RampagingRex Productions

06/06/2026

In the lead up to the new Star Fox on Switch 2 later this month, I thought it was fitting to play the original 1993 Star Fox on the Super Nintendo! I’ll admit, most of my experience with the series has been with Star Fox 64 and Assault, so I’m kinda garbage at the original, but this was a landmark game for its innovative 3D graphics thanks to the Super FX chip. It’s still a fun game to play, even with all the newer entries in the series. One day I’ll beat it!! Maybe…

06/01/2026

Seven years ago in 2019, I made a video discussing what I'd like to see in a potential refurbishment for Phantom's Revenge. In it, I mentioned these things that I considered to be required for a refurbishment:
- A track repaint
- Station improvements (air gates & music)
- Signs in the queue explaining the ride's story
- Phantom voice clips in station/on ride
Fast forward to 2026 and all of these are now present on the ride. I have no idea if anyone at Kennywood watched my old video (probably not but it's fun to think about), but my past self would have been blown away to see all those things come true. Even now I can't believe they did all that to a 25 year old coaster. This has made each time I've ridden even more fun than before, so thank you to everyone at Kennywood who had a hand in giving Phantom this facelift. It looks better now than it ever has in its entire existence!

05/20/2026

25 years ago today, Phantom's Revenge had its grand opening after DH Morgan overhauled the whole coaster. Phantom is definitely the most important coaster to me, as I have a lot of nostalgia for it. I didn't get my first ride until 2004, but I remember well how it threw me around back then on those airtime hills. More than ten years later I started getting into coasters and I found myself with a new appreciation for this one. We Pittsburgh locals are truly lucky to have such a phenomenal coaster so close by, and I've been loving all the TLC Kennywood has been giving it in the last few years. Starting with the repaint from green to purple track in 2022, Phantom has seen continued investment and upkeep. This year has seen the most additions; alternate color trains, Phantom audio in the station, new signage all over, and air gates in the station (those got off to a rough start but they're better now) have shown that Kennywood plans to keep this coaster around for a good while. That's fine with me, because a Phantom marathon is exactly what I need every time I visit. Guess it's time to celebrate with another ride next weekend!

04/22/2026

Kennywood's opening weekend was particularly rough on Phantom. In a strange twist of fate, Phantom was closed multiple times on Saturday while Steel Curtain operated reliably the whole weekend. The source of these issues is without a doubt the new air gates in Phantom's station. Allegedly, everyone was leaning on the gates on Saturday which caused them to fault over and over, leading to the closures.
The park introduced a (hopefully) temporary solution to this problem on Sunday, which involved ride ops holding guests at the bottom of the station's entrance ramp. Only once the train was parked and the gates were open were guests allowed to proceed into the rows that they were assigned to. This process added a lot of time to the dispatches, and the gates closing quickly also meant that some rows were frequently left empty. It also wasn't uncommon for guests in the other train to get stuck waiting on the brake run for up to 15 minutes in the rain, as that happened to a few of my friends at the end of the day on Saturday.
Hopefully whatever is causing the faults on the gates gets addressed by next weekend, as this has seriously affected Phantom's capacity. Once that is fixed, then maybe they can add the promised audio effects that were mentioned during the media day. I really hope I can marathon this again soon, as that's not possible with the current setup.

04/17/2026

My new video is done, and not a moment too soon! Get excited for opening day tomorrow with my recap of Kennywood’s 2025 season, featuring a look at the media event the park held last week!

30 likes, 5 comments. "Kennywood 2025 Season Recap + 2026 Preview"

04/14/2026

It all looks fantastic, can’t wait to see this all for myself in just a few days.

04/10/2026

Kennywood have added a new fence around Phantom's first drop area. You can see that the new fence is nearly twice the height of the old one. Despite this, visibility shouldn't be much of an issue since the new fence is still relatively thin. It might prove more challenging for any future coaster photography though.

04/08/2026

EVERYTHING NEW AT KENNYWOOD FOR 2026!

Today I attended Kennywood's pre-season media tour and they had plenty to showcase for the upcoming season. Lots of smaller improvements to the overall guest experience, but the largest additions are:

- Phantom's Revenge 25th Anniversary: New logo on trains, alternating car colors, full station refurbishment including a new floor and air gates, a mural below the operator booth, Phantom's voice/sound effects in the station and DURING the ride, PLUS new merchandise!
- Whip 100th Anniversary: New throwback logo on each of the cars, new merchandise teased
- Two New Food Stands: Centennial Grill (former Primanti Bros) will serve the much-awaited return of cheesesteaks. Big Dipper (formerly Millie's) will be a tribute to the former Dipper coaster and will serve ice cream and banana splits.
- THUNDERBOLT BENCHES: Yes. That is all.
- The Lions Return: Both the carousel lion and Leo, the paper-eating lion of Kiddieland, have been repainted and restored to their former glory.
- New Event: Celebrate Kennywood is the park's new springtime event, and will feature a Potato Patch-inspired menu. I was able to sample some of the offerings; check the photos for more details!

Those are all the big updates, but there are of course several more smaller additions throughout the park. Check each photo caption for more info since I don't want this to go on for too long! Thanks so much to Kennywood for the invite today. The park is looking fantastic and I'm all ready for opening day next week. Bring it on!

04/08/2026

I’m at Kennywood this morning for their annual pre-season media tour! I’ll report back soon with all the new things to look forward to here in the 2026 season!

03/25/2026

Now that's what I'm talking about! No idea why nobody thought to alternate the cars sooner, but this is a simple yet effective thing to do for Phantom's 25th anniversary. I've heard through the grapevine that several other minor additions are in store for the occasion. Could these include the long-rumored air gates in the station, or the addition of the old Phantom voice lines and music from the 2001 web site? We'll see soon enough!!