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Herschend To Acquire Palace Entertainment, Owner of Kennywood

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. Herschend describes itself as “the world’s largest family-held themed entertainment company.”

For the full press release, open the link below.

https://www.hfecorp.com/whats-new/herschend-to-acquire-palace-entertainments-us-attractions-from-parques-reunidos

Kennywood Junction Announced

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.

  • Cranky’s Drop Tower is now Kenny’s Cargo Drop
  • Flynn’s Fire Training is now Fire Bustin’ Brigade
  • Harold’s Helicopter Tour is now Parker’s Cloud Cruisers
  • Diesel Drivers is now Coal Haulin’ Convoy

The change we here at Kennywood Connection are most excited for is the return of the Olde Kennywood Railroad! Both locomotives have been refurbished, and the former Thomas engine is now the “Kenny Express” while the classic Gimbels Flyer engine also remains. Riders will see “pieces of the park’s past along the way.”

The new area will house a gift shop, celebration room, and the Eggcellent Easter Celebration event, also new for 2025.

Bites & Pints ’24 and Potato Smash Grand Opening

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.

7 item(s)

Next, we made our way over to the lagoon to start exploring the many food and drink offerings at this year’s Bites & Pints festival. While our stomachs sadly weren’t big enough to sample something from every booth, we were able to visit Greece, Poland, South Korea, Mexico, and Jamaica. Everything we tried was very delicious, and we can’t wait to return another day to try more!

Greece

Souvlaki, Gyro, and Mazza Vineyards Concord wine

Poland

Pierogi and the Kielbasa Slider

South Korea

Yaki Mandu and Samgyupsal

Mexico

Quesabirria

Kennywood Mobile App Is Live!

Earlier today, users in our Discord server discovered that the Kennywood mobile app has gone live! Many have had suspicions that the park would get an app soon. Features in the app include a park map, list of attractions and eateries, wait times, entertainment calendar, ticket & Speedy-Pass purchases, and more!

Download the app now:

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 this is ultimately good news, since it shows the park’s commitment to finding a permanent fix for coaster’s issues and bringing its fans a reliable attraction.

For information on what’s new at Kennywood this season, check out our previous news post Updates for the 2024 Season!