Kennywood is famous for their collection of classic wooden roller coasters and of the three
that currently operate, Jack Rabbit is the oldest. This wood coaster was designed by John Miller.
The ride opened in 1920 and it was a revolutionary ride for the time,
featuring an all-new track system. 100 years later, the coaster is still immensely popular
thanks to the thrilling double dip. So in this video, I will review Jack Rabbit at Kennywood
and explain why this coaster is timeless. Wood coasters have always been in Kennywood’s DNA.
The park built their first roller coaster in 1902- the Figure 8 Toboggan side friction coaster.
Over the next 10 years, Kennywood would add three more wooden roller coasters in the Scenic Railway,
the Speed-O-Plane, and the original Racer- which is different than the one that currently
operates at Kennywood today. The latter two rides were designed by John Miller.
Until 1919, roller coasters only had two sets of wheels: road wheels on top of the track and guide
wheels on the side of the track so the coaster can turn. This severely limited coaster designers.
They had to be careful the ride wouldn’t jump the track, so they were hamstrung in terms of height,
speed, and steepness. This is why many of the
early wood coasters were scenic railways with brakemen to regulate the speed.
But everything changed in 1919. John Miller patented the upstop wheel. This wheel would
run underneath the track to prevent the train from lifting off the track. This allowed coasters to be
built taller, faster, and steeper. This same wheel assembly is used over 100 years later
showing just how important its creation was for the roller coaster industry.
And one of the first coasters to feature this new wheel system was the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood.
Built in 1920, Jack Rabbit would feature elements that had never been seen before. The coaster would
be located in a ravine and it would feature one of the world’s tallest drops at 70 feet or 21
meters. But that wasn’t even the most notable element. The most ambitious element and biggest
test for the upstop wheels were the double dip. Just imagine if there weren’t upstop wheels.
There is a 0 percent chance those trains would remain on the track during that insane element.
Jack Rabbit was a game-changer for both the industry and Kennywood. The park’s prior woodies
were suddenly obsolete and removed by the end of the 1926 season. Meanwhile, Jack Rabbit just
celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and shows no signs of leaving. And John Miller was
brought back in 1924 and 1927 to design two other coasters that are still operating at Kennywood
today. First was the Pippen in 1924, which was expanded and renamed the Thunderbolt in 1968.
Second was the new Racer in 1927, a Mobius wooden roller coaster. Those rides were taller and longer
than Jack Rabbit, but they still didn’t offer an element that could top Jack Rabbit’s double dip.
Jack Rabbit often sports a reasonable line. In my visits, it has always been
between 15-30 minutes. The queue runs alongside the start of the ride.
Jack Rabbit starts with a straightaway that’s no more than 2-3 feet from the queue. The only
things separating riders from those in line is a thin metal fence. It’s rare a queue brings
you this close to a coaster and seeing the smiles of riders onboard gets you hyped for your ride.
The rest of the layout is positioned in the ravine. Only the lift hill can be seen from
the midway, but you can get some great views of the rest of the ride from the picnic pavilions.
Once you reach the station, you are greeted by the ride’s classic trains.
Kennywood has three of them, each consisting of 3 cars with 3 rows in each. The current rolling
a fixed lap bar that will rest a good foot above the laps of most riders, and a shared seatbelt.
And kudos to Kennywood for maintaining these classic trains.
It’s rare to have such minimalistic restraints on a roller coaster, especially one with airtime like
Jack Rabbit. And these simple restraints keep the height limit relatively low at just 42 inches.
In terms of seat selection, you want the back. No questions asked. This ride is
all about the double dip, so you want as much whip as possible on that element.
Kennywood typically admits a train’s worth of people into the station at once, but the operators
are more than willing to allow you to wait an extra cycle if you want the first pick of seats.
Once dispatched, you slowly rumble down the track adjacent to the queue line.
After you round the corner, you see the track suddenly disappear down the ravine. And shortly
thereafter, the train dips down the first drop. This drop gives a tiny pop of airtime in the back,
but it’s just the warm-up for what will follow. The pullout from this drop has is a bit bumpy.
In fact, all of the coaster’s valleys bounce you about. But it rides much smoother than you’d
expect for a 100+ year old coaster. And because of the ride’s modest top speed and well-padded
trains, it causes no discomfort at all. You then rise out of the ravine, getting
no airtime on the ascent. You then crawl through a 180 degree tunnel, but fun fact,
this isn’t the ride’s original tunnel. The first tunnel was present from the ride’s opening day
until 1947. The original tunnel was removed when the new trains were
ordered. But Kennywood thankfully added a slightly shorter version of the nostalgic tunnel in 1991.
You then drop back down the ravine, getting no airtime and rise up into the lift hill,
also getting no airtime. You then ascend the 40 foot or 12 meter tall lift.
At this point, you start mentally preparing yourself for the double dip.
You can see it in all its glory off to your left. At the top of the lift, you round a 180 degree
corner and then the mayhem starts. The first part of the double dip
is a modest drop, roughly 40 feet in height. This drop gives a faint pop of airtime in the back,
but the second part of the drop is what makes Jack Rabbit special. After leveling off for a moment,
you drop right back down the ravine. And this drop tries to launch you into Canada. And I’m
pretty sure it would if that seatbelt weren’t there. You owe your entire life to that seatbelt.
The ejector airtime as you plunge down the ravine is insane. The train just drops out
from underneath you and you are abruptly thrown upwards in any seat. But it’s extra magical in the
back car. The force and suddenness of this airtime often causes my stomach to drop akin to a drop
tower. It’s rare a coaster can do that to me, but the double dip is no joke. This seriously is one
of the best airtime moments of all-time. This must have been one of the first ejector airtime moments
ever and I can’t imagine how surprised people were experiencing this element for the first time.
You then rise up into another turnaround, yet again getting no airtime.
You round a corner and head down the ride’s largest drop, the aforementioned
70 foot plunge. It’s exceedingly rare a ride saves its largest drop for last,
but that’s exactly what Jack Rabbit does. Unfortunately, that drop fails to offer any
airtime though. You then rise up into the brake run- again getting no airtime- ending the ride.
So what would I rate Jack Rabbit? I would give this coaster a 7 out of 10. The double dip alone
earned Jack Rabbit each and every one of those points. That element blows me away each time.
And I love how Kennywood has kept the experience as close to how it was on its opening day.
Jack Rabbit is the definition of a one trick pony. But that one trick
just happens to be world-class. Few coasters are more defined by one element.
The most common type of one trick pony are launch coasters like Top Thrill Dragster or Do-Dodonpa.
It’s exceedingly rare to have one element define a wood coaster like it does for Jack Rabbit. If
you removed Jack Rabbit’s double dip, this ride would be nothing. It would place 60-70 spots lower
on my wood coaster rankings. Needless to say, this coaster’s pacing is pretty poor. You spend
almost the whole ride waiting for or reflecting on the double dip.
Jack Rabbit is a unique coaster. It’s a flawed ride that really only offers one thing,
but it does that one thing so well. So those are my thoughts on Jack Rabbit,
the classic wood coaster at Kennywood. Have you been on Jack Rabbit? How do you think the double
dip compares to other airtime moments out there? I would love to hear your thoughts about this ride
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and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!