Whip reopens at KW...

Was one of my favorite flats. Dont think i will ever be able to ride it again after what happened...

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Drive It Like You Stole It!

Ride It Like You Own It!

Why not? Its not like its the rides fault, it was a storm.

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Can we change the name of Top Gun to your mom so no one wants to ride your mom?

Why?? It wasn't the ride's fault! You can't control a tornado. The Paratrooper also reopened. Kennywood is back up and running!! Don't be scared of something that was no fault of the ride ...

He is probably referring more to the fact that someone was killed at that site. That does tend to disturb some people.

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""To be the man, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!, You got to beat the man""!!!

Yes, you can go ride it right now.

http://kennywood.coasterbuzz.com/forums/thread.asp?ForumID=3&TopicID=297

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"drop rides, not bombs."

I dunno...i think it would just be weird riding something that someone died on is all. Just my opinion. I agree it isnt the rides fault. I say that now but come next weekend i will probably be on it....lol

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Drive It Like You Stole It!

Ride It Like You Own It!

I never understood that ... someone was probably killed on just about every mile of road going into Kennywood, CP, PKI, SFWoA, etc etc ... still drive 'em! Oh well, to each his own. Nice to see how fast Kennywood recovered though

Also that person didnt die on the ride itself. She died along the fence surrounding the Pittsburgh Plunge. The Whip's roof flew off the building.

Yes i agree it wasnt on the ride itself... Whop know i will probably ride it once at least. Yes it is great to see Kennywood recover so quick. That would have been devasting to a lot of other small parks.

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Drive It Like You Stole It!

Ride It Like You Own It!

You need to look at it from the opposite perspective : This is the 80 year old ride that not even a tornado ( " microburst?") could destroy. It deserves to be ridden and enjoyed for another 80 years.

Do you think it would ever make it as a "reborn" ride at another park? Same goes for the Turtle and Kangaroo at Kennywood - I've always wondered why if everyone loves these 3 rides (well most everyone ... I didn't like the Turtle for a while cause it was too slow =) ) why they aren't reintroduced at other parks in need of cool flat rides? If they could build 'em that well 75 years ago, I'm sure they can make 'em that good today!

All the rides are in full swing except for the Flying Carpet, it's been down for awhile:( Due to a bad Gearbox.

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:)KENNYWOOD:)

We noticed this last Friday. When we arrived in the morning the front gate had a sign saying that the Whip, Magic Carpet and Rapids were closed (not sure if the rapids were because of damage from that storm or not.)

Not being familiar with Kennywood, I don't know how new this is, but behind the rapids there is a little tower like structure so the ride can be monitored. This looked very new. Was it to replace something lost or damaged in the storm?

Anyway, by mid afternoon the Rapids were open. We noticed workers doing work on the Whip. By around 6pm, when we exited Exterminator, we noticed that the whip was running. The fence around it was freshly painted (complete with "wet paint" signs ) . Also, at each of the corners of its area was a post with what looked like temporary lights (I assume the old whip shelter had lights on the underside).

As far as not ever riding it because of what happened there... well, using that logic, I suggest that you never come to eastern PA and visit the Gettysburg area considering what happened there in 1863... or if you are in eastern PA you shouldn't use the PA turnpike to get to Kennywood considering what happened at the one tunnel entrance a few months ago (a firey crash that closed the turnpike for the better part of a day and caused a traffic backup that was reported to be 60 miles at its longest).

They had to put a new tower on the rapids because of the storm that blew it down;) I'm not sure why the Rapids were closed, I do know it's not because of the storm. Also the tower is to shut out the Water gyers at people near the end of the ride.

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:)KENNYWOOD:)

Well, I could tell that the tower was new or at least heavily repaired (the trees around it looked like they were recently cut back). The workers on the rapids seemed to be doing something around the lift section (that moves the rafts back up to the rotating station floor) very near the structur of Thunderbolt (which was also closed for a bit that morning... a large crane in there for some reason... may have been related to the Rapids since it was so close... not sure though).

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

A gate on the rapids did blow over in the storm, as did the observation tower which controls the water jets at the end. The tower is what you are seeing is new, and the cranes were most likely for the gate which was near the end of the ride.

One of the pumps on the Rapids was being changed out. Nothing exciting, just time consuming waiting for the water to come back up to level.

As far as these old rides being manufactured today, isn't Hersheypark's Whip new? It sure looks it... sleek fiberglass bodies with big head restraints and lap bars, the center section is all diamondplate. If it is old it has been refurbished to the point that it may as well be new.

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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

kpjb - Yes, that one at Hershey is a newer model, but it's nowhere near as good as KW's.

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"He's blazin' away like the stars in the universe.." A. Vega + M. Rev "Ghostrider"

Someday there will be something here.

I didn't really like Hersheypark's Whip at all...well, compared to Kennywood's ;)

I rode Kennywood's "new" Whip this past Sunday and I thought it looked pretty good! I was there last Monday too, and the platform seemed pretty rusted, and only about half of the cars were on the track. Well, on Sunday, all the cars were back (in great shape), and it seemed like the platform was either replaced or repaired. It seems like there were new wheels on the arms holding the cars, too. It seemed to be running a little slower than usual, but I'm sure it's just getting warmed up.

Does any park have a Giant Whip operating ? That would the same ride, even the same sized cars, but with longer arms and wheels so a much wider arc at each end. I've seen Kiddie Whips, but never a Giant version.