The Old Mill is Coming Back!

 The event that fans of Kennywood have wished to occur for years has finally come to pass: Garfield’s Nightmare, the amusement park's Day-Glo boat ride with a slightly spooky twist, has been announced to be closing. For the upcoming 2020 season, the ride will be redone in a more traditional darkride style that will be evocative of the attraction that formerly inhabited the space, the Old Mill.

   Garfield’s Nightmare, based off of the popular comic strip cat, opened in 2004. Upon its debut, it instantly garnered much criticism over various issues; among them were including product placement throughout its passageways and the infusion of a popular character such as Garfield into Kennywood, which has always prided itself on maintaining a traditional amusement

park atmosphere over the years.

 The main gripe with Garfield, though, has always been that it is a dramatic departure in feel from the ride that preceded it. The Old Mill underwent numerous redesigns and name changes over its last few decades of operation, but constant throughout was a theme revolving around skeletons and the old west. Although not overly complex, many longtime Kennywood fans lamented the loss of the ride’s vintage aesthetic to a ride that was greatly considered to be too tongue-in-cheek and not focused enough on atmosphere. Overall, Garfield's Nightmare was simply an extremely cheesy ride that did not feel "right" in a park like Kennywood.

 

The pre-Garfield theme was also one that was much more in keeping with the ride’s history from the early 1900s. “Mill Chute” rides were once commonplace throughout amusement parks all across the country, but Kennywood’s is one of less than five surviving examples throughout the nation.

Kennywood has long encountered resistance against Garfield’s Nightmare, and park visitors have been crying for years for the park to restore the Old Mill to its former glory. Now, only after 16 seasons of operation, the Old Mill will finally be returning.

The refurbished ride's newly-released logo

This restoration of a classic Kennywood accordance goes nicely in accordance with the 100th anniversary of the Jack Rabbit coaster, which will also be celebrated in 2020 (As a side note, most historians consider the Jack Rabbit to be Kennywood’s oldest ride, but some make a case for the Old Mill, although it held a different structure before being completely rebuilt around 1926).

The refurbishment of this ride will likely be fairly simple and not very elaborate, but if it turns out to be anything like the work done to Noah's Ark, another one of Kennywood's vintage dark attractions, a few years back, then I think that we will be in for a treat. My expectations certainly aren't set too high, though, because I want to be surprised! I can't wait to check out the "new" Old Mil this upcoming season at Kennywood!