Kennywood, Sandcastle, And Idlewild Converting to Cashless Parks

Guests at three Pennsylvania amusement parks (Kennywood, Sandcastle Waterpark, and Idlewild & SoakZone) will soon find a more efficient, convenient, and visitor-friendly process to pay for park tickets and treats.

Beginning Tuesday, June 28 at Kennywood and Sandcastle and Wednesday, June 29 at Idlewild & SoakZone, the parks will only accept credit, debit and prepaid cards or secure mobile payments. The switch allows for a smoother and safer experience for guests, who can make payments with cards in addition to using secure mobile payment systems such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. Kennywood, Sandcastle and Idlewild accept all major credit and prepaid debit cards including MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover.

Guests that prefer cash have no cause for concern: they can use new, free Cash to Card Kiosks conveniently located throughout each park to convert up to $500 cash onto a prepaid card. This prepaid card can be used to purchase tickets, stores, and stands throughout the park.

As of now, there will be six kiosks at Kennywood in West Mifflin, four at Idlewild in Ligonier, and three at Sandcastle in West Homestead.

If you don’t spend the entire card at the park, there’s no need to worry as the cards can also be used outside the park anywhere cards are accepted. There is also no fee to convert cash onto a card.

“By transitioning to solely accepting cards or secure mobile payments, we can provide a better, more efficient experience to our guests,” says Kennywood & Sandcastle General Manager Mark Pauls. “We expect to see wait times decrease for food and retail stores, and have added several Cash to Card Kiosks throughout each park to provide guests a simple and easy way to convert their cash onto a card.”

Palace Entertainment owns and operates some of the country’s largest and most prestigious venues including: National Historic Landmark, Kennywood Park, America’s Oldest Amusement Park, Lake Compounce, the world’s first ever Cartoon Network Hotel, Best Family Theme Park Dutch Wonderland and a variety of other family-friendly parks and campgrounds throughout the United States.

Palace has made the transition to cashless payments at many of its venues including Lake Compounce, Dutch Wonderland, Story Land, and newly acquired Adventureland in Iowa.

For full details and a list of Frequently Asked Questions regarding this new program, visit the corresponding links below.

Click here for more information on Kennywood’s cashless option

Click here for more on Sandcastle’s cashless option

Click here for more on the cashless option at Idlewild and SoakZone