Kennywood gambled and lost with the construction of Steel Curtain. The reliability of this coaster company was horrible. They rolled the dice and lost.
Cannot imagine how infuriated park officials must be with how much of a mess this coaster has been pretty much since the beginning. Then again, they took a MAJOR risk with S&S, as this is something the manufacturer hasn't done before, so this risk may be coming back and biting them in the rear end. I think these final modifications may be a last hurrah for the coaster - if they don't succeed, I have to imagine that the park may look to tear it down (as devastating as that would be) and start all over again. I've only ridden this once, and that was last May, so I'm glad that I got to experience this coaster.
This makes me even more grateful for the experience I had on this August 2, 2022. 2-train ops, 5-minute wait all day, 11 laps, smoothest coaster I've ever ridden, perfect transitions, nice airtime, and it even made me grey out. I'm planning to go back to Kennywood this summer, and I was looking forward to getting back on SC. It's sad that I won't be able to now. At least I still have Phantoms Revenge, Sky Rocket, & Racer.
With Kennywood being my home park, Steel Curtain has been very frustrating for me over the past 5 years. Phantoms Revenge is still my favorite ride in the park, but I love Steel Curtain. Seeing it down on most of my visits has been irritating to say the least. I really hope they can figure out a solution to the problems it has and find a long term fix. I don't necessarily want to see it go, but if this is how the coaster is going to be on a yearly basis, than maybe it's better to move on. I visit other parks throughout the year and see mostly every other park having all their coasters open at anytime, that just frustrates me more. Either way, I don't have trust with their modification project andi think they're just delaying the inevitable tear down of this ride.
A Browns fan simulator coaster was proposed, but market research suggested no one wanted a ride which repeated accelerated you into a brick wall while wearing a bag over your head.
I'll be playing GTA 6 on PS6 before steel curtain opens up 🤣 kidding... I don't have any doubts about this ride getting fixed! Pretty sure everything will work out just fine! I'm just keeping a positive state of mind
6 seasons. 2 months late opening during its debut season. 2 seasons as SBNO. 3.5 seasons with regular downtime and frequent 1 train operations. Dragster’s early years were plagued with frequent downtime but this seems so unprecedented. S&S is a C-list manufacturer that specializes is more complementary coasters. It was a record-screeching moment when it was announced in 2018 that they would be the builder, but my expectations were that they would build something underwhelming for a Kennywood. Instead, they gave Kennywood a lemon. What a massive disaster.
They had to rebuild The Steel Phantom in to Phantoms Revenge a while ago. It used to have loops. And it was jarring. You were hurting after that ride. Now it’s awesome. I really like The Steel Curtain, I’m disappointed that it’s down for the year, but it will be back. It’s a cool ride. It’s my hometown park, and my heritage. My Grandfather worked on the tracks that changed The Pippin in to The Thunderbolt. I’ve been going there my whole life. It’s still a great park. Nothing is like what it once was. But Kennywood still has its wooden coasters and still has its charm. One ride doesn’t make an amusement park.
I think this is gonna do it! Im super excited about this refurbishment. Im guessing the structure gets beefed up alot, i really think this will make it a reliable roller coaster, i cant wait for it to reopen in 2025. This is much needed, talking to my dad, who is a mechanical engineer and works in steel construction for the last 30 years. He told me he would have done this years ago. This is 1000% the right move. Itbwill be a reliable ride when it reopens
I'm afraid if they can't pull things through like what they're expecting, Kennywood and S&S will have to start over on Steel Curtains, with a new layout, then come up with new designed trains, and a new designed track.
i hope they can fix it. i hate having this on my wish list of rides and not getting to ride it will sting a bit. well i got 3 more years of wishing to see if i get to ride it.
I worked at the park last year and maintenance constantly complained about the structure and about how the lift was too steep and would cause a lot of wear and tear.
@@XscreamThrills the only thing I could think of is that the train when fully loaded is just too heavy for the the chain lift. Once the train dogs engage with the chain, the train drags the chain back causing the slack to be transfered to a stack of weights which are lifted by chains or cables wrapped around a torque converter shaft. The weights then pull and reverse the rotation adding pressure to the chain pull keeping the train moving. The steep hill coupled with a heavy train could be damaging the torque conversion system or the chain and dogs. 🤷♂️
Yeah while it all sucks, I’ll miss my favorite ride this year, but I am glad there putting in the work to fix the apparent issues so it can be better than ever when it opens back up. To me it’s been pretty good and when it’s open it’s usually open all day for me I got 63 rides on it in 2023. It’s true all parks not just kennywood will close a ride or coaster down for a year or so for refurbishments, rapids at kennywood also technically did, unless missed you mentioning that. I’m still very excited to get back to the park although I’ll Miss this ride I’m still very looking forward to going back, for I know I’ll still have a great time. I can’t wait for the apparent issues it’s been having to be fixed up so it’s the best it’s ever been when it next opens wich I guess will be spring 2025
Looks like a fun coaster. However I did see there is a lawsuit. From some season passholder.. Seriously did they just buy a season pass to ride 1 ride that already had a history of unreliability? As someone who grew up in the backyard of Kings Island. I'll tell you when you have a first of it's kind coaster there's going to be problems. Hopefully they work through them.
