TR: Kennywood - I Remember...
Associated parks:
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TR: Kennywood - I Remember....
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I remember...my first trip to Kennywood back in the
summer of 1998 quite fondly. I was fairly new to the
whole enthusiast scene so I took a trip to Kennywood
and Knoebels for the first time to see what all the hype
was about and also managed to squeeze in my first visit
to Hersheypark since childhood.
I remember...walking through that tunnel for the very first
time and immediately being charmed by the classic carousel
music being played throughout the park and gasping at the
sight of the Old Mill - "these things still exist?!"
I remember...my first rides on classics like the Turtle, the
Kangaroo, Bayern Kurve and the Auto Race....not to
mention falling in love with Noah's Ark and laughing all the
way through Gold Rusher and Le Cachot's [RIP] quirky yet
classic stunts, scenes, and gags.
I remember...my first Italian sausage from the Pagoda. My
first belgian waffles and ice cream meal that I ate at the
Parkside Terrace - a building which in itself is a historical
treasure and architectual masterpiece. Watching the Swing
Around and all the Pittsburghers enjoying themselves at the
finest traditional park in America. My first batch of Potato
Patch fries and watching the Thunderbolt whizz on by.
I remember...my first rides on the Log Jammer and the Raging
Rapids. I remember being *totally* taken by suprise by the dip
on the Log Jammer and getting s-o-a-k-e-d to the bones on
Raging Rapids.
I remember...seeing Kennywood and Lost Kennywood at night
for the first time and thinking "WOW!" The nighttime atmosphere
of the park is simply enchanting...magical if you will. There's no
place like it anywhere else in the world. I remember being
mesmerized by the dazzling fountains and enchanting neon that
shines brightly throughout the park dominating the nighttime sky.
The tracer lights on Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt's headlights.
The *superb* lighting packages on rides like the old Wonder
Wheel, Musik Express, Wave Swinger, and the wonderfully lit
up signs like those found on the Whip, the Turtle, the Auto Race,
Racer, Jack Rabbit, and so much more.
As you can see - Kennywood holds many found memories for me
as an enthusiast and a park goer. Every year, I look forward to my
visits to Kennywood more than anyplace else in the world. I get
goosebumps walking through that tunnel and emerging into daylight.
Once I find myself inside Kennywood, I can't help but smile. It's great
to be home.
5/17
The trip began with us leaving on Friday May 17th shortly after
school let out. We were on the road by 3:45 and stopped at one
of my favorite diners - The Summit Diner in Somerset, PA for
dinner around nine o'clock. We arrived at the Red Roof Inn -
Monroeville around 11. The room was ok. I've stayed in much
nicer hotels....hell, I've even stayed in better Red Roofs! No
matter though, we were too tired to complain and we had a
full day at Kennywood ahead of us to look forward to!
5/18
Finally...Saturday the 18th rolled around and shortly after
leaving the Red Roof at 10:40 we found ourselves at
Kennywood just in time for park opening. We decided to
forego the free parking and opt for the preferred parking
($4.00). If for nothing else, convenience.
I've learned one thing about May in Western Pennsylvania.
Just because it's spring, does not mean that you should
equate that with warm weather...at least not in Western
PA. It was SOO COOOOLD!
Finally we arrived at Kennywood. Paid the completely
reasonable general admission (about twenty-six
something plus tax...) and headed down the hill into my
tunnel and into the park. (Smiles) It feels great to be home!
Kennywood is so gorgeous. It's hard to describe to folks who
haven't been to the park before as it's not one single thing that
sticks out, or even a combination of things. It's the whole
experience. When I go to Kennywood, I'm not visiting for one
thing or another. I'm going for the Kennywood experience.
If you've been there, I think that may make some sense..
It's the combination of classic rides, historic buildings, immaculate
grounds, great coasters, wonderful lighting packages, fantastic,
well-priced food and a confusing layout with many little corners
and avenues to explore that makes this my number one park
anywhere!
We deviated from our normal loop around the park and headed
for Phantom's Revenge first. I liked the ride last year, but only
managed two rides during Kennykon. One was towards the
rear of the train and I found it much too violent and "slammy"
for my tastes..without adequate cushioning. The transitions
on the bunnyhops were very abrupt and Magnum-like, and I
did not enjoy it at all.
