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Wasn't Jack Rabbit 36" w/ an adult?

 

I only ask because we rode w/ a guy who had his kid with him and he told us he was 2 (if I recall correctly) and certainly looked it. We couldn't believe how small the kid was riding that thing with just the seatbelt and no lapbar.

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Didn't thunderbolt have seat belts last year?

No, they just added them for 2017. They don't affect the laterals or ride experience at all in my opinion, but they do increase loading time as you would expect.

 

I wish people would learn to pick up seatbelts before sitting down instead of sitting on top of them and then struggling to get them on. This goes for any coaster anywhere without retracting belts. [emoji58]

 

Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk

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2017 Height Restrictions

 

More rules have been imposed for infants going on rides. It might lead to a few spats in Kiddieland by frustrated parents over a couple of small rides, but I don't think any of this is a huge deal breaker. 48" for Phantom, 46" for Racer & Exterminator, and just 42" for Jack Rabbit and Skycoaster is still generous and family-friendly.

Just for comparison's sake, here's the 2014 restrictions, and aside from the age requirement for a "responsible person" (which I'm assuming is a direct result of the Rollo Coaster incident), there does not appear to be any change in infant procedure. Back in 2014 the rule was still that they had to stand and walk on their own, which seems to be a pretty standard practice. Now they just clarify that as also being able to sit up on their own, and frankly, if an infant can walk, they can also sit up on their own.

 

And as far as infants not being allowed to ride any ride in the park at all? Well, that's simply not true; the same four rides from 2014 are still on the list for 2017 that allow handheld infants:

 

  • Garfield's Nightmare
  • Merry-Go-Round
  • Noah's Ark
  • Olde Kennywood Railroad

~~~~~

 

So, from comparing the two PDFs, this appears to be the entirety of what's changed:

 

Exterminator:

  • 2014 - 46" to ride, between 46" and 52" must wear a seatbelt
  • 2017 - 46" to ride, between 46" and 59" (59"? really? typo?) must ride with a responsible person

Jack Rabbit:

  • 2014 - 36" to ride, between 36" and 46" must ride with a responsible person
  • 2017 - 42" to ride, between 42" and 48" must ride with a responsible person

Kenny's Parkway:

  • 2014 - 36" to ride, between 36" and 46" must ride with a responsible person
  • 2017 - 46" to ride

Musik Express:

  • 2014 - 46" to ride
  • 2017 - 50" to ride

Raging Rapids:

  • 2014 - 36" to ride, between 36" and 46" must ride with a responsible person
  • 2017 - 42" to ride, between 42" and 48" must ride with a responsible person

Sky Rocket:

  • 2014 - 52" to ride
  • 2017 - 52" to ride, between 52" and 55" must ride with a responsible person

Turtle Chase:

  • 2014 - Under 36" must ride with a responsible person
  • 2017 - Under 42" must ride with a responsible person

~~~~~

 

As a parent of two (a 5-year-old who hit the 48" mark last year, and a 2-year-old who just recently creeped over 36"), I have a few thoughts on this. While I understand the reasoning behind it, and it's expected, I can't help but be disappointed by some of these changes.

 

When I visited Kennywood last year, I was surprised to see that Jack Rabbit had such a low height requirement. I was hoping to bring the whole family out this fall and have Jack Rabbit be the 2-year-old's first "big" coaster (so far, all she's done is Road Runner Railway at SFGAdv and Kosmo's Kurves at Knoebels, and loved them both), but given this change, I don't really see much point in it. I'll probably just hit it with my son on our annual road trip.

 

The Musik Express change is just a little bit baffling, and one of those things that always drives me crazy. This is a pretty standard ride no matter where you go, but it seems like every park has their own requirements, and they vary wildly. 50" (with no provision for accompaniment) is definitely towards the upper end of those requirements. Some comparisons, for comparison's sake:

  • Bowcraft - 48" to ride solo, 44"-48" must be accompanied by a responsible person
  • Cedar Point (Super Himalaya variant) - 52" to ride solo, under 52" must be accompanied by a responsible person
  • Dorney Park - 52" to ride solo, under 52" must be accompanied by a responsible person
  • Hersheypark - 48" to ride solo, 42"-48 must be accompanied by a responsible person
  • Kentucky Kingdom (Himalaya variant) - 60" to ride solo, no allowance for accompaniment
  • Morey's Piers - 52" to ride solo, no allowance for accompaniment
  • Six Flags Magic Mountain - 42" to ride solo, no allowance for accompaniment
  • The Great Escape - 48" to ride solo, no allowance for accompaniment

It'll probably be disappointing for him since he was able to ride it last year, and won't be able to this year unless he gets another growth spurt of a couple more inches. :/

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I think their sister park (Lake Compounce) bumped up some of their height requirements too. I noticed their flume now has a minimum height requirement of 42". I used to be able to ride it as a kid when I was shorter than that.