The lawsuit sounds pretty silly to me. Amusement parks never guarantee every attraction to be open, plus its not like they have been heavily advertising Steel Curtain in their promos or something.
S&S, the company known for producing rides that turn out to be unreliable. Half of the time. They should stick to building 4D free spins and flat rides until they can somehow improve the reliability of their coaster models.
The layout does look good fun. Appreciate its a compact coaster but the support structure is busy and messy offride, especially compared to minimal supports on some B&M. Im no engineer so what do i know ;)
I genuinely think that this coaster is not gonna make it to 2030. They have had five years To get their s*** together and get this coaster to operate properly.We're all pretty sick of this thing Be closed constantly. So honestly 2025 is going to be a make it or break it year for this coaster
If KW would of just went with B&M, or hell a 10 invert Intamin, they'd already be up on how much they've sunk into this turd. Even a ground up RMC (who's aesthetics would of fit into the park better anyway) would of been a better investment.
@@XscreamThrills Maybe $8-10 million more than the cost of SC and they could have had a Mack extreme spinning coaster. It would have already paid for itself, they would have had something unique you can't find in the northeast (and only one other in the US - this would have provided some bragging rights against CP and Hershey), and they could now be moving forward. As always, though, hindsight is 20/20.
Honestly, they should seriously consider scrapping it. It takes up a good chunk of land at the park, and they need all the land they can get. Ive ridden it once over several trips and liked it, but its looking like a money pit and im sure they could get a Rmc smaller coaster in that area, like a monorail or something.
It would be very expensive to just junk the coaster. They will do what they can to salvage this mess, which is why I think they are dragging out the process.
@@XscreamThrills but it's just sitting there. It's never open. It's a money pit and the land could be used for better things. It's a fine coaster, but it's been 5 years and they need to move on. Steelers country failed much like the team it's based on.
So the problem with this ride isn't technical as much as it is structural. Well, that makes sense. After all, what kind of technical problems could come from a roller coaster with a simple chain lift and breaks? Sounds as basic as it gets.
I predict this will go the way of Drachen Fire. Operate for only a couple seasons, then SBNO for a few, ultimately demolished. I think they should bite the bullet and take it down, buy Leap the Dips from Lakemont and put it on that plot of land.
Yep, wait a year while observing Top Thrill 2. If all goes well, call in Zamperla for some Lightning trains and the LSM lift. Lighter weight, less moving parts. Then again, RMC could probably use the structure and thread some raptor track through it.
It’ll be The Curtain’s Revenge by the time of reopening
💯
Inversions removed and more airtime 😎
Kennywood gambled and lost with the construction of Steel Curtain. The reliability of this coaster company was horrible. They rolled the dice and lost.
No more prototypes 😁
When I heard S&S was making it, I knew it would be bad after they had problems with GaleForce.
S&S has a much better track record with their flat rides
There are rumors that S&S is creating the new Kings Dominion roller coaster. This makes me nervous.
@@BassGal92 HUH???? i thought B&M is making that new wing coaster
Cannot imagine how infuriated park officials must be with how much of a mess this coaster has been pretty much since the beginning. Then again, they took a MAJOR risk with S&S, as this is something the manufacturer hasn't done before, so this risk may be coming back and biting them in the rear end.
I think these final modifications may be a last hurrah for the coaster - if they don't succeed, I have to imagine that the park may look to tear it down (as devastating as that would be) and start all over again. I've only ridden this once, and that was last May, so I'm glad that I got to experience this coaster.
feels like lightning rod all over again.
Yes I agree 100% if the modifications don't succeed I do see kennywood removing the ride
Yes, its nothing S&S has done before, but they have built some pretty massive coasters, especially over in Asia.
This makes me even more grateful for the experience I had on this August 2, 2022. 2-train ops, 5-minute wait all day, 11 laps, smoothest coaster I've ever ridden, perfect transitions, nice airtime, and it even made me grey out. I'm planning to go back to Kennywood this summer, and I was looking forward to getting back on SC. It's sad that I won't be able to now. At least I still have Phantoms Revenge, Sky Rocket, & Racer.
They should get another manufacturer in to remove all the inversions and turn the ride into an airtime machine.
