Steel Curtain at Kennywood set the record for the most inversions on any roller coaster
in North America with nine. This colossal looping coaster has a downright bizarre appearance,
but it packs a lot of crazy elements into a compact footprint. Plus, the ride is themed
to the area s beloved Pittsburgh Steelers. There really isn t another coaster quite like
Steel Curtain out there, but is there a reason for that? Find out what I think about Steel
Curtain in this review. In 1991, Kennywood opened Steel Phantom, which
would have the largest drop in the world at 225 feet or 68.5 meters. But unlike most hypercoasters,
Steel Phantom was a multi-looper. While everyone praised the ride s iconic second drop down
the ravine, this Arrow creation was criticized for its roughness. This is why Steel Phantom
was ultimately converted into Phantom s Revenge in 2001, which was a more conventional hyper
coaster free of inversions. Flash forward to 2018. Kennywood was teasing
Project 412, which was promised to be another record-breaking roller coaster. Unlike a lot
of projects that are spoiled by leaks, this project was kept tightly under wraps. No one
knew who the manufacturer would be or what type of ride Kennywood was getting. That allowed
Kennywood to have a fun marketing campaign where they provided 9 different numbers- without
any context- that would be in the ride s final stats.
And on July 19, 2018, the mystery was revealed. Kennywood would be attempting their second
hyper multi-looper. Steel Curtain would be built by S&S Sansei
and it would be unlike any coaster they had designed previously. S&S was most well-known
for their compressed air launch coasters, but Steel Curtain would feature a 220 foot
tall or 67 meter tall lift, the world s tallest inversion at 197 feet or 60 meters in the
air, and the most inversions on a coaster in North America with 9.
Along with the coaster s impressive statistics, the ride received praise for its unique theme.
The ride would be part of Steelers Country, a new land themed to the region s beloved
Pittsburgh Steelers. While I m a New England Patriots fan and despite the Steelers, I have
to admit it s a really cool theme to tie an amusement ride in with a local sports team.
The ride also has a strange appearance. It looks like a K-Nex coaster with the sea of
supports and jumbled mess of track. I think the coaster looks sort of ugly, but it is
really cool how close you can get to it as you walk around Steelers Country.
Steel Curtain opened later than expected in 2019 and it was plagued by downtime in its
opening year. The ride was often closed or running just one train. In 2020, the ride
was kept closed all year as it received new seatbelts. In 2021, Steel Curtain opened later
than expected after it valleyed on a cold morning, but it now seems to be running daily.
And if you re visiting Kennywood, I strongly recommend heading to this ride immediately.
New rides are always major draws and Steel Curtain seems to be especially appealing to
park guests because of its popular theme and imposing appearance. And for most of its life
thus far, it has run just one train, resulting in extremely long and slow moving lines, sometimes
exceeding 2 hours. Thankfully, the park just got the second train up and running for the
2021 season and I hope they intend to use it most days because this ride needs it.
Steel Curtain is a very long ride. The coaster has 4000 feet or 1200 meters of track and
the meat of the ride takes a minute to navigate. But station to station, Steel Curtain is over
3 minutes in length. The ride has one of the slowest lift hills in the world that takes
a minute to ascend and then it takes another minute to get from the final brake run back
into the station. Not only does the ride have a long cycle time,
but it s a very slow loader. The employees need to perform a separate seatbelt check
before lowering the restraints, which is a similar policy to what you see on most RMCs.
The ride also isn t very accommodating and I often saw at least one rider struggling
to fit in each train. The only downside to heading to Steel Curtain
first is that it may run a bit slow in the morning, especially if it s a cooler day.
These were the conditions that caused Kennywood to valley the coaster early in 2021. So I
expected the park to fill the train with water dummies for the morning test trains, but Kennywood
did something differently. They called all the employees from the nearby rides, food
stands, and shops to fill the train for the first few cycles before it opened to guests.
I can t say I ve ever seen that before! The queue line is a series of swtichbacks,
but it does offer some great views of both Steel Curtain and Racer. Unfortunately, the
ride itself doesn t really have any theming beyond the name, employees dressed as referees,
and the trains. But the trains look spectacular. They have the Pittsburgh Steeler colors and
the seatbacks are designed to look like footballs. Not only do the trains look amazing, but they
re super comfortable too. I love how a coaster with this many inversions has a lap bar and
the lap bar actually locks in place at the start of the ride, so you d don t have to
worry about the high G sections pushing the restraint down further during the ride. The
one slight criticism I have with the trains is that the headrests taper all the way down
the seatback, which is a bit awkward for taller riders. But I just leaned forwards to avoid
this issue. In the lone visit when Steel Curtain was operating,
Kennywood was filling the station on a first come basis and not allowing riders to wait
for the next train. I don t think it was covid since rides like Phantom s Revenge were allowing
guests to fill the station and wait for whatever row they wanted. I was lucky enough to get
both a front and back row ride and I slightly preferred my ride in the back, but the forces
felt relatively consistent throughout the train.
