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Kennywood Park

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mad Dog
  • Start date Start date Feb 6, 2018
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Mad Dog

Mad Dog

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  • Jul 6, 2023
  • #241
medic2 said:
"heavily media reported gang issues"?? In 2023?

Sandcastle Waterpark will be closed Mondays beginning July 10 - it's on their calendar
Idlewild will be closed Wednesdays beginning July 12 - it's on their calendar
Lake Compounce will be closed one day a week - its on their calendar
Dutch Wonderland...Adventureland Resort... same six day a week schedule moving forward

It's a Palace thing.
Click to expand...
Read the newspapers, my friend. In Kennywood's case, yes. Even in today's Trib Live new report on the Tuesday closing, the main thrust of the newspaper's account was the gang shooting and disturbance in late 2022 and the DA's publicly questioning Kennywood security and safety in May 2023. Even if the other two are closing a day now, it still sounds like it's an overall attendance thing. Coupled with all those ticket and AP discounts they were running last month. Every week a new one. Don't need to discount when the crowds are coming. Traditionally July and August are their best months, especially the daily Fall Festival parades in August, and the ethnic festivals.
 
RGMick77

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  • Jul 12, 2023
  • #242
Mad Dog said:
Read the newspapers, my friend. In Kennywood's case, yes. Even in today's Trib Live new report on the Tuesday closing, the main thrust of the newspaper's account was the gang shooting and disturbance in late 2022 and the DA's publicly questioning Kennywood security and safety in May 2023. Even if the other two are closing a day now, it still sounds like it's an overall attendance thing. Coupled with all those ticket and AP discounts they were running last month. Every week a new one. Don't need to discount when the crowds are coming. Traditionally July and August are their best months, especially the daily Fall Festival parades in August, and the ethnic festivals.
Click to expand...

Just an FYI: They changed their minds and will be open daily again until Aug 20th
 
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Mad Dog

Mad Dog

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  • Jul 12, 2023
  • #243
RGMick77 said:
Just an FYI: They changed their minds and will be open daily again until Aug 20th
Click to expand...
Makes sense. This is historically their busiest part of the year. Ethnic picnics and then Fall Festival parades start in a couple weeks. Their management decisions, like the huge price increases, have made little sense since covid.....and....they just announced a 50% off sale on daily tickets. I've never seen them offer that large a sale before. Definitely something going on. Management sounds confused on how they want to address their attendance issues. This back and forth doesn't express confidence.
 
Last edited: Jul 12, 2023
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Tobias

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  • Aug 5, 2023
  • #244
As a heads up, Steel Curtain is down yet again. Some say it's just for a bit of maintenance, though I've seen one report that called guest services and they were told it's closed for the season.

Either way, it's not good, especially considering its last stint of operation was just 9 days. And that was after yet another batch of maintenance! It really feels like a rarity to have this thing open.
 
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Tobias

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Speaking of Steel Curtain being down...the park has officially announced Steel Curtain will be closed for the 2024 season as they work with S&S and Third-Party vendors on a long-term fix to improve its reliability.

It's never a good sign when you look at discussions elsewhere on folks "IIRC"-ing what the main issue is for Steel Curtain, and each time someone mentions a reason...it's completely different than the previous ones.

Some say it's issues with the chain lift, others are saying it's issues with the structure, and others are saying it's issues with the wireless monitoring for the trains and restraints. And the kicker is, it could legitimately be all three and more with the ride being closed for a whole season.
 
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Mad Dog

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They've had really bad luck with new attractions the past decade or two. Nearly every one, not just the two newer coasters, had continual break down issues. The old coasters are sooo reliable. They rarely ever break down. And two of them date to the 1920's......,,But,,,, The last two new ones have been breakdown stars. They're down almost all the time each year. You can get too technical. And, bottom line, their rides aren't as good as the older coasters.
 
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Parkscope Joe

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  • #247
Tobias said:
Speaking of Steel Curtain being down...the park has officially announced Steel Curtain will be closed for the 2024 season as they work with S&S and Third-Party vendors on a long-term fix to improve its reliability.

It's never a good sign when you look at discussions elsewhere on folks "IIRC"-ing what the main issue is for Steel Curtain, and each time someone mentions a reason...it's completely different than the previous ones.

Some say it's issues with the chain lift, others are saying it's issues with the structure, and others are saying it's issues with the wireless monitoring for the trains and restraints. And the kicker is, it could legitimately be all three and more with the ride being closed for a whole season.
Click to expand...