Wonder if Zamperla is up for the challenge 🙃
Like what they did with Steel Phantom (now known as phantom's revenge)?
@@roadtripnerd2432 exactly! that's the point of the joke haha
@mulinhuan8410 😆 gonna give it the phantom's revenge treatment
With Kennywood being my home park, Steel Curtain has been very frustrating for me over the past 5 years. Phantoms Revenge is still my favorite ride in the park, but I love Steel Curtain. Seeing it down on most of my visits has been irritating to say the least. I really hope they can figure out a solution to the problems it has and find a long term fix. I don't necessarily want to see it go, but if this is how the coaster is going to be on a yearly basis, than maybe it's better to move on. I visit other parks throughout the year and see mostly every other park having all their coasters open at anytime, that just frustrates me more.
Either way, I don't have trust with their modification project andi think they're just delaying the inevitable tear down of this ride.
Good news! I mean if this means long term consistency and reliability, take all the time you need
Yes, hopefully this will fix the coaster once and for all and it can operate consistently with 2 trains
Should've built a Bengals roller coaster #whodey
Hey now, we've had our fair share of failed coasters.. The Bat... Son of Beast..
💯
@@usernamunavailiable we don’t talk about son of beast, that name is forbidden in kings island
A Browns fan simulator coaster was proposed, but market research suggested no one wanted a ride which repeated accelerated you into a brick wall while wearing a bag over your head.
I'll be playing GTA 6 on PS6 before steel curtain opens up 🤣 kidding... I don't have any doubts about this ride getting fixed! Pretty sure everything will work out just fine! I'm just keeping a positive state of mind
You're probably right too! 😆
Time to bring in Zamperla I guess
Hold on. They got to make sure their Prize winning refurbishment of TTD goes without a hitch. Don’t want them to get overloaded with happiness
6 seasons. 2 months late opening during its debut season. 2 seasons as SBNO. 3.5 seasons with regular downtime and frequent 1 train operations. Dragster’s early years were plagued with frequent downtime but this seems so unprecedented. S&S is a C-list manufacturer that specializes is more complementary coasters. It was a record-screeching moment when it was announced in 2018 that they would be the builder, but my expectations were that they would build something underwhelming for a Kennywood. Instead, they gave Kennywood a lemon. What a massive disaster.
They had to rebuild The Steel Phantom in to Phantoms Revenge a while ago. It used to have loops. And it was jarring. You were hurting after that ride. Now it’s awesome.
I really like The Steel Curtain, I’m disappointed that it’s down for the year, but it will be back. It’s a cool ride. It’s my hometown park, and my heritage. My Grandfather worked on the tracks that changed The Pippin in to The Thunderbolt. I’ve been going there my whole life. It’s still a great park. Nothing is like what it once was. But Kennywood still has its wooden coasters and still has its charm. One ride doesn’t make an amusement park.
As a Kennywood season pass holder….this is a bummer. Hope they can get it fixed and back up and running because it is a decent coaster.
Its like 2018, 2019 all over again. One ride gets back up and running, only to see another attraction closed for the year
I think this is gonna do it! Im super excited about this refurbishment. Im guessing the structure gets beefed up alot, i really think this will make it a reliable roller coaster, i cant wait for it to reopen in 2025. This is much needed, talking to my dad, who is a mechanical engineer and works in steel construction for the last 30 years. He told me he would have done this years ago. This is 1000% the right move. Itbwill be a reliable ride when it reopens
I'm afraid if they can't pull things through like what they're expecting, Kennywood and S&S will have to start over on Steel Curtains, with a new layout, then come up with new designed trains, and a new designed track.
i hope they can fix it. i hate having this on my wish list of rides and not getting to ride it will sting a bit. well i got 3 more years of wishing to see if i get to ride it.
I worked at the park last year and maintenance constantly complained about the structure and about how the lift was too steep and would cause a lot of wear and tear.
Interesting, why would the steep lift cause extra wear and tear?
@@XscreamThrills the only thing I could think of is that the train when fully loaded is just too heavy for the the chain lift. Once the train dogs engage with the chain, the train drags the chain back causing the slack to be transfered to a stack of weights which are lifted by chains or cables wrapped around a torque converter shaft. The weights then pull and reverse the rotation adding pressure to the chain pull keeping the train moving. The steep hill coupled with a heavy train could be damaging the torque conversion system or the chain and dogs. 🤷♂️
Yeah while it all sucks, I’ll miss my favorite ride this year, but I am glad there putting in the work to fix the apparent issues so it can be better than ever when it opens back up. To me it’s been pretty good and when it’s open it’s usually open all day for me I got 63 rides on it in 2023. It’s true all parks not just kennywood will close a ride or coaster down for a year or so for refurbishments, rapids at kennywood also technically did, unless missed you mentioning that. I’m still very excited to get back to the park although I’ll
Miss this ride I’m still very looking forward to going back, for I know I’ll still have a great time. I can’t wait for the apparent issues it’s been having to be fixed up so it’s the best it’s ever been when it next opens wich I guess will be spring 2025
Looks like a fun coaster. However I did see there is a lawsuit. From some season passholder.. Seriously did they just buy a season pass to ride 1 ride that already had a history of unreliability? As someone who grew up in the backyard of Kings Island. I'll tell you when you have a first of it's kind coaster there's going to be problems. Hopefully they work through them.
