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Here are some of the coasters, and what
we think of them, at Kennywood.
 Jack Rabbit has the undefinable "fun" factor that makes it
enjoyable, but nothing specific to make it stand out -- that is, except for one
spot of MAMMOTH air on the double-down. Very cool.
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- Phantom's Revenge
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- There's an interesting history behind this coaster. In 1991, Arrow build
Steel Phantom, a large multi-looping record breaker that featured a second drop
of over 220 feet that threaded through the structure of the older wooden
Thunderbolt roller coaster. But after ten years (like most Arrow coasters), the
ride got so rough that few people went on it. Kennywood announced they would
tear it down.
The public outcry was so great that Kennywood decided (or -- conspiracy
theorists will say -- planned all along ) to salvage the first half of the
ride, including the famous second drop, but completely redo the rest of the
coaster. Morgan came in, removed all inversions, and converted the ride into a
curving, swooping, high-speed monster. A few of the double-ups and double-downs
bottom out pretty hard, but there's some pops of air mixed in to this fun
coaster.
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The Exterminator is almost like a typical mouse coaster, but with two major
differences. Like most mice, it starts with a series of tight switchbacks
before heading into some quick drops, dips, hills, and sharp curves. But this
one has cars that spin, making each seat in each ride a different, and
disorienting, experience.
Then, the whole thing is inside a heavily-themed building. Giant mutant rats
wreak havoc while you careen through their lair. A tiny bit scary, and quite a
bit fun.
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- Yet another coaster with an "interesting" story. Although it appears to be
made of two separate tracks, the Racer is actually one single track that
crosses over itself. But that doesn't affect the ride experience. Which is kind
of dull.
There's only one or two points in the ride where the trains are side-by-side.
But most of the "two" tracks are different enough that there's no sensation of
racing the other train. And individually, the ride is only fair. It's like a
boring terrain coaster with no air at all.
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- Thunderbolt
- Like Phantom's Revenge, this coaster is also the
result of a redesign of an older ride. But other than that, it's just not
really that interesting. Lots of laterals probably make this a great "date"
ride, as you will bump into your seatmate. It's certainly not a bad ride, but
not worthy of its frequent mention on "best of" lists.
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