Saturday, May 8, 2021 was the first time I have visited Kennywood since June 16, 2014. It’s funny, however, that my 2014 visit is, in a way, related to yesterday’s. Back in 2014, I, along with about 30 coworkers, visited Kennywood for our annual amusement park trip. It was the first time most of them had experienced the park too, since we usually visited the parks a little closer to Baltimore.
Without going into a total recap of the day, let me explain how that day ended. I gave the keys to one of our 15 passenger rental vans to my friend, Megan. She, along with a few of the other girls, went back to the van an hour before the park closed. They wanted to relax before getting back on the road again for four hours.
The rest of us, after squeezing in our last rides, including the final one on Jack Rabbit, returned to the van to find that the group had drained the van’s battery. It was around 10 p.m. and the parking lot was practically empty. I then had to go searching for someone to jump our battery for us to head home.
If you’re wondering how this is related, it is the story I told for my entry into Kennywood’s Jack Rabbit – 100 Years, 100 Memories Contest in 2020. I ended up winning one of the 100 prizes, which was a season pass and an invite out to a ceremony to commemorate the coaster. Due to the pandemic, however, the passes and ceremony were held off until the 2021 season. A few months ago, Kennywood contacted me and the other winners to inform us the ceremony would be held on Opening Day, which was Saturday.
Jack Rabbit - 100 Years, 100 Memories Ceremony
After enabling my season pass, Sam and I made our way just inside the park gates. She was my guest for the day and I’m glad they allowed me to bring someone along. We were each given a 100th anniversary Jack Rabbit pin, which along with five others I picked up at the park, have already been added to the Pin Collection page. Check them out. They’re all really great designs. Now I just need to find one for Sky Rocket.
As for the ceremony, it was short and sweet. A welcome back and congratulations, along with a few facts about the coaster were spoken before our exclusive ride time (ERT) on Jack Rabbit. All of this took place before the park opened to the rest of the public. Watch the video above for that ceremony in its entirety, along with footage of one of the first few trains rolling out of the station.
Riding Jack Rabbit
Under my trip report’s new formatting, I stick all the ride reviews all together. For this entry, however, it seemed right to keep the Jack Rabbit elements together, including the rides, of which we got two. Two vastly different rides too.
Morning ERT
After sending a few test trains, Sam and I boarded the back row on the fourth train of the morning. It had been seven years since my last ride and I was looking forward experiencing those little pops of airtime the coaster is known for. Sam was looking forward to it too.
“It was interesting to ride another super old school ride that has huge cushioned seats, a seatbelt, and the single position grab bar,” Sam said.
The thing is though, this early ride felt so sluggish. I’m certain it was because of the weather and not yet being warmed up. It was a chilly morning, and not even 50 degrees. The park had run a few test trains prior to our ERT, but that wasn’t enough to get the ride going. Sam and I were left a little underwhelmed and I hoped that it would ride better in few hours. Luckily for us, it did.
Evening Re-Ride
From 2-3 p.m., the park held a lunch, raffle, and trivia event for the winners of the contest. We spent the hour feeding our faces and wishing we could win one of the side decals being offered as prizes. I would have loved to have one, but alas, we were not one of those lucky winners.
Once 3 p.m. came, Sam and I ventured to some of rides we had yet to get to. After those, it was time for our second round on Jack Rabbit. Our second ride, coming in row three, was much different. The speed felt like it had picked up and the airtime threw us up into almost a standing position. I was happy to feel the ride hitting like I knew it could. I wanted Sam to experience it that way too.
“Jack Rabbit was a great ride, especially after our second ride when it had warmed up. The airtime on each drop was so good, especially on the famous double dip,” said Sam.
All-New Credits for Sam
All in all, Sam earned herself seven new credits on the day, plus some rides on the Old Mill and Ghostwood Estate dark rides. I’m a huge fan of dark rides, so they’re a must whenever I go to a park. Plus, this was my first time going on the Old Mill. During all my previous visits I experienced the much hated, Garfield’s Nightmare version of the ride. Now I admit, I’m not a local and I have only visited Kennywood about a half a dozen times. Even with that said, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that the Old Mill is a vast improvement over the Garfield iteration.
