Kennywood: No general admission for 2005

It was brought to my attention that Kennywood has updated the online list of prices for 2005, and it is clear that they've gotten ride of General Admission and individual ride tickets for the 2005 season. Instead, guests must buy a "Fun Day" at full-day or evening rates.

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While I admit that this is a step to conforming with other amusement parks, it has been a staple at the park from the beginning. My grandparents always used to come to the park just to sit and watch the rides; I doubt that they'd pay 15 bucks to do the same thing now. I'm sure these types of people represent a tiny percentage of people who come to the park every year, but still...

Any thoughts?

A great deal of the people you are refering to come to the park on community picnic days, nationality days,etc, when dicounted tickets are presold. I would surmise that these tickets (for the 55 and older) will be less than the walk up price of $14.95. Granted it will be more than $7.00. But when I was was youngin the gate was free. Time marches on. Everybody keeps saying the want to see new attractions there. Where do you think that money comes from? The bulk of it comes from the gate.

Living out here on the left coast for so long we have gotten jaded to the $45-$50 per person gate at most of the attractions. $28.95 is a bargain for park the quality of Kennywood (we try to come back as often as we can). *** Edited 11/14/2004 5:53:22 PM UTC by Dutchman*** *** Edited 11/14/2004 5:53:46 PM UTC by Dutchman***

I think they should give out wristbands for people riding and not charge those who aren't riding, I guess the older folks.

This is a bold new move for the park. I'm very excited about not having to have wristbands to ride. Now when I'm off my shift I can just do a quick change of clothes without having to go to Guest Relations to get a ride wristband. As you can tell I'm very excited about this. :)

I know time marches on and I'm not that old, but what is one to do that likes to collect Kennywood wristbands. It is just a unique thing at parks, and would miss always like flashing the wristband to ride ops. This might sound lame but is just something that a lot of parks do not have.

Some kind of "youngtimer" admission should be evaluated. My brother would get the ride all day, and his wife do gen adm to wrangle the 2 year old.

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Dutchman said:
Everybody keeps saying the want to see new attractions there. Where do you think that money comes from? The bulk of it comes from the gate.

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You sure about that? I was always under the impression that in-park spending is where parks make the majority of their cash.

True, a large percentage of the profits comes from food and merchandising,but the gate is the constant. The per cap can fluctuate depending upon several variables, local economy, weather, etc. A weak or depressed economy causes the per cap to dip,a cold snap can greatly affect refreshment sales (The highest mark up on the menu is fountain drinks). In essence one doesn't do you much good without the other.

All I can say is, this is hardly a surprise. Kennywood has been moving slowly to an all-POP model for years. This year they finally did away with that handstamp (and probably eliminated a lot of vandalism as a result), now they can finally rid themselves of wristbands and ticket cans.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

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superloafer said:
Some kind of "youngtimer" admission should be evaluated. My brother would get the ride all day, and his wife do gen adm to wrangle the 2 year old.

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It's $14 if you're under 46", or over 55 years old.

I meant that general admission was good for parents who don't do the rides, and mainly corral the youngsters