However, I managed to get on one of the last trains out during
evening ERT. I rode towards the front and liked it signifigantly
more, but I didn't have nearly enough rides to adequately judge
it.
After waiting in a growing line of front of Phantom's entrance, I
asked when the ride would be opening and I was told 12:00. So
we moved onto the park's great Whip.
On the way over to the Whip, I noted that Kennywood totally
overhauled and landscaped the Pirate queue and ride area. It
looks fantastic now! I also noted that all the fountains in Lost
Kennywood were off and I was dismayed to see that but then
I remembered I was *shivering* and realized it was much too
cold to be running anything water related....
The Whip was great fun as always. We walked right on as
there was noone in line. I love the simplicity of this ride. You
get in, pull the metal bar back, relax in the soft cushiony car,
the operator fires the ride up, and you get whipped around
the oval shaped track for a minute or so. Classic!
Exterminator was closed and the attendant manning the
outside queue had no idea when it was going to open up.
We'll check back...
Pittfall was thrilling as always but it was *freezing* cold
225 feet in the air with the wind whipping you in the face!
Whoa, it was unbelievably coooold! Anyway, for every
degree it was cold, the ride was intense! We got two
great rides...one facing Lost Kennywood and the other
facing the Mon River. I love Pittfall, it's my number one
drop ride. I love it even more then Drop Zone and SFOG's
Acrophobia. Fantastic!
Thunderbolt was running average at best. They were
running one train and we were on in less than five
minutes. Does anyone else think that the "must have
two riders per row" adds to the charm of the ride?
Anyways, I personally feel the ride lost something
when it was rebuilt for PR. Does anyone feel that
way? Hmm, it's either that or I've just been on so
many great new woodies since its rebuild that
perhaps some of its greatness has diminshed in
my view? The ravine drop was great, as was the
final drop, but the spaghetti bowl was really, really
sluggish....unfortunate.
The Gold Rusher was running great! Just about every
single stunt was timed to perfection with the exception
of the "Explosion" scene with the miner. The strobes
were off (permanently?) and it didn't light up until we
had nearly passed the entire scene. We had to crane
our necks to watch it. Gold Rusher is a Sally Shoot
'Em Up waiting to happen...
Ok. We're from the East Coast. We should be able to
handle the cold better but there was this *arctic*
breeze blowing from somewhere that chilled you to
the bone! So with that said, we headed into the
Parkside Terrace for a delicious and reasonably
priced lunch. Where was the heat?!! It was frickin
freezing!
After lunch, we hopped aboard the Turtle. I love
this ride. It's so simple, mild, perhaps even stupid.
But it makes me smile and families love it...and
have loved it for many, many years so it obviously
serves a purpose at the park. I'm happy its still here
and I'm happy that *fantastic* neon sign returned
after PR's turn was constructed. I think many of us
collectively breathed a sigh of relief when we saw
that gorgeous sign again...
Noah's Ark was by far our longest wait the entire
day (20 mins) but it's always fun chatting with the
locals. I think the local Pittsburghers are some of
the friendliest people I run into at *any* park! They
are so talkative and they always have some
interesting story to tell. What a great bunch of
people! Noah's Ark of course, was great and all
the gags and stunts were working and working
well! Especially the shaker boards...WOW!!
We spotted Phantom's Revenge running so we headed
over there. Still running one train we decided on waiting
out the front seat. One question: Why don't they let the
line extend to the "bridge" anymore? They hold you back
in the cattle queue now? Anyway after a suprisingly
short thirty minute wait we were in the front seat...
The lap bar and adjustable seatbelt are easy to work
and the ride ops pull up, not down so that was a
welcome suprise too. And we were off...on a three
click, front seat ride on Phantom's Revenge!
The lift is the same old obnoxiously loud Arrow lift.
The first drop, speed track, and second hill were
amazing! Smooth, fast, and full of airtime! I LOVED
rocketing along that straight track and then FLYING
up into the second hill with a great pop of ejector air!
No time to savor that though, as now we're PLUMMETING
225 feet down...down....DOWN THROUGH the T-bolt, and
into the ravine at more than 80 miles per hour!!! The speed
is cheek-rippling, out of control and completely exhilarating!
