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Kennywood's tradition of closing for each season was always Labor Day. The long time tradition all changed in 2002 when Kennywood introduced a Halloween event, called Phantom Fright Nights.
Phantom Fright Nights was supposed to happen in 2001, but for various reasons did not happen until a year later. The dates were set for Friday & Saturday Nights September 13th thru October 19th beginning at 6:00 to Midnight for $17.50 per person.
The first year of Phantom Fright Nights was really a test to see how popular this Halloween event would become. Kennywood set nine rides to be open, and had four haunted attractions. All the bright white lights that shined buildings, midways, rides, ECT�during the regular season would be re-lamped in Halloween colors such as orange and green for Phantom Fright Nights. Even the park�s fountains were dyed with color dye! The popularity of Phantom Fright Nights quickly grew, and the trend showed that Saturdays always were busier then Fridays.
As the crowds grew, Kennywood had to get three more rides ready. Those were the Bayern Kurve, Kangaroo and Merry-go-Round. Those back-up rides came in hand on the real busy nights, mostly on Saturday�s. The last two weekends of Phantom Fright Nights, the park even opened up the Exterminator and Pittfall so that the crowds could be spread out more. They even announced on there website they were going to have the Pittfall and Exterminator opened on the last two weekends of Phantom Fright Nights.
With the first year of success, of Phantom Fright Nights, Kennywood decided to go ahead and plan it again for 2003. In 2003 the nights, time, and price stayed the same. But the dates changed to September 12th thru October 25th. The four haunted attractions returned, and a fifth attraction called Fort Despair was new for Phantom Fright Nights that year. More fog was distributed to rides, and even more rides were totally re-lamped.
In 2004, the nights still remained the same, but the dates changed to October 1st thru 30th, the price was increased to $18.50, and the time changed to 7:00 to 1am. The season brought with it a new haunted midway called Gory Park, which was located in Lost Kennywood. Since half of Lost Kennywood was opened; The Wave Swinger and Exterminator were both opened. Once again the park looked excellent, and it was hard to find a single white light bulb in the park.
Now as we look back three years ago, and Phantom Fright Nights has drastically improved and has become one of the best haunted places to visit in the area. If you haven�t made it out to Kennywood�s Halloween event yet, we encourage you do so, because everything is totally different from the regular season. Even the park�s bathrooms have an eerie feel about them. It�s a HUGE haunted house that you don�t want to miss and it�s only at Kennywood!
We are now getting ready for another season of Phantom Fright Nights, and cannot wait to experience another awesome season as well as the new maze this year, Villa of the Vampires!
Here you will find all the rides that have operated for Phantom Fright Nights, as well as a timeline for each ride.
Aero 360
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2003- The rides mode was changed to a longer cycle.
- 2004- The Aero lights were shut off to make the ride even scarier and helped make the Fort Despair darker Fog was also added.
Bayern Kurve
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2004
History:
- 2002- was listed as a back-up ride and mostly opened on just Saturdays.
- 2004- Re-lighted orange, with red spot lights under the top of the hill with fog.
Gran Prix
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2003- Strobe lights were added.
- 2005- Sound effects were added.
Kangaroo
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2004
History:
- 2002- was listed as a back-up ride and mostly opened on just Saturdays
- 2003- Was listed as a back-up ride and only opened one time and had orange lights
- 2004- Ride was re-lighted red.
King Kahuna
Opened: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2003- The water was dyed red with red spot light.
- 2004- The water was dyed green with black lights. The ride lights were turned off while the ride was in motion.
- 2005- The gondola spot lights were all re-lighted to red. The running lights were off while the ride was in motion. The water was dyed orange with black lights.
Merry-go-Round
Opened: 2002, 2003
History:
- 2002- Was listed as a back-up ride and just opened a couple of times. The ride was totally re-lighted. Half of the
ride was in green, and the other half, in orange.
- 2003- The ride was once again totally re-lighted orange and green, and Skeletons were placed on some of the horses.
- 2005- Organ music was played going backwards along with fog, making it an eerie feeling.
Musik Express
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2002- Fog was added with the ride
- 2003- All the lights except the sweep lights and the sign were off, Making the ride a very dark but fun ride.
- 2005- The rides sweeps were relighted to yellow and orange. The music was also changed to more songs dealing with Halloween.
Noah�s Ark
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2002- was listed as a back-up ride and only was open for a couple of nights.
- 2003- Turned into a haunted ark, and the boat was relighted blue.
- 2005- The boat was relighted orange.
Old Mill
Opened: 2002, 2003
History:
- 2003- Monsters scaried riders throughout the ride.
Paratrooper
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2002, 2003, 2004- Ride was completely re-lighted to orange and green.
- 2005- Fog was added.
- 2006- Used as a backup ride on really busy nights.
Pirate
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2002- Fog was added.
- 2003- The Pirate sign and boat lights were shut off.
- 2004- A minnie cemetery, fog and green lights under the ride were added.
- 2005- All the ride lights were shut off, and all the Pirates were dressed up.
Pittfall
Opened: 2002, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2002- Only opened on the last two weekends of Phantom Fright Nights.
- 2005- A part of Gory Park.
Sky Coaster (Not included with the admission)
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2002, 2003- Fog was added; the lights were not relighted.
- 2004- Red spot lights with fog were added.
- 2005- The same.
Swing Around
Opened: 2003, 2004
History:
- 2003- The blue lights stayed on the whole time.
Swingshot
Opened: 2006
History:
Turtle
Opened: 2003, 2004, 2006
History:
- 2003- All the spot lights were changed to green.
- 2004- The sign was shut off.
- 2006- Used as a backup ride for really busy nights.
Volcano
Opened: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2004- Body parts were put in the pit
- 2005- The car headlights were relighted red. The sweeplights were off while the ride was running.
Wave Swinger
Opened: 2004, 2005
History:
- 2004- A part of Gory Park. Strobe lights were put on the ride.
Wipeout
Opened: 2005, 2006
History:
- 2005-All of the ride lights were shut off. Blue spot lights and fog were added.
The Roller Coasters
Exterminator
Opened: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2002- Only opened the last two weekends of Phantom Fright Nights.
- 2004- A part of Gory Park.
- 2005- The station was relighted blue, and all of the stunts were shut off, creating a VERY dark ride.
Jack Rabbit
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2002- Tunnel was lit in blacklights with fog.
- 2003, 2004- Tunnel had fog and spinning lights. The station had blue lights
- 2005- The coaster tracks lights were completely re-lighted to orange.
Phantom�s Revenge
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005- fog with lights were put in the tunnel.
Racer
Opened: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006
History:
- 2002, 2003, 2004- The station was re-lighted orange.
- 2006- Reopened after a one year absence from Fright Nights.
Thunderbolt
Opened: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
History:
- 2003- The station was re-lighted red with fog
- 2004- The station was re-lighted red with fog, and strobe lights on the Thunderbolt sign.
- 2005- The running lights were completely re-lighted to orange.
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