The lawsuit sounds pretty silly to me. Amusement parks never guarantee every attraction to be open, plus its not like they have been heavily advertising Steel Curtain in their promos or something.
S&S, the company known for producing rides that turn out to be unreliable. Half of the time.
They should stick to building 4D free spins and flat rides until they can somehow improve the reliability of their coaster models.
I think Kennywood should discount park entrance fees since the ride will be closed all of 2024. Ijs😏
The layout does look good fun. Appreciate its a compact coaster but the support structure is busy and messy offride, especially compared to minimal supports on some B&M. Im no engineer so what do i know ;)
Yeah, its a very weird support structure for sure
It obviously has problems... but it sure looks cool.
Kennywood has been very patient with S&S for Steel Curtain to STILL not have a healthy season. Cedar Fair would've dropped them by now.
We assume they have been patient
I genuinely think that this coaster is not gonna make it to 2030. They have had five years To get their s*** together and get this coaster to operate properly.We're all pretty sick of this thing Be closed constantly. So honestly 2025 is going to be a make it or break it year for this coaster
If KW would of just went with B&M, or hell a 10 invert Intamin, they'd already be up on how much they've sunk into this turd. Even a ground up RMC (who's aesthetics would of fit into the park better anyway) would of been a better investment.
Should've gotten a B&M :)
@@XscreamThrills Maybe $8-10 million more than the cost of SC and they could have had a Mack extreme spinning coaster. It would have already paid for itself, they would have had something unique you can't find in the northeast (and only one other in the US - this would have provided some bragging rights against CP and Hershey), and they could now be moving forward. As always, though, hindsight is 20/20.
Steel Curtin with an launch sounds good
Remove chain lift, LSM launch lift 😎
I would suspect S&S to be most at fault imo.. maye a little of the park just for possibly pushing to hard for so big in a small footprint
Well this blows. I was hoping to get to Kennywood to ride this…
Will have to wait until 2025
KW could save some money and drop the NFL licensing deal for the Steelers since they will need it for this coaster 😂
Ricky needs a serious nap. He looks like he stayed up for 5 days in a row trying to fix this coaster.
Honestly, they should seriously consider scrapping it. It takes up a good chunk of land at the park, and they need all the land they can get. Ive ridden it once over several trips and liked it, but its looking like a money pit and im sure they could get a Rmc smaller coaster in that area, like a monorail or something.
It would be very expensive to just junk the coaster. They will do what they can to salvage this mess, which is why I think they are dragging out the process.
@@XscreamThrills but it's just sitting there. It's never open. It's a money pit and the land could be used for better things. It's a fine coaster, but it's been 5 years and they need to move on. Steelers country failed much like the team it's based on.
So the problem with this ride isn't technical as much as it is structural. Well, that makes sense. After all, what kind of technical problems could come from a roller coaster with a simple chain lift and breaks? Sounds as basic as it gets.
Exactly, which is why the assumption is structural
I predict this will go the way of Drachen Fire. Operate for only a couple seasons, then SBNO for a few, ultimately demolished. I think they should bite the bullet and take it down, buy Leap the Dips from Lakemont and put it on that plot of land.
I don't think they'll swap Steel Curtain for Leap the dips
Steel curtain lsm launch lift confirmed!!???
LOL, that would be hilarious that SC gets a launch lift while LR had to remove it
Yep, wait a year while observing Top Thrill 2. If all goes well, call in Zamperla for some Lightning trains and the LSM lift. Lighter weight, less moving parts.
Then again, RMC could probably use the structure and thread some raptor track through it.
I heard they’re going to replace the lift hill with Dragster hydraulic launch.
This park cant catch a break. Feels like it should be s and s's fault but who builds an s and s lol
Weird that maxx force is more reliable
I guess S&S was bound to have one successful coaster lol
This coaster has been facing downtime.
First Leap The Dips is closed for the year in Altoona, now this coaster is down. I have to change all my plans this year.
No more tall coasters
Only rides under 50ft :)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I’m not a coaster enthusiast, but could it also be ridership? This looks very very intense ! 🫣
it's not intense at all I found it quite relaxing and fun