A PPP primer - the experience and the expectations

OK. I am going to PPP. There's a first time for everything. I don't care to know about what to do, or what fun it is. I can figure that out. I don't care if it will be hot or cold, rainy or sunny. I can figure that out.

What makes PPP so damn special that all those who have attended would rate it to be such a wonderful, can't miss event? Why is it the end all? Why does it rate (seemingly everyone I ask speaks of it as the Jesus of enthusiast events, even over SRM) so highly? Is it just so beautiful and romantic that it can't be explained?

Oh yeah......... does anyone want to share a space with Peabody and I? We need a room. ;)
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Rob - Jerk/Loser - Standing up for the unfunny and unattractive. - Click here for details

I may get blasted for this...what is PPP

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I am one.
I am Turbo.
Top Thrill in the front row... anything else is lame

Na, Turbo we won't blast you. It's Phoenix Phall Phunfest.

Rob, you and Jeff aren't camping out? :-) From what I hear you have to get the *total* PPP experience by roughing it. :-) That area of PA is very beautiful, and I can't wait to see it in the fall.

This will be a new experience for both of us. This will be my first PPP and I would not miss it for the world. I guess we will both find out what the "fuss" is all about. I can't imagine anything being more awesome that SRM, but I am eager to find out.

It will be nice catching up with the peeps again and I look forward to kicking back with a couple of cold ones with you guys, especially since I managed to miss/get lost trying to find the the post- SRM festivies at Lake Rudolph. :-(

It will also be great to visit Knoebels again. I have only visited once and did not get to experience the park fully. I think it was rainy and miserable that day and I only got to do the coasters and a few flats. But rain or shine, this will be nothing but FUN!

Hmmm, and I gotta visit the Yuengling brewery again on the way up there. Yummy. :-)

-Tina

<--------will be dragging Rob onto the very cool Haunted House ride. :-)

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Gimme speed, height, airtime and plenty of LAUNCH!!!
*** This post was edited by coasterqueenTRN 8/23/2003 6:55:39 PM ***

Tina, you and the brewery!!!! ;)

As far as Jeff and I, nothing is in stone. You, Joe, Bill, and a few others have suggested camping, but it's kinda hard to get a tent, sleeping bag, and other necessities on a plane. ;) If anyone can help that is fine, though. Moosh has thrown a few ideas out to me, and we'll see how that flies, but I'd rather stay at the campground, or in a room, then drive back to Carlisle to stay with pals there. Somehow the park ambience gets lost that way.
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Rob - Jerk/Loser - Standing up for the unfunny and unattractive. - Click here for details

I'm a local (see info) and I would suggest staying either at the campground or at a local hotel (Danville has a couple). I'd talk to Lord Gonchar about it, he was just recently there according to his website and should know.

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Whenever you can ride a roller coaster and experience 15 spots of intense airtime, you know you're on a good coaster. (see: Phoenix)

PPP is just one of those things you can't explain. Waits for the coasters get up to 10 maybe 20 minutes tops. Is it the coasters? Maybe. The free pizza? Possibly. The bonfire? could be. The park in general? The costumes people wear? The fun or should I say phun? The atmosphere? It's one of those things like hitting an impossible hole in one on mini golf, a NYC taxi ride. As much as you tell people how fun it it you just need to be there to understand it.

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Signature will be closed today. Sorry for the inconveinance.

I'd have to say there's not just any one thing that sets PPP apart from anything else. Any one of the individual aspects of it would be nothing without the rest of it. Although, this is coming from one of the few who wasn't ga-ga over the park like many are.

For the true experience though, the camping is a must. Did it the one time I went, and it adds an entire different aspect to the whole ordeal. It was cool even though it rained! The atmosphere of the campground is certainly something else too.

Despite the fun of it all, I'm not fortunate enough to be able to go this year due to a heavy courseload at school as well as working weekends at Cedar Point.

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Jeff Tobe
tobejeff@pilot.msu.edu
CP Park Operations 2003: Mantis

:-) I can't help it Rob, I miss Yuengling Lager. :-) I will have to smuggle a few cases back home.

-Tina

<-----would kindly offer Rob and Jeff spaces in my tent if they were not already claimed. :-)
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Gimme speed, height, airtime and plenty of LAUNCH!!!

