After being with my fiancé for over four years now, it is almost a crime that I have yet to visit her hometown park of Kennywood. It is a park that I grew up reading and learning about, as it is over 100 years old and chock full of history. Kennywood has done an amicable job preserving this legendary history, and I was so happy to finally be able to visit after all these years. Check out the video below for a recap of our beautiful fall day at one of America’s most historic theme parks:
We were staying in downtown Pittsburgh for a family wedding, so the park was a short twenty-minute drive to the south side of town, in a suburb called West Mifflin. Kennywood is situated on the side of a huge hill leading down to the river, so it’s a super picturesque scene driving in, seeing all the coasters on a cliff essentially. It is separated from the main parking lot by a city street, so access to the park is provided by an underground tunnel—a unique way to enter the park (similar to Knott’s Berry Farm).
Our visit fell on a Sunday in September, and we were able to arrive at the park just after opening around 11am. Parking was somewhat disorganized but after finding our spot and heading towards the gates, we were hit with our most massive disappointment of the day: the brand-new coaster from last season (Steel Curtain) would be down all day. I was so excited to ride this attraction, but it has been plagued with operational issues since opening day, so it wasn’t tremendously unexpected. That didn’t lessen the sting though, and I was slightly bummed to start our morning. Luckily for me, the rest of the day’s events would make up for this early blunder.
Our first ride of the day would be on the Thunderbolt, a classic Woodie built in 1965 that has been taken care of tremendously. It still runs its legendary original trains, but unfortunately, they only operate it with one, so I could see how the line could get out of hand easily. Thankfully, with our early arrival, we were able to get a front row ride with only a two train wait. The coaster was fantastic; smooth, full of great forces, and a picturesque traverse over the beautiful riverside hills. The other requirement for this attraction (which was super unique) was that you had to ride with a partner, so no single riders were allowed. I quickly found out this is because of the intense lateral forces on the first section of this coaster. The trains do not have seat dividers, so if you were in the row by yourself, you would get tossed around in this section. Weird policy, but I can understand why it makes sense.
Next up was my most anticipated attraction of the day (behind the lawn ornament on the other side of the park), Phantom’s Revenge. This coaster has an interesting history, as it originally started its life as an Arrow looping coaster in the early 90’s. After a few years of operation, Morgan was contracted to renovate the entire coaster. They kept certain iconic sections of the ride as is, but changed out the trains completely and removed the inversions all-together. With this track replacement, Kennywood was left with a masterpiece of a hyper coaster—full of ejector airtime and plenty of great speed. It is also incredibly smooth, and the new trains do a world of good for the ride experience. No wonder this has been a fan favorite of the park for many years. It was easily my top pick of the day.
From there we took a quick walk into the Lost Kennywood section, an absolutely beautiful area of the park. This section is themed to the old trolley park that used to be located in Pittsburgh in the late 80’s/early 90’s called Luna Park. The designers did a great job capturing the old school feel, and incorporating the shoot the chutes ride as the centerpiece is such a cool look. We came across a flat ride next; Black Widow, a Zamperla Giant Frisbee. These are usually solid attractions, but something about this particular rendition felt elevated. The swings were absolutely enormous, and the airtime at the top was amazing. It almost seemed as if we were upside down at the pinnacle of each swing. A nice long ride cycle as well, this one was a winner in my book.
Exterminator was our next coaster, and this one was a little hard to find. If I didn’t have my ex-Pittsburgh local with me, I’m not sure if I would’ve found it. A standard Zamperla spinning wild-mouse on the surface, this one is built indoors and takes place (mostly) in the dark. There’s some decent theming in this one (albeit out of date), but it was a fun experience and worth the short wait. I could see this one getting a long line on busy days though as it had a relatively low capacity.
