Return of Kennywood's Old Mill

After 16 seasons of operation, Kennywood's corny Garfield's Nightmare boat ride has been restored to a theme reflective of its past! The much-anticipated ride hits all the right notes for a darkride, and it feels a million more times like a classic darkride than Garfield's Nightmare ever did. This is my review of the newly rethemed attraction. (If you're unfamiliar with the story of the Old Mill and the ride theme it replaced, I wrote a post back in March about it.)  

My first impression of the entrance was that it had been opened up and is now free of the souvenir and food stands that cluttered it during the Garfield years.

It's a shame that they didn't bring back a version of the old 1920s-style Old Mill front, but I'm not going to complain because having a century-old ride at all is so much better than not, and updating any vintage ride to an old-school theme is just the most awesome thing to do.

It was only in March that the retheme was announced, and despite a months-long shutdown at the park, the people that designed the new theme (the designers of a famous Pittsburgh haunted house) were able to work together at home and online, so by the time the park opened in July, the "new Old Mill" was ready to go!

 The facade remains unchanged from Garfield apart from a new skeleton in the window.

While Garfield's Nightmare was not universally hated among park visitors, those outspoken about desired changes at Kennywood always cited it as their no. 1 attraction to bring back (and you would certainly hear a long list of others if you asked certain long-time Pittsburghers, who are known for being resistant to change.)

I'm not going to leave comments on every scene but will tell you some fun facts.

The "Hoot N' Holler RR" sign in the background of this diorama is a tribute to the old "hillbilly" theme of Kennywood's miniature train ride. (now it's Thomas...) The train itself is from a former darkride at the park called Gold Rusher that closed in 2007. Reusing props like this is cost-effective yet will surely bring back memories of the past for many.

Another former Gold Rusher prop are these coyotes, who are static. The motion in this scene is provided by the ghostly blacksmith in the next picture, a replica of a gag from the 1974-2003 Old Mill.

Notice the orange cat in the background. I'll let you make that connection for yourself. :-)

There is very simple animation in every scene; the clothesline bounces up and down, and the water runs from the pump, but there are plenty of details and references to old park rides that will make you want to ride again. And remember, these scenes are very dim in person, so you don't necessarily notice the simplicity of the construction.

The name of the main skeleton in all of the scenes is Harold, which is a shoutout to a former name of the Old Mill, Hardheaded Harold's Horrendously Humorous Haunted Hideaway. (longest ride name ever?)

Going through, I couldn't help but think that despite having a brand new theme, this actually feels like the oldest of Kennywood's three darkrides.

The Old Mill is not elaborate and may seem crude to many, but that's exactly the vibe that most classic darkrides give off and is a huge part of what makes them charming. Those going in expecting to be wowed or terrified will be disappointed, but if you temper your expectations to expect a simple boat ride through the dark (thankfully without neon colors on every surface), then you will surely enjoy it.  

This is the Old Mill that I knew we needed all along, and I'm sure that it was an inexpensive move for Kennywood that has gained them lots of publicity.

Here's the scene in the pre-Garfield ride that this tableau is a tribute to:

Overall, the Old Mill is a great addition to Kennywood's storied darkride legacy!

To end this post, I've scanned a response to a letter I wrote Kennywood in 2012 asking them to bring back the Old Mill. Eight years later, they finally got around to it. ;-) (My "fix" of the address at the bottom was because it came off when I removed the tape that was holding it to my wall.) :-p

Kings Island

I got to visit Kings Island in Cincinnati, Ohio at the end of July for my first ever visit. Even with all of the virus precautions in place, I still had a great time despite all of the rides being closed for a couple of hours early in the day. Crowds were light, so I was able to ride every coaster multiple times that I wanted to.

Opened in 1972, Kings Island has a long history, starting with a park called Coney Island located elsewhere in the city that was majorly successful. However, due to its location on the Ohio River, the park was moved to higher ground and rebranded into the new theme park of Kings Island in 1972. The park also served a stint as Paramount's Kings Island that saw the installation of several lightly-themed attractions before Cedar Fair bought all five of the Paramount Parks in 2006. The entrance leads into International Street and the iconic 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower. In the background, you can see the new Orion "giga coaster."

Orion is one of the few new roller coasters that have opened this year. It is the 10th tallest in the world at 287 feet with a 300-foot drop and a top speed of 91 miles per hour. Orion is a great ride and is one of my new favorite steel roller coasters!

 My dad took this picture from the Eiffel Tower. You can see Orion towering over the Racer, one of the rides that sparked a new interest in the wooden coasters and was famously featured in The Brady Bunch.

Any park with a working glockenspiel earns extra points.

The park's darkride has always been in this building and has gone through several themes over the years, with the most recent being the "Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Mansion" interactive ride since 2003. It was altered into "Boo Blasters" when Cedar Fair took over.

Seen here are three of the park's roller coasters: The Beast, the world's longest wooden coaster, is on the left, Diamondback, a hyper coaster, is in the right-center, and Mystic Timbers, a wooden coaster built in 2017, is on the far right. Also of note on the far left is the former site of Vortex, a looping coaster that closed at the end of 2019. I missed out!

Mystic Timbers was majorly hyped up, but I went in with too high expectations because even after three rides I came away disappointed. The track is very twisted, but no matter how many crazy directional changes and pops of airtime this coaster throws at you, it’s a bit too smooth for me. I love wooden coasters, but those made by Great Coasters International that I’ve ridden just don’t have the edge that I look for in a woodie.

The Beast is about as legendary as it gets when it comes to wooden coasters. I was hoping I would love it but wasn't expecting much, and as I anticipated, it didn't have a lot of action over its long length. The thing that made the ride worthwhile was cruising through the woods, and it’s hard to imagine what this ride would be like without that feature. The final helix also did not disappoint and is definitely the most forcefully memorable one of any wooden coaster.