Once the trains have been checked, you hear the Steelers broadcasters Bill Hargrove and
Tunch Ilkin come over the loud speaker and announce the ride s start. And then you crawl
up the lift. I always thought Phantom s Revenge had a slow lift, but that lift feels like
Skyrush compared to the one on Steel Curtain. The lift hill is extremely steep at a 50 degree
incline and it offers spectacular views. The ride is already pretty tall, but considering
the fact it s located at the edge of the ravine, you can see for miles.
Once at the top, you get an amazing view of Kennywood and then the action begins.
The coaster starts with a small pre-drop and then you traverse the world s tallest inversion,
which RCDB classifies as a Drachen Fire Dive Drop. So what exactly is this inversion? It
s basically a cutback almost 200 feet above the ground, except the exit to the element
dives all the way down to the ground. And this element delivers a copious amount of
hangtime at the start and then you are abruptly whipped downwards. And the twist out of the
element offers some solid laterals, particularly towards the back of the train plus a series
of heachoppers the whole way down. It s a really unique element that sets the tone for
how strange Steel Curtain is. The bottom of this drop is where Steel Curtain reaches its
max speed of 75 mph or 121 kph, but the ride doesn t feel nearly that fast. Which surprised
me considering how many headchoppers this ride has.
The pullout from the dive drop pulls some good positive Gs and they re maintained as
you ascend the giant banana roll, which caused me to start greying out slightly. The banana
roll wraps around the lift hill and it feels more like a cobra roll. The exit to the first
flip offers a pinch of hangtime in the back row, but neither flip offers any force or
hangtime towards the front. The pullout from the banana roll offers another
dose of positive Gs and then you rocket through a speed hill that offers good sustained floater
airtime throughout the train. The rapid switch from positive Gs to negative Gs is delightful.
And then the positive Gs return on the ascent into the sea serpent. And like the banana
roll, the back row gets a tiny bit of hangtime after the first flip. Meanwhile, neither flips
offers any force or hangtime in the front of the train.
The exit of the sea serpent really whips you back towards the ground. Up until this point,
the ride has taken place in the main superstructure. But the next part juts out over the pond.
The train then glides over a giant camelback, which delivers some nice sustained fl-jector
airtime throughout the train. Steel Curtain then traverses a dive loop.
Up front, riders are thrown forwards at the apex. It s a similar feeling to what you experience
in the front row on Twisted Colossus s zero-G roll. Meanwhile, those in the back get some
hangtime instead. That s followed by a zero-G stall that takes
place directly above the midway. I found it interesting there were no nets to catch loose
articles based on what most other parks do. Those up front get weak hangtime throughout
this stall and are sort of jerked through it. Meanwhile, those in the back get some
really strong hangtime through the stall. Steel Curtain then navigates a step up, which
delivers some weak floater airtime throughout the train. And then the train cruises through
a corkscrew above the queue line. The element offers weak hangtime, but it s more sustained
towards the back. Then comes a high-speed banked turn that delivers
the ride s final dose of strong positive Gs. And then you coast through a cutback. The
cutback isn t forceful nor does it offer any hangtime, but it is disorienting since you
re still shellshocked from the Gs on the prior turn. You then hop into the brake run getting
on last pop of airtime before coming to a stop.
One of the best aspects about Steel Curtain is the pacing. Joe Draves designed this coaster
in such a way that the transitions between each element either offer strong positive
Gs or some airtime, the latter was a really nice surprise on an inversion based coaster.
And you re often barreling past a series of headchoppers as well because of how the ride
s support structure is designed. In terms of smoothness, the coaster was perfectly
smooth up front. In the back, the train would shuffle through some of the inversions. It
wasn t uncomfortable, just noticeable. So what would I rate Steel Curtain? I would
give this coaster an 8 out of 10. Steel Curtain is a blitz of elements, highlighted by the
inversions. I love the hangtime based inversions such as the dive drops and zero-G stall. And
the ride also mixes in a few airtime moments and sections with positive Gs. The coaster
is always doing something. The only criticism I have with the coaster is that a majority
of the elements are decent to good rather than great. That s what hold Steel Curtain
from being an elite ride in my opinion. Steel Curtain is a unique coaster and my second
favorite at Kennywood. Phantom s Revenge is still the star, but Steel Curtain is the perfect
compliment. So those are my thoughts on Steel Curtain,
the hyper multi-looper at Kennywood. What are your thoughts on this coaster? Have you
ridden it? I would love to hear your thoughts down in the comments. If you enjoyed his review,
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there will be a lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster.
Thanks for watching!