Recently, I've been thinking a lot about the future of Kennywood. Furthermore, I've been talking a lot with a friend who works at the park. Those conversations have helped me think of some things that the park may be doing in the near future. With that said, let's start looking at what I think they'll be doing.
Steel Curtain
First off, let's talk about the main current issues with the park. The main problem is that Kennywood is millions of dollars in debt. Steel Curtain hasn't been that big of a success, and the ride was really expensive. The ride has had technical issues and has also been just extremely expensive to operate, so I think that they are looking to lower the ride's operating costs. To do this, I think they'll be trying to fix some of the issues leading to downtime. They have said that they will be working with S&S to fix some of the issues, but it looks like the ride may reopen next year.
Ride Removals?
Next, let's look at a ride that I think is leaving the park: Cosmic Chaos. The ride has closed early and they're taking the vehicle apart. This ride isn't that popular, since it is so uncomfortable. It also can't run in any rain. I think this will be removed for a Volcano Alley expansion for 2023.
Changes to Racer?
Third, let's talk about Racer. In 2022, Racer turns 95. What my friend has told me is that the original Racer trains are being refurbished. If this happens, that will be amazing. This makes sense for a few main reasons.
The first reason it makes sense is because the original trains seem to be lighter. For those who don't know, the ride originally opened with trains from the Dayton Funhouse company. The original trains are very similar to Jack Rabbit's trains. They are lighter than PTC trains, which means less wear on the track.
The second reason it makes sense is capacity. The old trains held the same number of people, but they had only a fixed grab bar. If they add a seatbelt, that means they don't have to check a buzz bar and they will only have to check 1 seatbelt per row. I can easily say that Jack Rabbit has the fastest operations with that restraint check system, so it will be really good for Racer. This would probably allow for dispatches around 90 seconds, around half the current time.
This also makes sense from a maintenance cost perspective. As of now, Kennywood has to ship the trains to Philadelphia and another company does the maintenance. For this, Kennywood would do the work themselves, which would likely be quicker and cheaper. This may even allow for Racer to stay open through some other events if they'd like. Hersheypark has similar winters and they operate wooden coasters, so the weather doesn't prevent the wooden coasters being open. It isn't an issue of replacing the track, since they do that in mid to late February. Because of that, I think that Racer might be getting its old trains back.
What About Events?
At this point, I think that the park is becoming most profitable during special events. Any time they had events this year, the park has been packed. Bites and Pints was an extremely successful event, so I definitely see this occurring.
For the next event, I see them extending Celebrate America, their Fourth of July event. It usually includes Fireworks and sometimes some specialized music.
I also see them doing Fall Fantasy Parades again. They've been doing it for 70 years. They didn't do it in 2020 because of COVID-19, but the event was very popular this year.
Something else I see them doing is showing something at the giant screen in Steelers Country. The last time I was there, they were showing Ravens vs. Steelers. While that wasn't particularly popular on that day, something to note is that literally nothing in Steelers Country was open. End Zone Cafe and Steel Curtain are closed for the season and Steelers Experience still hasn't opened.
In September, there will probably be some new events added on weekends. They already have First Responder Day, Coasting for Kids, and the Pittsburgh Pierogi Festival in September, but I think they need to do more in September. Adding some more events in September would probably attract more people to the park.
In October, I see them still having Phantom Fall Fest. While this hasn't started yet (at the time of writing), I still see this event being a massive success. It basically combines Phantom Fright Nights, Happy Hauntings, and the Bites and Pints Festival to have one really interesting looking event. I think that a lot of people will go to this event and it will probably be very profitable.
In November, the park is usually closed, but I think they will probably do some sort of expansion of Phantom Fall Fest. This wouldn't include the haunts, but it would include the seasonal food and drinks and the rides. This would still be pretty popular and would probably make the park a lot of money.
In December, I think the park will run Holiday Lights. I already said that Racer will probably run during this event, but I also see some other rides operating. Here is my full list of predicted rides for Holiday Lights 2022:
-Aero 360
-Noah's Ark
-Racer
-Pirate
-Thomas Town's Rides
-Turtle
-Gran Prix
-Kiddieland Rides
-Ghostwood Estate
-Merry Go Round
If they have Holiday Lights with all of those rides rotating operations, I think this event will become amazing. In the past, Holiday Lights has been okay, but not that good.
During the winter before the park opens in 2022, I see the park opening to only have open some food options and a couple rides. They could charge $5 to enter, charge for food and parking, and then be able to attract a decent amount of people to the park.
Season Pass Changes?
While the season pass changes wouldn't be for the 2022 season, they could start for the 2023 season. I see them switching to a monthly membership system. They could charge for the months that the pass won't be used, making the park a little more money.
Conclusion
Kennywood has been going through lots of issues. It looks like they will be making some changes to save money and I think that they will run some extra events to draw in larger crowds.