You then rocket around a turn, dive back through the T-bolt,
and come hurtling out of the ravine with great speed, around
a turn, over a double down, a few more airtime hills, a ground
level turn, a few more airtime filled bunnies and you come back
to the station.....breathless. There you have it folks. That's the
new Phantom's Revenge, truly an EXTREME ride!
Wow. Color me impressed. From the front seat, it's definitely
top ten steel material for me...ranking only behind the Intamin
Megas and Nitro for me and well ahead of the rest of my top
tier steel. WOW WOW WOW! Great ride!! Only complaints - its
a bit on the short side and the backseat is a bit (ok, alot) too
violent/abrupt for me. It might not be so bad if the train had
some padding ala the Jack Rabbit, but as of now, I avoid
the backseat at all costs. However, if you like violent, and I
do mean violent, slammer air - the back seat is the place to
be for all your spinal compression needs! Kennywood truly
has a winner on their hands though, I'll tell you that! Wow!
That's one of the few rides, aside from the SRM woodies
and SFNE's SRoS to leave me breathless and I think that
says *alot!* Make sure you grab a front seater on this one
folks! WOW!
We took another quick ride on Pittfall with a ten minute wait,
Mon River side and we headed off to do Exterminator,
which was now open...according to the peeps in line
for Pittfall.
Exterminator had the heat on!!! Yeah!!!!! Ahh...finally warmth!
We only had a short fifteen minute wait and we were on. It
was good, but I thought that many of the effects were off,
and we weren't spinning at maximum intensity...even with
a full car that was pretty unbalanced. I believe my best
ride ever was Kennykon '01 when it was Adam Revesz,
Chris Hartman, my father and I in one car. Whoa!! We were
spinning so fast and laughing so hard...it was fantastic! We
spun down a drop backwards and slammed into the brakes
with the car still spinning! I've gotta say that the Exterminator
has got to be one of the funniest coasters I've ridden. It's the
*perfect* addition to this park!
I took a quick spin on the park's insane Roll-O-Plane which I
always manage to leave with some sort of battle wound.
Good times nonetheless. Then I went and had a new KW
staple...Kountry Korn.
Kountry Korn has nicely fillled the void where the old Steel
Phantom entrance was located. Roasted corn on the cob is
shucked and slathered with butter and a *gigantic* variety of
seasonings and spices are available for the corn conosseuir.
Mine had butter, hot sauce, garlic salt, cajun seasoning and a
couple other spicy sauces on it too, can't recall what they were.
Anyways, you sprinkle the spices over the corn and then you
close the foil wrapping paper and roll the corn around in all of the
ingredients. Geeze...mine was spicy! I went through two and a
half medium drinks eating it! Tip: Go easy on the Cajun seasonings!
Anyway, you just *have* to try it...it's delicious!
Back to PR we took another front seat ride just as excellent as the
previous one. I love it! It's just so different from all the other hypers.
You can't ride another Phantom's Revenge anywhere and I doubt
you ever will! You gotta, gotta, gotta try the front seat! Wow!
Dad went over to the Parkside Terrace to warm up with a cup
of joe and a pastry so I decided to hop on the Thunderbolt again,
hoping for a better ride than before. I waited about fifteen minutes
(where's the second train at?) and ended up getting to bypass a
couple people as a single rider and I hopped in 3.2 with a local
who's been riding it since she was a kid. She remembered "when
the Times ranked this number one...". Unfortunately, it was still just
ok. Still lots of fun though!
I grabbed dad from the Parkside Terrace, we played a few games,
(great value by the way!) and headed for the Olde Kennywood
Railroad. It was closed for refueling so we hopped on one of my
favorite rides in the entire park and the only one left standing in
America - The Auto Race (Ride?)
The Auto _____ was alot of fun and we even managed to get the
locals into the handslapping, which is a *very* rare occurance on
the Auto ______ and nowadays, is rare even on the Racer!
We decided to check out the park's Kiddieland, so we gave it a
walk-through. I like to see what the parks have for kids. I mean,
we were all kids once and who knows what might happen
someday!
What a great Kiddieland! They have almost every type of kiddie
ride around! Old. New. Fast. Slow. U drive it. It drives U. Up n
down. All Around. Wow! They even have a miniature version
of the Hrubretz Bounce (Bubble Bounce)!! Called Mini-Bounce.