Steel Curtain
Okay, if you’re wondering if we got to ride Steel Curtain, I’ll give you the bad news early in this ride portion of the blog. According to a couple of locals we met in line for Thunderbolt, the ride had been testing successfully leading up to Opening Day. They claimed that due to the cold weather, the park did not open the ride. It was in the low 50’s for most of the day and it actually hailed right before rides opened at 11 a.m. That was a first.
As for my visual impressions of the coaster, it looks massive. I have never laid eyes on a coaster that looks quite like Steel Curtain. It’s huge and one tangled looking mess of track. It looks like someone merged Joker’s Jinx and a Sky Rocket 2 and stretched them a bunch of different ways. It’s just… weird, yet fascinating. I can’t wait to give it a try one of these days.
Phantom's Revenge
With Steel Curtain down like a Steelers quarterback playing the Ravens defense (yes, I had to get that in), Phantom’s Revenge was the coaster Sam was most looking forward to riding. She wanted to experience that second drop she heard so much about. We made it our second ride of the day, jumping in line once the park began to let everyone in.
Our first ride was fun, but the airtime wasn’t as intense as it was for our final ride of the night. We ended our visit to Kennywood with a back row ride on the Phantom and… my god, that was some of the best airtime I’ve ever had on this coaster! Sam felt the same way.
“Phantom’s Revenge was awesome, especially during our back row ride,” Sam described. “It was some insane ejector.”
Thunderbolt
When my credit count was much lower, Thunderbolt was one of my highest ranked woodies. I’ve always loved the terrain nature of this coaster and the helixes and the laterals they provide. It doesn’t look like much, but don’t let it fool you if you’ve never ridden it. It has so much force that you cannot ride the coaster alone.
Pre-Covid the park would sit single riders together, but at this time, you must have a partner to ride. That and the smaller person must sit first. Why? Because that person is going to squish the bigger person right into the side of the trains on that helix. Sam seemed to have a lot of fun doing just that too.
“Thunderbolt was my favorite out of the woodies. I really loved its interactions with Phantom’s Revenge. Plus, I got to squish you!” Sam joked.
Sky Rocket
I will say that the sleeper hit of this visit for me was Sky Rocket. I enjoyed the ride during my previous visits, but it was providing a ton of airtime and hangtime moments for the both of us. To me, the Sky Rocket 1 model is a far superior coaster to its Sky Rocket 2 successor. I know they’re a totally different kind of ride, but all the sensations this initial model provides, it’s not even close. I’d take a ride on this every single time over the successor.
“Sky Rocket was also a favorite for me,” Sam declared. “The launch was super fun and the airtime on our back row ride was surprising. Plus, not having comfort collars [like Tempesto] was an extra bonus and made it even better.”
Final Ride Counts
Exterminator (1)
Ghostwood Estate (1)
Jack Rabbit (2)
Old Mill (1)
Phantom’s Revenge (2)
Racer (2)
Sky Rocket (2)
Thunderbolt (2)
Final Thoughts
I could go into so much more detail about this trip, but I promised that I would keep my park trip reports more streamline here in 2021. That being said, I was happy to finally get out to a different park than the usual Hersheypark, Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW), Six Flags America (SFA), or Great Adventure (SFGAdv). It’s been too long since I visited this amazing park and I’m not waiting long to go again. I’m going to put this season pass to use. I have another visit planned for the week of my birthday, with both Sam and Greg. I also wouldn’t mind trying to get a few other Flight Crew members out to the park too, like Mailyn, who wants to add some new credits and parks to her flight logs. When these trips happen, I’ll be right back here sharing all the details and photos from each day.
Kennywood Photo Gallery - May 8, 2021 (Opening Day)
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Sam
Captain
New Credit(s): Exterminator, Jack Rabbit, Phantom's Revenge, Racer (L), Racer (R), Sky Rocket, Thunderbolt,
