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Park News - (10/1/09) The latest construction update for Kennywood can be seen at Amusement Park World.
    (9/17/09) New Turnpike demolition photos can be seen at KennywoodInfo.
    (8/21/09) A local area reader sent in a few early pictures (see sidebar) of Kennywood’s turnpike sitting closed as the staff begins the process of removing the guide-rail from the roadway.
    (8/17/09) In addition to the park’s King Kahuna being up for sale on Ital, the park’s old Swing Around was also found listed as being for sale. Also if you take a look at this article, toward the end someone from the park says that they will begin selling season passes this fall for the first time. Finally, for those wanting to take a virtual final spin on the Turnpike, I’ve embedded a video of that below for your enjoyment.

2010 - Sky Rocket / Launched Coaster - (11/9/09) According to this report, an image showing off a logo and name for Kennywood’s new steel coaster has been found hidden inside the Palace Entertainment website if you click here.  The name in the logo is Sky Rocket. It’s hard to say if this is the official name of the ride, or if it was just a temporary name that was voted down at the last second until they could come up with something better.
    (8/17/09) NewsPlusNotes has posted an update on the Kennywood 2010 launched coaster project after talking with the park. They even have a couple of raw artwork pieces that show off the basic layout and location of the new coaster. The good news is that they were told that the trains would only have lap bar restraints. In other news you can watch video of the big announcement posted to YouTube in two parks. Part 1 and Part 2.
    (8/13/09) Kennywood announced a brand new steel coaster yesterday, but so far have declined to give it an official name. The new steel coaster is actually quite interesting, since at first glance you may think it is a Gerstlauer, but it is really a Premier Rides creation. The coaster will kick things off with a 3-second 0 to 50mph LSM launch that will take you right into a 95 foot vertical climb up a Top Hat tower. You’ll drop down the other side at 90º and head into a series of three inversions as well as a second vertical drop track section.
    The new coaster will be placed in the current location of the Turnpike, but as the press release says, you will only be saying, “See you later” to the Turkpike as the park already has plans in the works to bring the ride back to life in a new location in the future. Turnpike’s final day will be August 16th, 2009.
    Now the stats: 2,100 feet long, max speed: 50mph, ride time: 65 sec, 2 trains made up of 2 cars and able to hold 12 riders per train. I’m kind of surprised by that last bit considering how Hypersonic was criticized so much for only holding 8 riders per train.
    (8/12/09) I’ve got nothing to base this on, but I pulled out an interesting but short e-mail out of my spam folder tonight. It simply read “Goodbye Turnpike, Hello Eurofighter”. A clue as to the big announcement in a few hours? We’ll find out soon enough.

2011/2012 - Old Mill / Garfield’s Nightmare Renovation - Planned - (9/8/09) According to an update at NewsPlusNotes, Kennywood has confirmed that within the next two years we will see the former Old Mill ride, currently known as Garfield’s Nightmare, rethemed into yet another new experience, likely returning it to something more in tune with it’s roots and history as the Old Mill, which incidently is about 108 years old at this point. Not too many rides can say that!