Awesome! What a great Kiddieland!!
Aero 360 is a fantastic replacement for the old Wonder
Wheel. What a light package at night! Great stuff! It was
only a ten minute wait and I even managed to snag an
outside row as a single rider! I still think that the park
with the best Zamperla Hawk is Seabreeze in Rochester.
It's really intense! I still think highly of Kennywood's and
would place it right behind Seabreeze's and ahead of
SFNE's and *way* ahead of the lame program Dorney
runs it on...
Racer was running one train on each track and it was
nearly a walk on. It was a one cycle wait and we
ended up in the front of the very back car (4.1). We
had an excellent ride and ever better...we won!
Next we headed over to the Jack Rabbit as the skies
started to look more ominous and the temperatures
dropped by the minute. God, it couldn't be more than
40 degrees out here, really...ugh!
Jack Rabbit suprisingly had two trains running with
absolutely no wait. Walk on status. We promptly
hopped in the middle of the back car (4.2) and we
we awarded with a great ride with superb ejector
airtime! WHEEE!!! Awesome as usual...
As we got off Jack Rabbit, it started to rain (sleet)
so we headed for the arcade. We spent a decent
amount of time and change in the arcade playing
various games...old and new. No DDR though.
The rain/sleet began to die down a bit so we
trekked over to the Old Mill. It was at this point
that I realized we did the park completely ass
backwards from the way we usually do it and
we broke TWO cardinal Kennywood rules.
Not riding the Whip after the Exterminator.
Instead, we rode the Whip BEFORE the
Exterminator. I also realized that we rode
Racer THEN Jack Rabbit when everyone
KNOWS your supposed to ride Jack Rabbit
then the Racer. Sorry Tim and Dave!
Anyway, the Old Mill was great fun as usual.
It kept us dry and out of the rain/sleet and it
was only a ten minute wait. Actually, I wish
it were a bit longer so as to keep us out of
the miserable weather...
The Kanagroo was great with the rain/sleet
slicked tracks! It was running in great shape
with potent pronounced airtime everytime
we went off the ramp. Great fun! I love
the Kangaroo!
We took a break in the bathrooms to warm aka de-numb
our hands when we noticed an amusing thing. A bunch
of kids were SITTING on those foot massage/vibrator
machines in front of the bathrooms and proclaiming it to
be "the best ride in the whole damn park." LOL....
Bayren Kurve was pretty much a walk on. There were
only 4 people in line ahead of me. I believe it may have
just reopened after its afternoon inspection. It took a
while to load but god, what a fun, fun ride! I'd love to
have one of these at SFGAd! Hey SFMM! Either start
running yours or give it to us!!
I think I rode just about everything in the park today!
Dad really doesn't do flats..motion sickness. I took a
ride on the newly revamped Pirate and I was taken
aback by the great ride I got. I forgot how potent the
backrow airtime of this ride is! Great!
Phantom's Revenge again. I couldn't stay away from
it and I can't even begin to tell you how impressed I
am with it now. My god! It's fantastic...and this time,
we only waited *20* minutes for a front seat ride
with one train! God, I love this ride! Top ten steel...
without a doubt!
We took another ride on Pittfall. Does a more
exhilarating, get-your-blood-pumping ride exist
anywhere? I love it! Funny...all the rides I've
taken on it today...and I faced every side of
the park and the River except for the Racer/
Jack Rabbit side of the park! I'd love to see
that at night from Pittfall! Wow!
We stopped in the bathroom again to warm
up our hands with those hand dryers and
just try to warm up enough to make it to
closing. God, it was getting *really* cold,
but noone was leaving!
Trying to stay warm and stay indoors I
headed for the **heated** (oh thank god!)
Exterminator while Dad headed for the
Parkside Terrace as a nice employee
told us they had turned on the heat in
there now.
We agreed to meet at the Parkside Terrace
at park close and with that said I headed off
for Exterminator. Thankfully the line was
inside the "labratory" and the heat was
going full blast! Let me tell you, that was
the best fifteen minute wait EV-ER!!!
Exterminator has got to be one *the* perfect
addition to this park. What a great ride! I love
it. If you are the younger or smaller rider, I'd
recommend that you take the inside seats..
they're more comfortable. WHY IS THE
SPINNING WEAK NOW? Did they tame it
down? The turns are still as wild as ever!
