Kennywood's 2022 improvements

Kennywood updated their website with a list of improvements for 2022 and I am here for it.

It's a small thing but the changes to the parking and entrance plaza are so needed. It doesn't feel "good" walking through the parking lot to the entrance so I am so happy they are improving that experience. Another big improvement that I love is the beer garden. They charge $12 per (large) beer and you were forced to sit in a dirty space on old picnic tables enclosed with ugly temporary fencing. Again, it just didn't feel good. I hope they manage to stick to the renderings.

Bites and Pints is also back along with what sounds like a smaller version for the spring. My wife and I attended Bites and Pints 3 times last year and really liked it. It's no Food and Wine but for Kennywood it was near perfect.

We already know about Kangaroo which looks awesome.

I'd rather have these sorts of changes than some random new ride for the next few years. I want to love Kennywood again!

PS: Phantom's Revenge's new paint looks really good.

Honestly I am encouraged to see this. The Kennywood experience has really tanked in the last ten years or so. I feel like this is the park absolutely addressing the fact that they need to do better.

Did Bites and Pints this year on the 4th if July and liked it.

Im surprisingly okay with the new paint on Phantom. Loved the old scheme. But the purple is cute.

The purple and black looks really good in the sun light.

If that new Jack Rabbit entrance (it is Jack Rabbit, not JACKRABBIT as the rendering implies?) is done with real brick columns it will look spectacular. That's just a little longer than Magnum had to wait for a proper entry sign.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Beautiful April 30 at Kennywood and I will say that all improvements are very noticeable. I just hope that park operation matches further into the season.

They can put all the lipstick they want on this pig but they can’t take her to the prom! As long as it is a Reunidos park, it will never be worth risking a trip there. Random unspecified closing times and total park closures if it rains. Plus major rides sit idle for months. Then there’s the mass ride removal from last year. It’s only 3 hours away and I would never make the trip with the current ownership.

Basing visits on the owner instead of what people on the ground are reporting is an odd choice.

It rained all morning and into the afternoon but they stayed open until closing today. I left my house at 5 and was back at 7 and ended up riding Steel Curtain 6 times and Phantom twice.

They finished painting Jack Rabbit and have the track installed on the new Kangaroo. The second Steel Curtain train is still MIA.

I feel like this truly is a situation where the park has all but come out and said "we know we've given a pretty subpar and inconsistent experience in recent history and we are actively working to make it right."

For me, that alone makes it worth making a visit if and when I have the opportunity.

Jeff said:

Basing visits on the owner instead of what people on the ground are reporting is an odd choice.

Not based on the owner. Based on the 4 reasons listed. These changes did happen to take place with their ownership so I am assuming it’s in them.

I follow their Facebook and through last year have seen constant early closures. It will take a period of time of reversing that policy to get rid of this bad reputation. IMO the worst reputation in the Industry for early closures.

super7* said:
These changes did happen to take place with their ownership so I am assuming it’s in them.

Nah. It was bad before they sold. I remember being hopeful that the Reunidos would clean things up but the status quo continued until last season.

I think I’d be a lot madder about early closing if I had driven my usual 3 hours to get there than if I lived in, say, McKeesport.

eightdotthree said:

The second Steel Curtain train is still MIA.

As of last week it was inside the Steelers Experience building -- you can/could see it by peeking through the doors. I heard it was waiting on parts.

BrettV said:

I feel like this truly is a situation where the park has all but come out and said "we know we've given a pretty subpar and inconsistent experience in recent history and we are actively working to make it right."

For me, that alone makes it worth making a visit if and when I have the opportunity.

Actions speak louder than words. Until I hear of consistent running of more than one train on their signature rides, I will not be making the 3 hour drive. And I very much want to ride Steel Curtain and already love the rest of the park. It's a shame that I don't want to visit any more.

What's so telling for me is the day we were there in 2019 and The Fastlanes were completely sold out yet Steel Curtain and Phantom were running single train ops with 5 min + dispatches.

I've mentioned this before, but to their credit, Guest Services refunded us our tickets 15 minutes after we purchased them, because no way in hell were we gonna spend the day there.

An improvement that would work for me is 2 trains running on Thunderbolt. Such a shame what has happened to Kennywood.

It all went downhill when they started employing pathetic, lazy morons.

Yeah, I don't know who thought kpjb was a good fit.

Schwarzkopf76 said:

An improvement that would work for me is 2 trains running on Thunderbolt. Such a shame what has happened to Kennywood.

They will be this year. Their insurer or safety folks didn’t like running two trains with skid brakes hence one train ops last year. They’re putting on fin brakes right now so they can consistently run two.