Kennywood and Leap The Dips in the same day?

I will be flying out to Ohio in June to participate in the Disc Golf World Championships and have an extra day to get some coasters in.

I am definitely going to Kennywood but I am wondering if anyone would have advice or would recommend maybe trying to get to LTD on the same day (I haven't been to either place).

If I were to do this, my plan would be to drive to Pittsburgh area on a Thursday night (drive from Akron to Pittsburgh), then leave the hotel about 8:30 in the morning to get to LTD, ride that a couple times with the other coasters then drive back to Kennywood that same day and be at the park at like 2:00 - closing.

Would you do this if you were in my shoes? Like I said I only have 1 day to enjoy coasters so would it be worth it?

Thanks everyone.

It can be done.

I remember doing lakemont park, del grossos(sp) and kennywood all in one day.

Lakemont is a small park, del grossos only had the one coaster, and if I remember correctly, kennywood was like 1.5 -2.0 hours drive from delgrossos. I may be off on the drive time, but I know it was not too bad of a drive.

Why don't you drive to Altoona that first night to save the 2 hour drive the next morning? Then you can go on LTD at open, and leave immediately for Pittsburgh.

^

Yeah I think it is about 2 hours from Kennywood to Lakemont, I might just do it to say I was on the oldest roller coaster still running.

First make sure the park is open that day. I seem to recall Lakemont not being open every day of the week. There is more to enjoy there than just Leap The Dips. Don't forget Starliner obviously, but there are also some great flat rides. They have all three incarnations of the Everly Octopus (Octopus, Spider and Monster). The Octopus is wicked intense! And they have the hard to find Twister ride as well.

I'd personally rather spend the whole day at Kennywood, but Leap The Dips is great fun. Make sure you ride in the back row to get the full thrill though!

The starliner coaster was a pleasent suprise.

Make sure to swing by del grossos park as well. It's right on the way, and you can be in and out of there in a half hour. They have a wild mouse coaster, and some great flats. It's free parking and free to get in. You just have to pay for ride tickets. And be sure to pick up some pasta sauce as well......good stuff.

Kennywood is a little under two hours from Altoona.

DelGrosso's is a lot of fun, but it's about 25 minutes past Lakemont.

I, for one, could spend a whole day at Kennywood.

I could spend three days at Kennywood. It is right up there with Knoebels as my favorite traditional park.

Adding DelGrosso's into the mix... now you're starting to get carried away and heading toward "Focus on Kennywood and do the others next time" territory.

It might be doable, but it's a hike, especially if you want to get back to KW later in the day. If your only goal is to ride LTD, that's a smart move. Lakemont was a disappointment except for that, although the other woodie, StarLiner (SkyLiner?) is semi-decent. I liked LTD a lot on my only rides last year.

Mike

Skyliner is very underrated, in my opinion.

Lakemont is a poor man's amusement park, that's for sure.

I spent my teen and young adult years in Altoona. Once a week, I would just drop by Lakemont after work to feed the ducks, and maybe get an ice cream. My old rock band played there more than a few times. I got the crap beat out of me by a security guard there once, for no better reason then I "looked like the leader of the group". I had my after-prom party there all night long. My best friend worked there for years...

I have many memories of Lakemont Park. It was really enjoyable watching it get better over the years.

...But almost anyone in the world would probably want to spend most of their time at Kennywood instead. Two hours there, an hour at the park, and two hours back would take 5 hours of playtime away from KW. It just doesn't sound worth it to me.

YMMV.

We used to go out Disc Golfing ALL the time - it's been a couple years, and neithre of us has the shoulders/elbows to really do it any more...the best course I ever played - Woodland Mound a few miles away from KI...fabulous course!

Lakemont ->KW is quite a hike to make in one day if you really want to enjoy both parks....doable but a stretch. For me, Idlewild/KW is much more doable in one day without "stressing." But certainly, I have done trips that included multiple parks and drives like that...and it's not unfathomable or even unwise....just "a push". Your plan is def. the way to attack, getting KW at night. I say go for it!

Should I throw another factor into the equation and mention how Idlewild isn't that far out of the way either? Can you still get a deeply discounted ticket for the second park at the first?

I'd recommend what kpjb said and drive from Akron to Altoona-- just hope it's not June 4, because Lakemont isn't open that Friday. You may get less expensive lodging, and it will eliminate one trip between Pgh and Altoona. Travel in and around Pittsburgh is always a wild card. Hit it at the wrong time and you could be sitting for awhile in traffic. So anything you can do to reduce your time along 376 or 22 is helpful. Check the Kennywood site for any major traffic issues like long-term construction or detours.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Both parks are open from what I saw (June 25th a Friday).

I thought about driving out to Altoona that night and now that I know the traffic in Pitt can be bad I might just do that (do have to stop and get a Primanti sandwich though).

Yeah as a fellow Iowa native, I should have mentioned that Des Moines traffic on a bad day doesn't come close to an average day of Pittsburgh traffic. Getting to Kennywood can be a real bitch as it is far from being right off the interstate like Adventureland is. It's more like trying to get to Arnolds Park. ;)

Coming back to Pittsburgh in the early afternoon you shouldn't hit much traffic getting to Kennywood. The Rankin bridge is still under construction however and traffic can be randomly terrible because of it.

Acoustic Viscosity said:

Getting to Kennywood can be a real bitch as it is far from being right off the interstate like Adventureland is.

Wait, I thought Kennywood WAS Adventureland... ;)

RatherGoodBear said:
Should I throw another factor into the equation and mention how Idlewild isn't that far out of the way either? Can you still get a deeply discounted ticket for the second park at the first?

In 2006 we hit the road from Connecticut before dawn to get to DelGrosso's just at opening. We did both their coasters and had a fabulous slice of pizza before heading for Lakemont. Did Lakemont with multiple rides on Skyliner and LTD plus a credit on their Toboggon before heading for Idlewild.

At Idlewild we had a comp ticket and just did the coasters. Wild Mouse was OK but Rollo Coaster was a very pleasant surprise. We grabbed some Potato Patch fries for the road and headed for Kennywood. We got to Kennywood just in time for the 5 PM discount admission and managed all the coasters and a few twice before the end of the day.

Finished by driving half way to Cedar Point. It was 500 miles, four parks, and 14 coasters in one day. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, and it was mostly just coasters and not a lot of time to savor a park, but it can be done.

If all you want to do is coasters that's fine, but there is SO MUCH MORE to do at Kennywood in particular.

Don't miss the Auto Race or the Kangaroo!

or Noah's Ark, Whip, or Log Race.

Or dark ride, bayren curve, potato patch and don't forget about the new coaster as well.