It will go from zero to 50 mph in three seconds. It will hurl riders 100 feet into the air and bring them back down at a 90-degree angle. It will take them upside-down, through a corkscrew and around a steeply banked curves.
It doesn't have a name yet, but next summer, it will be the newest roller coaster at Kennywood.
The steel coaster, with 2,100 feet of track, will be powered by a linear synchronous motor, which utilizes electromagnetic propulsion technology.
It won't be as fast as the Phantom's Revenge, which reaches a top speed of 82 mph at the bottom of its 225-foot hill, but it will have plenty of other features that should make it attractive to coaster enthusiasts.
The 65-second ride will reach a top speed of 50 mph and will offer two 90 degree ascensions and drops, three inversions, a corkscrew and "cliffhangers," which leave riders suspended at the top of a hill before a drop.
The new coaster will be the park's seventh and will replace the Turnpike ride, which has been in its spot near the park's entrance since 1966.
The Turnpike's last day of operation is Sunday, and workers will begin dismantling it the following day.
The park will bring the Turnpike back sometime after the 2010 season, but will relocate the ride and alter its track.
"Guests aren't saying goodbye to the Turnpike, just saying see you later," public relations manager Jeff Filicko said yesterday at a news conference. "It will still be the same traditional ride guests know and love."
The new coaster will be the 25th in the park's history. Its location was also the location of Kennywood's first roller coaster, the Figure Eight -- later known as the Gee Whizz Dip the Dips -- built in 1902.
A promotional video of the coaster can be viewed at the park's Web site, kennywood.com.
"It's unlike any roller coaster you've experienced at Kennywood," Mr. Filicko said.
He called it "high-tech" -- it is the first coaster in the park to use linear synchronous motor technology -- and said it will more than satisfy thrill seekers: Riders will immediately launch into a 95-foot-high vertical climb rather than a traditional slow climb up the first hill. After a cliffhanger pause, the car will drop at a 90-degree angle.
Coaster enthusiasts can also look forward to a barrel roll, an "inverted top hat," which twists the train up one side of the arch and twists it the opposite direction on the way down; and the coveted "zero gravity hill," which creates a weightless feeling.
"It's going to be awesome. It's another new chapter in the park's history," said Dave Hahner, author of the book Images of America: Kennywood and secretary of the American Coaster Enthusiasts.
Mr. Hahner was one of 15 members of ACE to attend yesterday's announcement. The ride has two trains that can fit 12 people each, and avoids using "big, clunky lap bars and confining shoulder straps," Mr. Filicko said.
It was designed by -- and will be constructed by -- Premier Rides of Millersville, Md.
Kennywood will post Web updates and feed from a camera on its Web site during construction. Updates will also be available on its Facebook page, which launched yesterday.
First Published: August 13, 2009, 8:00 a.m.
