Kennywood Park, West Mifflin PA | Nearby Businesses

• Amusement
• Amusement and Theme Park
• Landmark and Historical Place
• Theme Park

4800 Kennywood Blvd
West Mifflin, PA 15122
(412) 461-0500

Kennywood is an amusement park located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The park first opened as a \"trolley park\" attraction at the end of the Mellon family's Monongahela Street Railway on May 30, 1899. It was purchased in 1906 by F. W. Henninger and Andrew McSwigan who later formed the Kennywood Entertainment Company, which owned and operated the park as a closely-held family business for over 100 years. Kennywood was purchased by California-based Palace Entertainment in 2007. The amusement park features various structures and rides dating back to the early 1900s. Along with Rye Playland Park, it is one of only two amusement parks listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Sky Rocket is a steel roller coaster located at Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the first coaster erected at the park since the renovation of the Steel Phantom into the Phantom's Revenge in 2001; it also marks the return of a roller coaster that features inversions. It was completed in the late spring of 2010 and after a period of testing opened at the end of June.The Sky Rocket occupies the ground formerly held by the Turnpike near the entrance to the park; the Turnpike ride is expected to return to the park in the future in a modified state.Ride ExperienceAfter exiting the station, the train turns 180 degrees. It then lines up with the launch motors and is accelerated from 0-50mph in 3 seconds. It goes up a 95-foot top hat element (without changing direction) into a cutback inversion, which is two half-corkscrews joined together in opposite directions so that the train exits moving 180 degrees from the direction it entered. It goes straight into a Zero-G Roll followed by a 180 degree upwards curve into the mid-course brake run. it comes almost to a complete stop only to plummet to the ground with a near-vertical drop. It goes into a low over-banked turn under the cutback, followed by a corkscrew over another piece of track, creating a head-chopper effect. It goes into another over-banked turn, followed by a series of S-curves to add to the excitement. It does one more 180 degree turn into a series of bunny hops going under the corkscrew. It does one final twist straight into the final brake run.

Jack Rabbit is a wooden roller coaster located at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, United States.Designed and built by John A. Miller and Harry C. Baker in 1921, it is one of the oldest still-running roller coasters in the world. The ride's three trains were manufactured by Edward Vettel, Sr. in 1951 and contain three cars of six seats each. The aging cars are considered a part of the ride's nostalgic experience but also lead to some young children being disallowed to enter the ride (36" is the minimum), due to the use of a small lapbar to hold in riders. 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 when the new cars were ordered. In 1991, the tunnel was restored, at a slightly shorter length.The Jack Rabbit was built shortly after Miller patented a new track design in 1921 (which all wooden coasters built since have used). This design involved the use of wheels both under and over the track, which allowed Miller to create the then enormous 70ft drop that is the attraction's largest. It is most well known for its double dip following the lift hill. The double dip produces strong airtime that makes the rider feel that they will be thrown from the seat, and a feeling that the train leaves the track (it rises up but the upstop wheels keep it firmly on the rails).According to Rick Sebak, producer of Pittsburgh history programs for WQED, the attraction was designed so that each train's last seat would provide the strongest airtime, and therefore the most desired ride.

The Thunderbolt is a wooden roller coaster located at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. It was built by John A. Miller in 1924. The ride's name was Pippin until 1967, when it was changed to Thunderbolt beginning with the 1968 season, coinciding with an expansion of the track headed up by Andy Vettel. The all-wood coaster follows the surrounding terrain with a track length of 2,887 feet (880 m). Its maximum height is 70 feet (21 m), but because of the track layout and the natural ravines on which the ride is set, the maximum drop is 95 feet (29 m). Reaching a maximum speed of 55 mph (88.5 km/h), the ride takes 108 seconds to complete its circuit.An interesting feature of the Thunderbolt is that after departing from the station, the train does not immediately go up the lift hill as on most other coasters. Instead, it immediately goes into the first drop and the lift hill is in the middle of the ride after the second drop.Most of the ride was left intact except for the double dip, station, and station turn-around to the first hill which were removed in 1968 for the addition of the new front helix hills necessary for the transformation of The Pippin into the new Thunderbolt roller coaster. The four drops down a ravine were incorporated in the Andy Vettel-designed Thunderbolt coaster. The Thunderbolt was rated the #1 roller coaster by the New York Times in 1974, and it still is the most popular ride at Kennywood. The Thunderbolt still uses the 1958 Pippin trains manufactured by the National Amusement Device Company, known as "Century Flyers."

Phantom's Revenge is a steel roller coaster at Kennywood. When it opened in 1991, it was the fastest roller coaster and had the longest drop of any roller coaster in the world. The ride was originally manufactured by Arrow Dynamics. After the 2000 season, D.H. Morgan Manufacturing was brought in to renovate the ride, most notably to remove the four inversions. Unlike most roller coasters, the ride's second drop through Thunderbolt's structure is longer than its first drop.The ride has been ranked in the Golden Ticket Awards every year since 2000. It was ranked in the top 10 every year from 2002 - 2011. In addition, it has been ranked in the top 25 of Mitch Hawker's Best Steel Roller Coaster Poll every year since 2001 and in the top 5 of the National Amusement Park Historical Association Favorite Steel Roller Coaster poll every year except 2008.HistoryHenry Henniger, the president of Kennywood Entertainment Company, wanted a large steel coaster in the late 1980s. The park had only built wooden roller coasters in the past. The park also had a very tight layout and they were not sure how to fit it into the park. On July 27, 1990, Kennywood announced the name of their new roller coaster would be Steel Phantom and it would use the same station as Laser Loop, which it replaced. The ride opened on May 10, 1991 as the fastest and steepest steel roller coaster in the world. The inversions were a vertical loop, a Batwing, and a corkscrew. As a result of the inversions, riders experienced more-than-usual head banging. Shortly after its debut, a trim brake was added because the coaster was going faster than it should through the inversions and riders were experiencing pain in their necks.

The Racer is a wooden roller coaster located at Kennywood Park, in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. It is a racing, moebius loop coaster; one of only three in the world.BeginningsThe first Kennywood Racer was first built in 1910 as a side friction roller coaster by Frederick Ingersoll. It was a twin-track racing coaster designed by John Miller that cost nearly $50,000. When it was built, it was the largest racing coaster in the world. The original Racer had two trains racing side by side on two separate tracks, but it didn't have wheels under the track, so dips and curves were gentle. The trains consisted of three-seat cars with a seating capacity of 18. The Racer was torn down in 1926 and replaced by Kiddieland.

The Exterminator is a steel roller coaster located at Kennywood Park, in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The ride was developed by Reverchon Industries.The ride is heavily themed around the concept of the rider as a rat attempting to escape from Kennywood exterminators. The concept is a pun off of the phrase "Wild Mouse roller coaster", which describes this type of coaster, characterized by small cars (4 people/car for Exterminator) and sharp turns. Much of the theming takes place in the line for the ride, which includes such elaborate media as fake news broadcasts, and is usually the park's longest, being usually or beyond a 40-minute wait. The ride is very dark and unique, as the introduction says "unlike any ride you've rode before". The tracks are fast, rough, include a few sudden falls, and end with a fast finale that includes flashing lights, and the car seemingly spinning out of control. Like other spinning wild mouse coasters, the cars face forwards for the first half of the ride, but are free to spin during the second half.