Five Canceled Kennywood Attractions

With a park as landlocked as Kennywood, it makes sense that there have been plans for attractions that never got off the ground. Some of these have come to light years after being cancelled; from one-off rides to significant expansions that would have changed the landscape of the park had they actually been built. Let's look at five of these cancelled attractions in more detail and what may have caused them to not be built.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Facebook: / rampagingrex
Instagram: / rampagingrex
Links to footage used:
Turnpike Off-Ride by Garrett Sauers: • Kennywood 2008 - Turnpike
Kennywood's Railroad Property by Garrett Sauers: • Kennywood Park's Railr...
Kennywood 1998 by Coasterbob62: • Kennywood 1998 Part 1
BGT Monorail: • Busch Gardens Tampa 19...
Turnpike POV: • Kennywood Park Turnpik...
Turnpike Off-Ride: • Experience Kennywoods ...
Turnpike News Report: • Kennywood Replacing Tu...
Music Tracks Used:
Anamanaguchi - Another Winter
The Skiver/Spiral Pegacion - Mega Man X5
Mushroom Hill Act 2 - Sonic Generations 3DS
Sonic 3D Blast Theme - Sonic Generations
#Kennywood #SteelPhantom #RMC

[@RampagingRex]

Happy new year, everyone! I've been trying to upload more often lately and I hope you can tell. I'm starting off this year with five cancelled Kennywood attractions, but there will be more videos this year focusing on Cedar Point and HersheyPark, as well as any new parks I visit later down the line, maybe even a documentary or two. The channel is getting very close to 20K and I'm extremely grateful to all of you for watching my content over the years. I've got a ton of video ideas, so the future is gonna be bright!

[@Horror_culture-]

Yeah that “are you sure about that?” hits lol. I was born in 1998, and I still remember the gold rusher, and the turnpike, and the pitfall. Now they’re planning on getting rid of the umbrellas and the kangaroo🥲

[@ForeverBlooming-05]

Not the umbrellas!

[@thehomiesthomieman]

@@ForeverBlooming-05 sadly, I can confirm that the umbrellas and the kangaroo are both gone :(

[@graysonrogers-barnes6302]

@@thehomiesthomieman Kangaroo is back!

[@thehomiesthomieman]

@@graysonrogers-barnes6302 Really? That’s awesome!

[@TrueBrae]

Yeah it’s true

You know it's going to be a great year when RampagingRex uploads within the first week.

[@robinjones394]

I miss the Turnpike! I rode it many times I; the 70’s and 80’s…. Then my son rode it when he was quite little…. He was so sad when they took it out…. Just seeing the Turnpike from the parking lot got him so excited… as a kid, I always thought it was so cool to drive right next to real cars on the street… it was a perfect location for the ride…. I also miss the other car driving track in the back near kiddy land..

[@davehahner5344]

The monorail was unfortunately scrapped about 10-12 years ago. Part of it was stored at a storage facility on Thompson Run Road in West Mifflin near the Auto Auction (former Woodland Drive-In) and part was sent to sister park Lake Compounce in Bristol, CT. The ride was scrapped from both locations sadly. A common misconception was that public demand enticed Kennywood to keep part of Steel Phantom into Phantom’s Revenge. Yes, there was public outcry, but the decision on what was being done was made WELL in advance before they even announced its closure. The deal with Morgan was already made as track manufacturing was already in production. The park had several companies bid on the project, but they always intended keeping the largest two drops. Arrow,, Vekoma, Premier, and yea, Intamin, all submitted proposals. Ultimately they chose Morgan as they could keep the two drops to help keep costs down. A Giga coaster was never a consideration due to space and money.

[@RampagingRex]

Thanks for the information, that's a shame about the monorail. I heard talk about a year or so ago that the park still had it, but I wasn't completely sure. I remember the news at the time reporting that the park received hundreds of letters and emails objecting to Steel Phantom closing, and citing that as a reason why Phantom's Revenge came to be. The giga idea was purely speculation on my part, but it would be very interesting to see the proposals from all the other manufacturers. Thanks for clearing all this up!

[@jslim39]

@@RampagingRex Gahhhhhh could you imagine a hybrid of the original Steel Phantom made by INTAMIN??? Don't get me wrong Phantom's Revenge is one of the best coasters ever made and it holds a special place in my heart cause I grew up at Kennywood - BUT - Intamin as a whole is another level of intensity. Just think if the second drop was done by Intamin and was a pure parabolic shape - combine that with the holy t-bar restraint and whatever other interesting things they would've done differently, I mean...... whoa....... I'm salivating. Anywho it never happened and now I feel like I "cheated" on the real Phantom's Revenge for even thinking that way. Back to reality.

