Why kill Steel Phantom for Phantom's Revenge?

Why would a park take a one of a kind ride, tear most of it apart, rebuild it as a new ride, and paint it a ghastly green color, simply to make it less scary or intense?

So they could call themselves Kennywood, save money, make it stand out in the skyline and attract more guests. Well, this is my opinion, I might be wrong.
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Drive to theme parks for the food, stay for the coasters!! Knott's Fried Chicken

to satisify all the air time whores!!!! And let me say, a lot of my hoes have been saying its the best around town besides SROS at SFNE.

$$$

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Joshua Wilcox
"We have awakened a sleeping giant and have instilled in him a terrible resolve"
- Japanese Admiral Yamamoto after sneak attack on Pearl Harbor

Hmm...Maybe the one-of-a-kind ride sucks and nobody likes it. They rip off the parts nobody likes, and put in new parts that a majority of people will enjoy. They paint it green to show people it is not the same old coaster they hate, it is something new and different. Perhaps it is too intense and everyone, even the most die-hard coaster fans think it could be toned down a bit. BTW, This sounds alot like a certain ride at Kennywood, my favorite coaster, Phantom's Revenge. They definitely improved it. It was just too rough before, now it is very smooth and it has tons of airtime.
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Bull rides: 103
Batman rides: 61

Hmmm, maybe because the first ride wasn't doing very well and wasn't making them any money. I mean think about it, if someone was staying in a place you owned and only paid half the rent 1 month out of the year, wouldn't you get someone else who could pay it?
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"The opposite of war isn't peace, its creation," Rent.

I wonder how long this will last? Maybe 3 more post before Jeff comes by.
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Montu, God Of Coasters

Raging Bull, Don't Fight It, Ride It

weLL, here's 1!

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"Sadda Tay On The Tippy Tie"

Phantoom's Revenge is a great ride but I never got to ride The Steel Phantom. It was my favorite coaster out of that trip.

Here's a question to ponder: What the hell could this topic possibly be about when it was called, "A Question to Ponder?" Meaningful titles folks... please.

Steel Phantom was a piece of crap, and that's being kind. Those first two drops were among the best, then you get sucked into a series of loops that surprisingly never triggered any aneurysms (that we know of). I rode it once on my second visit to Kennywood and wondered what the hell I was thinking.

Revenge, on the other hand, has without question, the most intense airtime of any coaster ever made, period. That's a pretty broad and sweeping claim to make, but I've never experienced anything like that on any other ride anywhere.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"
Watch the grass grow!

Jeff said:
"Steel Phantom was a piece of crap, and that's being kind. Those first two drops were among the best, then you get sucked into a series of loops that surprisingly never triggered any aneurysms (that we know of). I rode it once on my second visit to Kennywood and wondered what the hell I was thinking."

Couldn't put it better myself! Same thing happened to me... rode it my 3rd time and wondered "what the hell I was thinking". Not questioning why I rode it actually, but the way my brain was shaken around I wasn't exactly putting thoughts together. A few minutes later when my brain functions came back, I realized what I was thinking... "That coaster was brutal. I see why they are ripping it down."

My wife (fiancee at the time) said it best... "That ride threw us around like a cheap wh*** on 'nickle night'" (and this coming from a woman who normally watches her language and wouldnt say 'poop'... or another word meaning the same... if she stepped in it).

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

In my opionion Steel Phantom was a GREAT ride, IF you knew how to ride it.

During the last season, I would only ride in the front, back, and second to last seats on the ride. I would not DARE enter the middle seats! So my last rides were very enjoyable.

Phantoms Revenge blows the ride away by far, with the smoothness and awsome airtime.

It's hard to have a fun day at a park when you have a headache and people who don't have fun don't come back.
If you don't think PR is one-of-a-kind or intense, you must not have never ridden it!

*** This post was edited by jimster on 10/11/2001. ***

Well, perhaps it is an aneurysm speaking here, but for some reason, I actually liked the Steel Phantom. Yes, it was a rough ride through the loops, but for some reason, I found myself among the few that actually enjoyed it. The inversions were taken at a rapid-fire pace, and the helix exerted some major positive g-forces. While it did feel like my neck was going to snap during the helix, I learned to brace myself properly. Then again, I also liked Drachen Fire while it was open..... For some reason, I found both rides to be "fun", and I never came off either one seriously injured.

Phantom's Revenge on the other hand is without question one of THE wildest steel coasters anywhere. The first two drops remained intact and felt much more intense thanks to no OTSR's, and as everyone has mentioned, the airtime is just insane. There's just so many moments when it feels like you're about to be launched from the train that I was gripping the lap bar with everything I had. Any regrets I had at first about the Phantom being changed were completely erased after just one ride. And if the lines this summer were any indication, KW has a certified hit on their hands. The old Phantom was a virtual walk-on... even on the busiest of days.

Sorry if I rile anyone up for being a fan of the Phantom.... I guess I just never thought it was as bad as many made it out to be.

ProgRay

SquishyMon said:
simply to make it less scary or intense?

If you think the Phantom's Revenge is less scary or intense, then you obviously haven't riden it. I didn't find SP scary to begin with and PR is much more intense with it's faster speed and massive airtime without the evil OTSRs. I personally love PR and hated SP. I agree with Jeff. It was not worth walking off SP with a migraine for the rest of the day.
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Christ how do you kids do it

*** This post was edited by loriu on 10/11/2001. ***

SP was more of what I call a "cult coaster." It wasn't liked by the mainstream that much, but had a loyal band of suporters. I, personaly, had to be in the mood to ride SP and expect, well the worst. But PR was fantastic and was one of the best decsion the park ever made.
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I actually preferred Steel Phantom. I'm a masochistic coaster rider, though. I like neck-knockers better then tummy-turners. I think Phantom's Apology.... err Revenge is a decent enough coaster, but now Kennywood is a zero-inversion park. Maybe it'll improve a bit with the tunnels. There WILL be tunnels, right?

RIP, Steel Phantom. You're missed at least once a year by this rider.

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www.ROLLOPLANE.com
Putting the Amusement back in the Park

*** This post was edited by ROLLOPLANE.com on 10/11/2001. ***

I also liked Steel Phantom, although not as much as I like PR. I didn't think SP was as bad as most people where saying. But it was obvious by the lines that most people did not like SP, so what Kennywood did was extremely smart. And whats wrong with green paint?

Andy Quinn explained the logic at KennyCon. Whenever Kennywood asked people what they thought of Steel Phantom, respondents said they loved the Steel Phantom. When Kennywood asked those same people if they had ridden the Steel Phantom recently, the answer was usually, "No." So it was a popular ride that nobody actually rode! In a pay-per-ride park like Kennywood, it's turnstile clicks and ticket weight that count more than anything else, so out with the Phantom, in with Phantom's Revenge.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

RideMan said:
"In a pay-per-ride park like Kennywood..."

Kennywood is "pay-per-ride?" I remember paying one price (around $18 something I think... it was first operating day of the season, 2000) and riding all day.

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