Steel Phantom/Phantom's Revenge Question

I was thinking about this today and it got me wondering. Kennywood announced that they were removing the Steel Phantom due to lack of ridership. Then they stated that since there was a massive cry of despair from the GP, they would redesign the second half of the ride and rename it Phantom's Revenge, keeping the best of the old and adding some great new elements. My question is this: Did Kennywood really keep redesign the Phantom because of the public outcry, or was this the plan all along and the statement merely to gain publicity?

It was in the plans all along. They kept the lift and drop because it was cheaper than building a new one.

Why not take advantage of those who would cry out! I would, and would have used it in the ad campaign/announcement/whatever.

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- Peabody

Although these were the original plans many people did complian.
A website was even made named www.savethephantom.com

After the site learned Kennywoods plans they then became a pro kennywood site.

(The site no longer works)

*** This post was edited by Nasty_Nate24 on 7/24/2002. ***

Actually, there were people associated with that site that tried to take CREDIT for "Kennywood changing their minds", which was a laughable claim. The revamp was most likely the plan all along, but somehow some people still seemed to think that extensive multimillion-dollar plans were abruptly changed. Yeah, right...

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--Greg
"Are you justified in taking life to save life?" -- The Great Debate, Dream Theater
My page

I must commend them though for the outstanding coverage during the rennovation.
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Brad Sherman
BuzzCon Frequent Flyer, responsible for guests fleeing the queue in horror!
Model coasters and rides

It was well executed marketing, that's for sure. But those "Save the Phantom" idiots are, well, morons. I mean, Morgan didn't just start fabricating track and design the ride out of the clear blue.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
7/27: Subdivision Cam becomes party cam at the year's hottest Ohio luau!

Hey, I signed the petition. I thought it would be funny. I even included a fake sob story about how I was never able to ride SP. It was partly true, I never rode it. ;)

BTW: great job, Kennywood, I LOVE Phantom's Revenge!

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Nothing... NOTHING... can prepare you for... the Fourth Dimension!