[@Simon_Electric]

I miss the turnpike. That was the first ride I had ever been on as a kid. My Mom would ride with me. I will never forget that.

[@Nenezilla]

I'm old enough to have driven the originals that required gas and you had to use the pedal to run the car. Miss this ride.

[@XscreamThrills]

I remember reading somewhere back in the day about the Steel Phantom replacement. The claim was that its replacement would make Millennium Force look like a kiddie ride.

[@shonseibert48]

Loved the Turnpike, used to be a family favorite

[@exiledrabbit]

Great video this is such great content for a small park like Kennywood, seriously well done

[@isaaccutlip5815]

It's such a great place. It's special

[@VinceHere98]

A Giga coaster would still be a great addition to the park, since Kennywood now has plenty of space to use. Perhaps a B&M Coaster too, since they don't have one yet.

[@RampagingRex]

I don't see them adding a giga anytime soon since we just got Steel Curtain, and anything by B&M is probably out of their price range. That ravine has been a hot topic of discussion among Kennywood fans for years, but who knows if or when they'll spend the money to prepare the hillside for construction.

[@VinceHere98]

@@RampagingRex well, once Kennywood has enough cash, they can add a B&M coaster in the future. Question is which one of them would be the cheapest to get tho. (Perhaps a Sit-Down looper?)

[@CoasterGuy2323]

Are you joking? Cause they have no space

[@spanzek]

Great job with the video and the history documentary concerning old Kennywood video footage!

[@markcibulka3175]

The monorail was sold for scrap. It was being kept behind an old Post-Gazette Distribution Center off Thompson Run Rd. It's been gone for several years.

[@Wild1995]

Great job as always. Always amazing memory and information about Kennywood. I remember when the hotel was announced but then it disappeared.

[@jordankelemen9167]

Great video as always!

[@maxmustermann6612]

Dude, this is a great Video!

[@JustinCoasters]

6. Vekoma SLC was planned but gladly cancelled

[@davehahner5344]

This was indeed true! Before the sale of the park, the former park manager Pete Maceneny told us that he wanted to put a Vekoma SLC on the spot of the Turnpike and Old Mill. Thankfully, this coaster never materialized and the Old Mill was saved, but became Garfield’s Nightmare instead. Eventually Sky Rocket would replace Turnpike instead after Palace Entertainment took over the park.

[@chrismaxwell6192]

I’ll take the new Vekoma SLC models with the lap-bar though.

[@billybatson8657]

Do they still have that haunted house that you sit in a sort of tilt-a-whirl type car and it takes you through? That was probably my favorite ride as a kid. At one point you suddenly spin around to confront a lit-up dragon that snorts steam at you! It would always scare the bejesus out of me.

[@coastercouple1211]

Thought you may have had the SLC that was planned to go back by Raging Rapids is or the fourth 1970s wooden coaster. Perhaps a part 2?

[@kaydub0623]

I haven't heard of an SLC going by Raging Rapids, but I have heard of one that was supposed to replace Old Mill and Turnpike.

[@jamesfrye1463]

I want to give some information, but some context is important. At one point, I was doing some volunteer work that was sponsored by the Steel Valley Trail Association and was at the Great Allegheny Passage. The project was on the Duquesne/West Mifflin line, so the thing had us park in a private lot that is just a fence away from Kennywood's Union Railroad property. I was talking to one of the people from SVTA, who mentioned the plans for the RMC. The plan was to build the world's fastest and longest wooden coaster. It was going to run down the ravine and would climb up another hill towards the substation and would keep go along that hill towards the bridge. It would then turn around and would climb back up the hill towards the start of the ride. However, there is one misconception here. The claim that it was cancelled due to lack of approval isn't the issue. The actual issue is that the hillside is extremely unstable. It would simply be too dangerous to build there, but the ride would be a terrain wooden coaster, so it would not be possible to build it safely at all.

[@mrtoastykat2825]

Top quality intro

[@kaydub0623]

I think another good possibility of the Steel Phantom replacement could've been some sort of B&M, maybe an invert or hyper similar to Apollo's Chariot. Also, another cancelled attraction the park was planning to build was a Vekoma SLC that would've replaced both Turnpike and Old Mill. Glad that never happened!

[@RampagingRex]

I've never heard of a Vekoma SLC going into the park. It must have been a while ago, but I do agree I'm glad it never happened!

[@markcibulka3175]

@@RampagingRex He's partially right. They were going to put an Vekoma SLC where Turnpike was. Old Mill was safe. They also thought of putting Swing Shot at the front of the park.