About time for lunch, we decided to get on one more attraction. This one turned out to be the most unique of the day, it was called Noah’s Ark, and it is an old-school walk-through funhouse type ride. It was such a cool experience! There were some one of a kind things in the ark, and even though a lot of the theming was outdated, it was still so incredibly awesome. You just don’t see attractions like this anymore, and I’m so glad Kennywood has kept this thing going for as long as they have.
We decided to commit to the slow-moving line at the Potato Patch, but the nearly thirty minute wait was worth it for some fried potato-ey goodness. Olivia and I were in agreement that the cheese sauce provided was nothing special, but the fries themselves were tasty and I can definitely understand the hype. Just wish it was a quicker operation, as this was our longest wait of the day.
Next up we headed back to snap a few pictures of Steel Curtain and its surrounding Steelers Country area. This section opened last year with the coaster, and I was definitely a fan of this new expansion. It’s a really unique idea to have an area and coaster themed to a football team, but it totally works in Pittsburgh. We were even able to catch some of the NFL highlights on the big screen overlooking the new section. It was dead back here with the Curtain down, but we were able to grab a drink and use what was by far the cleanest bathroom in the park.
We headed just next door for a ride on the 100+ year old Jack Rabbit. This legend of a woodie opened in 1920 and still delivers a thrilling ride. The double down section provided a ridiculous pop of ejector airtime–even more so because we were in the back row. We only waited about ten minutes for this classis attraction, and I’m a little disappointed we didn’t go back for a second lap. Here’s to another 100 years of the Jack Rabbit.
Moving back towards the front of the park, we located the entrance for Sky Rocket and went ahead and hopped in line. This coaster has always received mixed reviews, but I thought it was enjoyable. It had a nice powerful launch, the top hat was fun (albeit quite a bit nerfed with the holding brake), and the ride was super smooth and comfortable. There were a couple fun inversions mixed in with a few good pops of airtime. Nothing tremendously impressive, but definitely a good addition in a relatively small footprint. For sure a great coaster for the younger guest working their way up to larger attractions.
About fifty yards from the entrance to Sky Rocket was The Old Mill boat ride, which Olivia and I decided to hit up next. This is a super old attraction as well, and I’m glad we got to experience it. The ride meandered through some outdated scenes and the story was tough to follow, but I’m a sucker for these tacky old-school rides, and this one was no different. It was a relaxing ride and a nice way to escape the sun for a bit.
Our last (new) coaster of the day was another historic landmark (literally a registered national landmark)–this one being the infamous Racer. Although it is not nearly the tallest or fastest coaster around these days, the Racer still delivers a thrilling and downright fun ride. It’s a unique experience to be able to high-five the other train when traversing around turns. A common theme on all of Kennywood’s old coasters is how smooth they all rode and operated. Huge kudos to the park for keeping up the maintenance of these fantastic machines.
At this point we had ridden everything we came to experience, so we decided to catch a re-ride on two of our favorites, Thunderbolt and Phantom’s Revenge, with a pretzel from Auntie Anne’s mixed in between. Both coasters were just as good if not better than our morning rides, as they both seemed to have warmed up a bit throughout the afternoon. We closed out our awesome day at Kennywood with a lap on the Pittsburgh Plunge, the park’s shoot the chute rides. Thankfully this was our last stop on the way out, because we got absolutely drenched. It was, however, a refreshing way to cap off our visit.
Of course Steel Curtain being down was a huge bummer, but Olivia and I still managed to make the most of our afternoon and turned out to have an amazing time at Kennywood. I’m so grateful to finally have checked off this legendary amusement park, and it more than lived up to the long-awaited hype. The coasters, although not super numerous, were all a great time–each was unique in it’s own way. The park also had a great old-school charm to it that you don’t often see in today’s modern amusements. We will for sure be back for a ride on the Curtain, as we are in Pittsburgh relatively frequently to visit Olivia’s family. Although the park has already enjoyed a long and successful operation, hopefully Kennywood’s best days are yet to come.
Thanks for following along, and be sure to stay tuned for our upcoming Halloween adventures!
– Walker
Texas-Ranger Travels 