Steel Curtain Closed for 2024; Will Undergo "Extensive Modification"

^ Agreed about the axe! I first visited Kennywood in 1984 after telling my dad about the famous article with Thunderbolt being "the greatest coaster in the world" (spoiler: it wasn't) and while there are many attractions that still remain from that time, there have been probably just as many attractions removed. These are the ones I could think of off the top of my head: Laser Loop, Round Up, Tilt-A-Whirl, Rotor, Enterprise, King Kahuna Top Spin (the queue for which is still standing), Flying Scooters, PittFall, Roll-O-Plane, Swing Around (of which there were 2), Wonder Wheel, Log Jammer, Gold Rusher, Le Cachot (still shed a tear over this one), Monongahela Monster, Calypso, a rare Huss TriStar, Wipeout, Parartrooper, Turnpike and the one for me that really stung, the Bayern Kurve. There are probably others I missed, but since I wasn't an annual visitor, I may have not seen a few attractions come and go.

Oh, and while the ride system remains, thank goodness Garfield's Nightmare is no longer a thing!

Kennywood has more vintage rides than most parks. You could do this exercise at just about any park (other than Knoebels) and list the dozens of rides that they've closed over the years. At some point you have to get rid of old stuff to build new.

RCMAC:

Laser Loop’s last season was 1990 and OG Phantom opened in 1991.

And the Phantom still uses the Laser Loop's station.

After multiple attempts in 2019, 2021, & 2022, I finally got to ride this thing in August 2022. It is a very good coaster when it works, and surprisingly smooth near the back of the train compared to the front. It definitely borrows some elements from RMC, Intamin, and Arrow's "Drachen Fire" style drop, but doesn't perform the elements quite as well. Unless the Pittsburgh Steelers helped fund this ride, it seems like the money spent on the NFL branding should have gone to hiring a company more experienced with coasters of this scale. I wonder if this will eventually get a re-theme, much like "Project 305" at Kings Dominion, considering the whole Steelers Country thing never really happened as advertised. I feel awful for Kennywood, as this didn't turn out to be the elite attraction they expected. Even if they get it up and running reliably, I am not sure I'll bother visiting on my way to Hershey Park unless I have an extra afternoon to spare. The park does have some nostalgia factor for me, but nothing in their lineup other than Phantom's Revenge makes me feel compelled to visit regularly.

RayP1970:

I first visited Kennywood in 1984... there have been probably just as many attractions removed. These are the ones I could think of off the top of my head...There are probably others I missed, but since I wasn't an annual visitor, I may have not seen a few attractions come and go.

Step back and think about this for a second. You're talking about all of the rides that you remember being removed since 1984. That's 40 years ago. Name another park that hasn't removed more rides than this whose name doesn't rhyme with Schmanobels. Cedar Point has removed most of the same rides you mentioned and more. Blackpool is known for classic attractions. How's their Noah's Ark and Tumble Bug these days? It's an evolving business, hard decisions need to be made. I don't agree with many of them, and I hate talking about Kennywood here, but seriously name another park that has multiple 100+ year old rides that are still operating the same way they were designed.

kpjb:

Name another park that hasn't removed more rides than this whose name doesn't rhyme with Schmanobels.

Waldameer comes to mind. Mill Run, Flying Coaster, Mini Enterprise and the Bumper Boats are the only ones I can recall though I'm sure there might be a few more.

If I came across as complaining, that was not the intent. I was simply agreeing with RCMAC's comment about Kennywood being heavy with the axe. It could be worse- it could be Conneaut or Geauga Lake... :)

RE Waldameer: The bumper cars were replaced with a boring modern version. They had the benefit of being very small to begin with though. They had to add rather than replace as they've grown.

Kennywood of course owns a lot of land but it's split but by the 4 lane road and some large hills.

It seems pretty weird to criticize a park for being flippant about ride retirement when it has several of the oldest roller coasters in the world.

