Kennywood: Project Updates, Trip Report, & Thunderbolt's 50th Anniversary

Today we visit the legendary Kennywood Park. Memorial Day Weekend Ribs and Blues Festival, which brought a number of excellent barbecue companies with their food trucks scattered around the midway. The smell of wood smoked barbecue blanketed the midway. 

Thunderbolt about to plunge down the cliff.

We had a bunch of rides on all of the coasters, except for Sky Rocket, which looks to be down for the foreseeable future. 

 We had a bunch of rides on Thunderbolt

Construction is in progress on the Thomas Town attraction that they plan on opening at some point in this weekend, and some other mysterious construction is happening in the area of the former Log Jammer and in the Lagoon, with the placement of footers. Seeing that the last new rides to the park were added in 2012 with Black Widow, and in 2015 with the renovation of a building into a 4D theater, it is great to see the park adding some major attractions. Judging by the placement of footers throughout the lagoon, the new attraction has the potential of being pretty amazing.   

Barring a surprise, like the creation of an extended deck in the lagoon, this setting for a coaster should be excellent. All sorts of rumors are flying around about who the potential manufacturer will be, and where the layout of the coaster will go, but there is a ton of land that has been opened up with the removal of Log Jammer, and with the land that exists on the hillside and down to the former railyard. The only rumor that has been confirmed by the park is that the new coaster will not be an RMC, though they did retrack the park's Bayern Kurve ride this past offseason. 

 The site of Log Jammer has been fenced in. There are no teaser signs or anything, but the earth moving being done in this area is certainly encouraging.

The barbecue festival throughout the park was pleasant and provided some more decent food options. I would love to see food trucks at the park on a more regular basis. Jim's Smokin' Que, was our favorite of the different BBQ vendors at the festival. 

 

Jim's chicken and pulled pork are legit!

 Racer had a large portion of its lift hill rebuilt during this past offseason. Kennywood takes such meticulous care of their wooden roller coasters.

 Noah's Ark was a walk on early in the day, so they just let you walk right in through the entrance. 

The updates from a few years ago are pleasant. I would not mind seeing them add more tricks to it though.

 It is always neat seeing this part of the midway from across the lagoon.

 The park's Dentzel Carousel is such a treasure.

Mirror selfie!

Jack Rabbit!

The Thunderbolt midway was especially awesome with the Ribs and Blues Festival. They had a number of bands playing on the stage throughout the day.

This year marks Thunderbolt's 50th anniversary. In 1968, the coaster was reconfigured from the Pippin, a classic John Miller design, to Thunderbolt, which was designed by Andy Vettel. This coaster epitomizes the Kennywood experience through the sheer joy that it induces. The spaghetti bowl portion of the ride after the lift hill is so much fun, and the eccentricity of this ride really makes it stand out. No coaster exists that is remotely similar to this wild ride.

Watching the joy of the riders in the spaghetti bowl section of the ride is so awesome.

There is nothing else out there that is quite like hearing the roar of the train as it passes, along with the screams of the riders. Couple the sounds and feels with the smells of the Potato Patch fries in the breeze and you have an environment that is like no other.

 Now for an obligatory ride on the Turtle. It felt like it had a little more pep than usual on this particular visit. While not approaching the power of the Tumblebug at Conneaut Lake Park, it was still pretty solid. Always a fun ride.

 Back to Thunderbolt! We rode it more than any of the other coasters on this particular visit.

 A series of demolition derby cars were on display on the main midway for some reason. 

 Phantom erupting out of the Volcano

 The Pittsburg Plunge and Lost Kennywood, with Phantom's Revenge in the background.

 Jimbo and the Soupbones were the first band of the day for the festival. They were REALLY GOOD and really added to the ambiance of that area of the park. I always wondered why parks have strayed away from having live bands and entertainment. 

 Enjoying the band and having some barbecue was great.

An excuse to spend extra time on the Thunderbolt Midway is fine by me!

 The area around the Carousel is such a beautiful garden oasis.

 Sky Rocket will be down for the foreseeable future while it awaits parts and repairs.

 The area of the lagoon is especially beautiful as the sun dips and the lights turn on.

 Jack Rabbit, standing tall in Kennywood since it was built in 1920.

Memorial Day fireworks time!

 Finale!

 Time for one more ride on the carousel!

 And one last ride on Thunderbolt! Due to some technical difficulties there was a slight delay as we entered the station. Thanks to this, by the time we rode, the park had completely cleared out and nothing but silence and darkness surrounded the ride. Additionally, the trim on the return down the ravine was on very light, creating some awesome lateral forces and even a decent pop of airtime heading into the brake run. It was one of our most memorable rides on Thunderbolt.

