Kennywood
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| Missing image Kennywood_racer_blurred.jpg The Thunderbolt |
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Kennywood is an amusement park near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the borough of West Mifflin, and is regarded by roller coaster connoisseurs as one of the finest in the world. It features a number of old wooden coasters still in working order, along with newer, steel coasters and other rides.
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History
Kennywood began in 1898 as a trolley park that catered to local industrial workers and their families. From its origin as a working-class picnic destination, the park grew in the first half of the twentieth century into a popular entertainment site that combined technological thrill rides with recreation venues like swimming pools and dance halls.
Today the park features a nostalgic atmosphere and is supported by a loyal local fan base. Kennywood Entertainment (http://www.kennywoodentertainment.com/) also runs Sandcastle Waterpark (http://www.sandcastlewaterpark.com/), which it built in the early 1990s, Idlewild Park and SoakZone (http://www.idlewild.com/) near Ligonier, and Lake Compounce (http://www.lakecompounce.com/), New England's family theme park in Bristol, Connecticut.
Attractions
Roller Coaster History
Through the years, Kennywood has made use of the hilly Pittsburgh terrain to create coasters that wouldn't be feasible anywhere else. The Thunderbolt and the Jack Rabbit, both wooden coasters, place the lift chain in the middle of the ride, not at the beginning. In both cases, the car leaves the station and drops into a valley for its first hill. Phantom's Revenge uses the same valley as the Thunderbolt, and the Phantom's second drop passes through the supports of the Thunderbolt's first drop. Many coasters sit in the footprint of former coasters. The Phantom's Revenge bears an obvious resemblance to the record-setting Steel Phantom. Older visitors will recall that the Thunderbolt is an improvement of the Pippin.
Current Roller Coasters
- Racer - A John A. Miller wooden roller coaster with a track that is looped over on itself to create the appearance of two separate, parallel tracks. Riders choose from one of two trains, one on each side of the loading platform, that then race against each other as they traverse the course.
- Jack Rabbit - A John A. Miller wooden roller coaster, known especially for its double dip. Coming down off of its second big hill, the track levels out briefly half of the way down, then continues downward. The speed of the train as it enters this second part of the drop is so high that the riders are given the impression that they will be thrown free of the train.
- Thunderbolt - A wooden roller coaster. Originally there was a John A. Miller wooden coaster known as the Pippin on this site, built in 1924. A new design, by Andy Vettle, Jr., was used in the 1967 reconstruction of the Pippin, reusing several of its elements, but resulting in a larger, faster coaster to be known as the Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt regularly places at or near the top of lists concerning the world's top coasters.
- Exterminator - An indoor Reverchon spinning mouse roller coaster.
- Phantom's Revenge - "The Steel Phantom", a steel looping coaster built by Arrow Dynamics, opened in 1991. The Steel Phantom briefly held several records for longest drop and highest speed (about 80 miles/hour). After the 2000 season, the coaster was heavily modified by Chance Morgan Rides, including the removal of all of the inversions. It reopened with the name Phantom's Revenge.
Other Attractions
- Kiddieland collects all of the child-only rides in a compact area between the Thuderbolt and the lake. Rides include miniature versions of the Turtle and Phantom.
- The lake features paddleboats and a bungee-type ride, the Sky Coaster, which only takes 1-3 riders at a time and is not included in the ride-all-day pass. Several carnival games and food huts are adjacent to the lake.
- The Turtle and The Kangaroo are bumpy-track rides inspired by, in turn, the turtle's curved shell and the kangaroo's leap. They are the first rides that most children graduating from Kiddieland ride, but they are also very popular with teenagers because operators usually let them ride several times in a row when lines are very short.
- The Merry-Go-Round, built in 1926, is a historical landmark, and Kennywood encourages large groups to use it as a meeting-spot.
- The Log Jammer is a water ride, resembling a roller coaster, which runs through the wooded area in the back of the park.
- Lost Kennywood is a new addition to the park, near the parking lot. The area evokes memories of Kennywood's long history, and also the illusion of yesteryear's dangerous rides, with modern safety features of course. The area includes the Pittsburg Plunge, a Shoot-the-Chute named after the brief period in the 1890s when Pittsburgh dropped the "h" from its name.
Location
Kennywood is 10 miles from downtown Pittsburgh, in West Mifflin, PA. The park is between State Road 837 and the Monongahela River; the closest interstate exit is Interstate 376's Swissvale Exit #7. Despite the park's obscure location — it was once the terminus of a streetcar line — it is rather easy to find for two reasons. First, it is located on the "Green Belt", part of the Pittsburgh Belt Route System. Second, Kennywood has blanketed the neighboring area with yellow wooden "Kennywood" arrows, to the point where the yellow arrow has become the park's logo.
External links
- Official website (http://www.kennywood.com)