Kennywood (KW) Discussion Thread

It's never been officially confirmed, but throughout the park, it's generally been known that 2009 was also the King Kahuna's last year. Today, I drove by the park and saw that it was being dismantled, which is about the best confirmation we can get.

That sucks to hear about King Kahuna as I found it to have the best program of all the Top Spins I've ridden. But I'm sure it's removal is best for Kennywood.

We all knew KK would leave soon, it was just a matter of time. The ride rarely ran with a full load, and it had bad press when it got stuck upside down due to a hydraulic malfunction I believe it was.

I'm just wondering who bought it. Or if they just decided to store it.

It was bought by the same Costa Rica park that got our Flying Carpet and Idlewild's Trinado.

So I guessing all this snow can't be at all good for Sky Rocket's construction...any word on how it's affecting it?

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Here's a slightly less sarcastic update. If it weren't for all the snow, I'd have had better shots.

The newest pieces are at left. 10 total.

For all you support fans.

One of two pile drivers on site...bet they're having difficulties with 2 feet of snow to deal with and another foot projected for tomorrow!

Nice to see work on the coaster start, although, it seems like they face another problem as soon as another one is solved. Hopefully the snow doesn't set them too far back, and hopefully they can finally start to build the coaster soon. I now there seems to be some concern among the locals about when it opens, but even with the delays, I don't see there being any significant problem with opening the ride.

Does anyone know if they have a hydronic heater (a machine that pumps hot coolant through hoses to thaw frozen ground or keep curing concrete warm) on site?

Is it just me, or does that track piece on the far left of the first picture look to be part of one extreme transition?! Looks awesome!

Did they finally just start on footers? What took so long?

^Im a bit confused as to what took them so long now too...for a while the whole "They're waiting to start because of the weather in winter" thing seemed to explain it well, but if theyre starting NOW they are starting in the middle of the worst weather Pittsburgh has seen in YEARS (in case you havent heard, Pittsburgh is currently buried in over 2 feet of snow, is still receiving more daily, and is in a "declared state of emergency")...so I don't see how the weather had anything to do with it now unless they just decided they had waited too long already and had to move forward no matter how bad it was outside...

I'll put it simply...this entire project has been a complete mess from start to...well not finish yet. I'm not at liberty to go into details, but trust me when I say that this entire project was just poorly planned.

Is it just me, or does that track piece on the far left of the first picture look to be part of one extreme transition?! Looks awesome!

My guess would be it's the peak of the Zero-G roll. It does look pretty extreme though that's for sure.

We all knew KK would leave soon, it was just a matter of time. The ride rarely ran with a full load, and it had bad press when it got stuck upside down due to a hydraulic malfunction I believe it was.

I remember when that happened to a friend and myself on Iron Eagle at SFA a few years ago for about ten minutes...needless to say that one came off the map the year after.

But on topic, I want to see this ride go vertical! All this damn snow isn't really helping the process though!

I heard someone say they wanted to wait until work on the Phantom was finished but that didn't make much sense to me.

^ Maybe the guys who were working on the Phantom are the same guys putting the Sky Rocket up? Also, maybe they wanted to make sure at least the Phantom will be open when the park opens and not have a situation where both the Sky Rocket and the Phantom are closed. I'm just guessing, but that seems to be the most logical explanation.

I'm excited to ride the Sky Rocket, that's for sure.

I don't care when its done, but atleast Kennywood is getting a new coaster which is good enough for me. I live in Pittsburgh so I know I'll be there when it opens and gosh darnit I'll be proud its at Kennywood.

I don't care when its done, but atleast Kennywood is getting a new coaster which is good enough for me. I live in Pittsburgh so I know I'll be there when it opens and gosh darnit I'll be proud its at Kennywood.

Same here. As long as I get to ride it this summer I'll be a happy customer.

^Thank you.

Word on the street is that they have FINALLLY began pouring footers....at least for the time being. Granted they finish these within the next week or so, we might see some vertical construction with the first two weeks of March. Cross your fingers!

It's true! There seemed to be a lot going on when I went past. There was also a truck of supports being unloaded (mostly tall ones).

They are indeed pouring concrete. Here's a picture from Kennywood's facebook page to prove it.

Awesome! Now that we know that concrete is being poured, whats next on the agenda to complain about?