I usually like Kennywood and we go for our school ...

I usually like Kennywood and we go for our school picnic every year.

This year I have to give a bad review because Kennywood has gone the way of almost everything else... greed!

To start with, there used to be well less than 5 school districts having their picnic our day. They were all rather small schools. Lines and such were always manageable. Now, they pack school after school in with field trip after field trip. The place was completely packed beyond what the park can handle.

Next, there were simply not enough people working. Many rides were closed until 5pm when the local high school workers were done for the day. Having several rides down and other running with one train makes the lines ridiculous. The Thunderbolt line was the same wait as Splash Mountain was at Disney world probably was and the two do not compare.

Along these lines (No pun intended) there were few restaurants open and were replaced with overpriced food trucks. Thank goodness we are still allowed to bring in coolers or the 45 minute wait for a drink would have had people dropping of dehydration.

The bottom line is if you are going to over book field trips and pack the park, you better have enough people to work. I will forgive the mess caused by the construction on the new addition, but it sure didn't help.

I hope Kennywood realizes what it has created or it will start losing customers. I'll give them one more shot next year, otherwise I'll just save my money for a more efficient park like Disneyworld or Universal.

UPDATE: We went again this year and it was more of the same. People were complaining everywhere. No food stands were open. The Skyrocket has been closed for years.

We also went to Disney World which admittedly is much more expensive but it is worth paying more for a better experience. At Disney they have multiple people working every ride and the line flies. At Kennywood, one person works each flat ride if it is even.open. On the paratrooper I watched the one kid operating it let kids stay on for 3 rides and let 3 more kids just jump the line right in front of the booth where he was operating the ride. This makes for a 35 minute wait for a ride that isn't special at all.

Pay these workers a few dollars over what you are paying them (probably minimum wage) and you will have workers. I might even go work there as an extra job but not for well under $10 an hour. People would pay a few dollars more for admission to actually have fun.

The ownership here is just not interested in a positive guest experience. Just so people are paying to come in, look at empty rides and wait 30+ minutes for something that was mildly thrilling in 1930 is just fine with them. It is just a matter of time until the people stop coming.