Rest in Peace Mister Twister

I have never seen it with my own eyes, I may have never rode it but I have loved it. I have ridden Twister 2 many times and I have loved that one too. This woodie has inspired me to remember it and to tell people about this wonderful coaster. If anybody has either seen it or rode it or what like to reply please reply that would be great!

Mr. Twister was awesome. On my first and only visit, however, I found the Wildcat to be the real gem. This was around '90 or '91. There isn't too much else I remember about our visit to the park except for trying "clear beer" which was a short lived gimmick.

I think Mr. Twister was a good ride but he didn't live up to the expectations I had.

-scott

Have you checked out Bob Hooley's excellent Mr. Twister site?

http://members.aol.com/Bobcoaster/Twister.html

He also has a lot of info about Knoebels Twister - a pretty close recreation of the original ride.

Mr. Twister was a great ride indeed but it was not the best woodie at Elitch Gardens. That distinction goes to Wildcat, the park's older out-n-back.

While Twister II is a mess Knoebel's homage is a real winner in my book and, in fact, has a much more powerful helix than the original.

I rode Mister Twister in 1990 as part of a trip to do both parks in Denver. In my opinion, the coaster was one of the best I have ever ridden, and I've been on over 300. I got 50 rides in one day and i could have gotten more, but I was too beat up. A mist at night provided very fast and rough rides. The Wildcat also an awesome ride did not compare to the intensity of Mister Twister. I found the park to be a bit of a dump and no gardens to speak of. The flat rides were stacked on top of one another. The Twister at Knoebel's is almost as good with a better helix and is getting better every year.

Mister Twister was great, but I actually prefer the Knoebels Twister, mainly for the split lift hill and other modifications--I think all of them enhance the original ride. It's very unique.

Never rode the original Twister...but I sure am glad to see Knoebels version getting some love! I too think this is a great coaster. I liked it as much as Phoenix on my 3 visits!

I rode Twister II the first year of operation and thought it was a good ride. Nothing like the Knoebels version, but good none-the-less!

Wow...having lived in Denver and frequented the old location often [as in almost every weekend] I never found it to be a dump. And there were gardens if you got out of the rides area. I miss the old park.

Yea you have to admit that Twister 2 is atleast a woodie and not steal version of it. Somthing as classy as those rides always grabs peoples attentions

:-)

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Jeffrey R Smith said:
but I sure am glad to see Knoebels version getting some love! I too think this is a great coaster. I liked it as much as Phoenix on my 3 visits!

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I will go one step further and say I prefer Twister to Phoenix, although it's a very close race. Both are superb rides. Wow, I keep forgetting I'm going to PPP in just a few weeks! It's been about 5 years since I was at Knoebels--can't wait to twist again. Hoping someone can teach me how to snap the flyers also. :)

They are really good, We all love you Mister Twister... *tear falls down from face* No two roller coasters are the same nomatter how close they are, all I have to say is that they are classy

What's a "steal version?"

Steal version: never is one, but a version of Mister Twister thats steal like current roller coasters, like the mind eraser or whatever

Do you mean S-T-E-E-L, ad in "made of metal"?

Or S-T-E-A-L, as in "to take something without paying for it"?

BTW...were you really born in 1991, as your profile says?

How can you be in love with something you've never even experienced? That's like me saying I love the Titanic!

I'm talking about the darn boat! Not the movie! ;)

However, if the ride is anything like Twister at Knoebel's, then yes, you're missing a heck of a lot of fun!

~Rob Willi

Oh come on, we're all in love with the Crystal Beach Cyclone. ;) *** Edited 9/14/2005 5:30:40 AM UTC by Acoustic Viscosity***

FACTOID: Many of you know this already but for those who don't, did you know the original Mr. Twister had a swooping first drop that led directly into the helix? I have some video clips of the coaster in operation on that opening day in 1965. I will try and compress it to an emailable quicktime movie for anyone interested. John Allen decided to reprofile the coaster to be more thrilling after only the first year of operation.

I was fortunate to ride Mr Twister in 1992 and agree with some of the other statements that Wildcat was the better of the two. The helix on MT was sluggish on the days I was there in August although the ending finale was pretty awesome.

I saved all the Twister demolition pics that were posted on a web site the week of the demolition. I could email them to anyone interested but they are not my photos and I have no clue whose they are.

I heard it was reprofiled, but didn't know it was that extensive. Also, wasn't Twister John's least favorite of his coasters?

Yeah, John Allen repeatedly stated that Mr. Twister was the least favorite of his designs. Then again, he had a thing for out-and-backs (he felt that turns were merely a way of changing the direction of the train) so it figures that he wouldn't be enthusiastic about a ride based on turns. As for the reprofile, the original Mr. Twister's lift hill fed right INTO the double helix- the alteration added the first and second drops.

I heard that Mr Twister was ment to be a figure 8 but it didnt work so he added more turns to it, I guess that made it better, yea Mammosh I was born that date and I ment Steel the meddal, lol *** Edited 9/15/2005 3:45:00 AM UTC by MrTwister_lover***