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Kennywood Park

We went to Ohiopyle about five years ago along with Falling Waters and Kentuck Knob (Frank Lloyd Wright homes). It was beautiful. That's why I would like to go back and include good ol' Kennywood. I love the classic amusement parks.
If you have time, do the hiking trail at Bear Rocks, on the other side of the road from Fallingwater and a bit down the road. They have a myriad of trails that wind through the woods, across wooden bridges and gentle creeks, and along paths that are sometimes a mile or more of nothing but giant wild Rhododendrums. Giant boulders deposited by the glacier and some pine forests also.
 
Kennywood has a new update towards it, making some great progress.

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They haven't started work on any of the "Steeler Experience" buildings yet though. Guessing they're waiting for more coaster construction before they start. There hasn't been much snow in Pittsburgh this winter, and except for those days of the polar vortex, it's been a mild winter, so they should be OK with their schedule.
 
I've always wanted to go to Kennywood, it seems like such a charming park

I remember watching a coaster VHS that I used to have that featured Steel Phantom

This coaster looks bat sh*t, but fun haha
 
I've always wanted to go to Kennywood, it seems like such a charming park

I remember watching a coaster VHS that I used to have that featured Steel Phantom

This coaster looks bat sh*t, but fun haha
It's a fun coaster (Phantom's Revenge) for sure, especially as it dips into the ravine woods, weaves in and out of the wooden Thunderbolt coaster tracks, and has a great head chopping moment. Tons of airtime too. Coasters that drop down into deep ravines just seem to be more fun, and have better ambiance, than flat parking lot type coasters. We took UK Trigg and Samantha there when they were in town at the beginning of their See the USA Epic trip, and they really loved the park. They said it reminded them a lot of Alton Towers in the UK. Kennywood is pretty small, only around 40 acres, and in a hard to get to location far from any major highways, but it gets pretty crowded with locals for the few months it's open. And it has a large number of classic rides that no longer exist anywhere else in a really charming old trolley park setting . It's three classic wooden coasters are the guts of the park. And, in this day and age, nearly all of the parking lot is free, and even the very inexpensive paid section is free after 5:00 PM. The park's only issue is they are having difficulty getting a sufficient number of seasonal employees since high school and college students don't work much like previous generations did. And adults, even retired ones, generally won't work these types of redundant service jobs in the Pittsburgh market......The coaster is now Phantoms Revenge. The original Phantom was a bit too thrilling to the point that most people were afraid to ride it, so they got rid of the loops and changed the track a bit. Myself, I like this present version better.....Note: There's some photos of Kennywood on UK Trigg's Epic Trip vacation thread.
 
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It's a fun coaster (Phantom's Revenge) for sure, especially as it dips into the ravine woods, weaves in and out of the wooden Thunderbolt coaster tracks, and has a great head chopping moment. Tons of airtime too. Coasters that drop down into deep ravines just seem to be more fun, and have better ambiance, than flat parking lot type coasters. We took UK Trigg and Samantha there when they were in town at the beginning of their See the USA Epic trip, and they really loved the park. They said it reminded them a lot of Alton Towers in the UK. Kennywood is pretty small, only around 40 acres, and in a hard to get to location far from any major highways, but it gets pretty crowded with locals for the few months it's open. And it has a large number of classic rides that no longer exist anywhere else in a really charming old trolley park setting . It's three classic wooden coasters are the guts of the park. And, in this day and age, nearly all of the parking lot is free, and even the paid section is free after 5:00 PM. The park's only issue is they are having difficulty getting a sufficient number of seasonal employees since high school and college students don't work much like previous generations did. And adults, even retired ones, generally won't work these types of redundant service jobs in the Pittsburgh market......The coaster is now Phantoms Revenge. The original Phantom was a bit too thrilling to the point that most people were afraid to ride it, so they got rid of the loops and changed the track a bit. Myself, I like this present version better.....Note: There's some photos of Kennywood on UK Trigg's Epic Trip vacation thread.
I would have loved the original Steel Phantom, just for the classic Arrow pain haha

Phantom's Revenge looks even better
 
Kennywood had a media invite today and announced they are 55 to 65 % done on the coaster and the adjacent 3 acre Steeler Experience land, and expect it to open early summer, weather permitting. . The coaster was topped off last week at 220 ft. It will have the world's tallest inversion at 197 ft., and the most inversions in North America (9), and the track is apx. 4,000 ft. with a 2 minute ride time, at 75 mph.......A bit too many inversions for me though. I'll probably be lucky to ride it once a year. But the teens should love it.
 
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