Kennywood is an amusement park which is located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, just southeast of Pittsburgh. The park opened on May 30, 1898, as a trolley park attraction at the end of the Mellon family's Monongahela Street Railway.
Lake Compounce is an amusement park located in Bristol and Southington, Connecticut. Opened in 1846, it is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in the United States. It spans 332 acres (134 ha), which includes a beach and a water park called Crocodile Cove included in the price of admission. The park was acquired from Kennywood Entertainment Company by Palace Entertainment, the U.S. subsidiary of Parques Reunidos. In addition to the 14th oldest wooden roller coaster in the world, Wildcat, its newer wooden roller coaster, Boulder Dash, has won the Golden Ticket Award for the #1 Wooden Coaster in the World for five consecutive years.
Thunderbolt, previously known as Pippin, is a wooden roller coaster located at Kennywood amusement park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. It was originally built and designed by John A. Miller and opened in 1924. It was later renovated for the 1968 season, which involved a major track expansion designed by Andy Vettel. It reopened to the public as Thunderbolt. It is partially known for being one of the few rides at Kennywood to require a partner.
Idlewild and Soak Zone, commonly known as Idlewild Park or simply Idlewild, is an amusement park in the Laurel Highlands near Ligonier, Pennsylvania, United States, about 50 miles (80 km) east of Pittsburgh, along US Route 30. Founded in 1878 as a campground along the Ligonier Valley Railroad by Thomas Mellon, Idlewild is the oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania and the third oldest operating amusement park in the United States behind Lake Compounce and Cedar Point. The park has won several awards, including from industry publication Amusement Today as the best children's park in the world.
Racer is a wooden racing roller coaster located at Kennywood amusement park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Built by Charlie Mach and designed by John A. Miller, Racer opened to the public in 1927 and is one of the oldest operating roller coasters in the world.
The Steel Curtain was the defensive line of the 1970s American football team Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). The line was the backbone of the Steelers dynasty, which won four Super Bowls in six years.
Phantom's Revenge is a steel hypercoaster located at Kennywood amusement park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. It originally opened as Steel Phantom in 1991, featuring the fastest speed and longest drop of any roller coaster in the world. Its second drop is longer than its first, which is a unique characteristic among roller coasters. Manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, the ride was later modified and renovated by D. H. Morgan Manufacturing for the 2001 season when it reopened as Phantom's Revenge. The drop and track length were both increased, and its four inversions were removed, allowing for the removal of its uncomfortable over-the-shoulder restraints.
Jack Rabbit is a wooden roller coaster located at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Designed and built by John A. Miller and Harry C. Baker, Jack Rabbit opened in 1920, making it one of the oldest roller coasters in the world still in operation. The ride's three trains were manufactured by Edward Vettel Sr. in 1951 and contain three cars of six seats each. Due to the use of a small lap bar in the cars, some young children are disallowed to enter the ride, as 42” is the minimum. A popular early feature of the ride was a tunnel which covered the turnaround section after the first drop, but this was removed in 1947. In 1991, the tunnel was restored at a slightly shorter length.
Exterminator is a steel roller coaster located at Kennywood amusement park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The coaster was manufactured by Reverchon Industries. It opened on April 18, 1999.
D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, later simply known as Morgan, was a manufacturer of roller coaster trains, custom amusement rides, roller coasters, children's rides and other amusement devices. Founded in 1983, the company was originally headquartered in Scotts Valley, California. In 1991, the company moved to La Selva Beach, California, and into a new 55,000-square-foot indoor manufacturing facility. That facility was later increased to 75,000 square feet. The company produced a variety of rides from 1983 until 2001, but is probably best known for its steel hyper coasters.
White Swan Park was a small amusement park on the border of Moon and Findlay townships in Allegheny County near Pittsburgh that operated from 1955 to 1989. It was located on the Penn-Lincoln Parkway West at McClaren Road, just 1½ miles south of the old Greater Pittsburgh International Airport site.
Shuttle Loop is a type of steel launched shuttle roller coaster designed by Reinhold Spieldiener of Intamin and manufactured by Anton Schwarzkopf. A total of 12 installations were produced between 1977 and 1982. These 12 installations have been located in a total of 22 different amusement parks.
Reptilian is a bobsled roller coaster located at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, United States. Manufactured by Mack Rides, the roller coaster debuted as Avalanche in 1988 and was renamed to Reptilian in 2022 following a refurbishment. The change coincided with the addition of a new themed area at the park called Jungle X-Pedition.
West View Park was an American amusement park, located in West View, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. It was owned by T.M. Harton Company of Pittsburgh through its subsidiary company West View Park Company, which was founded in December 1905. The park opened on May 23, 1906. The dance hall that was constructed in the park, Danceland, became a landmark for various bands and artists that performed there. Notably, the park featured The Rolling Stones at Danceland in 1964. The park operated for 71 seasons, closing in 1977 due to declining revenues, higher operating costs, and a lack of investment. The park was in an abandoned state for several years and subjected to several fires started by arsonists before being torn down in 1980 and replaced by a shopping center and residential facility in 1981.
The Bayern Kurve is a roller coaster like amusement ride that moves a train around a banked circular track, gaining speed as the ride progresses. It is made in both a portable and park model and originally debuted in 1965. It was invented by German engineer Anton Schwarzkopf.
Luna Park was an amusement park in the North Oakland neighborhood of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1905 to 1909. Constructed and owned by Frederick Ingersoll, the park occupied a 16 acre hilly site bounded on the south by Atlantic Avenue and on the west by North Craig Street, and included roller coasters, picnic pavilions, carousels, a fun house, a Ferris wheel, a roller rink, a shoot-the-chutes ride, a concert shell, a dance hall, bumper cars, and a baby incubator exhibit. In its brief existence, the park featured regular performances of bands, acrobatic acts, animal acts, horse riders, and aerial acts.
Sky Rocket is a steel roller coaster located at Kennywood amusement park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Manufactured by Premier Rides, Sky Rocket opened to the public on June 29, 2010. It was the first major coaster addition at the park in almost a decade, following the renovation of Phantom's Revenge in 2001. It was also the first coaster in the park to feature inversions since Steel Phantom, as well as the first to have a launch since Laser Loop.
Log Jammer was a log flume ride at Kennywood amusement park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. It opened on May 11, 1975, and was manufactured by Arrow Development. It was the park's first million-dollar ride. The ride was distinctive because of its spillway drop. Although the spillway drop was featured on several of Arrow Development's flume rides, all were eventually removed with the exception of Log Jammer's. The ride was permanently closed at the end of the 2017 season on September 17, 2017. It was removed to make room for Steel Curtain, a roller coaster which opened in 2019. There was controversy over the closure of Log Jammer. Kennywood received minor social media backlash, and several online petitions were started in hopes of saving the ride, though they were unsuccessful.
Steel Curtain is a steel hypercoaster located at Kennywood amusement park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Manufactured by S&S – Sansei Technologies, the coaster reaches a height of 220 feet (67 m) and features nine inversions, including a 197-foot (60 m) corkscrew that is the world's tallest inversion. Themed to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the roller coaster is named after the Steel Curtain, the nickname for the Steelers' defensive line during the 1970s.
Merlin's Mayhem is an S&S Sansei family inverted roller coaster at Dutch Wonderland in East Lampeter Township, just east of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The coaster opened on land formerly occupied by the original Turnpike attraction. It was originally slated to open for the 2017 season, but numerous construction setbacks and a longer than anticipated approval process resulted in the ride's opening getting pushed back a year, to 2018.
