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The Great Pennsyltucky Road Trip of 2017


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Greetings everyone! For those of you who remembered Genx24 and I posted an awesome photo trip report of our roadtrip to New England last year that featured Quassy, Canobie Lake, SFNE and Lake Compounce. For this summer we had a much larger trip planned but due to some hiccups in work schedule and life in general we had to re-plan the trip and shrunk it down to Pennsylvania to fit time and schedule. Anyway, come join us on this trip report filled with complete & utter nonsense along with some great food and shennanigans in between.

 

We left Staten Island today around 6pm and was met with little to no traffic (believe it or not). Pittsburg is a long way from here (around 6 hours) so we booked a hotel in Chambersburg which is about 3:45 in. We arrived at our hotel around 10 pm, checked in and immediately grabbed food from Sheetz. I will say one thing, their Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce is other worldly. Tomorrow we'll be up early for our trek to Kennywood. More pictures to come soon.

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Parryland (PA & Maryland combined)

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Home for the night.

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Sheetz is seriously awesome.

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Popcorn chicken with Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce = amazing

Edited by Jcoaster
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Day 2: We woke up early this morning, pounded some breakfast and made a quick escape from our Country Inn and Suites since Kennywood is about a 3 hour drive from Chambersburg PA. The route that was taken was incredibly scenic and provided some beautiful views. Around 11 am we arrived at Kennywood and since our tickets were already printed we walked through the park gates by 11:08.

 

My first impression of the park is that it has a great old school vibe which Im a huge fan of. The park is clean and very well kept. Also, the fountains provide a very nice ambiance. Now for the part you've all been waiting for, the rides.

 

Skyrocket: Our first ride since its queue is there immediately after you exit the park's entrance tunnel. Our first ride was in the front (will ride the back when we go back) and it was a crazy fun ride. Nothing too intense, but it is super smooth and provides some nice moments and airtime along with a serious zero-g.

 

Garfield's Nightmare: Well its a ride and it is a nightmare. Lets leave it at that.

 

JackRabbit: Awesome little old school wooden coaster. I love how along with most coasters in the park it uses the terrain to its advantage. Also it is unbelievably awesome how it only uses a seatbelt! The double down gives some batshit crazy airtime.

 

Racer: Another great old school wooden coaster. Good airtime, lots of fun and a great color scheme.

 

Log Jammer: Fun flume with a perfect amount of "wet" at the end.

 

Thunderbolt: Anyone whose ridden this coaster knows how awesome it is. Great use of terrain, nice airtime and very, very forceful laterals.

 

Bayern Kurve: Classic flat that tries to kill you. My god is it crazy. I had legit water in my eyes after riding in the front row. (Also love how it has a German themed name but has St. Basil's from Russia in the background)

 

I will have another update later, we just left the park to check into the hotel and grab some lunch.

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Chambersburg

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Blue Ridge Valley

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Phantom's Revenge greets us at the gate.

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Homage.

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First of many fountains.

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First up

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Through the foliage!!!

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"Twisty! The ride is twisty!"

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Holy sh*t! That train is headed straight for the sun!

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Best part of the ride.

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The LIM's almost look wood the way they're painted.

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Quaint.

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This happened.

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Proof that this ride wasn't always *that* bizzare.

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The grist mill without the Cinnamon bread at the end.

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Jackrabbit was most splendid.

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Into the double down.

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Jacking off....Into the woods? No? Okay.

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Neat sign.

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Beautiful, my ideal station.

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Im a history teacher so I need to bore you all at least a little.

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Jog Lammer.

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Some of Racer's layout.

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I absolutey loved Racer's station.

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Fountain #2

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Fountain #3

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Some nice landscaping for a break from the fountain.

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Going up

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This is right in the middle of some crazy laterals.

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I will see you later Phantom's Revenge.

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T-Bolt's station.

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Phantom's infield from Thunderbolt's queue.

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The infamous 220+ foot drop into the ravine.

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Loved the look of Thunderbolt's old school trains.

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This - This thing should be illegal.

Edited by Jcoaster
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One of my "Bucket Rides" is that damned Tumble Bug at Kennywood!

 

Thanks for reminding me its still there, LOL! Great TR! More more!

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Thank you, whoever took this!

Edited by Nrthwnd
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Sheetz and Wawa are both awesome, but I'm giving the edge to Sheetz for having a superior selection of hot food.

 

Also, I'm the driver on this trip and Kennywood was awesome. Phantom is bats#!t insane.

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Nice report! I'm looking forward to your impressions of Phantom & the rides in Lost Kennywood.

 

I saw Bob Saget in Pittsburgh years ago, and when he innocently called Sheetz a "gas station" he got boos rained down upon him, as the Western PA crowd did not appreciate Sheetz being called a mere gas station (it was all in good fun). I have a spot in my heart for Sheetz that I don't have for Wawa, even if Wawa has pretty good hoagies. I'm sure that goes in the other direction if you have a local Wawa that feels like home to you.

 

It's hundreds of miles of road between Ontario & Virginia, but when I drive between the two a few times every year, I know where my Tim Hortons and Sheetz stops are.

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As a kid I was a huge fan of Wawa hoagies, and I definitely no longer am. They are fine in a pinch but compared to real, good hoagies around here Wawa is sh*t. Too often the lunchmeat is slimy and the bread sucks. I actually prefer their meatball sandwiches tho most people I know skeeve their meatballs.

