Kennywood announces launched steel coaster for 2010

Or the ride hasn't been clearly defined/explained. I think that seems to be the case.

So, I ask, is it better to focus on critiquing the announcement or focus on critiquing the critiquers? (<--- yeah, I know that should read "critics", but I thought the sentence flowed better this way. Who knows?... Maybe "critiquers" will appear in the dictionary in a few years now. ;) )

Did anyone think that Kennywood went to rush out their announcement so they could get some press time. With Holidayworld, Carrowinds, Kings Dominion, Michigan Adventure, and Cedar Point on the verge of their annoucements; They may have just wanted some love from the Media.

Michigan's Adventure is announcing something? Guess I missed that one.

No one in Pittsburgh is going to care what's being announced at Holiday World or Dominion unless they're coaster nerds.

Just like no one in Pittsburgh will care about the quality of the announcement or the related video. We are about the only ones with such scrutiny. They could have a video of the Coney Island Cyclone up there and by next spring no one would remember or care. Except us.

I'll let the experts quibble (or canoodle even) over the brakes and blocks and such. But the media release says "After the high-speed launch, riders will experience a vertical ascent to 95ft before a brief cliffhanger pause at the top and a 90-degree drop into a maximum G-force pullout." Sounds like the brake is there just to provide the pause.

My question is why they do it a second time later in the course. Would it feel like just as you got going, you'd come to a stop again? One thing that does intrigue me, if I'm reading it right, is a vertical upward with a twist. Why, that sounds... unique!

When I was reading the ride's stats I thought this sounded like a combination of previous Premier layouts combined with a B&M dive machine-like experience.

As much as I like that there will be a new coaster at Kennywood, I'm kinda bummed that it will displace the current Turnpike. I always thought that it was the best ride of it's kind that I experienced, although I miss the old gas "sports cars." It was quite long, and really felt had good atmosphere because of the semi-wooded area where it was located. Granted, I'm now out of the age demographic and I may only be upset for nostalga reasons.I wonder how it will be when they relocate the equipment to another area. I wonder if it will be done before the Mon-Fayette Expressway.

The new coaster sounds cool, and will fit that "upside down" quotient that has been missing since the Phantom stopped mugging riders.

I wonder what crowd flow problems will be caused with the location right by the entrance tunne.

While I'm sure the ride will be great, I have to agree with LK, the video looks lame and completely unprofessional. Hopefully they'll release a better ride animation soon.

I'm bummed for 2 reasons...looks kinda like Fareinheiht only with a launch instead of a lift. I'm not really a fan at all of these gimmicky rides. I wish they would have done a B&M of somekind or even a GCI...so what if they already have 3 woodies :)

I'm also sad to see the turnpike removed even though they said it would be rebuilt. Can't wait until they actualy expand the park though...wonder if that's where they plan on putting them? I'm sad to see a classic ride go everytime they add something new. Wish they would have kept the hardware for Goldrusher too.

And on the topic or relocations...do they still have the Swing Around in storage?

kpjb said:

Yeah, then you'd complain that there was no video and say that you could have done one in No Limits in less than an hour so there's no excuse for not having one.

HA! You told me.

My response: A sloppy announcement makes the ride look lackluster, and they tried to make up for that with caffeine analogies. They don't even have a name picked out for the ride yet? If they weren't prepared to give a steller press release, than they could have had a smaller scale announcement like I suggested, or they could have waited until they had enough info to properly hype the new ride.

Let's talk about the ride. Based on what I have seen in the so-called press release, it looks like fun, but I'm not going to rush out on opening day to experience it. This yet-to-be-named addition in no way tops a lot of the other coasters that they have, like Phantom, Pittfall, and Exterminator. Compared to those awesome rides, this coaster looks lackluster. lol

Pitt Fall is a drop tower, not a coaster.

As far as the announcement goes, I don't care that it's not perfect. It still looks likes a great ride to me. If it delivers, I will almost certainly be making an extra trip or two down the Penna Turnpike next year....

kpjb said:

The ride cycle is only 1:05. How fast can you possibly load/unload

Naturally, so then why the plural MCBRs? Just curious, I love tech stuff like that.

scraperguy99 said:
And on the topic or relocations...do they still have the Swing Around in storage?

If so, can I plead for its return (or sell it to Knoebels!)... :)

BB, there's one MCBR on the video I got from Premier. The brake at the top of the lift is a holding brake similar to those on B&M drop coasters, but not a proper block.

LK:

or they could have waited until they had enough info to properly hype the new ride.

Yeah, then they shut the Turnpike down without any notice and catch hell for that. It's really a no-win. They announced a new coaster that's unique to the park. Cut some slack.

lol. Okay. slack is now being cut.

They could have sent out a press release notifying readers that the Turnpike was being **** down for an amazing new attraction. This could go on forever.

So, why didn't the press release offer info on the holding brake? That seems kind of important.

I'll stop now because the point has been made; the press release was sloppy. Compare it to all the other press releases that have come out recently and will come out soon and tell me I wrong.

Please don't have a wood-related name, please don't have a wood-related name....

Speaking of sloppy...

LostKause wrote...

They could have sent out a press release notifying readers that the Turnpike was being **** down for an amazing new attraction. This could go on forever.

Was that a typo, or is the naughty words filter working overtime today?

Anyway, I think it looks like a pretty cool ride. I'm a little concerned about capacity, but I'm also thinking that between the short cycle time and the likely simple design of the train (I'm assuming we will see the Premier lap bars on this thing, probably with a controls interlock but without go/no go belts) they might actually be able to pull off a dispatch interval of less than 60 seconds. I do think that a Maverick-style blocking system with four trains would be even better, but this IS Kennywood, where you don't need to move 1,600 PPH to keep the lines reasonable...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Glad they're doing something since Parques Reunidos has a pretty stingy track record investing in their parks . This coaster appears to be a mini-Mr. Freeze .

kpjb said:
BB, there's one MCBR on the video I got from Premier. The brake at the top of the lift is a holding brake similar to those on B&M drop coasters, but not a proper block.

Thanks, I didn't get that from the video. Looking forward to it.