Kennywood 10/03/03 (Pre-PPP Fright Night)

PPP weekend is my favorite time of the year and last year many of us got to experience the excitement of kicking the weekend off with a trip to Kennywood for Phantom Fright Nights. I got to the park around 5:40PM and the parking lot was extremely empty. I sat in the car for a little bit when suddenly someone started knocking on my window. I looked up to see loriu staring in at me with her husband Steve at her side. We talked for a bit before her and Steve left to go into the park, while I finished getting my stuff together.

I entered the park around 6:05PM and instead of heading straight to Phantom's Revenge like I normally would, I decided to walk down towards Racer to check out the park and take a few pics. When I approached the Racer, I saw that there wasn't any line, so I grabbed a quick ride before tending to more important matters (Phantom's Revenge). The ride op at the gate commented on my Yuengling t-shirt, which is to be expected when you're representing such a fine beer. Enough beer talk, the Racer was running a bit slow IMO, which can be expected due to the cooler temperatures, but later on I'd find out that those cooler temps sure weren't affecting the Thunderbolt any.

I made my way over to Phantom's Revenge, where I saw GregLeg waving to me while going up the lift hill on what was his 200th lap (congrats Greg!). After I reached the station, Greg, Lori, and Steve joined me for four consecutive laps before we had to get off because the station was finally beginning to fill up.

We decided to hit up the Thunderbolt next, which was absolutely flying! We took another fantastic lap before heading over to Noah's Ark to find yet another empty queue, although we did have to wait a minute or two before they allowed us to go in. This was one of the several times a member of our group was attacked by one of the monsters roaming the midways (it was Steve this time). I'm really pleased with what the park's done with Noah's Ark for Fright Nights. They've essentially made it like the rest of their haunted houses by cutting out the elevator part and having monsters roaming around inside. Not as scary as the rest of their houses, but still plenty of fun.

We headed to Mortem Manor next, which is located in the building known to some as Parkside Cafe and to others as the Casino. The employee at the entrance was very friendly and told us the rules without sounding like a lawyer. He also told us to drink lots of Yuengling after seeing my shirt, which made me wonder if I'd be more or less scared if I went into a haunted house with a buzz. Anyway, this place scared the crap out of me. I'm very easily startled and when there's one monster walking towards me, a second following behind me, and a third one popping out of the wall, I can't help but get scared ****less.

We took rides on the Racer, the Jack Rabbit, the Old Mill, and the Gran Prix before finding ourselves back at PR again for another lap. Afterwards is when Greg, who hadn't been feeling well, left the group to get some rest (hope you feel better Greg!). The rest of us went over for a ride on King Kahuna, which is about the time it started raining a little bit. After the ride cycle was complete, the restraints were left locked for what seemed like an eternity as the rain slowly began to pick up. After finally being released, we went over to the Playdium to wait for the rain to stop.

After about 15 minutes, the rain had pretty much ceased, and everyone went over to ride Musik Express. I sat this one out, because I had received a phone call from my friend Ted (who I was playing phone tag with all night trying to meet up with him and his girlfriend Andrea).

PR was nearby, so we took our final lap for the evening, which was my 116th. Afterwards I met Ted and Andrea in front of the Ham on Rye simulator. It was at this point that Lori, Steve, Joe, and Leah decided to split and after some discussion, Ted, Andrea, and I did the same.

I was awfully worn out leaving the park, mainly because it had been nearly four months since I had last visited a park and my legs/feet aren't quite as used to the beating as they once were. Regardless, I had an awesome time, despite the cold/rain. It was nice seeing everyone again and I hope that the pre-PPP Fright Night slowly becomes a necessary part of everyone's PPP weekend, because the last two have certainly been a blast!

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Joe Cernelli
My CampusFish Blog

Congrats Greg!

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Assistant Webmaster,
Kennywood Boulevard

Sounds like a blast. I LOVE Kennywood!

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Nashville needs a theme park!

If anyone is ever around Joe and haunted house, definately join him for a walk through. I laughed more at him screaming then at the stuff going on around me. Fun times.

For anyone thinking about going to PFN on a Friday, get there at opening (6 PM) and go straight to PR. We got 14 laps in before we had to get off.

I was there that night too. It was first time at this event. I was very impressed with how the park looked. The decoration was fantastic. I didnt arrive till about 7:30 and by that point most of the lines were rather long. I heard there was some sort of $5 college student promotion going on that night. The entrance to the park, the tunnel under the road, was amazing. it was completely filled with green smoke. I couldnt see more than 5 feet in front of me - at one point some guy dressed as Jason appeared in the fog and immediately fired up his chainsaw. it was a very effective effect.

coasters were great as always. I didnt really think the haunted houses were scary, but they certainly looked amazing and were fun to walk through and see. good job kennywood.

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Mac Forever.