 

But overall I definitely prefer Wawa overall to Sheetz. Sure, Sheetz has hot food - so does 7/11, and that sh*t is inedible. Just because its hot doesn't make it good.

 

Sorry to derail the thread but you should have known that was going to happen posting pictures of Sheetz and/or Wawa in a trip report around here.

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Around 2 oclock Nick and I headed for the gate to get our hands stamped, at that moment in time we were hungry and had bigger fish to fry. For lunch we had decided to take a trip to Primanti Brothers since it was right next to our hotel. Let me say this now that Primanti's was one of the best sandwiches if not the best sandwich I have ever had. Once we finished our sandwiches it was time to check in and relax for around hour before heading back to the park for evening rides.

 

When we arrived back at the park Skyrocket was a walk on so we hopped on that for another spin before heading over to Phantom's Revenge. Where to begin with Phantom's Revenge? It's hard to tell because just about every part is top notch. From start to finish this ride is relentless. The first half is all positive g's and speed while the second part is a true airtime menace. I was being absolutely thrown out of my seat. Our night ride was one of my most memorable ride on a coaster in a long time. Phantom's' definitely cracks my top 10.

 

The rest of the night we got re-rides on all the woodies and two more on Phantom's. Exterminator was closed and re-opened but we ended opting for another ride on Phantom's instead of waiting in line for it. We also walked through Noah's Ark which was an absolutely traumatizing experience. That thing is literally from hell with its terrible effects and dark corridors.

 

My overall experience of Kennywood is A+. It is an old school park (which I love) with great old coasters that still live up to today's standards when it comes to thrills. I already can't wait to go back to ride Phantom. Today we are off to Knoebels!

 

P.S. Sorry I triggered you Boldikus by posting a picture of Sheetz!

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This was a highlight of the trip for sure.

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Cinnamon Toast Crunch millshake with fireball and Rumchata.

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Roastbeef, cheese, tomato, coleslaw and fries on a sandwich thank you very much.

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George's favorite ride in the park was Thunderbolt, he rode before he had to lead his troops back to Maryland.

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Fountain #4

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It speaks for itself.

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Purple train about to climb the Arrow Lift Hill.

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Now its swooping around the Morgan built turnaround.

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Fountain #'s 5-10

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Noah's bad acid trip.

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Hairtime!

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The entire second half of the ride is kooky.

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I loved this shot.

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"We're making the jump to light speed!"

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Had to end it with Racer's beautiful station lights. Kennywood you were awesome!

Edited by Jcoaster
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Thanks for posting all these awesome Kennywood pictures. I was lucky enough to be able to stop at Kennywood for a few hours last year on route from Cedar Point to Knoebels, and ride Racer, Jackrabbit, Thunderbolt, Phantom's Revenge, and Sky Rocket, and walk through Noah's Ark (which I actually liked) - but it left me wanting more. Eventually I want to get back to Kennywood and spend a full day there and also experience it at night. Oh, and #teamampm ...JK (we don't have either Sheetz nor WaWa on the West Coast but I remember WaWa being mentioned in a Bloodhound Gang song).

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No rides on Black Widow? That's another gem in the park.

 

As far as Wawa vs. Sheet. I like Wawa coffee more but Sheetz has better food. I drove through a town in MD on Sunday and they had both.... Lucky!

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I think that the key to good Primanti Bros. is to not get their "famous" burger...go with the other options like the roast beef, pastrami or corned beef and it tastes a hell of a lot better!

 

As far a Wawa vs Sheetz, I like them both for the variety. TBH, I have never eaten any of the hot food at either, but I do like their selection of chopped fresh fruit, cheeses...the selection is very nice.

 

But now that I think about it, Wawa has free ATM, so they win.

 

Great report...looking forward to Knoebels!

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^^ Black Widow is the only frisbee type ride that scares the daylights out of me. I was nervous as heck standing in line to ride it. The sound it makes still sends shivers. Anyway, we finally made it through the line around 9:30 ish, first group of 4 to be seated, and they cut the line off. So there we sit, our bars lowered and no one else getting on. After about 5 minutes they announced there was a problem and the ride would be closed for the night. A bit of a relief for me. So I can truthfully say, I have been on Black Widow. ( just not experienced the ride) ps , loving the report.

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Yea I kept watching Black Widow from Phantom's station imagining at what point in its cycle would I start to say I want off the ride lol.

 

You made a good decision because Black Widow has strongggg firsbee airtime, swings higher than most, and makes you feel like you're being tossed into the ravine, haha.

 

Awesome report, Kennywood is such a fun and unique park. Promantis is a must, glad you loved that place.

 

Garfield is truly a nightmare

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I hate Sheetz. I work less than a mile from one, seems like the easiest option, every time I go down there it's just a waste of time, going through their order system just to find out how much a sandwich costs, both overpriced and higher than last time I went through, I'm lucky I didn't break the door slamming through it on the way out. I get the message, no need to show the prices on things, if you care what it costs, it's too much for you.

 

Sorry for the interruption, back to your regular trip report...

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I think that the key to good Primanti Bros. is to not get their "famous" burger...go with the other options like the roast beef, pastrami or corned beef and it tastes a hell of a lot better!

I had the pastrami, and it was outstanding. For all the great rides I got to ride for the first time on this trip, one of the biggest highlights for me was Primanti's.

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