Short TR: KennyKon (Kennywood 8/6)

It rained.

Not all day, but it rained. Enough that the park decided to call their evening ride ops and tell them to take the day off. The park closed at 5, and it had been raining on and off all day. Rides were shut down due to lightning for a while (while we were in line for Jackrabbit -- we decided to just wait it out under cover :) )

That's not to say it wasn't worthwhile. In a few hours dodging raindrops (including leaving the park for a while, then going back), we got 4 laps on Steel Phantom, 5 on Thunderbolt, 2 on Racer and Jackrabbit, AND a lap on Exterminator. Then since the park closed so early, they handed out free "good any day in 2000" Ride All Day tickets on the way out. I'm happy ;)


They did NOT announce the new coaster at the picnic (which was moved to 3pm instead of the originally scheduled 6). About the only thing they said was "it's steel, and we don't think anyone will be disappointed". I was a bit disappointed about that -- they had a pavillion full of coaster nuts, what better time to say what the new ride is? Ah well, Thursday will be here soon enough...



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--Greg

http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/

Sorry we missed you Greg, We were with friends and trying to keep things co-ordinated we lost track of time.
In spite of the weather it turned out to be a pretty decent day for riding. There were a few company picnics there that day, but the park was definitely not crowded.(Although I did see them running two trains on the Jackrabbit.)
Yes, we were dissapointed that they didn't announce what the new coaster will be,but I can understand their reasoning behind it. We'll just have to wait untill Thursday like the rest of the world.
It really came down Sunday night. The storm took a little longer to get there than what there weather service said it would,but better safe than sorry.
MerriSedai and I went back to the Park on Monday to finish some shopping(and maybe a little riding). We went over to the T-bolt and it was closed. There were several maintance people working in the area of the transfer. Yes it was rough there on Sunday, so it's entirely likely it got worse later in the day. I can understand why they didn't want to take a chance with it.
They said it was the biggest Kon yet. Seeing as how we filled the old Whip pavilion I believe it!
We're off to Waldemeer today, then start our trek Westward later this week.

I found out later they actually DID have a pretty good reason for NOT announcing the ride yet. They'd have liked to (hey, they told a bunch of enthusiasts they were CLOSING the Phantom, so it would've been nice symmetry to tell enthusiasts what the replacement was).

BUT, this weekend was also the Three Rivers Regatta. Between that AND it being a Sunday, getting press coverage for their big announcement would've been difficult, at best. And they WANT press coverage (which leads me to believe this is going to be one heck of a ride, although I'm sure from the park's perspective the free publicity wouldn't hurt ;) )



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--Greg

http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/