Apparently they chose this S&S coaster concept because of price. It was the cheapest and wildest. Money is a big part of many decisions in life, for everyone. SC is so unique so I am glad they went with this coaster. So many coasters are very similar nowadays and Kennwood boasts a collection of unique coasters.

Steel Curtain closed > RRR open

Is S&S such a bad manufacturer that they can’t even build a multi inversion coaster? This type of coaster has been around and done correctly decades (Kumba). Even Arrow built multi inversion coasters that were able to operate.

It’s obvious Kennywood bought this hunk of junk for the lower price. Since the park was bought by Palace is nothing but a cut-costs-no-matter-what-result D class operation. I live in on day driving distance wouldn’t cross the street to attend.

But how’s their weather policy?

I'm late to the conversation but wanted to add that we were able to snag a ride on Steel Curtain last summer. They were only running one train but having gone straight there at opening we only had a 2 train wait. The ride itself is perfectly fine. I was a bit worse for the wear after riding, but that's a me being old problem, not a design problem. Side note: for some reason my kids are big Penguins fans. The gift shop right by Steel Curtain sells only Steelers swag. Missed opportunity to drop some cash. Oh well.

Has Kennywood really gone that downhill? We had an outstanding day during our visit. Great food, awesome coasters, and some unique family flats. What's not to like?

Out of curiosity, what exactly continues to go wrong with the coaster that is causing so many issues?

Point being; just as an observer (I've never ridden it), it doesn't appear to be very complicated or a ride featuring new prototypical technology. It goes up a chain-lift, makes its way through a loopy course, and then hits the brake-run. Nothing about it appears to be ground-breaking or boundary-pushing. No launches, no theming, no complex series of blocks.

Am I missing something? Obviously S & S missed something.

Vater:

Son of Beast was brutally rough, not properly constructed (or maintained?) which resulted in an incident that injured riders and ultimately new trains which required removal of the only good part of the ride. Drachen Fire was brutally rough (allegedly) which resulted in low ridership and removal of one of the corkscrews, which still didn't help much.

I never had an issue with Drachen Fire, other than the standard Arrow "head banging" that was prevalent on a bunch of their coasters a few decades ago. SOB, yep definitely rough, but I believe more of a "design" failure, rather than maintenace, although it had construction issues for certain. I think the issue with SC is more inline with the SOB failure.

What I'm finding interesting is that the issue with SC seems to fairly well guarded. I haven't heard EXACTLY what's wrong with the ride, and I think they have kept the issue really well guarded. I thought the rumor about RMC backing out due to soil stability issues was conceivable, but no one has reported seeing any cracks in the structure or footers, correct? Is the ride just stressing itself apart somehow?

And I think it's a shame that SOB didn't last long enough to become RMC'd, as it probably would have made for an epic ride.

I am guessing the problem is the bracing of the structure. I heard it has a bit more sway than it should.

Mulfinator:

Has Kennywood really gone that downhill?

Quoting myself here.

The park is better than it has ever been IMO. It's like someone in charge actually cares.

Re SVL Fever - I think you're having a little too much fun with the wild conspiracy theories. The RMC fell through because there was too much red tape trying to get permission to build a coaster in the valley. There has been a ton of work on Steel Curtain over the years and none of it had to do with any of the footers.

The park is better than it has ever been IMO. It's like someone in charge actually cares.

There are a couple things I'm still not happy with, like when they removed 4 flats in a single year, but overall I have to agree with this sentiment. I went to opening day yesterday and it was somewhat chilly, but people came out in droves and were trying to knock the doors down at opening time. It was the busiest opening day I've seen in quite a while. I think people are really responding to the positive direction the park is heading.

SVLFever:

What I'm finding interesting is that the issue with SC seems to fairly well guarded.

So I guess my question was actually meaningful. So the park hasn't ever said what's actually wrong? That's comforting.

Since when do parks go into extreme detail about why their rides are closed?