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So does anybody know how the 2018 wooden coaster is coming alsong? Last I saw were those plans from a city council meeting, I think? Do we know if it's approved yet? And do we just think it's RMC based on what we can tell from the layout or do we have any other info to back it up?

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I'm heading to the park on a Saturday in mid-August and I was wondering what the crowds are like that time of year. The $25 VIP Coaster Tour thing that they offer seems like a pretty good deal, so I wanted to ask your guys' opinion on that front. Any advice is helpful.

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So does anybody know how the 2018 wooden coaster is coming alsong? Last I saw were those plans from a city council meeting, I think? Do we know if it's approved yet? And do we just think it's RMC based on what we can tell from the layout or do we have any other info to back it up?

 

 

As far as I know, we don't even know if it will be wood. The RMC speculation began when some of the guys from RMC was spotted at Kennywood not long before the board meeting where the plans were submitted. Also, there are some design features that are consistent with recent RMC coasters. But we don't have any other indication of RMC or wood.

 

Until there is an official announcement or work is spotted, its all speculation.

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No update on the rumored coaster and no signs of work being done yet. Still early though, and considering all of this recent rain that ravine is probably a swamp.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I'm heading to the park on a Saturday in mid-August and I was wondering what the crowds are like that time of year. The $25 VIP Coaster Tour thing that they offer seems like a pretty good deal, so I wanted to ask your guys' opinion on that front. Any advice is helpful.

 

Not a Kennywood pro by any means but I was there this past Saturday and the place was PACKED! I'm guessing it'll be the same in August for you. We got the single ride $25 VIP pass for the 6 coasters and it was well worth it. For $7 you can add a single ride on either Black Widow, Aero360 or something else. If you want to purchase the VIP pass online it must be done 48 hrs or more in advance, otherwise you're risking them selling out. We drove from Cedar Point to KW and got there at 1:45pm. There were only 18 of the single ride VIP passes left and we snagged two of them.

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^why would it be for 2019? In fact, how are we sure that it's RMC from the pictures posted above form screen scape it's just a RUMOR. The flags could be for anything and as far as we know we could get nearly anything at kennywood. The rumor of an RMC has come about because that's what everyone wants.

Edited by Legocraft
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The roumor of an RMC has come about because that's what everyone wants.

 

And because multiple people reported that they saw RMC employees at the park. And because the town council meeting plan had a layout that looked like a RMC wood coaster.

 

So based on this your "fact" we know that the coaster will look like an RMC. That doesn't mean it will be an RMC.

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The roumor of an RMC has come about because that's what everyone wants.

 

And because multiple people reported that they saw RMC employees at the park. And because the town council meeting plan had a layout that looked like a RMC wood coaster.

 

So based on this your "fact" we know that the coaster will look like an RMC. That doesn't mean it will be an RMC.

 

Not sure what you're trying to say here? Why are you quoting the word, fact? I never said that.

 

My only point is that there's more evidence for RMC than only wishful thinking, even if it might be flimsy at this point. The layout in that plan had an element that looks suspiciously like the top view of Lightning Rod's wave turn.

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Sorry if I misinterpreted your writing as fact.

 

So let me get this straight: There is a rumor that RMC was at the park. There is a rumor that the layout shown at the town council meeting looks like an RMC. And the conclusion is that the coaster is an RMC.

 

Even if both statements are fact (which you say they are not); RMC could have been at the park the analyze the landscape during the RFP process for the 2018-9 project or possibly a future project. Even if they were analyzing the landscape for the 2018 coaster that does not mean they were the selected company.

 

Regarding the layout, companies evolve and borrow techniques from other companies to stay current all the time.

 

And on top of all this, we don't even know if the proposed coaster was approved with the original design. Even if RMC was intended to be the original designer, Kennywood may have had to go with a fall back plan (even secondary company) if the original layout was not approved.

 

Until there is more proof (any any proof) RMC's currrent stake in this project is not known.

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