originally posted on 10/6/2023
Updated 10/10/23.
All Photos: Jerry Brick. View full-sized image.
While not as large or as well-known as SeaWorld, Six Flags and Cedar Fair, Palace Entertainment — a division of Spain-based Parques Reunidos — remains one of the more significant entertainment attractions operators in North America. With waterparks and marine animal parks stretching from Riverhead, New York, to Waimanalo Beach, Hawaii, it is also responsible for some of the more beloved traditional amusement parks across the country like Kennywood (West Mifflin, Pennsylvania) and Castle Park (Riverside, California). Following a period of strain exacerbated by a worldwide pandemic, its amusement parks are amid a resurgence ignited by a combination of new attractions, the reintroduction of older ones and infrastructure upgrades that will contribute to quality-of-life improvements throughout.
Jerry Brick is familiar with all this, enjoying a role within the company that has positioned him as a guiding force for these investments. The longtime general manager of Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut, from 2004 to 2020, he is now director of maintenance and construction for Palace Entertainment. ACE News was fortunate to speak with Brick about what’s happening at the park he once managed, as well as throughout the company’s other amusement parks.
Wildcat Prepares for Its Second Century
Earlier in 2023, Lake Compounce announced the closure of the park’s 1927 Herbert Schmeck/Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC) wood coaster, Wildcat, an ACE Roller Coaster Landmark. Despite recent investments in the ride, including a partial retrack and the addition of two new Millennium Flyer trains by Great Coasters International, Inc. (GCII) in 2017, it had developed a reputation for roughness, which led to the park deciding to close the ride while deciding on a path for improvement. Speculation began among those in the coaster enthusiast community with rumors of GCII’s Titan track being in the ride’s future, due in part to the park having installed it on sections of Boulder Dash at the start of the 2023 season. However, following consideration of it and Rocky Mountain Construction’s (RMC) 208 RetraK technologies, Lake Compounce decided Wildcat would be another recipient of Gravity Group’s Engineered Precut Track that received endorsements for the way it improved The Beast (Kings Island, Mason, Ohio) in 2022 and Grizzly (Kings Dominion, Doswell, Virginia) this previous season.
The installation of GCII’s Titan Track on Boulder Dash has improved both ride quality and reliability and was deemed a success by Palace Entertainment’s Jerry Brick.
Wildcat has been no stranger to improvements in recent years. Between 1996 and 1999, Martin & Vleminckx (MVR) performed work on the roller coaster, followed by some additional repairs by Custom Coasters International (CCI) in 2000. Between 2008 and 2012, GCII replaced the track on the first drop and the ride’s two turnarounds, followed by additional work in 2015. Finally in 2017, MVR installed new track on the lift hill and the turnarounds while GCII supplied two new Millennium Flyer trains.
“The switch to the Millennium Flyer trains changed things,” said Brick of the replacement of Wildcat’s three-bench PTC trains leading to rough spots. “Where [Wildcat] once had up to 14 feet between bents, the structure needs to be rebuilt to accommodate [the new rolling stock].”
When Gravity Group has completed its offseason work, about 600 feet of track between (what Brick refers to as the “fantail curves”) will have been replaced as well as structure and concrete footers — some of which date back to the coaster’s original construction because few were replaced when Curtis D. Summers and Charlie Dinn rebuilt the coaster in 1986. It will be the first of two phases of significant work (the second of which will take place between the 2024 and 2025 seasons) that will address almost all the track not previously replaced by during rehabilitation efforts by MVR, CCI and GCII. Wildcat will continue to operate with its Millennium Flyer trains.
The first of two phases of Wildcat’s overhaul will result in the replacement of footers, structure and track.
View full-sized image.
View full-sized image.
“They’re very well-built,” said Brick, while having noted the old PTC trains are gone — the lead car of one train now resides above the coaster’s entrance, while the rest were donated to the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives in Plainview, Texas.
Wood coaster purists will be able to breathe easy knowing Wildcat will remain a pure example of the breed. Brick understands this while also defending the decision to have GCII install Titan Track — essentially riveted steel engineered to mimic the shape and structure of stacked (layered) wood — on the park’s other wood coaster, Boulder Dash.