Rumor on the street is Kennywood is going to sue S&S Sansei and closing it for the season for repairs was demanded by legal.

Also can't forget this...

 
Freak

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  • Apr 18, 2024
  • #248
Man this year is just not it for Kennywood.

Shame as I've never been to this park. I guess I will try next year.
 
IzzyB

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  • Apr 18, 2024
  • #249
Freak said:
Man this year is just not it for Kennywood.

Shame as I've never been to this park. I guess I will try next year.
Click to expand...
The last two times we didn't ride steel curtain and it was still a great trip both times. Love Kennywood. Sad I have never been on this coaster, but with young kids long lines are harder on those bigger coasters. My daughter really wanted to go but the line was insane opening year and then rain caused issues the second time.

Makes sense they are suing with as many issues as they have had.
 
Parkscope Joe

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Mad Dog

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  • Jul 16, 2024
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Kennywood has a new President. He's a local that's worked at the three Pittsburgh area Palace parks for the last two decades. Good to see they promoted a person who knows the area and its people. His first order of business was to extend the closing time by one hour each night for the remainder of the season. And now Kennywood just announced a night Drone show on July 20th. Good start for the new Prez....There's been a lot of bad press and discontent among guests for the past 4 to 5 years. This should help to right the ship......That's the way to run a park. Be guest friendly. After all, they pay the bills.
 
Last edited: Jul 16, 2024
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Parkscope Joe

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More places should do drone shows, gotta be cheaper than fireworks nightly right?
 
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IzzyB

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  • Jul 17, 2024
  • #253
Mad Dog said:
Kennywood has a new President. He's a local that's worked at the three Pittsburgh area Palace parks for the last two decades. Good to see they promoted a person who knows the area and its people. His first order of business was to extend the closing time by one hour each night for the remainder of the season. And now Kennywood just announced a night Drone show on July 20th. Good start for the new Prez....There's been a lot of bad press and discontent among guests for the past 4 to 5 years. This should help to right the ship......That's the way to run a park. Be guest friendly. After all, they pay the bills.
Click to expand...
Loving this! We always love visiting Kennywood when we are in Pittsburgh and glad to hear it is heading in the right direction instead of the wrong one.
 
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Mad Dog

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  • #254
IzzyB said:
Loving this! We always love visiting Kennywood when we are in Pittsburgh and glad to hear it is heading in the right direction instead of the wrong one.
Click to expand...
Yes, it was definitely getting criticized for its decisions by the locals. And, bottom line, 95% of Kennywood's attendance is locals. The park is very well balanced attractions wise, better than almost all regional coaster heavy parks, and quite attractive for an amusement park. Management had lost peoples' trust. They were making Six Flags types of decisions and belt tightening, and not being honest about their intentions ( recent example: they didn't announce their turkey new coaster would be closed for all of 2024, again, until the day after annual pass ticket programs ended, even though they knew that in advance) . Kennywood is unique among today's parks. It still has large picnic groves and tons of local cultural/ethnic events and participation. And a plethora of attractions that don't exist anywhere else. The locals don't really want new coasters, that rarely work and are nearly always broke down, to replace the beloved attractions they grew up with. Nostalgia is a heavy important factor in the park. They have three classic wooden coasters and an excellent steel coaster and a wild mouse indoor, besides the two almost always broken new coasters, so they don't really need more. Kennywood has always been a park, that in the past, had late closing hours. They had cut them, but the new Prez is bringing late closing back. That's a popular move. I'm sure he probably understands the local mindset better than an outsider. A business needs to cater to their customer base, and Kennywood is basically local with very few tourists. And be honest, don't b.s. your customers.
 