[@theboyscout0156]

Fun fact, control panel, gates, and ground markings of turnpike are still along that fence

[@yeetmcskeet1612]

Also coaster studios posted a video vlog at kennywood a few years ago where they said they even saw rmc workers walking around looking at the park with work folders etc

[@GSauers]

Great video! I thought the monorail got completely scrapped? Fun fact #1...Did you know Idlewild and SoakZone bought a sky ride back in the 1990’s. The park still has the sky ride and doesn’t plan on installing/using it any time soon. Fun Fact #2 - New videos are scheduled to be shown on my channel this year after taking a long creative break from KZbin. Garfield’s Nightmare Lights On POV coming soon...

[@RampagingRex]

Thanks to Dave Hahner, I have learned that the monorail was definitely scrapped. A shame, since I think it would have been a good addition especially since Kenny's Parkway is gone now. I didn't know about the Idlewild sky ride, it seems like it would fit in well there so I wonder why they haven't built it? Idlewild needs a big new addition. Sounds like you got a lot more Garfield footage than I did- all I managed to film was the one POV I posted last year. I'm looking forward to that lights on POV!

[@davidadam6997]

I was disappointed to see Turnpike go away, but I never liked the antique cars. Many parks have these. The gas-powered sports cars were cool. I'm sure motor maintenance and pollution had a lot to do with their demise. But look where we are today. Every major auto manufacturer is making electric cars. So, bring back a Turnpike ride, give the cars bodies like the old gas ones or similar to modern cars, and put electric motors in them! Instantly up to date and relatable! The gas station could have recharging stations.!

[@TheThemeParkFiles]

I remember King's Island's Adventure Express has one of the end of ride lift hills (feel free to correct me if I am wrong). Ride felt kind of anticlimactic as you went up a lift hill with the moving statues and then pulled into the station. Disneyland (California) on the other hand does this well with the original version of Pirates of the Caribbean, though it should be noted that is a boat ride and doesn't have close to the speed of a modern day coaster (probably helps make it less weird/bizarre).

[@graysonrogers-barnes6302]

I remember some of the older ones. They were great.

[@sonic23233]

I want them to bring back the olde Kennywood Railroad and get rid of the creepy train with eyes

[@RampagingRex]

I don't mind Journey With Thomas, but it needs way more theming. The billboards are not nearly enough to make it an entertaining ride.

[@sonic23233]

@@RampagingRex it was probably last minute

[@tictok9972]

I’m hopelessly obsessed with Kennywood. I lose sleep at night about the park potentially going under in a few years. The quality of the park has diminished and many punks coming into the park starting fights and causing all sorts of trouble! 😡😢

[@gregoryedwards8781]

I wish they built that monorail. I loved the Busch Gardens TPA Monorail. When they removed it from the Tampa it seemed to coincide with the lost of the parks unique identity.

[@mtfan]

I think the Turnpike will come back in some form reasonably soon. The Millennium Force idea is a bit of a stretch, I feel.

[@RampagingRex]

I do believe the park is building up to something with all the Turnpike teases they've given us over the years. The giga idea is purely speculation on my part, but if not a giga, an Intamin hyper would have worked in the space as well. With all eyes on Millennium Force at the time, the park likely at least considered Intamin for the project.

[@protorhinocerator142]

Even if there is some other attraction in the way, maybe they could have it go underneath. And then the tunnels would be marked Squirrel Hill Tunnel or Fort Pitt Tunnel. Whatever. Tell me that wouldn't be fun.

[@mtfan]

@@protorhinocerator142 Only if they make the cars back up in traffic at the entrance to each tunnel. Needs to be authentic . . . . . .

[@protorhinocerator142]

@@mtfan And in the case of the Fort Pitt tunnels, make it so you have to go instantly from the far left lane to the far right lane, then instantly from the far right lane to the far left lane.

[@nathanward9972]

I think I read that the ravine coaster was going to be a Gravity Group ride based on the fact that Kennywood's owners worked with CCI at Lake Compounce

[@jaredbumbis]

I could definitely see Gravity Group doing something like a ending lift hill and the sharp turns make sense with the timberliner trains. Most people report it was going to be an RMC because apparently RMC employees were spotted at the park around that time

[@ZPierce767676]

Really enjoyed this video. Idk about number 5 though I feel like if they wanted a gigs Morgan could of made it happen with that second drop especially after just building steal dragon.

[@RampagingRex]

The Intamin idea is just speculation on my part, since nothing official was ever revealed. It could have been a Morgan as well!

