Re: TR: Phantom Fright Nights at Kennywood
- From: David Sandborg <sanddave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 29 Oct 2005 23:27:46 GMT
In article <3QM8f.1836$m81.143@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Tim Melago" <rollocst@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> After missing the event last year, I finally got back to Kennywood for
> Phantom Fright Nights on Friday night. I was joined by Dave and Janna for
> the evening. Before the event I stopped at Giant Eagle for discount tickets
> at the rate of $15.50. The park was open from 7 PM to 1 AM.
I think this is shifted by an hour from the original hours.
> I was impressed
> how this event has caught on in the community and with what Kennywood had to
> offer in haunted attractions and rides.
Yes, it's really been a success, and Kennywood continues to do it well.
> The park had a good crowd and the
> lines were somewhat long. But considering I've heard that on Saturday nights
> the park has been setting records and lines have been insanely long, I found
> the crowds to be manageable.
It wasn't terribly bad. I wouldn't have wanted to put up with longer
lines, but what we dealt with were manageable. Our worst line was about
45 minutes for the best of the haunted attractions, I believe.
> One of the signature attractions of PFN is the walk through the tunnel to
> get into the park. Part of the ramp leading down into the tunnel has
> covering over it with lightning effects. Inside the tunnel is fog with green
> lights. The tunnel wasn't too hard to navigate as the lights were bright but
> we came across a chainsaw guy midway. At the end of the tunnel there is a
> natural wall built by the elements that you step through carefully as you
> couldn't see a thing. We eventually were greeted by various monsters.
It's a very good effect. Whatever happens to the tunnel as far as the
regular park entrance goes, I'm glad they're going to keep it for
Phantom Fright Nights.
> We decided to hop in line for the new Villa of the Vampires first. It's
> located in the arcade and replaces another maze (Dave reminded me it was
> called Creeper's Crypt). This maze wasn't too surprising as it was very well
> lit and fog didn't fill the walkways. Good starter though.
There were some interesting effects, such as the employees using
swiveling walls to surprise you. I'm glad that they're continuing to
add to and improve upon the attractions.
> We skipped Terror Vision 3D as we've done it before and it's much like
> attractions at other parks. We also did not make it to Fort Despair as it
> had a long line and I've heard it was a bit disappointing. But we had time
> to do the other haunted attractions.
Terror Vision is for some reason one of the most popular haunted
attractions; the line is always long. I did Fort Despair a couple of
years ago and thought it wasn't that great. It may well have improved
since then but we didn't want to wait in line to find out.
> Next up we were heading to Gory Park but with the new ride construction, we
> were stuck at the Phantom's Revenge entrance.
Last year we could definitely get through the gate by the Phantom first
drop to get to Gory Park.
> Well, let's ride it before
> moving on. The Phantom started out with one train and by the time we got
> there the station was full. The good news is that the park did put on a
> second train and even at that the line remained long but at least it moved.
> That should give you some indication of the type of crowds PFN can draw.
Yep. I had thought we could get a bunch of Phantom rides. If there
were enough people they'd put on the second train, which usually eats
through a line pretty quickly, but this time there were enough people
coming up to ride that the line extended down the ramp.
> After a great ride on Phantom we exited the ride via the old route through
> the cave to the Lost Kennywood entrance. This happened to be the entrance to
> Gory Park so we headed in. Gory Park isn't an attraction you queue for but
> rather a haunted midway you use to get to the Exterminator and Pitt Fall.
> But that didn't mean it wasn't a key attraction. I was very impressed with
> it. It reminded me of a Batman the Ride queue area but with live actors.
When you said that, I immediately realized it's exactly the correct
description. It really gets the feel of the area exactly.
> The
> entire area looked trashed and it had all kinds of scary city characters
> including a couple prostitutes, male and female, which was funny. Scenes
> included a couple pickup trucks, a cop car scene, a nasty port-a-potty, a
> graffiti wall and roaming guys with garbage can lids who were able to scare
> unsuspecting guests. I didn't test it out but I heard the black lights in
> the bathrooms make for an interesting trick.
The prostitutes were funny. The garbage can lid kids wreaked havoc all
over. There were a bunch of other derelicts wandering around too.
Sometimes I couldn't tell if the goth-looking kids around the area were
characters or customers.
