I really dont like saying that the best ride at a 109-year-old park is the most modern coaster there, but in Kennywoods case, it is very true! Phantoms Revenge met my high expectations. I dont want to say they exceeded them, because a ride that is constantly rated as one of the top 10-20 coasters in the world is expected to be great. The lift was really nice, because it was so slow compared to modern lifts, and really helped build anticipation. The first drop was honestly very shaky. It felt a little uncomfortable, not bad, but certainly the worst first drop on any hypercoaster Ive been on (which I guess is to be expected from 1991 Arrow). Ive heard some great things about the second drop, and I think the over-hyping of this drop caused it to be a bit of a disappointment. I remember seeing it from the queue line, how extremely long and straight it looked. I couldnt even see the end of this drop, due to the dark October night of the Phantom Fright Nights, as it seemed to just disappear under the Thunderbolt. I dont know what I really wanted from this drop. I just thought it would go a little bit more under the T-Bolt than it did. It seemed to end after the intersection, and I expected it to continue forever. Oh well, it was fast, provided a hint of airtime at the top, and also gave a brief moment to catch your breath at the top and anticipate what was coming. That is actually the most frightened I have been on a coaster for a long time: sitting in the second to last row of Phantoms Revenge at 9:30 at night ready to undertake one of the most historic drops in coaster history Ah, yes, good memories, but SOMEWHAT disappointing. Not the greatest drop ever. The helixy turnaround was very reminiscent of Steel Forces: going at a very fast speed with air blasting in your face like crazy. The best part of PR is definitely the small bunny-hops that follow this turn-around. This is the most consistent display of powerful airtime I have experienced on a hypercoaster. I still think that the few great camelbacks of SFAs SROS make for a better ride, but PRs packed a huge airtime punch. They were almost violent, going over small hills at very high speeds, but were just really, really good. There was even good air on the hop to the final brake run. Let me also say that Steel Force actually had more wiggle room for me, however PR, had much more powerful ejectors. This is most likely because of PRs lack of any mid-ride brakes (to my knowledge), and I have to say I like Phantoms air better than Pennsylvania’s other set of Morgan-engineered camelbacks. Phantom’s Revenge has the kind of layout that really gets me excited: slow, anticipation-building lift-hill, an okay first drop, followed by an improving middle and an absolutely incredible airtime finally. As I said before, there is airtime up to the final brake run. A ride that starts off shaky is okay by me, as long as it finishes strong.
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