[@kdenskitchen9187]

7:40 . kennywoods only "competition" is idlewild (which we all know is shit, unless you have a young one). i would never consider cedar point as competition to kennywood at all. it is way too far of a travel and youre only going there from pittsburgh if you really wanted to. i really wish kennywood would keep some of the old rides, its been around for so long they shouldve expanded by now. im 20, born and raised in pittsburgh, and i hate going to kennywood unless an occasion like tonights opening night for fright night. its nothing special, but it isnt that bad. the lines are the only thing that make it miserable. food overpriced, shit everything here is overpriced. but its all we got here in the burgh yano

[@Simon_Electric]

So they scrapped the safer monorail for the ski lift suspension system? I don't think safety was the concern. I've been on that ski lift and the is very terrifying.

[@RampagingRex]

The monorail was purchased after the ski lift was already installed. The ski lift opened in 1996 and the monorail was purchased in 2000. That ski lift is also being disassembled right now.

[@mrhead6856]

I know everyone loves thunderbolt I do too but it's just screaming to be an RNC conversation...that would be amazing

[@coasterking4980]

If we want to speculate more on possible Steel Phantom replacements, since B&M built Alpengeist (a near-hyper invert) and Great Bear (an invert that interacts with terrain and park elements) in back to back years around that time, what if a massive B&M invert went into that spot? Imagine going down that second drop on an invert, and instead of going into a trim-braked vertical loop you go into a massive Immelmann like Alpengeist.

[@chrismaxwell6192]

That’s basically what Banshee is at Kings Island.

[@patricknedz]

@@chrismaxwell6192 Banshee is the best one

[@beaupirnat2827]

Imagine if we actually got a giga dang kennywood fans ruined it

[@RampagingRex]

Phantom's Revenge is still a more than worthy replacement!

[@beaupirnat2827]

@@RampagingRex true

[@pittsburghthrills1281]

For #5, you made a mistake. They actually had no plans yet. Their only plan was to remove Steel Phantom, but they made no plans. When people were upset about the removal, they made Phantom's Revenge happen. This is going off information that Kennywood gave me after asking about it.

[@johnrickettsjr3463]

Kennywood needs to build more steel rillercoasters. They have Sandcastele on the other end of Homestrad that should have bern close would havr been better . but i think more steel coasters stuff similar to New Jersey's Devil..

[@patricknedz]

I wish they would get a good GCI wooden hyper coaster.

[@missyrose2154]

I would really like if that put that monorail in going from the parking lot to the park and back !

[@dankus9557]

Honestly, Kennywood probably could have built the giga coaster somewhere else if they decided to go for that. I mean then they could have done phantom's revenge.

[@Epic_Gamer_akaEvan]

Skyrocket is my favorite ride

[@Lunar_Yoshi]

Hay maybe the intamin giga could be Kenny wood’s next coaster

[@RampagingRex]

It's very unlikely since we just got Steel Curtain. I wouldn't expect a new coaster until at least 2025-26.

[@Lunar_Yoshi]

@@RampagingRex 2028?

[@Lunar_Yoshi]

Or maybe an rmc but the phantoms is my favorite coaster of time

[@mindyshepard9481]

@@Lunar_Yoshi ;)

[@Lunar_Yoshi]

It’s SteVe now lol

[@TTVRansomYT]

Holy shiz your voice got deep

[@RampagingRex]

I had a mild cold while recording this, so that's probably why my voice sounds off.

[@urbex_coasters]

I think they were probably looking at a Morgan giga because they saw Steel Dragon as being a viable compeditor to Millenium Force rather than an Intamin giga. With the backlash the park got Phantom's Revenge was proposed as a more complete experience that could fix the ridership but keep the fans of Steel Phantom happy. The giga would've been drop, turnaround, station. That's it.

[@dankus9557]

it could have been so much more. Massive sweeping turn over all of thunderbolt

[@lpn8585]

They should eliminate the high track on Skyrocket and have premier redo the coaster.

[@aidenleya2215]

Kinda wish kennywood would just get a new hyper coaster instead of steel curtain because steel curtain is way too big and takes up the whole park meanwhile kennywood is a National historic landmark and there was so much history at kennywood, and it is always broken down a lot and S&S isn’t really the best company for coasters, they could’ve just added an rmc raptor

[@yeetmcskeet1612]

Lmao remember the expansion they were supposed to make using the parking lot and the "indoor water park"?? Was rumored for YEARS.. Pepperidge farms remembers

[@yeetmcskeet1612]

Like there was supposed to be more than just an indoor waterpark

[@TTVRansomYT]

Do u live in pa

[@RampagingRex]

Yes, Kennywood is my home park.

