Suggestions for Idlewild, Lakemont, DelGrosso's
My wife and I are heading out to Kennywood for a Saturday picnic (Aug. 3rd) We are leaving our home on Friday morning and are hoping to hit the three parks listed above. I figure we're about 4 hours from DelGrosso's and Lakemont.
Here are some questions:
1. Is it possible to hit all three in one day?
2. Any discounts available for Idlewild? (I did print out discount coupons for Lakemont Park from their website.)
3. Coasters are our priority, but what else should we make sure we see?
Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you in advance.
*** This post was edited by john peck on 7/30/2002. ***
coasterchop - I easily hit all three parks in the same day on my SRM trip. Here's what we did: we got to Idlewild at opening and stayed until about 1pm, plenty of time to walk thru the park, a few rides on both Rollo Coaster and the mouse, plus a few of the flats. Then we drove to Tipton for Del Grosso's, rode their coaster [cha-ching!] and then back to Altoona to finish out the night at Lakemont and enjoy multiple rides on absolutely everything.
Idlewild - Don't rush Idlewild, rather tak your time and enjoy the amazing beauty of this park. In addition to the Wild Mouse [hit that first before the line gets long] and Rollo Coaster, make sure you take a walk thru Storybook Land. Yeah, its cheesy but also quite cute and one of the last remaining examples of a feature many traditional parks used to have. DO NOT miss their Whip and Catepillar. If you want to ride Mr. Roger's Trolley make sure you get to it early, it is VERY popular and forms a long line. I was unable to ride it.
Del Grosso's - this was really a "credit whore" stop for us. We bought tickets for the coaster only, rode it, stopped at the gift shop, and left. I'm sure some of the flats are worthwhile but we didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Try to get the back seat on the Zyklon, its the only one run with 3-car trains, and the airtime is exquisit!
Lakemont - You should have no problem riding everything. FYI, adults are allowed on the kiddie if you want the credit. If you haven't ridden Leap The Dips be prepared to be surprised, it was MUCH more fun and thrilling that I had anticipated and it was such a pleasure to step back in time and experience what our forefather's rode. Skyliner had some nasty [and wonderful] potholes on the first three drops, so if you don't like aggressiveness in your wood stay in the front or middle. If you enjoy a good beating I challenge you to a solo, hands-up from start to finish ride in the last seat of Skyliner ;-) All their flats were well-run with long cycles. Their Twister [a rare find] was renovated from a manual operation to computer-driven and its more difficult to get a good spinning, but try it anyway. If its not crowded the ride ops will let you stay on.
Have fun ;-)
Matthew
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"Outside of a dog, a man's best friend is a book. Inside of a dog its too dark to read." - Groucho Marx
As Mamoosh said, it's quite possible. Personally I DO like to spend some time at DelGrosso's, as the park is very clean, has some nice flatrides, and serves pretty good pizza.
(Opinions vary on the pizza, but I happen to like it)
As for Skyliner, the solo hands-up-back-seat ride is definitely a challenge, but I've done it :)
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--Greg
"Are you justified in taking life to save life?" -- The Great Debate, Dream Theater
My page
*** This post was edited by GregLeg on 7/30/2002. ***
I would agree completely with Mamoosh (as I was with him on that visit). The only things I would add are:
1. Eat at Idlewild (I highly recommend the BBQ), the food choices at Idlewild are very good and reasonably priced. The pizza at DelGrossos is good, but not all that - and I can't say anything re: Lakemont fare - hot dogs and hamburgers
2. If you get to the park at 10 (rides open at 11) - this gives you plenty of time to scope out the park and Storybook forest - it's a very big park.
3. Don't miss the Carousels at either Idlewild or DelGrossos - they are both beautiful
Hope you have a great time
Jim 'jimvid' McDonnell
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--Greg
"Are you justified in taking life to save life?" -- The Great Debate, Dream Theater
My page
Somethings to remember about Idlewild, like jimvid said, the park opens at 10, but the rides don't start until 11. You can tour StoryBook Forest during that time. I have always liked all of Idlewild's food, plus they have Kennywood's Potato Patch Fries in the Hootin' Holler section of the park.