My first visit to Kings Island was lots of fun and gave me a perfect opportunity to take in all that the park had to offer. I look forward to returning in the future!

Leap the Dips

Built in 1902, Leap the Dips is the world's oldest roller coaster! Located in Lakemont Park in Altoona, PA  (home of the Horseshoe Curve), I have been aware of it for years but just this year have gotten the opportunity to ride it. Roller Coaster DataBase lists its status as follows, with "SBNO" meaning "Standing But Not Operating."

• SBNO from 2017 to 7/2/2020
• Operated from 5/31/1999 to 2016
• SBNO from 1986 to 1998
• Operated from 1937 to 1985
• SBNO during 1936
• Operated from 6/2/1902 to 1935

As you can see, Lakemont Park and especially Leap the Dips have had a rocky history. Lakemont was announced to be closed in 2017 to undergo a rebranding, but that closure stretched through 2018, and when the park did reopen in 2019, Leap the Dips remained closed for the whole year. Luckily, though, as soon as Lakemont reopened for 2020, Leap the Dips was back up and running for the first time in four years, sporting a fresh coat of paint and riding better than ever.

As soon as you board the car, you realize that this is a coaster from a different era. There are no seatbelts, and the only restraint is a lap bar fixed to the car. It's impressive that they were able to reopen the ride and keep such simple restraints. Seen below is the storage shed where the unused cars are kept.

Leap the Dips is the last "Figure 8" coaster left in the world. At the turn of the 1900s, there were more than 300 of this model of coaster across the country, and any park worth its salt had one. However, they were proved obsolete by the golden age rides of the 1920s, and I'd guess that only a handful was left by 1950.

Leap the Dips is in a unique position in that the park fell on such hard times that they didn't have the money to tear the old coaster down during the years it sat closed. It's a case of lack of funds actually saving a coaster instead of spelling its doom! 

The dips are all on the smaller side, never reaching heights of more than 10 feet, but Leap the Dips is surprisingly wild and throws you out of your seat more times than you would expect when looking at it.

Lakemont Park has one other wooden coaster, the Skyliner, moved from a park in New York in 1987 when the Boyer candy company attempted to rebrand the property as a large new theme park.  This turned out to be a huge fiasco that Lakemont has never completely recovered from.

Leap the Dips holds a solid place as part of the "new" Lakemont Park, so hopefully, it will be gently thrilling riders for years to come.

It was also my hundredth roller coaster. :-)

Another Spin on the Knoebels Roto-Jet

I did a post on the Roto-Jet at Knoebels in central PA at about this time last year, but I just took a few more pictures that I think you'll enjoy. If you don't remember, this Roto-Jet came from the infamous Freedomland USA.

Since Knoebels attendance has been very light lately, I was the only one riding during this cycle.

The plus side of a solo ride is that you can take unique shots like this!

My Dad and I went to Hersheypark on this same day, and they also have a Roto-Jet, the one from Pontchartrain Beach in LA. (I forgot to take a picture.) I've never been on that one before, but it no longer has the classic ride vehicles the Knoebels model has.

I first rode the Knoebels Roto-Jet in 2016, and I was expecting it to be a Dumbo-like ride. I was pleasantly surprised at how intense it is! The lateral forces you get when you're spinning around in the down position are hard to beat.

It's nice to know that even in 2020, you can still ride classic flat rides maintained immaculately well like this one.

I'm glad that I got to visit Knoebels and Hershey when I did. Who knows what the rest of this season will hold for the PA amusement parks?

Disneyland Commemorative Sears Playset

This is a toy I got for Christmas years ago. I was weirdly fascinated by it and convinced my parents to buy one on eBay for me. It wasn't very expensive, and it looks like you can still buy one for cheap now! Overall, this playset is an interesting representation of the park that takes some liberties but is overall more faithful to the real layout than toys made now. As the logo states, it was a Sears exclusive. This is the box that it came in.

The set is made up of a mat with plastic figurines and objects on it.

My favorite building of the set is the train station. The modern Disneyland logo in the flowers seems to recall Nara Dreamland... and yes, that is a Keel Boat in the Jungle Cruise!

The main street buildings are not in the right position, but this block's architecture matches the park. You can see the Candy Palace on the right, and I give them accolades for including both the Crystal and Penny Arcades! :-D

The left block doesn't seem as accurate, but they have a "Juice Bar." The purple coloring of the building seems to suggest grape juice, but with the Welch's stand being in Fantasyland, this should probably be the Sunkist Citrus House. Yep, I was thinking about this in fifth grade. Note the omnibus!

Like all of the structures, Sleeping Beauty Castle is a shell that weighs almost nothing.

Adventureland's only attraction is the Keelboat Cruise. I mean, there's no Rivers of America, but still...

Frontierland has the stockade, a teepee w/ Indian, a sheriff's office w/ sheriff, and a wagon with a crooked horse from being kept in an attic (not mine!). 

Obviously, Fantasyland isn't behind the Castle. Dumbo, which spins around, has a capacity here that rivals the Haunted Mansion. I'm not sure about the antique cars included. I put them on Main Street, which makes the most sense, but the box has them in Fantasyland. It's supposed to be Mr. Toad, I guess - but they look nothing like that attraction's ride vehicles, past or present.

Tomorrowland, like the park at opening, is the most spartan. This building has always interested me. I've seen it at least once on old ephemera (which I can't find now), but I'm pretty sure that it was never in the park in real life. The souvenirs that I saw looked to be from the 50s or 60s, too, so I find it weird that they would include it in a toy made in the 80s. 

I keep this on a shelf in my closet and hadn't pulled it down in years. I enjoyed looking at it, and I hope that you did too! Thanks for reading.