Kennywood – What a Difference a Few Inches Makes

The past 2 summers have been a bit difficult for us at Kennywood.  Juliana was in between rides – the kiddie land rides were too slow and not exciting enough and she wasn’t tall enough for many of the larger rides.  We spent all of our time going on the same rides over and over – whip, kangaroo, paratrouper, and pirate ship – and a trip to kiddie land to ride the lil phantom many times in a row. We also rode the Jackrabbit roller coaster once per trip – only once because she really doesn’t like it.

I have been very excited to take her to Kennywood this year because she passed the all important 46″ mark which means we have access to more rides now. (She is very close to 48″ which will provide even more options). My dad joined Juliana and I yesterday and he took lots of pictures of us on the rides.

All Juliana has talked about for the past year is riding Musik Express – I don’t think that I have been on this ride since high school. The ride travels at high speed in a circle (with bumps – I did not remember the bumps along the way) pulling everyone toward the outside of the car and loud music plays.  We rode the Musik Express 3 times yesterday, more than any other ride. By the third time my back started to hurt as soon as we sat down (see also: Jennifer is not as young as she would like to think).  Juliana started each ride at the far edge of the seat and within 3 times around she would be crushed against me – hands in the air and laughing.

We rode some of her favorites from the past 2 years as well – the Paratrouper and the Kangaroo. I love the Kangaroo and look forward to riding it for many years to come with the boys as well.

One ride I do not look forward to is the Pirate Ship and I was very happy to only ride it once this year. In case you haven’t noticed – “Mommy – put your hands up” was a major theme of our day.

I was most looking forward to riding the Racer with her. I don’t understand the height policy for the Racer and the Jackrabbit – I think the Jackrabbit is a much more rough ride (she is now tall enough to go on that coaster without an adult, not happening). From the entrance of the Racer you can’t tell that it is a roller coaster. We got in line and I started talking about how much fun it was going to be – she pointed at the Jackrabbit and asked if the Racer was like it. I told her it was a roller coaster but it didn’t have a long hill like the Jackrabbit – lots of little hills and some turns and it went fast. She was concerned so I started to talk up the racing aspect. She watched a few cycles and quickly figured out that the red train won every other time and that the train that started on the one side always won. This made her more excited and she wanted to make sure that she went on the winning one.  She held my hand tight for the start and by the end she was laughing and enjoying it. She told me that we would go back on it again later. And the second time, she held her hands in the air most of the ride and was jumping up and down when we finished. I may have a new roller coaster partner. I have hopes of annual trips to Cedar Point returning to my summers and I need the kids to like coasters if that is going to happen. 

We arrived when the rides started and left at 4:00 – the lines were long and she was getting tired and hot (especially waiting in line for the Racer). After our second time on the Racer and a final spin on the Musik Express she happily walked through the tunnel announcing that this was the best day ever.