Kennywood Reimagines The Old Mill

Kennywood has officially opened for the 2020 season with a re-imagined attraction. The Old Mill is the latest themed version of the park’s historic boat ride.

For the previous 15 years, everyone’s favorite lasagna loving orange cat was the star of the attraction. Now, Garfield is gone and the beloved Old Mill has been restored to a more traditional form for the ride.

Many changes were made to the re-themed attraction to tribute the ride’s earlier incarnation while adding modern touches. The interior was redone for 2020 with help from the design team behind a haunted attraction in Pittsburgh called Scarehouse. Their team developed a compelling new design that brings both thrill and humor to the ride. The renovated old mill brings back those skeletons cavorting in Old West scenes; a lightly spooky dark ride with boats floating past tombstones and cobwebs. To avoid being too spooky for kids, the ScareHouse team painted everything in UV reactive paint to create a 3D look — keeping it family-friendly.

The re-themed Old Mill is packed with nods, references, and in-house-jokes referencing Kennywood’s rich history such as Gold Rusher, La Cachot, and even prior iterations of the Old Mill. Guests will see new versions of the classic jail scene, the ghostly iron worker, and even the saloon.

The original boat ride was built in 1901 and has undergone many theme changes throughout the rides history. The ride has had many names since its 1901 inception including Fairyland Floats, Panama Canal, Rivers Gorge, the clunky Hardheaded Harold’s Horrendously Humorous Haunted Hideaway, and of course the Old Mill on several occasions.  It was eventually re-themed as Garfield’s Nightmare In 2004 through 2019.

Pittsburgh natives really love their historic rides, and now that Noah’s Ark and Old Mill have both been restored, it’s only a matter of time before the park brings back…. the classic Turnpike. “Yinzers” have been requesting this rides return since the day it was closed. Kennywood decommissioned the Turnpike in 2010 but announced that the ride would return in the future in a different location.

When you ride Old Mill again, take a closer look at the tombstones towards the end of the ride, one of them reads: “T. Pike — I’ll Be Back!”.

If you can’t make to the park for a visit, you’re in luck as you can sit back and enjoy a front seat ride on the re-imagined Old Mill right now!

If you have rode the re-imagined Old Mill, let us know your thoughts in the comments or on social media!

For tickets and more information, visit the official Kennywood website by clicking here.

Visit the Amusement Park Community FB Group HERE and JOIN THE DISCUSSIONS!

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