What gives? Oh, and I noticed that a few
more effects were on this time! Yay!!
I decided to queue up for one last Phantom
Ride and if things worked out right, I'd be
ending my night on Pittfall. I decided to wait
out the front row again...my favorite seat on
the train. The wind in your face, hurtling thru
the T-bolt, speeding along the straight track,
its all so much better in the front seat. God!
What a fantastic ride! Airtime everywhere!
No let up! Great speed, great airtime, great
drops, great turns...definitely a top tier steel,
at least for me.
I refuse to ride anywhere near the back though.
Last year during Kennykon I thought I damn near
had my spine compressed! YEEE-OUCH!! I was
very weary of giving it a second chance, but
since I was at my favorite park in the world, I
gave it another shot up in 2.2 and liked it better
than Steel Force and Magnum, but that's about
all I could say for it. Now this year, I've stuck
to the front seat and I think it's top ten steel!
Hell, for me personally, it's top five!! It's
fantastic!! RIDE THE FRONT! RIDE THE FRONT!
I headed over to Pittfall and it had just closed.
I knew that closing time and that unique to KW
closing announcement was right around the
corner. Sure enough, as I was taking night
shots of the Big Dipper refreshment stand
awash in neon, the announcement came
over the PA System so I headed to the
Parkside Terrace to pick up Dad.
We played a couple games on the way out
and stopped in the gift shops to pick up some
souvenirs for the entire family as even mom
and sis love Kennywood. Then, along with
the rest of the dwindling crowd we left
Kennywood at 8:30. I looked back at the
park one last time, turned, and walked
through my tunnel.
We stopped for gas, beer, and snacks
in Monroeville and took a drive down
Route 22 looking for a nice diner to
have dinner at. Well lo and behold
THE PARK DINER on the William
Penn Highway in Monroeville! It's
a brand spanking new diner that's
a tribute to Kennywood!
Oh. My. God.
My two favorite things...diners and amusement
parks are now one! Even better, it's centered
around my FAVORITE park anywhere! Kennywood!
It's a huge newshiny stainless steel diner with
brand new red booths, black and white tile floors,
indirect neon lighting and the front of the diner is
awash in TONS of stainless steel and neon.
WOW!! WOW!! WOW!! WOW!!
The Park Diner was built as a tribute to Kennywood
Park and murals and postcards of the park hang
nearby or over every booth. My god...I think I have a
new favorite diner to go right alongside my favorite
park. God! The food was served quickly, hot and fresh.
Our appetizers were out in less than five minutes
and just as we finished off our appetizers our
meals came! Wow! And the food was absolutely
delicious. I HIGHLY recommend this place - defnitely
check it out! After dinner we headed back to our
blase Red Roof Inn, hung out, watched some television,
had a couple beers, and went to bed!
Coming back to Kennywood every year proves to me
again why I love this park so much and why it's my
number one. It is absolutely beautiful - the immaculate
grounds, the wonderful art deco, the classic coasters
and wonderful rides, the infectiously FUN atmosphere,
the inviting midways. It all adds up to what's very nearly
a perfect park. Kennywood is the most interesting
park in America - hands down. It is so beautiful and so
traditional and so much fun! How can you NOT love
Kennywood?
I love Kennywood.
-Rob Vaccaro
Coming Soon: SFWoA, Michigan's Adventure, Indiana Beach,
Cedar Point, Rye Playland, and Six Flags Great Adventure...
(don't worry...after SFWoA, they're all from last weekend! =D )
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-Rob Vaccaro
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-Sean Newman
84 coasters in Track Record!! Hypersonic XLC # 100 in July. Waiting for the 305 foot drop tower in 2003. Thank you PKD.
SFgadvMAN said:
That was a great Trip Report! I really want to go there. I probably will next Spring. Just one question. You said the longest wait was Noah's Ark at 20 min then you said you waites 30 for PR. Well who cares.
Thanks! I'm sure that when you visit you will have a fantastic time. Just don't forget about the "finer points" of Kennywood, enjoying foods like waffles and ice cream at the Parkside Terrace, or Potato Patch fries and watching the Thunderbolt fly by.
