Aerial Antics: Kennywood!

Kennywood has history pouring out of every nook and cranny of the park, and I know this because I'm currently reading the Images of America book on the park! Hehe, really though, this is classic amusement park at its best.

But I want to look at all the rides they have, right? Well we'll start with a 2fer, as the above shot features both Phantom's Revenge and Thunderbolt.

Phantom's Revenge opened in 1991 as the Steel Phantom, a record smashing ride of epic proportions. Epic proportions and some wicked inversions, that is. Fast forward to 2001 when the ride was modified into an inversion-less hyper coaster, even more popular than in its original form.

The wooden coaster in the photos, Thunderbolt, also was the result of a modified coaster. In 1968 the park removed some of the Pippin coaster and added on the twisted 'bowl' section and created the Thunderbolt, which to many is one of the top wooden coasters anywhere.

This is the beautiful "Lost Kennywood" section of the park with it's magnificent fountains and classic rides. Well, most are classic, that enormous Intamin free fall tower is more recent! The building in the lower right corner houses Exterminator, a spinning themed wild mouse ride in the dark.

Another 2fer, or maybe 3fer if you could the Log Jammer flume. Kennywood is just filled with old wooden coasters. Here we see the Racer, operating since 1927, and above it the Jack Rabbit which dates all the way back to 1921. Both wonderfully preserved by the park for our generation! (and hopefully more to come)

The park has a nice selection of other rides besides coasters as well. This shot shows off several of them including King Kahuna, a Top Spin, Volcano, an Enterprise, and the Pirate swinging ship. Also on the far right is wonderful classic fun house Noah's Ark, another throwback to a lost era of amusement attractions.

To check out the aerials click here to go to Bing!