brake (on hard during my visit) and then take the rides reported longest drop (95') into the ravine, to come back up, turnaround, drop again to come up into the brake shed, where you are stopped and then slowly brought through a turnaround into the station.
Trains: 3 NAD Century Flyers! (only running 1 during my visit) The Flyers have traditional lap bars, but no headrests or seat dividers. The Flyers are also in poor condition cosmetically with most of the ornamental work totally gone. The trains only have openings on the left side. (4 cars, 6 per car)
Platform Procedure: 2 stop loading, individual seat queues,and NO SINGLE RIDERS WHATSOEVER. This is the most rigidly enforced no single rider policy I've come up against. If it is such a danger, how come they let the 'oiler' ride single every morning. Also, since the laterals are that severe, I feel the trains and station are 'wrong' for the ride, they should have used Flyers that have their opening on the right side, and a modified station to accommodate this. This would allow you to get squashed into the padded full train side and not the unpadded side with a small side due to the opening.
Opinion: My 2nd favorite wooden coaster (would rank #1 if I were not so big that I always get forced onto the 'wrong' side, constant squashing gets old fast) I love the combination of classic trains, laterals and airtime in a powerful ride. Rode 10 times.
A 1975 Arrow Log Flume. A Point of interest is its uphill section right after the first drop. Features 2 drops along it's trough.
Opinion: Very good Log Flume, has the cleanest troughs/water of any log flume I've seen considering I visited mid-season. While a fun ride, another case of Kennywood TPM was evident. As you know most logs for Flume rides seat 4 people (maybe 5 with a small kid), but our party of 3 guys (2 of us big) was not good enough for them, they crammed us in a log with 2 other people, creating a very tight fit. (Maybe that's the Log Jam).
An Intamin Rapids Ride. Closed during our visit.
A Shoot-the-Chutes ride. The smaller variety, while the splash pool was very pretty the ride was rather dull for it's kind.
A mine ride theme dark ride. Well done with several animations. Located in the rear on the upper floor of the Le Cachot building. Uses little mine cart style cars with T-shaped lap bars.
An old cheesy dark ride. Has static light up stunts and sound effects. Can anyone tell me what the optical illusion in the last room is supposed to do. For those who have not seen it, there is a 3-dish black and white block pattern on all the walls and doors. The room is lit only by strobe lights and you cris cross the room three times. Uses heart-shaped, sort of cars. The cars appear to be an early predecessor to the Omnimover dark ride cars in that the cars can turn and you can only see straight ahead.
A walk- through fun house/ haunted house. Closed for remodeling during my visit./
A dark ride in old wooden boats. They travel through a dark building with skeletons doing hillbilly type activities. Arguably the best of the dark ride offerings open that day. On a historical note, the Mill Chute portion of the ride has been removed.
In no certain order:
When I went to Kennywood, I expected a traditional park in the purest sense. While the park is run in the traditional manner, it has been bitten by the TPM virus. Some examples for your reading pleasure:
Can I go back today? Wonderful park that is inexpensive, yet offers big time thrills in its wide selection of rides as well as its coaster selection. One of the best parks going, if you don't have to have the latest thing.
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