Most years, Kennywood has a holiday event called Holiday Lights. I visited a few times in 2019, and I really enjoyed it. They didn't have it open in 2020, so I want to talk about the event from 2019. Also, because they closed some of the main rides from holiday lights, I want to give some predictions for what may happen there.
Part 1: The Open Attractions
At Holiday Lights, the main attractions were Rudolph 4d, Pirate, The Grand Carousel, Kiddieland, Thomas Town, Kangaroo, Paratrooper, and Ghostwood Estate. Kangaroo was one of the best rides in the park before they announced its removal. Paratrooper had always been fun until its removal. You can never go wrong with a shooting dark ride or a carousel. Thomas Town is a decent family area. Kiddieland had a few rides open, but they were Kiddieland's best rides.
They didn't have any coasters open (except for Lil' Phantom), which really sucks, so I think that it does lose some points for that, but they also can't open most of their coasters. I'd give the lineup a 6/10.
Part 2: 4d Theater Show
Kennywood uses their 4d Theater at Holiday Lights and Phantom Fright Nights. At Holiday Lights, they show a 4d Recreation of the classic stop-motion version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. This lasts for around 15-30 minutes. They have artificial scents of things like mint and pine trees. I remember enjoying it, but it was only worth seeing once, in my opinion, because of the long lines.
I'd give the show a 9/10. It was an enjoyable recreation of a classic Christmas movie.
Part 3: New Version of Ghostwood Estate?
For Holiday Lights, there was a small retheme of Ghostwood Estate. In the main season and during Phantom Fright Nights, the ride has a theme where you must get rid of the ghosts haunting a mansion. For Holiday Lights, they rethemed it to something about helping Santa get gifts back, but it wasn't that memorable, so I don't remember what the theme was.
Honestly, the retheme was nothing special. I'd give it a 5/10.
Part 4: Decorations
This is one of the main reasons to go to Holiday Lights. Racer's entrance gets covered with lights. There is a massive Christmas Tree near Kiddieland. They have a light show. There is a campfire by Noah's Ark. There are lights all around the park, and it is just great. Parts of the rides are covered in lights, even. They used to turn Paratrooper's lights red and green instead of just white.
Overall, I'd give the decorations a 10/10. They nailed it.
Part 5: The Model Train Set
By far, the longest line I waited in that day was for the Model Train Set in the arcade. All the games were moved so that they could assemble a massive model train set. I don't remember much about it, but it was beautiful and even honored some of Kennywood's rides. Also, on top of some shelves, you could see a model of Steel Curtain.
The model train set was cool, but the line for it took forever. I'd give it a 5/10.
The final score comes out to a 7/10. I feel that this is a decent score and would fit my personal score.
Before we go, I want to talk about what may happen for Holiday Lights 2021.
First, I want to throw out some things that are unlikely. I would say that one of the wooden coasters could be opened, but they are under maintenance during the winter, so it is very unlikely. We can throw out Phantom's Revenge and Steel Curtain for being added to the Holiday Lights event since their wheels could end up cracking due to the conditions.
Now, I want to talk about the rides that can open. Because of all the factors mentioned (maintenance and weather), I think that we can see Skyrocket, Gran Prix, SwingShot, Wave Swinger, Exterminator, Turtle, Noah's Ark, and Aero 360 open. Since they are only opened 3 times a week, I think that this will be no big deal for employment costs, so I think that this could happen.
They should probably have some coasters other than a kiddie coaster opened, so I think that we can see Skyrocket and Exterminator open, since they are well received. They also should start opening thrill rides to attract more adults to the event, so that is why I could see Swing Show and Wave Swinger open. They also are missing 2 more family rides, so it makes sense to open up another 2, so that is why Wave Swinger and Turtle should open for it. Finally, Noah's Ark will take some people from the other rides, and it only needs one employee, so it just makes sense to open it.
In conclusion, I think that Kennywood should open Skyrocket, Exterminator, Aero 360, SwingShot, Wave Swinger, and Turtle at Holiday Lights 2021.
Comments