Kennywood in West Mifflin, PA (Pittsburgh)

My friends and I went to this years Phantom Fright Fest. I have been to Kennywood before and have always found it a fun park to visit. With it many historical rides, flat rides, coasters, and a good amount of rides for the little ones; it has something for everyone. This was my first visit for their Halloween event and we were looking forward to the 6 hunts and the 5 scare zones. When we got there however we were immediately met with our first issue. Upon arriving at the first security check point. We were told by a very rude security guard that we could not take our bags into the park. We were only allowed to take something about as big as a clutch purse into the park. While I understand the reasoning behind it, no where on the website, or anywhere posted in the parking lot was there any warning that this would be the case. How hard it is to post signs on the walk ways that due to the event, bag size would be restricted to such and such a size. We had small back packs which held our personal items including medications, and cloths for us to change into as the temp dropped that night. It was 70 degrees at the time, but it was going to get down to 35 that night. So we came prepared. We had to walk all the way back to the car. Figure out what we could take, and walk all the way back. I watched several parents having to go back to their cars with diaper bags. If it's something important just search the bags. Or make sure to have signs posted. Issue 2 occurred at the concession stands. As with most amusement parks any more they have souvenir cups that you can buy that allows you to refill as much as you want for free after the first purchase. $40 bucks is a little steep, but the refill system would have payed for it's self quickly. I waited in line at a concession stand for 20 minuets while the 5 people behind the counter served one person at a time. Instead of doing what they do most places I have been where you order in one line and pick up your food in another. I get to the counter, and am promptly told the whole park is out of the cups. OK, fine I can see that happening, but where again is your signage letting us know that. That was all I wanted and I wasted 20minuts of my time that I could have been in line for a hunt, only to find that out. A well placed sign would have prevented that. The event its self was great! The haunts were fun, the scar actors were great. But come on Kennywood, Signage!

After a few hours my kids were actually bored and ready to go! Park way overcrowded with minimum average wait times of over an hr. Kennywood obviously has a solution for that, dish out more money for already overpriced tickets and jump the line. Speaking of prices, since they won’t allow you to bring in any outside food or beverage so they can price gouge. Figure an additional $200 to feed a family of 4 or better yet Leave the park and go to Popeyes or McDonald’s. Very disappointed! Unfortunately I don’t see myself ever taking my kids back this once great amusement part.

Very disappointed in Kennywood Park this year. I went during Fright Night, the whole park was out of the Survivor cups, along with corn dogs. Noah's Arc now has a fee of $13 per person during Fright Night, which seems excessive considering you have to buy a ticket to enter the park and ride the rides. The biggest disappointment was the staple Potato Patch, the fries were undercooked, and some were cold. Overall not a great experience.

We are NEVER going back to this place because it soooo SUCKED! The workers were soooo unfriendly. You can’t take ANYTHING in the park, you have to buy food n drink inside the park for an amazingly expensive fee! Half the rides were closed and when you pay almost $40 to get in, you expect to ride. What a dump you’ve become Kennywood. Just a shame, it used to be fun! Sincerely Never coming back kennywood customers! Hope you go out of business and I will 🤣🤣🤣🤣

My sister and myself took my niece and a few of her friends to Kennywood for her birthday. We have grown-up going to Kennywood and have unfortunately seen the park go down hill over the years. The day started out good. The price for parking seems ridiculous, but we got close spaces to the entrance. It was a very hot day and the attendance was very low. Even with the heat, everyone was having fun and the lines were short. Like most hot days, there were a couple pop-up showers. Kennywood has a lightning rule so even though the sun was shining you had to wait 20 to 30 minutes for rides to re-open after there was lightning in the area. I heard it was a 20 mile radius. During those breaks, it was a good time for food and drinks. As the sun was shining an announcement was made that due to inclement weather coming into the area that they were closing the park early. They made everyone leave the park. If you were waiting for rides, you had to sit outside of the park. We did not have enough space for everyone, so we had to wait for my niece's dad to show up with the other car. We had planned for him to be there when the park closed, but due to the sudden early closure we had to wait outside for quite sometime. As stated, it was hot and sunny. Kennywood then decided that they wanted to let their staff go home, so we had to move from the front of the park to the parking lot to wait for rides. We were not the only ones waiting for a ride. As you can expect, several younger kids/teens were forced to move to the parking lot to wait for rides so that the security and EMTs could go home. This was told to us by a Kennywood employee when they asked us to move. Once we were in the parking lot we were no longer considered their responsibility. The incoming inclement weather never happened. They closed for no reason. We did receive a ticket to come back later in the season. I suspect the closure had something to do with the low attendance. Several of the rides were closed that day as well. We then had a very similar experience with a weather closure in August at Sandcastle. They own this park as well. After several bad experiences the last couple of years, I think it is time to stop going to these parks.