Kennywood

Visited: August 3, 2019

Attending: Just Brian

This was a seriously up-and-down day, and I don’t mean that as a pun.

Background first: Last year, I went to That Conference in August, and used the return trip to stop by Cedar Point for the first time, which I enjoyed greatly. Earlier in 2019, I decided not to go to That Conference for business reasons. But then I changed jobs in June, and my new manager is very fond of That Conference, and my business reasons changed, so I decided to go again. That Conference is in the Wisconsin Dells, which means there’s no convenient airport. So like last year, I decided to make the two-day drive. Unlike last year, I decided to go all-in with visiting parks. Since I’d just joined ACE in July, I suddenly had access to their discounts. The main goals were Six Flags Great America and Cedar Point, but I knew I’d pass by Kennywood, and they just added a major new coaster, and with the ACE discount and free parking, it seemed like something I could just stop by for a few hours and continue on my journey.

So, the plan: I’d get up early on Saturday the 3rd, and see if I could make it to Kennywood around opening time (10:30). Well, it’s a four-hour-plus drive from my house, and I didn’t make it out the door until just before 7:00. Still, I made decent time, and arrived at where my GPS said Kennywood was at 11:15. Not bad...except I still needed to park. The traffic was a huge snarl around the lots (which are on the other side of the street from the park proper), and the free parking was even harder to find. Unfortunately, all the free lots I could find were full, so I had to wait even longer to pay $7 for preferred parking. Given what Six Flags and Cedar Fair charge for parking, I shouldn’t have been so cheap. So by the time I got into the park, it was around noon. Bad, but not insurmountable, I thought. But I was wrong. The park was mobbed. Amazingly mobbed. It was a summer Saturday with nice weather, which accounts for part of it, but it was also “marching band day,” with lots of groups present. I think the only time I’ve seen a park this crowded was Disneyland at Christmas. So bad vibes to start.

Steel Curtain

I shouldn’t even have this on my list because -- spoiler! -- I didn’t actually get to ride it. But it’s part of the story of today. I immediately went to Steel Curtain after entering the park. I didn’t even bother getting a map because the thing is huge, and I could see it from the entrance. When I arrived, I found the line was well past the entrance to the ride, and nearly out of the “Steelers Country” area. I was told that the wait would be three-and-a-half to four hours. That would be past my previous record (Twisted Timbers above, or maybe the first time I rode Batman: the Ride), so I balked. I hadn’t planned to stay late at the park, but I thought maybe it might thin out later. (That would have been a massive mistake, had I done it.) I thought maybe I’d go on some of the old wooden coasters in that part of the park, but after taking a quick walk around, I realized they all had queues past their entrances as well, and the day was just going to be a disaster. So I went back and got in line, figuring if nothing else, I’d ride the one thing that I came to ride.

The trio of folks in front of me in line were friendly, almost too friendly, in fact. And there were a pair of enthusiasts in front of them, so I didn’t lack for people to talk to. But we were in that line for several hours. It did seem to move fairly steadily, but it was awfully long. The first part of the line was in the sun, and I probably got burned. Once we got past the entrance proper, there was shade and even some misters, although those were not well placed. After a couple of hours, I spotted Taylor Bybee from Coaster Studios in the exit area filming the ride. Since I started watching him a couple of years ago, I always wonder if I might bump into him at a park, but on this particular day, I figured he was too savvy to come to a park when it’s that crowded. I was wrong. I shouted to him from the line, as did the friendly family next to me (although they had no idea who he was), and he waved, which I thought was pretty cool.

The gentleman in front of me left the line to use the bathroom, and when he returned, he said the line had been cut off; no one else was permitted to join it. We didn’t know what that meant at the time, but there was some sort of issue with the ride, so they’d decided to close it after the current people in line got through. Except that whatever the problem was, it must have gotten worse, because they eventually shut down the ride entirely and asked us all to leave the queue. I’d been waiting for 2.5 hours at that point, and I guessed there was another 30 minutes to go. I could certainly see the station from where I was. Most of the people in the queue left in an orderly manner, although there was some complaining. I hung around just in case of a sudden reopening. When it became obvious that wasn’t going to happen, I went up to the platform to ask if I could take some photos. They did let me take pictures of the station, which I thought was awfully nice of them. Unfortunately, I got to hear a trio of people berating the ride operator for more explanation. They’d come from far away, and this was their only chance to ride, so they were pretty upset. The ride operator wouldn’t say anything other than “maintenance,” which was admittedly a weak explanation, since full trains had just been running a few minutes before, and it clearly wasn’t a planned maintenance with that many people in line. However, it was clear the ride op didn’t have any answers, so the irate people were just wasting their time. I tried to model better behavior, thanking the ride op for the info, and commiserating that this aspect of her job must be unpleasant. I think that actually worked. Then I hung around the gift shop and the exit area, taking photos and video until security asked me to leave. Partially I wanted some video, but mostly I didn’t know what to do next, after wasting three hours.

