Kennywood - Steel Phantom -

I just saw over at "Danamation" that the 2000 season will be the last for Steel Phantom due to space, roughness, and lack of popularity. I am making my first trip to Kennywood and I will be sure to ride this coaster for my first, and last time.
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~Nick

Hey you beat me to it. Yea I was just going to post about that. Its too bad, but hopefully they will replace it with some great coaster.

Again, I have never been to Kennywood (until this coming season), but I have heard GREAT things about the woodies. Personally, I would love to see another wooden coaster there. Although, that may just be because I have Cedar Point pretty close to me. :)
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~Nick

What is the web address for Danimation? I would highly doubt that they are getting rid of SP. Ill believe it when I hear an announcement from the park.

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The Samurai has spoken. *** This post was edited by Samurai on 3/5/00. ***

http://www.danimation.com/

For clarification purposes, Kennywood gave no reasons as to exactly why the Steel Phantom is being removed. Sure there are the usuals like it's roughness and maintenance problems, but we don't know for sure. Trust me, I was there.

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Scott W. Short
sshort@mediaone.net
http://welcome.to/midwestcoastercentral

Hmm... so it came from one of the Kennywood PR people... allright, now I believe it. Too bad if you ask me, because it felt like the roughness really wasnt that bad the last couple of years. Im confident that Kennywood will replace it with something really good, though. I am hoping that they will build a CCI woodie in place of the SP.

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The Samurai has spoken.

I will believe it when I see it.This might just be a disgrunted worker trying to get back at their soon to be former employer.

Even though I have never been there I cannot see a park getting rid of a coaster of that magnatude in 9 years after being built. If they are getting rid of it because of roughness that is a weak excuse because most Arrow steel coasters get rough with age. And when I say rough I mean ""ROUGH"". Example would be Shockwave at SFGAm. Built in 1998 and now it really gives you a beating but there are no plans to get rid of it. I hope they would reconsider and just do extreme maintenance on the ride like other parks do for Arrow steels.

Sorry for the year built of Shockwave. I meant 1988!!!!

It is not a rumor out of revenge or anything else. The PR rep from Kennywood (Mary Lou Rosemeyer) made this announcement at ACE's CoasterBash in Pittsburgh this weekend. The news came directly from the park.

The way I see it: Although I enjoyed the Phantom, it wasn't on the top of my list. The first two drops are some of the best in the world but I feel that the inversions really take a lot away from the ride. It is truly sad when a former coaster champion like the Steel Phantom is going to be removed. However, I think only good things for the park and coaster community will come out of this.

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Scott W. Short
sshort@mediaone.net
http://welcome.to/midwestcoastercentral

I'm going to have to assume that the maintenance on that thing is expensive, because despite the frequent groaning of some enthusiasts, that thing makes the TV specials all of the time. What a shame.

I guess I'll have to visit this year.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

News of this kind makes Kennywood a second class park. Put another steel coaster in!!! Rumor has it that they are acquiring more land. A second steel coaster would really put Kennywood on the map. The roughness of the ride is no excuse to get rid of it. Come on Kennywood, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!!!!!!!

im just thinking back to all those rumers of the Inverted rollercoaster that everyone seemed to doubt and how it may be true after all, just a thought.

sorry, Chitown, but SFGAm IS removing Shockwave after the 2001 season. it is not very popular anymore and it really is a pretty sucky ride. it is down to a walk-on now, 10-15 minutes even on the busiest days. wht ride a crappy Arrow when you can ride one of three GREAT B&M's? but then again, Arrow did build the Demon, didn't they, and that ride is smooth as silk and STILL has an hour wait at night...
as for SP, i will have to make an effort to get out there and ride the thing this year. what a shame, all that time and effort and even changing the Thunderbolt's structure to fit SP into the space.... *** This post was edited by servo on 3/6/00. ***

"News of this kind makes Kennywood a second-class park." Sorry, no. Kennywood is one of the best amusement parks in the world not because of Steel Phantom, but because of its untouchable collection of one-of-a-kind, classic rides available nowhere else. Personally, I hated SP, ranking it with Flashback at SFMM and Windjammer at Knott's as the worst coaster I've ridden; on my trip to Kennywood this May I won't go near the thing, prefering to spend my time on the Jackrabbit, or the Racer, or Thunderbolt, all world-class woodies. But to each his own, and it is a shame that people who like SP will no longer be able to ride it. But its removal will not affect Kennywood's status as, along with CP and Knoebel's, one of the world's great traditional parks.

(Uhh, unless removing SP affects the taste of the fries at the Potato Patch...)
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Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.

servo, are we talking about the same park? There was a rumor of Shockwave being removed but I found out about a month ago that they have no plans to get rid of it. On crowded days there is a line for this ride. I was just there in October and waited 45 minutes to get on. Also they have been replacing pieces of track in areas where the ride is really rough! The Demon is not a smooth ride anymore although its not as rough as the Shockwave. Heck, there have been rumors flying around for years that they would get rid of the American Eagle and that is also untrue.

yep, same park...in fact, i heard that HERE, from someone who works there, not so very long ago...i personally will not ride Shockwave, as the headache it gives tends to ruin the rest of my day. and when I was there in August AND October, the wait was like this...walk up, wait for enough people to ge there to fill train a little bit, and go. i only rode it this year at the behest of friends and quickly remembered WHY i hadn't ridden it in 5 years. i for one would NOT miss that ride and i would dance on its grave. what a waste of space that thing is. now, bring back the Tidal Wave, and i'm a season pass holder again!!

Well, according to KDKA here in Pittsburgh, the reason that SF is being removed (according to an interview with Harry Henninger (the park's GM)) is simply because it is in the way of future development. Kennywood owns a chunk of land right behind where the Exterminator and the area behind the looping part of SF. In order to expand into that area of the park, they need to remove SF. No where in this interview did they cite roughness of the ride or maintenance problems. They did mention that the Laser Loop lasted 10 years, and SF 9 "...it's time to go."

He also cited that Kennywood fully intends on replacing SF with something that will keep up with the competition to the likes of Millennium Force, among others.

He also stressed that the Thunderbolt is the heart & soul of Kennywood, and would never even consider removing it.

Although I was at first, shocked and saddened by this news, I also look forward to seeing what is next to come in it's place.

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Neil
By popular vote, the official start
of the Millennium has been moved to
May 13, 2000 *** This post was edited by Seven-of-9 on 3/7/00. ***

For more details go here:

http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000307kennywood3.asp

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Neil
By popular vote, the official start
of the Millennium has been moved to
May 13, 2000