Kennywood's newest ride, The King Kahuna, is set in place Thursday in the new Volcano Valley section at the West Mifflin amusement park. The area will follow a Hawaiian theme.
A preliminary sketch illustrates the new facade for Kennywood's administration building, which will be in the park's new Volcano Valley.
While there will be no actual eruptions at Kennywood Park's new Volcano Valley, officials of the landmark amusement park believe thrill seekers will still have a Mt. St. Helens-worthy blast there.
Volcano Valley, a Hawaiian-theme portion of the park, will debut when the park inaugurates its105th season next month. The valley will include a new ride, an old ride and a renovated one.
"What we are doing is theme-ing the whole area," said Kennywood spokeswoman, Mary Lou Rosemeyer. "The area will have volcanos, fog machines, rocks and trees."
The centerpiece of the new Volcano Valley will be the King Kahuna. The new ride stands 59 feet tall and can hold up to 40 riders. On King Kahuna, riders will sit on a long gondola attached to two arms. The arms will move the gondola in a large vertical circle, while the gondola itself swings freely, turning riders upside down.
"This is, by far, our most popular ride," said Bob Dean, vice president of sales and marketing for HUSS, a Germany-based manufacturer of amusement park rides and developer of King Kahuna. "Everywhere we have installed it, it delivers."
The ride takes up 3,844 square feet, making it a perfect fit for a park short on land, Dean said.
"The very fact that we are so limited in space forces us to be more creative with our plans," Rosemeyer said. "This puts a thrill ride in a prominent section of the park."
Volcano Valley also will feature a renovated Enterprise, a ride consisting of swinging gondolas that spins riders upside down. To fit the area's new motif, a volcano setting has been built around the Enterprise, and the volcano will hide the wheel while the ride is idle.
Also in the new valley is the popular Pirate ride, a large boat that swings back and forth at 75-degree angles, giving riders a feeling of weightlessness.
King Kahuna will be located between Noah's Ark and the park's administrative offices. To make room, park officials have relocated restrooms to an area near the Thunderbolt.
Kennywood also will debut a virtual reality game called Ham on Rye. The game will be next to the Phantom's Revenge, where the old miniature golf game was located. Ham on Rye will put participants in an interactive, computer-generated adventure.
Rosemeyer said people not participating in the program will be able to watch the participants, but they will not be able to see what is going on in the game.
"The audience won't see and hear what the participants do. They will be able to have fun watching the participants make fools of themselves," she said.
Rosemeyer would not comment on how much the park has spent on the new attractions because it is against Kennywood policy to release financial information.
This year's additions will not extend to the Whip. The park has no immediate plans to replace the ride's roof that collapsed during a storm last year, killing a Monroeville woman and injuring more than 50. Additional Information:
Kennywood's 2003 Season
Source: Kennywood Park
