2005 Kennywood Tickets on Sale Buy Now Save $5

That's right go to http://www.kennywood.com and order your 2005 tickets by 1-1-05 and save $5.00.

Regular tickets are going to be $29? Yep... Geauaga Lake is going to own Youngstown.

I agree. That price change in GL when I heard of it, made me instantly think, "Cheaper then Kennywood? Hmmmm"

I think there's enough separation that the two can co-exist with the same market. Cleveland companies and schools can picnic at Geauga and Pittsburgh at Kennywood. As far as daily visitors, I think Geauga's going to draw some off Kennywood, but the base business at both parks will probably stay far enough separated that they'll be able to co-exist nicely.

At least, I sure hope ... and that's until the Mon-Fayette expressway gets built and Kennywood puts in 50 giga coasters ;)

Hey the price for admission this year was $28.95 and it hasn't changed for next year. Seeing that they are rehabbing the entrance, I expected a hike in the addmissions. And besides they never rulled out the possibility of a new attraction...

Kennywood is spending alot of money on improvements this season that even if they don't add a new attraction, were not getting cheated.

When reading up on what is posted here it's pretty safe to say these are the improvements for 2005 :

-Carosell(sp?) Rehab
-New controls for Paratrooper
-Auto Race got a repaint(now yellow)
-Seems to look like the shooting gallery(the game under the racer, not sure if this is what it is called) is getting the wood restored replaced
-Exterminator Rehab(on the effects)
-New Food Stands

I guess the other thing to note that in recent years Kennywood has been offering decent discounts throughout the year from blockbuster for like 10 dollars off and then later in the year by pepsi cans as well. If those continue, there will not be much of a problem.

The Pepsi can deal was for $5 off admission, which only brings the price down to Geauga Lake's.

Let's see here... decent amusement park (Kennywood) for $28.95, mediocre and outdated water park (Sandcastle) for $21.95. Larger amusement park and brand new waterpark for $25. Geauga Lake may be 1.5 hours away from Pittsburgh, but it doesn't take a genius to realize that it's a much better deal.

Seriously, all this talk about Kennywood losing visitors is silly. We had the same discussion last year.

Actually 70% percent of Kennywood's ticket sales are pre-perchased at schools etc. School tickets go for around $11-$16 each. Kennywood is not in any trouble, as long as they keep their guard up. Seeing how successfull it was for SandCastle to offer season passes, I wound't doubt the same for Kennywood. With that being said lets please not go into the subject of parents using season passes as a babysitting service. It's all been discussed before.

eightdotthree, would you like to know the truth? Kennywood did not have a good season attendance wise. I'm not going to say that the decrease is dangerous to the park; however, if the trend continues, we might have something to worry about. For example, I can tell you for a fact that the attendance was considerably lower for this year's Phantom Fright Nights, even though the weather wasn't much different than experienced during previous seasons.

Kennywood has drawn on people from quite a distance away to visit, and with this new image and price, Geauga Lake is going to look more appealing to families who want to get the most bang out of their buck. Kennywood's new entrance isn't going to draw much attention to itself, but I think we can all say that Wildwater Kingdom and the admission reduction have raised many eyebrows already.

In water park land, I know of many people who are sick of Sandcastle, but return anyway simply because there wasn't anything comparable within driving distance. The last major attendance-grabbing attraction added was the wavepool 3 or 4 years ago, which was the first big thing since the park opened 15 years ago. By moving the waterpark, and re-branding the park as Geauga Lake andWildwater Kingdom, Cedar Fair is drawing greater attention to the fact that there is a huge waterpark not too far from Pittsburgh. With admission to both sides of the park just 4 dollars more than Sandcastle admission, I wouldn't be surprised if a decent number of people go see what Geauga Lake is all about this coming summer.

Phantom Tails, I beg to differ about PFN's drop in attendence. I was there 2 consectutive weeks in a row and both were on Saturdays. Both days were packed. They were the busiest I've ever seen them on the second Saturday I was there. If the attendence did decrease, it would be because they didn't have PFN in September, but still it was only 2 weekends or so and they had those bonus days this year to compensate.

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razore86 said:
With that being said lets please not go into the subject of parents using season passes as a babysitting service. It's all been discussed before.

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Obey the Razore! :)

Actually, I agree with the season pass thing. Something's got to give eventually and they have been trying passes out at their other parks...

Let me rephrase this:

So for $29 I can spend a day at one of the best parks in the country (Kennywood), or for $24 I can spend my day at one of the more mediocore to crappy parks in the country (Geauga Lake). I wouldn't worry about competition to Kennywood until Cedar Fair does a lot more work then they did this year to improve Geauga Lake as a park.

Also, Lake Compounce has a $30 admission, compared to a $25 admission when using the coupons/coke cans/etc. at SFNE. I don't see Lake Compounce filing for bankruptcy. Kind of the same idea... People are willing to pay for a better experience.

Phantom Tails : The attendace was higher this year both on Fright Nights and during the regular season. How do I know this? I do happen to have other friends in the park besides in my department.

Lord Gonchar : Your funny!:)

rdreaming : Geuaga Lake is by no means a crappy park. But, to people in the Pittsburgh area it doesn't have as much importance as KW.

As for the Sandcastle issue. It's not in trouble. Sandcastle is a very nice waterpark and unless a new waterpark is built within 20 miles, I don't see a change in attendace.

*** Edited 11/11/2004 1:57:33 PM UTC by razore86***

PhantomTails, where did you get your numbers from?

Obey Razore! Do not bring up the babysitting!

I feel obligated - for the benefit of a few thousand enthusiasts and nearby locals, a season pass at Kennywood would probably end up with more problems than benefits. Especially with all of their focus on picnics, I honestly don't think that a season pass makes sense for the park. Would I love it? Of course! But I think that part of the reason that Kennywood keeps food and souveniers lower priced than other parks is that they don't have that season pass and they don't give away the gate to frequent visitors, or have to worry about increasing security because of the babysitting which is inevitable. The park's right on a bus route, and it's located near some of the rougher areas in the entire city - babysitting is inevitable and introducing a season pass will just degrade the park. I really, really hope they don't introduce one.

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razore86 said:
With that being said lets please not go into the subject of parents using season passes as a babysitting service. It's all been discussed before.

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It's not about the parents, it's about the high school and truancy, as per park officials when this issue came up in the early 90's. :)

Since KW is so close to the city, is accessible by bus etc it would become (and has been in the past) a hangout for kids if season passes were introduced at a cheap price. We dont need any more teens there, there are plenty as it is.

I am curious how Sandcastle did with their passes though.

My numbers?

Well, one of by best friends has worked as a ride op/manager for the past four years 6 days a week, and therefore can easily notice that crowds were smaller this year than of past seasons. In addition, he assures me that the preliminary numbers are indeed down.

And for PFN--I was there every single night working a haunted house. We had about 4 average days, one or two above average, and the rest with no lines in existance. It's not difficult to see that the crowds aren't what they used to be, especially considering that we weren't open for September this year.

Well, until I see real numbers in front of my face I will hold out on really commenting. I will say that on the four days I was there this season they were doing pretty well with long lines for all the rides and insane lines at PFN (I got on three coasters, two flats and two houses and I was there as they opened.)

Besides, I was reffering to when Cedar Fair announced it was buying GL. A number of people were wondering if Kennywood could compete. We now know that IF Kennywood's numbers were down this season they sure didnt go to GL.