[@TTVRansomYT]

@@RampagingRex nice

[@theboyscout0156]

I would love to see the monorail

[@RampagingRex]

The park still has it in storage somewhere, but we'll sadly never get to see it. Probably.

[@theboyscout0156]

@@RampagingRex I wouldn’t be surprised if they scrapped it already

[@mbapnyc]

If you thought steel curtain had downtime in 2019. Imagine the downtime of an rmc at kennywood.

[@James-gn3dj]

But steel curtain is a prototype so it would likely have less downtime

[@mbapnyc]

@@James-gn3dj that’s true. But an intamin giga would defiantly have a lot of downtime

[@James-gn3dj]

@@mbapnyc No doubt about that

[@patricknedz]

No worse than an Intamin

[@HockeyGUY66871]

I do think a new coaster will go in that ravine

[@judiplaz]

I don't think they got the green light for a coaster in that ravine. I heard they tried before SC, but the railroad comp and the Environmental protection agency had issues with it. So it was nixed.

[@holleysdotcom]

I'm all for coasters, but where Kennywood is concerned, I think it's vitally important for management to respect the fact that it is one of only two National Historic Landmark Amusement Parks in the country. They've been trying to remove or change classic rides for years, and the local public is not going to have it. People go to Kennywood BECAUSE it has fantastic old rides that you can't see anywhere else in the world, and that's okay. Trying to turn it into another Cedar Point won't work for the area.

[@joewhoa1759]

If you build it they will come.

[@clintparker]

"But who knows? Maybe we'll see an RMC come to Kennywood." Yeah, I'm lookin at you, Racer. Xscream Thrills did a video a while back where he speculated that Thunderbolt would get Iron Horsed, but honestly it doesn't need it since it was just retracked in 2017 AND in the 2021-22 off-season. I'd rather see the Racer, this piece of junk get the Iron Horse treatment. The park could still stay in the borough of West Mifflin and it's time we get the Twisted Colossus of the East. Boom! Kill two birds with one stone. Second, Steel Curtain should've really been built to be the tallest gigacoaster, because Red Force don't count, but hey! 220 feet is still impressive too. Plus it's time a looping hypercoaster returned to the park. It's been far too long since Steel Phantom closed

[@patricknedz]

I wish they used another company like B&M Gerstluar, or Intamin rather than S&S

[@clintparker]

@@patricknedz Why Gerstlauer? They don't build that tall, B&M is too complicated, and Intamin, I agree with Johnathan from Rampaging Rex Productions, would've been the most logical choice for the Phantom's Revenge that wouldn't have been Phantom's Revenge as we know it. Not to mention, S&S is faster than fast, quicker than quick, they are Lightning, ha! See what I did there?, and in the front Steel Curtain hauls butt. Like holy steel cow!! Lol! I'm personally satisfied with S&S

[@emilypatteson805]

You can’t put a little coaster underneath a roller coaster just because people don’t know how to take their change out of their pockets

[@candacesipes1160]

Me and my mom are still mad and you made us even more mad but At YOU

[@dylan4119]

If only the thunderbolt but that never will happen

[@lpn8585]

They should close dahn raging rapids and put an RMC Raptor in its place.

[@joewhoa1759]

Agree. Rapids is stupid

[@joeheid2776]

BRING BACK BAYERN KURVE!!!

[@toddament8035]

Kennywood got rid of every ride with a center rail or pick-up rail. LeChaot, Gold Rusher, Turnpike, Cadillacs in Kiddieland as all decisions are made by the insurance rates.

[@ScottyMania313]

Hey Kennywood, you need to paint the Steel Curtain Blue and Silver and rename it "Detroit Lions - the Coaster" because it never works. For real, how do you advertise this coaster as the top and not even have it open all year? It's damn near criminal the way you fleece the people who want to visit.

[@seraphdoka]

you sound like ranboo

[@JustinCoasters]

Electric Cars? TAKE NOTES DISNEYLAND

[@jaimienichols5649]

Lol Cena

[@Wild1995]

I call B.S. when Kennywood closes rides to "remain competitive or because lack of riders. Total B.S. The Steel Phantom never lost interest. It was the lawsuits that made them change the ride. I never once was injured by the Steel Phantom and it was slick marketing when they said they were "improving" it when they removed all the loops. They said the same B.S. when they removed the Ranger. It was so popular yet Kennywood said it was not popular. The issue was the ride had mechanical issues and cracks that needed maintenance and Kennywood did not want to take risks. I understand what public relations is about. But I like truth.