7 parks in 7 days #2 Knoebels 6/1

Knoebles is a great little family park with a great old wooden coaster and some great flat rides. For $15.75 you can’t go wrong. I entered the park and hit Whirlwind just because it is on the way over to Phoenix. It’s an old Arrow Corkscrew type coaster.

Next was the Phoenix. Wow what a great ride. Smooth and lots and lots of airtime. I hooked up with another single ride and we got to talking. His name is Dan (I forget his last name)(I’m absolutely terrible with names) and he is from Chicago and also doing a coaster trip. We rode several times together and talked about several different parks.

After about six or seven rides, I headed over to try Twister. Not too bad, but not as enjoyable as Phoenix. It is more about speed, twists and turns and does not have much air. It has an interesting layout with a lift hill, then a turn and then a second lift hill. It really caught my by surprise on my first ride.

I decided to walk around the park and look around. I rode a lot of the flats and found some really kick but bumper cars. These seem faster than most bumper cars and are really a lot of fun. They have the island in the center and you race around it, bumping others and spinning them out. Or they spin you out. I haven’t had that much fun in bumpers since I was a kid.

Power Surge is a great flat that I rode several times and love. A single rider throws the car off balance and gives a really great ride.

I originally thought that the High Speed Trill Coaster was just a kiddy coaster, but I saw teens and adults boarding it so I thought that I would give it a try. I am glad that I did. It has a small lift hill and three bunny hops on a small oval track. There is an engine that powers the lift. The ride op starts out the train the first time and when the train gets back to the station, he guns the engine again and the train is accelerated up the hill again. He does this 5 or 6 times for a great ride. Don’t be shy about riding this if you visit the park, it’s not just for the kids.

Back to the Phoenix for several rerides. I got to talking with Jeff the ride op. Turns out he is an enthusiast and has worked at the park for 15 years now. Working at the park he doesn’t get much time to get out to many other parks though. All in all, I must have ridden Phoenix at least 30 times. It was walk on all day and I just couldn’t get enough of it. 1-3 seams to be the best seat.

It was a great day. The weather was great. The park wasn’t very crowded and all of the kids were polite and well behaved. Good food at a reasonable price and for $15.75, I sure as heck got my moneys worth. This park is well worth a visit. *** Edited 6/7/2004 1:56:42 PM UTC by CP ismyhome***

Yes John, that was me. I had a good time riding with you.

I agree that the Phoenix is better than Twister. Just something about all that airtime.

I always hate when people do this, but just for the record - Whirlwind is a Vekoma coaster.

Sorry about that, I'll have to check RCDB next time.

I had a great time too Dan. If your ever in Pittsburgh again, look me up.