Kennywood - 6/21/23

Our family kicked off our coasters and history road trip with a trip to Kennywood yesterday. Having never been there we weren’t sure exactly what to expect. We arrived an hour before opening with the hope of the park opening security and the gates a bit early, which didn’t happen. I was surprised to find free parking on site right next to the $20 lot. We lined up for security and ended up chatting with a local who gave us the run down on ride strategy and food options in the park. He gave off a Coterbuzz vibe. Anyone at the park at opening yesterday?

With the Evolv scanners security would have been a breeze if not for my water bottle getting flagged. Security presence was robust throughout the park. There were K9s at the gate and several security guards roaming the area around Exterminator.

My overall impression of the park was that it was clean and the rides looked like they were well maintained. Operations were fairly solid even though some of the bigger rides were only running one train. The park was beautiful and felt more like a theme park than a Six Flags park.

Some highlights:

• Jackrabbit was super fun, especially with the double down.
• The kids really liked Kangaroo. I passed as the up and down motion wasn’t going to sit well with me after riding Steel Curtain.
• Thunderbolt was more forceful than I was expecting but was a great ride. Why do they require a ride partner?
• Ghostwood Estates is a fun shooter dark ride. The decorations weren’t the typical cartoony cut-outs, which was refreshing. My only issue was that the targets took your eyes off the scenery.
• Potato Patch is not all that great. Primanti Brothers was pretty solid.
• Noah’s Ark is a unique fun house attraction. The kids thought it was bad but wanted to go a second time.
• Turtle was more intense and exciting than it looks.
• Exterminator was the only ride that we got burned on the lack of wait times throughout the park.
• Phantom’s Revenge is an amazing ride. Solid drops and great air time!
• The story in Old Mill is odd to put it kindly. With a short wait it was still worth it for a classic ride.
• Sky Rocket was surprisingly boring. It may have been the heavy brakes on the top hat and the MCBR. At least the line was short.

Overall we had a good day at Kennywood. Great start to the road trip!

The reason that they require a partner on the Thunderbolt is that during it's first season a single rider fell out and was killed. The requirement had been in place ever since. They also did a small re profile in the helix, removing a "bunny hop".