And that ends another nice day at Kennywood.

Waldameer Trip Report: Park Improvements and Ravine Flyer II's 10th Anniversary

We started our 2018 park season at Waldameer during their opening weekend. As always, visiting this park was delightful. The park had a nice and relaxed crowd, enjoying the park's many awesome rides, and beautiful environment. 

It is awesome to be greeted entry to the park with a view of the park's recent waterpark expansion. They have nearly doubled the size of their waterpark in the last few years. In 2014 they repainted many of the waterslides to look brand new. In 2015, they added a wave pool, which greets you as you enter the park.  In 2016 they added a bank of family waterslides and in 2017 they added a water play area, with even more family waterslides. 

This year they added a bowl slide onto an existing slide complex, boosting the park's waterslide count to 19. Earlier this spring the Mercyhurst University Crew Team, and members of the local Coast Guard unit, gladly volunteered to test out the new bowl slide. The waterpark opens on Memorial Day Weekend. This weekend, as the dry side of the park was opening to the public, legions of workers were cleaning and painting the waterpark. It is immediately evident how much pride the park takes in itself with the effort the park takes in aesthetics and operations. 

 Now headed into the dry part of Waldameer, which opened for the season this weekend. 

This new family ride is the primary addition to the park this year.

They have already announced that they plan to add a Zamperla Mini-Discovery frisbee ride next year, which should be a great addition to this already awesome park. This image is of a similar ride at Camden Park.

Now for some rides on the king of the Waldameer midway and the best roller coaster on Lake Erie, Ravine Flyer II. As always, this coaster was excellent. They do such a fantastic job maintaining this coaster.

 The coaster was hauling through the layout and it is as smooth and airtime filled as it was when it first opened. This coaster is a masterpiece. 

 Next up was a ride on the Ferris Wheel. I could not resist catching this perspective of Ravine Flyer III. 

 The park's Ferris Wheel is so much fun to ride. The views it gives of the park, the lake, and the peninsula.

 Ravine Flyer II is an engineering masterpiece. The Gravity Group did such a fantastic job with this ride.

 The Sky Ride is so much fun to ride. 

 The Comet was built in 1951 and is one of the last coasters ever built by Herbert Schmeck, one of the most illustrious coaster designers.

The park's Thunder River LogFlume, with the spinning Steel Dragon coaster in the background.

 More views of the midway

 Heading back towards Ravine Flyer II on the Skyride

 And it is time for even more rides on the epic RFII

 And for a journey through the awesome Whacky Shack Dark Ride.

 And a ride on the park's X-Scream drop tower. These ARM/Larson Drop Towers are the best in the business. You have no idea when they will reach the top, and the drops are intense. The view from this one really makes it stand out. Larson also makes an excellent swing tower, which more parks should install.

The L. Ruth Express Train.

As always, we had a great day visiting Waldameer. We highly recommend visiting this awesome and affordable amusement park. It is home to the best roller coaster on Lake Erie, and one of the finest wooden roller coasters on the planet. It was a joy visiting this park on opening day. 

Cedar Point's Steel Vengeance Skyline Views

Today we take a look at the changes to the Cedar Point skyline with the addition of Steel Vengeance. Just under a month remains until the coaster opens to the pubic. Track work has completed and testing has begun. There is a marked difference in the skyline of the park with the completion of Steel Vengeance. The already massive, 161 foot structure of Mean Streak is now 44 feet taller with its conversion to Steel Vengeance. This makes it tall enough to be noticeably viewed from the front of the park.

Steel Vengeance and Maverick, as viewed from across Sandusky Bay.

 It was just a little too foggy to get a decent view from Huron of the Cedar Point skyline, though it was certainly noticeable.

Parking lot view of the skyline. We have not visited the park since the construction of Valravn. It is incredible that they have built two coasters that are 200+ feet tall in just a few years, and that the park now has six giant coasters that meet that mark.

Note that Steel Vengeance is now visible from the front of the park. Those extra 44 feet give it that extra push. It is still incredible to me just how much change you see in the skyline with the addition of Valravn.

Now for some views from across the bay.

Gatekeeper!

Steel Vengeance and Maverick

 Valravn, Raptor, Windseeker, and more.

 The original big three, Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, and Magnum. 

A view of the entire skyline. It is neat to see the scale of just how far the skyline of the park stretches. From the front of the park at Gatekeeper, to the furthest point back at Steel Vengeance, the midway is just short of a mile long. We can't wait to get back to try out Steel Vengeance!

For more information about visiting the park, check out the park's website at www.cedarpoint.com