Last edited: Jul 19, 2024
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  • Jul 17, 2024
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Mad Dog said:
Yes, it was definitely getting criticized for its decisions by the locals. And, bottom line, 95% of Kennywood's attendance is locals. The park is very well balanced attractions wise, better than almost all regional coaster heavy parks, and quite attractive for an amusement park. Management had lost peoples' trust. They were making Six Flags types of decisions and belt tightening, and not being honest about their intentions ( recent example: they didn't announce their turkey new coaster would be closed for all of 2024, again, until the day after annual pass ticket programs ended, even though they knew that in advance) . Kennywood is unique among today's parks. It still has large picnic groves and tons of local cultural/ethnic events and participation. And a plethora of attractions that don't exist anywhere else. The locals don't really want new coasters, that rarely work and are nearly always broke down, to replace the beloved attractions they grew up with. Nostalgia is a heavy important factor in the park. They have three classic wooden coasters and an excellent steel coaster besides the two almost always broken new coasters, so they don't really need more. Kennywood has always been a park, that in the past, had late closing hours. They had cut them, but the new Prez is bringing late closing back. That's a popular move. I'm sure he probably understands the local mindset better than an outsider. A business needs to cater to their customer base, and Kennywood is basically local with very few tourists. And be honest, don't b.s. your customers.
Click to expand...
Agreed, it has always been a local park. I agree I was sad the paratroopers is gone. That was always a favorite of mine and hate that they removed it for nothing. It isn't a park where the old rides can go away. Luckily most coasters are landmarks and can't be replaced. My kids actually love Kennywood even though we go to all the Orlando parks. They talk about going there and like you said it isn't the coasters, but all the small stuff. In Middle/High School I wrote many papers on Kennywood and was obsessed with the history of the park and read tons of history books on the park and the history of how it started. So for sure Kennywood has a special place in my heart and I love that my kids share my love for it. Not sure when we will be up in PA again, hopefully in the next 2 years. Last visit was 2 years ago.
 
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Mad Dog

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  • Jul 22, 2024
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We went to Kennywood Park this weekend to see the new Drone Night show . It was very good. Though Kennywood is primarily a Pittsburgh area amusement park, the show was the quality you'd expect from a major theme park. With scenes involving Pittsburgh and Kennywood landmarks/attractions, it was both interesting and spectacular. And it was a decent length, around 11-12 minutes long. We were impressed. A really good show from Palace entertainments' flagship park.
 
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Disneyhead

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  • Jul 22, 2024
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Mad Dog said:
We went to Kennywood Park this weekend to see the new Drone Night show . It was very good. Though Kennywood is primarily a Pittsburgh area amusement park, the show was the quality you'd expect from a major theme park. With scenes involving Pittsburgh and Kennywood landmarks/attractions, it was both interesting and spectacular. And it was a decent length, around 11-12 minutes long. We were impressed. A really good show from Palace entertainments' flagship park.
Click to expand...
I just watched a video. I like it. It's a solid show. I like how they did the roller coaster. And the Pittsburgh Skyline was cool.

Here is the video I watched.

 
Last edited: Jul 22, 2024
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Mad Dog

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  • Aug 3, 2024
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Rumors that the major investor of Parques Reunidos may be looking into a sale of it's USA park division (Palace Entertainment), which includes the three local Pittsburgh area parks (Kennywood/Idlewild/Sandcastle)....Personally, I'd like to see ownership of those three parks by a local group, like it was before Parques Reunidos bought the park from the Henniger family. While the parks are OK, mgt. has made a lot of very unpopular decisions during their ownership, and they no longer have the loyalty of the local population like they used to. They've also made disastrous new attraction decisions with almost every new attraction added since they took over inoperable after a year or two of their opening, and replacing beloved very popular attractions. Fortunately Kennywood and Idlewild still are pretty solid parks with a good mix of attractions that they've nurtured over the past hundred years under the previous local ownership that understood the area's demographics better. Bringing on a local as park President helps, and he seems to be getting back to the park's roots, but they've really priced themselves too high for a park that gets nearly all it's attendance from locals, thus the heavy discount tickets being pushed the past few months. And they've discouraged the large local senior population from attending, which makes little sense since they don't have much effect on ride capacity and spend lots on food and heavily attend the steady stream of ethnic festivals and the August daily parade Festival.
 
Last edited: Aug 9, 2024
Mad Dog

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Just announced (KDKA-TV): Parques Reunidos is selling Kennywood/Sand Castle/Idlewild parks and the rest of the PR Palace Entertainment parks to Hershend Parks (Dollywood, Silver Dollar)......Probably good news since Hershend is a well run organization and Parques Reunidos was not.
 
Last edited: Mar 18, 2025
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grlhowl

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Mad Dog said:
Just announced (KDKA-TV): Parques Reunidos is selling Kennywood/Sand Castle/Idlewild parks and the rest of the PR Palace Entertainment parks to Hershend Parks (Dollywood, Silver Dollar)......Probably good news since Hershend is a well run organization and Parques Reunidos was not.
Click to expand...
As a local, I'm really happy to hear this. Dollywood is a wonderful park and it sounds like Hershend is doing good work right now at Kentucky Kingdom.
 
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