Don't forget to ride things like the Roll-O-Plane, Bayern Kurve, Gold Rusher, The Turtle, The Whip, Noah's Ark, The Kangaroo, The Log Jammer, The Raging Rapids, The Old Mill, etc. They're all part of the "Kennywood Experience" and you won't "get" the park unless you do it all. Have fun!
Twenty minutes, a half hour...same thing. :)
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-Rob Vaccaro
*** This post was edited by RobCoasting on 7/3/2002. ***
Blitzjade said:
Hey when I went to Kennywood a few weeks ago I stayed at the Red Roof Inn AND I went to that great diner!! Haha.. The memories are so amazing. We had a bad experience with a waitress by the name of "Babett". I just laugh thinking about it!
Wow, freaky! Glad you enjoyed Kennywood and made some great memories. Babett, lol....that's a funny name!
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-Rob Vaccaro
l. Where Old Kennywood is now was the largest outdoor swimming pool in America. A long building along the back contained dressing rooms, lockers, showers, and even a swimsuit rental counter. There were diving bosrds, water slides and a huge fountain in the middle. Much of what was the pool is now the water basin for the water ride.
2. Down by the Old Mill was Laff in the Dark, possibly the greatest dark ride in the country.
3. Between the Kangaroo and what is now the Scooters was one of the greatest miniature golf courses anywhere. People could come to the park only to play the golf course, and many did.
4. The Scooters were over next to the pool, up on the hill above the Tumble Bug.
5. Where the Raging Rapids is now was the Dipper, a great family wooden coaster. I like the Raging Rapids, but I sure miss the Dipper.
6. Up on the pedestal overlooking the Lagoon were the Rockets. Especially at night, they were a spectacular ride, and KW gave you a long time to enjoy it. They were already high on that pedestal, and of course they swung out even higher, so you got a magical view of all the lights of the park down below you.
7. What is now the stage and rows of seating was additional water as the Lagoon circled around the Rocket pedestal. You could thus row your boat around twice as big a circle.
8. Tucked down between the Dipper and what is now the Thunderbolt was a concert shell with lots of seating. They would bring in a never ending series of top performers. I remember Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Bobby Darin, The Everly Brothers, etc.
9. The Loop o Plane was over by the Carousel, the Whip next to the Log Flume.
10. That circular building by the tunnel entrance housed a Rotor, the whirling drum that pinned riders to the wall and the floor dropped out.
11. The Flying Scooters were between Noah's Ark and the Thunderbolt. I really miss them. Snapping the scooters was a tradition.
It was a great park then, just as it's a great park now. But I wish we had some of those old rides back.
Wow, its cool to know that some actually experienced all those rides! I have both of the Kennywood books written by Charles J. Jaques Jr so I'm pretty well versed in Kennywood history and I had a great time walking around the park and going "______ used to be here and now its _____"
Wow...imagine! The state's largest swimming pool, ANOTHER great dark ride, a great mini golf course, a family wooden coaster, Traver rocket ships, a Loop-O-Plane, a Rotor, AND Flyers?! My oh my! My imagination is working overtime!
But now times have changed. That swimming pool has been replaced by the Pittsburgh Plunge and Lost Kennywood, and Sandcastle is a fine substitute. I definitely wouldn't mind another dark ride though, especially a Sally Shooter! A CCI family coaster, or even a Zeier family coaster would be a great addition to the park! The Flying Skooters and Flyers now reside at Lake Compounce, although the Flyers are currently in storage. I like the Swing Around on that huge pedestal, but wow...imagine Rocket ships flying high above the Island...like the Zephyr at DCA...WOW! And I'd imagine that the old Loop-O-Plane is still in storage...gosh, imagine what they have in storage?!
Who knows what Kennywood has in store for the future? I sure wouldn't mind another woodie, dark ride, a new set of those Larson Flyers, and it'd be great if Morgan could manufacture another set of those Rocket Ships for Kennywood...wow!
-Rob "Wish I was psychic sometimes" Vaccaro
*** This post was edited by RobCoasting on 7/7/2002. ***
Why would you quote that whole thing?
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"When I was growing up, we were taught something called manners. You'd understand that if you weren't such an idiot." - Jack Handey
All of which is not to say they didn't have good reasons for their decisions. It's just that I can't imagine what they were. That's why I'd love to sit around and talk about such issues for a few hours with the decision makers.
