Kennywood Park
- Thread starter Mad Dog
- Start date
Mad Dog
Premium Member
That's just a small toddler flat, not much to it...Now the train derailment though is something they need to get fixed though.
Mad Dog
Premium Member
Went to Kennywood Saturday and this time we took the girls (ages 4 & 5) with us for their first trip ever to an amusement park. Thomas Town is sure attracting big crowds. The park again was filled with young families and the new land looks really popular. We got there at rope drop to avoid the long lines for Thomas. The girls especially liked the Fire engine ride , with working water hoses to put out the pretend fire in the middle. . We rode with the kids, and the ride, though primarily for young kids, is a blast. They also loved the helicopter, live show, and train rides but were a tad too short for the Thomas drop tower. But the STAR attraction of the day was the four level interactive play area that is adjacent to the stunning Thomas store, both of which have really good air conditioning. In the morning the girls ran and played through that attraction for a good 45 minutes. Finally we dragged them off for lunch at Johnny Rockets (Scarlet said after tasting her milkshake, "now, that's what I call a milkshake!". Sounds like a commercial idea) . Next was Kennywood's large Kiddieland that has apx. 15 rides, most of them smaller versions of actual adult rides in the park (great idea there), and a bunch of rides on Kennywoods historic, and huge, carousel. After the afternoon in Kiddie Land, they begged to go back to Thomas Town to play in the interactive area. So this time they spent a good hour running and playing at full speed. We had to drag them off. They would have stayed all night. Great idea to have this area air conditioned. And for next years expansion, and the huge air conditioned building that will contain interactive Steeler experiences for the older kids, that will be a nice trend of comfort and relief from the heat.....Thomas Town is certainly an excellent expansion. So much fun for the kids. And the cost was a really reasonable $8.6 million. No overpaid Imagineering department at Parques Reunide.
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Disneyhead
Legendary Member
Parks with kids helps us older folks see the parks with new eyes. The wide-eyed wonder and unbridled joy really changes things.
Mad Dog
Premium Member
Yes. I haven't spent this long a day in Kennywood since I was in grade school. The constantly amazed, and sheer joy, look in their eyes says it all. And, contrary to what us adults think, the kids are often drawn, and more pleased with, attractions that we wouldn't consider....I think the real miss with Toy Story Land, besides shade and air conditioning, is the lack of a good mix of rides for the younger kids, and they're the real Toy Story demographic.
Disneyhead
Legendary Member
I went to Kennywood August 4th with my buddy. We arrived around 11am knowing we were "late" and it was a Saturday in August. The experience was... not good.
- Rides were running limited capacity. We waited an hour to ride Phantom's Revenge and the queue started on the bridge. No reason to be running one train at this time. This was a continuing theme all day at Thunderbolt, Racer, etc. Jack Rabbit was running two trains... but one train was dedicated for the line skipping pass. Also ops were so slow I wouldn't want to insult molasses on a shingle in the winter because that's faster.
- Skyrocket and Ghostwood Estates were down all day. Skyrocket seems to have larger issues, but still, it's August y'all. What's going on?
- The park is showing major wear and tear. There needs to be lots of paint and landscaping, especially in Old Kennywood and the north west of the park.
- Thomas Town... oh boy. While I was there the train was down due to the first (first!) derailment that week. What I observed none of the attractions in the land have proper queues and guests were standing everywhere. While I know this land isn't "for me" a young boy ran out of the indoor play area yelling "I don't know what to do!" I feel ya man.
- Good news: the beer jail now allows three beers a day. Wooooo.
- This park desperately needs places indoors with AC, which admittedly is our vault for going in August.
Mad Dog
Premium Member
Unfortunately, Kennywood runs into the line problem at the end of summer every year. The college kids start quitting in droves, and older adults in Pittsburgh just won't work theme park type jobs, so staffing becomes a problem, especially with the Fall Fantasy Parade crowds in August. . On attractions down (Rocket coaster is waiting on a motor from Europe, Ghostwood Estates were on and off on Saturday)), it happens everywhere. I just read a post on TPI where a poster said every single Cedar Park coaster went down at some time the day he was there last week , and Dragster & Millenium were down almost all day, and the lines were all real long....I was at Kennywood Saturday, and a good number of times all year, and Old Kennywood land looked fine to me. Kennywood has never had rope queues for their Kid rides, so that's normal. ...and on air conditioning....10 years ago there wasn't any air conditioning in the park, except for the shooter dark ride and candy store. They've just recently air conditioned the landmark Main Restaurant, put in an air conditioned Johnny Rockets, the size of Mel's in Universal, Thomas interactive play area and store air conditioned, 4D Lego theater ac, and future huge Steeler Experience ac, which will replace the very large picnic area next to Kiddieland. Plus the drinking/bbq area is something that's just a recent addition. There was no alcohol until fairly recently. So, in the past few years they've really changed the comfort level for the best. Keeping in mind Kennywood is just a local park and not a Regional park by any means.
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Mad Dog
Premium Member
Kennywood's new Steel Curtain coaster just went vertical. 9 inversions, 4,000 ft. long. It will be part of the Steeler country new land.
AlexanderMBush
Legendary Member
Mad Dog
Premium Member
AlexanderMBush
Legendary Member
AlexanderMBush
Legendary Member
Freak
Veteran Member
Trains look ugly IMO. I’d rather have ugly trains with lap bars than to have nice trains with OTSRs/comfort collars (Ahem, WCR).
SkiBum
Veteran Member
I'm just starting to plan out a vacation for next summer. We have a few options but one option on the table is to go to Ohiopyle and then up to Greensburg to visit a store that sells something my wife collects. While there, I was going to try and sweet talk her into going to Kennywood. I have always wanted to go and Steel Curtain makes it basically a "must do".
Mad Dog
Premium Member
I took UK Trigg (Mark) and Samantha to Ohiopyle when they visited from England, and they said it was one of the high points of their trip (see UK Trigg's Epic Trip Report for photos. It's simple, but charming, and relaxing to a fault. Try to eat at the Old Country Store. Really good home made food & soups at great prices. They have a breakfast buffet for the astounding price of $9.98. Kennywood is small (around 40 acres) but it has an old time charm with three old time classic wooden coasters, plus a few of the steel variety. And some rides that don't exist anywhere else anymore. It's no King's Island, but it's good for what it is.
Mad Dog
Premium Member
and, for value. three fourths of the parking lot is free parking . After 5:00 PM, the entire lot is free parking.
SkiBum
Veteran Member
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.