Twister

i was at Knoebels today and was on Twister. Is it me or OUCH? I know this is might be heavily debated, but I find it to be as bad as the Wildcat was at Hershey and approaching the Hurricane from the MB Pavilion. This use to be one of my favorite coasters, but as time goes on it gets rougher and rougher. I only rode it once today.

I'm going tomarow...so I can't vouch for this season....but I thought it was great last year....def. in my top ten wood.

Where you sit may have an effect, I know I usually try to go towards the front on Twister, usually seems to be smoother, as is the case with alot of woodies out there.

It needs a nice set of Millenium Flyers ;)

For years, being a big PTC fan, until I rode Lightning Racers this past summer. Seems those MF trains are much better, read somewhere they have closer tolerances, etc. and are just more the Rolls Royce of woodie trains.

People were complaining about it being rough at PPP last year. I don't get it. I rode it all over the train and prefer the very last row myself. But I also loved Hershey Wildcat the way it was. I find neither woodie to be anywhere close to the roughness that MBP's Hurricane was. I will agree, t hat one was rough. ;)

I only found Twister moderately rough last year. My daughter thought it "had a lot of bumps," but then she was only four when she rode it. "It's rough, too," she also wants to point out. :)

I was also there today and rode it. I actually enjoyed it more today than I did last year on opening day. I did ride in the second seat today so that may have made a difference. I would have to agree with Acoustic Viscosity in that I quite enjoyed Wildcat and found Hurricane to be almost not reride-able. While I am not a big fan of wooden twister style coasters and I much prefer the Phoenix, I would have to say that Twister is one of the best of its type that I have ridden.

I'll be riding it this afternoon. Last year it was a little rough, and I wouldn't want to ride it too many times in a row, but it was a lot smoother than the Hershey Wildcat. But I also didn't mind the Wildcat, since I only got two rides on it the whole time I was there due to the crowd. I would ride either of them many times in a day if I could, just not necessarily in succession :) Apparently people don't share this view, because when the park isn't packed there's often hardly a line at Twister.

I remember reading that they worked on the turn by the campground over the winter, and that the change in the wood would be noticeable. Did they change the banking of it, or did they just change the support structure?

^J7G3: Yeah the MFs have closer tolerances, in fact I've heard the tolerances are so close that none of Hershey's ever made it around the track the first time. But steel-like smoothness isn't really what I look for in a wood coaster, twisting or otherwise. (OK, maybe on El Toro.)

Maybe I am just babied by the smoothness of steel coasters, and Lightning Racers and El Toro as well.

On an interesting note, Phoenix didnt make it back to station on its first run filled with people. It got stuck under the breaking area and 2 ops had to go push it to get it moving back to station. That only happened once though.

I was also at Knoebels yesterday. I didn't really think that Twister was rough, and it seemed to be running the same as it was at Phunfest last year. I only took one lap in the backseat, and it was a good ride.

I went to Knoebels yesterday also, and thought Twister was a little smoother than in the past. In fact, I think I had my best ride since it's opening.

However, I also haven't ridden since last summer so maybe it was just "first-ride" excitement again? ;)

^GaryB: I've seen Phoenix get stuck on the brake run several times, I figured it was just a case of putting on the brakes too hard too soon.

I was at Knoebels all afternoon today and I thought Twister was running about the same as last year. The front seat was the smoothest, and while there was a little shaking, the only really nasty spots were the turn into the helix (you can see the track isn't smoothly rounded there) and to a lesser degree the turn-around after the exit from the helix. The back seat was rough, and I might even compare it to the Hershey Wildcat. So in summary, ride the front seat, unless you want to watch the newbies in front of you duck under the crossovers :)

By the way, even the normally-smooth Phoenix has one shaky spot, the turn-around after the double-up. I had a couple of rides today where the whole turn-around, from seat 3, felt and sounded like some of the wheels weren't making contact, as if the car never recovered from the huge airtime you get coming out of the double-up. *** Edited 4/30/2007 12:42:45 AM UTC by Jim S.***

I was there today, rode Twister and Phoenix each twice....thought they were both running about the same as last season. Phoenix kicked ass as usual, and the Twister was great too....still one of my favorite woodies.

I spent quite a bit of time on Twister over the past couple of days and found it to be just as good as it always is.

Twister is a powerful ride- no doubt about that- but rough? I don't get those claims. It's not an out-and-back like the Phoenix- it has a lot of high-speed turns and dramastic drops- so it's going to be a very aggressive ride. But I don't think that makes it a rough ride. The defunct SFMM Psyclone and Hercules? Now those were rough rides.

This may be of interest to some- the "campground" turn on Twister (the one that zooms under the structure for the first turnaround after the main drop) looks to have been completely rebuilt during the off season. Not only is the track new but it seems as though a lot of additional bracing has been added, making this part of the ride feel completely new again. I could be wrong, but I think this is the first section of the ride to receive major attention since it was built in 1999? If so, that says a lot about the team that brought the coaster to life!

^ "Dramastic"?

Is that like dramatic and fantastic rolled into one?

My feeling is that John F. designed Twister alot like his neighbors in Sunbury build rides (lots of twisty turns)...and we know what trains seem to work best on those kinds of layouts. Twister is *aggressive* by almost any standards, and the "roughness claims" almost always seem to locate the back of the train as the *sore spot*...kinda reinforces my belief that the PTCs aren't the greatest for the ride.

I thought Twister was running better than it ever has. Though that might have something to do with the extra dose of Dramamine. :)

Dramastic... now I feel like George Bush, making up my own words ;)

I've never had a problem with the rear of the train. If anything, the second row is "worse" than anything else. And even that's nothing unbearable.

Rob, when WE make up words, at least we come off as intelligent and "reaching". Don't know that I'd say the same for ol' G-Dubya... ;)

P.S. Do we need another category for wooden coasters that, unlike KG's, are more *compact*, and less *twisty*?

Wow... so I'm intelligent and reaching? ;)

At least Dubya says enough silly/stupid/idiotic/WTF? things to fill a "page-a-day" desk calendar every year... one that I happen to buy every year!

I definitely thought it rode better on Saturday than it did last year. The past few years, I got used to bracing myself for a few jolts at the entrance and exit of the helix, but it didn't happen.

I think the helix has always been the most aggressive part of the ride, beginning with the incredible lateral slam that it begins with. I admit there is often a lot of vibration in the train as it completes the helix but that's one of the things I love about it. The train has so much force and momentum, it almost feels as though the track can't contain it all!