KENNYWOOD
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Abbreviation: KW)
Parques Reunidos
 Park News - (10/14/2024) Much like Cedar Point did, Kennywood also put some fine roller coaster collectibles up for sale over the weekend.
Authentic pieces of wood that were from the park’s Thunderbolt, Jack Rabbit and Racer wooden roller coasters were also put on sale at the park for $49.99 each during Phantom Fright Fest in the Arcade Gift Shop.
I don’t know if they still have any left for future guests, but these kind of things are always a really fun treasure to have for any roller coaster fan.
(10/5/2024) Kennywood issued a status update on Steel Curtain yesterday to confirm that crews are now on site working to add some new support structures to the closed roller coaster. According to the statement from the park President, “These enhancements and others will increase the coaster’s reliability and longevity, maintaining it for generations of riders to come.” You[‘ll see signs of work to update the coaster over the next several months taking place so they can reopen it in 2025.
You can see a video the park sent out and the full statement in the post below.
(7/27/2024) Kennywood found itself under fire from social media when a guest posted a picture showing what appeared to be one of The Racer’s support pillars being held up by a couple of concrete blocks. According to a news update regarding the situation, Kennywood closed The Racer on Wednesday, but was able to reopen the coaster on Thursday. A spokesperson for the state’s Department of Agriculture (who oversees ride safety and inspections) mentions that their inspector determined that the pillar in question was not a “primary structural support” and “simply recommended minor modifications, and cleared the ride for operation”
What the further changes that needed to be made to clear it for opening have not been determined.
(7/20/2024) A local area woman has filed a lawsuit against Kennywood this week, related to an incident that took place at the park nearly two years ago (July 23, 2022) on the Thunderbolt. According to the claims, she rode the wooden roller coaster, secured by the seat belt and lap bar, and was then “violently thrown to the side of the cart” and began to feel pains in his chest and left side of the ribs, along with difficulty breathing. Upon returning to the station she alerted the ride ops that she was injured and they had her put in a wheelchair and taken to the park’s first aid station.
Over the last two years she claims to have suffered from injuries to her lower back, spine, nerve root, loss of motion and mental stress, along with ongoing medical treatments for these injuries. The park has thus far not issued a statement of their own.
(4/20/2024) This week has been a bit of an odd one for Kennywood. While we’ve already covered how Steel Curtain is going to be closed for all of 2024 to try and fix everything long term, the park was struck by lightning on Wednesday night sparking a fire. Early pictures seen from afar made it look like the Thuderbolt wooden roller coaster had caught fire, but it was quickly updates that it was actually the sign on top of a nearby ice cream stand that caught on fire, and not the coaster at all. Fire crews were brought on site and put out the fire very quickly, preventing it from spreading to any other nearby structures.
(4/17/2024) Kennywood dropped a bit of a bomb this afternoon when the park confirmed the worst fears for this summer’s guests… Steel Curtain will not be operating at all for the 2024 season. According to the video posted to FB (follow this link) the park confirms that they have worked with the manufacturer (S&S) and 3rd party engineers to come up with a plan to essentially “fix” the problems with Steel Curtain. This “extensive modification project” is supposed to be a “long term solution to increase its reliability and longevity.”
So as disappointing as this may be to many who were planning this summer with the hopes of finally getting to ride this monster roller coaster, we can only hope that this finally solves the issues and will let it run reliably for the park at last in 2025.
(4/4/2024) A new statement from Kennywood goes into details about changes and additions made to the park for the 2024 season. We already know about the Potato Smash bumper cars (see below), but Kennywood has also confirmed that the Turtle will return this season, freshly back from a complete restoration. The park’s Aero 360 ride has also been repaired and ‘refreshed’ and will return to action with newly painted seats and an updated control system, and look for a refurbished Wacky Wheel for the little ones as well. Jeeter’s Pub will also return, featuring 8 draft beers from Penn Brewery, and a new restaurant will open called the Carousel Burger Co.
(2/4/2024) The wave of attractions cutbacks from Palace Entertainment have finally reached Kennywood, as I’m told that the park has now cut the Elephant Parade (a Dumbo style kids spinner ride) as well as the S.S. Kenny (Zamperla Rockin’ Tug) from the list of attractions on the park’s website.
There is one more odd possibility… while the Crazy Trolley is still listed on the page of attractions, and still has a dedicated page listed, the clickable icon for the attraction has been removed from the interactive map along with the S.S. Kenny and Elephant Parade icons. So perhaps it was almost removed, or perhaps they are still making a final decision.
(1/21/2024) Lawsuits from those claiming to be injured because hot food and beverages were ‘too hot’ is always interesting. You may remember the famous lawsuit from 1994 where a customer successfully sued McDonald’s for almost $3 million after she spilled her own coffee on her lap, causing severe burns. I’m not just talking a burn blister, apparently she ended up in a hospital for days and underwent skin grafting.
You may think that after all… isn’t all coffee “hot” and McDonald’s wasn’t even responsible for spilling the coffee. In this case the argument was that the coffee was way too hot, served at somewhere between 180-190º and potentially a huge risk to anyone who might have purchased it. The case however set the stage for similar lawsuits to follow, which brings me to Kennywood.
According to the local news a woman is now suing Kennywood after the hot cheese from an order of Potato Patch fries spilled onto her hand, causing second degree burns in July 2022. Much like the McDonald’s coffee case, the argument here is that Kennywood is negligent for serving food in a state “too hot for human consumption”.
2024 - Potato Patch Bumper Cars - (5/25/2024) The new Potato Smash bumper cars open this weekend at Kennywood! Check out the employees giving the new attraction a test run and having a blast in the video clip below.
(3/16/2024) Kennywood has confirmed that the contest to name their new Potato Patch themed bumper cars attraction is “Potato Smash”.
(2/14/2024) Kennywood is asking for everyone to vote on the final name for their new Potato Patch themed bumper car ride. The three choices are: Deep Fried Derby, Potato Smash and Speedy Spuds. Follow the link to vote for the name that sounds the most a-peel-ing. You can vote once a day for your favorite now through Feb. 19th.
(11/26/2023) I missed this announcement while IAAPA was going on, but apparently Kennywood is going to revamp the park’s bumper cars ride next season to add a new fleet of 20 cars that will be themed as Potato Patch fries. Both the bumper cars and Potato Patch will be celebrating their 50th anniversary next season.
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