I was told to go over to the Guest Services area, but I didn’t know where that was, and “by Noah’s Ark” really didn’t help any. I eventually got there by linking up with another group that was looking for it. I left them my name and number, and they said they’d contact us if the ride re-opened. If it didn’t, they said they’d contact us with some compensation. Narrator: They never contacted us.

Phantom’s Revenge

It was now about 3:00, and I hadn’t really wanted to stay later than 4:00, since I needed to drive around four hours to a hotel in Toledo. I’d also skipped lunch. But the idea of leaving a park without riding something, anything, grated on me. So I went to my second priority, Phantom’s Revenge. The ride op at the entrance said the line was about 90 minutes, and I wavered, but decided I had to do something. In fact, the line wasn’t nearly that long. It took me only about 30 minutes to get to the station. Phantom’s Revenge has almost nothing in the way of cattle-chutes, just a long straight bridge, most of which is in the sun, unfortunately. Even more unfortunately, once I got into the station, the ride shut down. I really couldn’t believe my bad luck, but this time the ops did say we could wait. So I waited, and complained on Twitter, making a comment about being inside in the shade. Much to my surprise, Taylor responded to the tweet, saying that he was stuck outside the station in the sun. So I figured one spot in line is as good as another if the train isn’t running, and I went back to introduce myself. Tanner from Ohio Valley Coasters was there too, so I got to meet him as well. They were remarkably down-to-earth, which I kind of expected. They certainly didn’t seem like Internet Celebrities while standing in line with everybody else. And the repairs were quick and the ride started up again in short order. I waffled a bit, but Taylor invited me to ride with them, so I did. We got to chat a bit more while we waited in line, and I ended up sharing a row with Taylor. Going up the lift hill with Taylor chatting about the view and attributes of the coaster was kind of surreal. I’ve heard him do it on videos so often, that it was kind of like a private video that I was somehow participating in.

Anyway, there was a ride there. I could see the curved first drop, and I knew the second drop was taller than the first, because it dives into the valley. I hadn’t really figured on the very old trains having minimal restraints, though, so the air from the drops was extensive. I knew the second part of the ride was legendary, but I really wasn’t prepared for it. I didn’t anticipate the way the train would hold onto its momentum through the second half of the course. Huge pops of ejector air, and with the minimal restraints...wow. Taylor proclaimed it “standing airtime,” and I don’t think I got that much, but he’s a lot skinnier than I am. I could definitely have gone for some rerides, if there hadn’t been so much line. I think Phantom is unusual in the way it takes advantage of the terrain; there’s nothing quite like it. I’m glad the park seems devoted to keeping it around.

Sky Rocket

I was feeling pretty good at that point, having actually gotten to ride something, so I went over to Skyrocket, the last steel coaster in the park. I saw my friends from Steel Curtain in the line and chatted with them briefly. They wanted me to line-jump to join them, but I declined. I ended up next to a young enthusiast who had spotted Taylor earlier and asked for a selfie. So I ended up talking with him for a while, and riding with him too. He was only 14, and apparently comes to the park by himself to ride solo quite often, which surprised me. I tried very hard not to be creepy old man, but he didn’t seem put off by me at all. Don’t know if that’s good or bad.

Anyway, the ride was a lot of fun. My companion suggested the front seat, which was a great call. There’s a launch into the first vertical hill, which provided a ridiculous amount of airtime. Then there’s apparently a brake on the top of the hill, because we hung there for a second before dropping. I’ve never encountered a hill with both airtime and hangtime. The rest of the layout has some fun, tight inversions, almost like a Euro-fighter. Since I had plenty of room in the restraint, those were a lot of fun. The end has some trick-track and some silly bunny hills, but they were a lot of fun. I was really pleased with this, and surprised to learn it’s the only Skyrocket model in existence, as it seems much more fun than the Skyrocket II.

I thanked my ride-buddy, parted ways, took a few wrong turns trying to find the exit, and departed. On the whole, I don’t really know what to think of the day. Not riding Steel Curtain is probably one of the worst coaster experiences I’ve had, but riding Phantom with YouTubers was one of the best, and the Skyrocket was a lot of fun all around. I’m not terribly impressed with Kennywood as a park, but the experience was memorable.