> We lined up for Exterminator and were surprised to find a full queue. But
> the wait was worth it as the entire ride was in the dark.
A nice little surprise there.
> Only a slight bit
> of light could be seen in the open section of the boiler room area. It felt
> very weird. Over at the Pitt Fall we found a minimal line. The drop was
> great this time. I've been disappointed in this ride recently but it was
> great this time.
Yes, somehow it felt better than usual.
> Next we did Noah's Ark. I had high hopes for this one but the tight nature
> of the attraction didn't allow for many surprises.
No, this was a disappointment. It may have had less than a usual walk
through the Ark becuase some things were covered up. But it had the
biggest line I've seen in years. Gary Baker was the character at the
entrance giving instructions.
> While standing in line
> the aroma of the steak & sausage trailer caught our attention. After going
> through the Ark we stopped for a sandwich. While it was good it wasn't
> really better than what the park sells and it was $2 more. But at that point
> I hadn't noticed if the park was selling their own sandwiches or not. They
> did have many walk away stands open including the jam packed Potato Patch.
This vendor had an excellent position, right in the middle of a midway,
with the smell wafting near some of the lines. But I would have just as
soon had the park sausages had I known they were available. Or perhaps
a "death rod" or some "ghastly nachos".
> We walked by the Thunderbolt which looked great with orange chaser lights.
> Due to having an odd number we didn't bother riding T-Bolt this time. We
> headed on to see what Fort Despair looked like but we opted to line up for
> Mortem Manor in the cafe building. It had a huge line but that's because
> it's the best haunted house. For those waiting in line, the park set up a
> screen and they showed an old horror flick.
The Vincent Price version of "House on Haunted Hill". They showed this
one there last year too. Every time, we seem to wind up in line when
the conclusion comes up.
> It's a nice touch. Mortem Manor
> had very foggy passages and plenty of actors jumping out from everywhere. It
> also had some of those jumping out props for lack of a better word. In all
> it was a great attraction.
This has turned out to be the best of the haunted attractions,
particularly the indoor ones. Lots of good stuff going on, and set up
in a way that the actors can hide in corners and surprise people. The
fog and strobe lights help make it extra disorienting.
> Looking around the park the games stands seemed totally dead (and I don't
> think that has anything to do with the Halloween theme). People don't seem
> to come to haunted events to play games. The park did a great job changing
> lights to make them fit the Halloween theme. While the carousel wasn't
> operable it was in Halloween mode with some spooky carousel music (or was
> that just Dorney's carousel music?). We didn't ride any flats but several
> were open.
The red and orange lights are a great touch. Everywhere Kennywood shows
an attention to detail when they set this up. It must be a big effort
to get the park ready.
> We almost forgot to ride the Jack Rabbit. We knew Racer was closed for
> upgrades. They were actually burning some old Racer wood in the one bon
> fire.
It was funny when we realized this.
> JR was running two trains so the line moved fast.
But not as fast as the old days before the new braking system, because
then the crew would always hurry to get the trains out.
> They had some fog
> and strobe lights in the tunnel for a nice effect. After riding we stopped
> for some hot chocolate.
Very much needed in the cold weather.
> The last haunted attraction is a favorite of mine. That would be the
> Kennyville Cemetery. The highlight was probably the swamp section. Upon
> exiting the gazebo, you are told to watch your step. I could see mulch with
> smoke coming out of it. Then I stepped on in and it was like walking on a
> cushion. And it started smoking. It was really cool.
It was great! Another example of an effect they've recently added.
> After that we
> encountered well placed ghouls. Another highlight is the green pond with the
> ghost in the water (it's a real person in there).
I kept looking at her to see if she was real or not, leading to me being
startled by another character. I overheard some of them laughing at
that. Clearly the employees love doing this.
> To finish the night we took a final ride on Phantom's Revenge. We all were
> impressed with the event and the value of it all. It was a great way to end
> the extended Kennywood season.
I'm sure Kennywood is wondering why they didn't do this before. It's
been tremendously successful for them. They don't do it by
half-measures either. I think they do a better job on these attractions
than some of their permanent themed rides (i.e. Garfield!).
--
Dave Sandborg
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- References:
- TR: Phantom Fright Nights at Kennywood
- From: Tim Melago
- TR: Phantom Fright Nights at Kennywood
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