Herschend To Acquire Palace Entertainment, Owner of Kennywood

Herschend Logo

Herschend announced today that they have signed an agreement to acquire Palace Entertainment, parent company of Kennywood, Sandcastle, Idlewild, and a number of other parks across the U.S. Herschend already operates a number of parks around the U.S., most notably Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN, and Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. You may have also heard of Kentucky Kingdom, Wild Adventures, or various other entertainment venues across the country.…

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Kennywood Junction Announced

Kennywood Junction Logo

New at Kennywood for 2025 is the Kennywood Junction themed area! Kennywood Junction replaces the former Thomas Town section of the park and includes five rides for the entire family to enjoy. Kennywood describes the area as a “small steel town neighborhood”. While the rides themselves are the same, they have been reimagined and renamed. The change we here at Kennywood Connection are most excited for is the return of…

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Bites & Pints ’24 and Potato Smash Grand Opening

Bites and Pints Information Booth

Kennywood Connection had the opportunity to visit Kennywood today and sample many of the Bites & Pints offerings for this year… courtesy of the park! We started our day by taking a spin on the shiny new Potato Smash cars, which had their grand opening this morning. Next, we made our way over to the lagoon to start exploring the many food and drink offerings at this year’s Bites &…

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Steel Curtain Closed For the 2024 Season

Kennywood released a video on Facebook today to address the most commonly asked question this off-season: When will Steel Curtain open? https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=1008620314159354 Unfortunately, the answer is not for the 2024 season. Kennywood has “worked with third party engineers and the ride’s manufacturer to come up with a long-term solution to increase [Steel Curtain’s] reliability and longevity.” Steel Curtain will be undergoing an extensive modification project throughout this year. We think…

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Updates for the 2024 Season!

Potato Smash Sign

The off-season is always a busy time behind the scenes at Kennywood, and 2024 is no exception! On April 3rd, Kennywood Connection was invited to Kennywood’s Media Day to learn all about this year’s additions, enhancements, and changes. This year’s highlight is the rethemed bumper car attraction (formerly the Gran Prix) now known as Potato Smash! The reimagined ride, whose name was chosen by fan votes, will feature 20 brand…

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