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-Rob Vaccaro
Great TR again Rob. When I plan my trip to KW, you're the guy I'm going to get in touch with to find out how to make the day perfect! Thanks! ;)
By the way, anyone who knitpicks your quoting... ignore them. The only one you need to heed is the moderators and Jeff. He's the one who pays for the bandwidth.
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Sorrrrrrrry folks! Parks closed. The moose out front should have told you.
Thanks Homey G! Kennywood's the bomb! One thing about the quoting...I got an email to check page three of the General Forums for a thread about quoting. I did so and found out that it's against the TOS or whatever to quote the whole post, or even to quote a post if you're replying immediately after said post.
My bad Jeff! Being a longtime USENET and forum user, I'm used to quoting anything I'm replying to (proper netiquette) and I've found this to be a unique-to-CoasterBuzz rule. Now, it *is* your site and all and I'm not paying anything for using it, but is there any particular reason for this? It's really just another rule we have to keep in mind when writing or replying to a post on the site...
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-Rob Vaccaro
Wow - reading this trip report brought a huge smile to my face on this otherwise crappy day =)
Thanks for such a refreshing view on Kennywood from an "outsider". I was so happy to see someone else finally use the word "magical" to describe the park - I haven't been able (for money reasons) to really stray too far from Pittsburgh to visit parks, but I still have yet to find any park, any location, any tourist attraction, NOTHING that matches a Kennywood night.
Also great to see someone else that thinks that PittFall is the #1 drop ride on the planet. I don't even ride CP's Power Tower anymore cause it just seems weak compared to PittFall. And Exterminator was slowed down last year, but when you have the proper weight distribution is still an awesome ride!
Gotta love that PR front seat!
Thanks for bringing a smile to my face, awesome TR.
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Steel - #1 Mantis, #2 Millie, #3 Wicked Twister
Wood - #1 Thunderbolt, #2 Beast, #3 Blue Streak
"The key to a happy life is moderation" -- Jon Stewart
*** This post was edited by PittDesigner on 7/9/2002. ***
PittDesigner- I'm so happy that my TR brightened your day! You can't get away from Pittsburgh often? Don't worry, if I was as close to Kennywood as you are, I wouldn't be leaving the Pittsburgh area much either!
Nothing does match Kennywood at night and yes, magical is the perfect word to describe the park. S&S drop rides, specifically Power Tower, are very weak compared to the Intamin drop rides like Pittfall, Drop Zone, and Acrophobia - Drop Zone is a *very* close second to Pittfall though!
So, Exterminator *WAS* slowed down. Thanks for confirming my suspicions. Any particular reason why? Complaints? Alot of uhm, "sickness?"
You have a VERY special homepark and my absolute favorite park anywhere. Never, ever forget what a treasure your town has!!
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-Rob Vaccaro
*** This post was edited by RobCoasting on 7/9/2002. ***
Nice TR, Rob...
So tell me, how good are those infamous *Potato Patch Fries*? Im going to Kennywood, next month.
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Dayuum, Your HOT!
Phantom Catcher - My best ride was last year's Kennykon. We had a car with the weight *really* unevenly distributed and it spun like mad, right into the brakes...and it CONTINUED spinning!
Coasterr - I'm not a big french fry conosseiur, but they are tasty especially with a topping like vinegar. They are freshly cut, fried, and served you to piping hot. So, if you like the "fresh cut" style fries, you'll love them.
In my opinion though, you can find much better food at the park in their famous, piping hot, freshly made belgian waffles & hard ice cream from the old carousel building, a great lunch or dinner from the Parkside Terrace, a superb Italian sausage from the Pagoda, Kountry Korn, and of course, Krunch Kote!
Have fun and make sure to try some of those unique or especially-good-at-Kennywood foods!
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-Rob Vaccaro
*** This post was edited by RobCoasting on 7/10/2002. ***
Just for the record, Exterminator has never been slowed down, and the spinning always starts at the same point in the ride.
The only differences could be how "loose" the cars are, and how the weight within the car is distributed. It is entirely possible to have a different ride every time you go on.
"...anyone who knitpicks your quoting... ignore them. " and that would be nitpicks. ;)
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"When I was growing up, we were taught something called manners. You'd understand that if you weren't such an idiot." - Jack Handey
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