“Because of its location, when Boulder Dash needs work, it goes down a minimum of two days because it’s so difficult to get materials where they’re needed,” said Brick of the coaster’s mountainside setting. With the installation of Titan Track in high stress areas, the plan is for Boulder Dash to operate reliably on a daily basis, and so far Brick and the park’s staff have been pleased with the results. Brick is confident other sections of the ride will receive similar attention in the future, while assuring it does not signal all the wood coaster is getting converted to steel.
New Life Comes to an Old Adventureland Favorite
Lake Compounce’s wood coasters aren’t the only ones under the Palace Entertainment umbrella undergoing improvements. A few months back, Adventureland (Altoona, Iowa) — one of the company’s more recent acquisitions — announced that its 1996 indoor wood coaster/dark ride, The Underground, would debut as an upgraded experience for the 2024 season. While Brick is unable to share too much owing to contracts not yet having been signed, he spoke a little of what guests are to expect.
“It’s a popular attraction, so we want to upgrade certain things without changing too much about what people love,” said Brick. He elaborated on existing scenes being enhanced instead of altered completely and suggested that a lot of the work will focus on the coaster’s train. Constructed by the ride’s original manufacturer, CCI, it is now in the hands of Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc. and enduring the challenges of being a product “orphaned” by a defunct supplier.
When The Underground reopens next season, it will follow three seasons of intense investment: the Dragon Slayer 4D Free Spin coaster from S&S – Sansei Technologies in 2021, a comprehensive flat ride package from Zamperla in 2022 and 2023’s continued relationship with the Italian supplier including the Flying Viking family coaster and Draken Falls flume. While additions through the 2022 season were projects initiated by previous ownership, Palace Entertainment saw no reason to change course when it purchased the park and continues seeing advantages to new additions.
Kennywood and Castle Park Get Back to Basics
Large investments are just one component of the company’s plans to improve its properties, as revitalization of older favorites is a business strategy driven partially by nostalgia and appreciation of the past. Kennywood is a prime example of this, having re-introduced its iconic Kangaroo for the 2022 season. The 1962 favorite among park guests was announced as one of four older rides being retired following the 2020 season, though Kennywood seized an opportunity to partner with Premier Rides to bring new life to the aging flat ride.
Following its removal following the 2020 season, public outcry led to Kennywood examining options to return its Kangaroo to operation, resulting in a partnership with Premier Rides.
View full-sized image.
Brick explained there was no scripted marketing plan to remove the Kangaroo only to return it to the park to great fanfare, although a lesson in planning ahead for the continued life of old attractions was learned along the way. By anticipating maintenance needs, Kennywood’s famous Turtle — the country’s only operating Traver Engineering Tumble Bug — was closed before the end of the 2023 season so that its central foundation could be rebuilt. However, planning ahead does not mean everything will always go according to plan.
Parts availability — a problem more prevalent than ever following pandemic-related supply chain issues — kept the park’s Raging Rapids out of commission for three years, explained Brick. The 1985 Intamin rapids attraction reopened during the 2023 season. It was joined by Spinvasion — a first-of-its-kind (in the United States) Zamperla Gryphon that harkens back to Kennywood’s old Swing Around. Brick used the new ride as an example of Kennywood’s uniqueness.
“It’s located next to the outer space-themed Cosmic Chaos but it’s impossible to have themed areas at Kennywood,” he said, adding “you have these types of rides with a Japanese pagoda in the distance.”
Across the country on the West Coast, Brick helped Castle Park refurbish its log flume, Sawmill Plunge, for future generations.
Unlike many parks that are removing old log flumes due to increased maintenance requirements, Castle Park revitalized its Sawmill Plunge — one of the small park’s more popular rides.
View full-sized image.
View full-sized image.
“Some of the supports had to be replaced, which isn’t the kind of thing people will even notice,” said Brick to drive home the point that not all investments can be appreciated by park guests. He continued to discuss the advantages of spending money on what’s important to customers, even if they’re not flashy updates that can easily be advertised, such as improved bathrooms and fresh coats of paint on buildings and benches.
ACE News will keep in touch with Brick about other exciting projects at Palace Entertainment properties in the future.
— Rob Ascough, ACE News Editor
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