In addition to the Rollo Coaster, Wild Mouse, Whip, and Caterpillar, you shouldn't miss the adult handcards in Raccoon Lagoon. There isn't much to them, but they are still fun. I would also recommend Confusion Hill and Dizzy Lizzy's. They are both unique attractions.
Have fun!
More good suggestions, Phantom Catcher. However in addition to those Adult Handcards anyone going to Idlewild might also want to try the Adult HandCARTS...LOL!
Moosh - who hates it when a typo sneaks by him, too.
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"Outside of a dog, a man's best friend is a book. Inside of a dog its too dark to read." - Groucho Marx
Pennsy has some of the better well-rounded traditional parks, and these 3 are special in their own right. I regret not having more than 15 minutes for Blan....er....DelGrossos, so don't sell youself short. If you aren't leaving from Columbus OH that morning, and aren't trying to hit DG, Lakemont, Williams Grove and Hershey that same day, you'll have time! ;)
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Brad Sherman
BuzzCon Frequent Flyer, responsible for guests fleeing the queue in horror!
Model coasters and rides
These are my homeparks. I live in Altoona between both Lakemont and DelGrosso's. If you are not planning to hit the waterslides, I think half of the day shold be spent at Idlewild. The park is VERY large and Has some unique attractions. Besides Rolo Coaster and Wild Mouse, absolutely don't miss Dizzy Lizzy's and Confusion Hill. Also look foward to rideing Whip, Catipillar, and the very unique and HUGE Trinado.
Lakemont is quite small, but not as small as DelGrosso's. Lakemont offers your normal colection of flat rides, with the exception of Twister. Twister is a simple yet fun ride with spinning ride vehicles that travel around and over an embankment.
Skyliner is rough but a lot of fun. Leap-The-Dips overshadows evrything in this park with respect to fun. You can enjoy LTD all day for a whopping $2.50. Other rides that require a mention at Lakemont are Monster, Mad Mouse (very small but fun), and Skydiver (if you don't get sick easily).
Delgrosso's is by far the cleanes and friendliest small park in the area. It proves that the small parks can look just as good as the big ones. If time allows, the waterslides are great and the water play area is larger and more fun than it looks. Zyclon is the parks only coaster and is quite a nice supprise (make sure you get a few rides in the back for extreme air time).
While at DelGrosso's, don't miss Baloon Race, Sea Dragon (pirate ship), and I know this sound strange, but don't miss the ferris wheel. They run this thing SOOOO fast it's scary. It is a small wheel but I counted 8 seconds to make one revoulution. And the pizza is good but I would skip it and get a few hot dogs and some chily mac and cheese at Texas Hot Dogs located near their awesome mini golf course.
To sum it all up...Lakemont isn't all that, DelGrosso's has an almost cult following from the locals, and Idlewild is a Big park with small park charm.
About discounts, I don't know about lakemont (you allmost don't need them anyway). DelGrosso's will give you $3 off with a cupon from their sauce(it's good too-stop at a grocery store and take some home with you). Idlewild has a cupon on their brocures for $5 off their $19.95 admission price. They can be found at Kennywoods main office, rest stops, AAA, ect.
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Dexter, thanks for the info on the discounts. Saving money is always a good thing.
Hit Lakemont on friday and there wer eno lines at all. The ops just let ya keep going around and around. Leap The Dips was quite the surprise. Very very fun. The Mouse was excellent I loved it and Skyliner has great old wooie charm. A hands up ride in the back is tough but I accompliched it.
DON'T RIDE THE KIDDIE!!!!
Dave and I got on the thing and the lapbar broke I dont mean popped open but the mechanism literally broke and Dave was almost thrown out and was barely hanging over the edge. Nasty scrapes bruises and blisters on him.
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The Beast and Night, They go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly
Coasterchop: I forgot to mention that usually every year there are discounts to Idlewild on cans of Pepsi products. May be you can stop at a nearby grocery store before you enter the park and see if you can find any.
Good luck and have fun!
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