The Halloween atmosphere is a big thing. It is a lot less organized than SRM but I love both of them. I can't say anything about camping but this year I will be for two nights.

Edit: If your going alone for the first time be sure to get the right directions. It can be tough finding your way in to there for the first time. It's in the middle of nowhere!

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-Sean Newman
*** This post was edited by SFgadvMAN 8/24/2003 11:27:34 AM ***

AHAHAHAHAH TOBE! I bet you can think of *one* thing that sets PPP (and camping) apart from any other event. :-p

As for me, the atmosphere of having tons of your friends around you in tents, the weather, and the nighttime aspect make PPP a must do event. I wouldn't say I liked it better than SRM, they both have their own unique aspects to them.

Rob, get your ass out there and camp. Thank you.

Joe "Tobe got smoked the hell out!" C. :)

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You suck big time.

SRM is amzing, PPP Is unfrigginincredibly amazing.

The atmosphere, rides, people, employess all make PPP add up to the best amusement park on the earth with 2 of the best coasters on the earth and about 10 others rides that I find to be the best of their kind anywhere.

One ride on the fliers PPP style and you'll understand Robio. ;)

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If given the choice I'd choose a hamburger over a hotdog anyday of the week.

Haha!!! "Tobe got smoked the hell out" sounds like we were doing something bad! You guys and your fog machine... if I was going to PPP this year you know I'd get you back 10 fold. As it stands now, I won't have the chance to split away from my two jobs (CP and DJing) and 16 credits at school to make it.

That's all subject to change of course :o)

Robbio - I for one do not rate PPP over SRM. While PPP was a LOT of fun, it's not something I feel I need to buy an airline ticket for every year. Knoebels is beautiful and has some great rides. Phoenix is definitely top-10 material. The costumes are usually fun and the fall atmoshpere is awesome (as long as it's not TOO cold). But PPP is lacking great rides like Legend and Raven, and it's more spread out than SRM (IE, there's more to ride during ERT).

So, to sum up (IMHO): Knoebels = better park, SRM = better event.

You can see my PPP 2001 TR here: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=group:rec.roller-coaster+insubject:phun+author:bassistist&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=3bc63478.225248%40news.mindspring.com&rnum=1

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Mike Miller - Would be at PPP <every> year if he could drive there...

Rob,
we're also deciding on PPP plans. Check your email.

Later,
EV
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"Here's the thing about living in the past. If it was so good, then how come it didn't last? If it helps you, I'll put it in a phrase. Those were the times, but these are the days." - The Human League

I live 20 minutes away but i've still never been to a PPP. I will probably make it this year though. what could be better than Phoenix ERT?

I haven't been to SRM, but PPPP...PP...P....pee....one... is really something else. I don't have too much to say that hasn't been said already, but I really think the fall timing (gets dark pretty early) contributes greatly to the event.

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff

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TalonJosh1491 said:
What could be better than Phoenix ERT?

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Hmmmmmm... I don't know... Perhaps visiting on certain week days and having walk ons for both Phoenix and Twister all day long?

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Half of the people surveyed agree, half disagree and another half are unsure.

SLFAKE, that is Phoenix ERT. ;) That's the way it is most of the time I go. I think my longest wait ever was about 10 minutes. That's in the last 16 years, mind you. :)

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Whenever you can ride a roller coaster and experience 15 spots of intense airtime, you know you're on a good coaster. (see: Phoenix)

Nasai - I'd drop all your expectations and just go discover for yourself what the park and the event is all about. It means different things for different people.

mOOSH

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2004 Coaster Calendar now available. 13 Coasters in 12 months! Order in advance and save. Quantities are limited! See S&D Greetings for details.

Moosh said it... PPP means something different to everyone. Some people think of it as ERT on two fantastic wooden coasters. Some people think of it as the chance to prove they're better "phlyers" than everyone else. Some people think of it as a chance to dress up in costumes and let their inner entertainers out for the night. Whatever... its all good.

For me, the night is an experience... its my Super Bowl Sunday of the year. I love the drive through NJ and PA when the leaves are turning colors. I love the Halloween-ish chill in their air. I love seeing old faces from many years ago, and seeing the reactions on the new faces that appear each year. I love running through the park, trying to squeeze in a ride on everything (which gets harder and harder each year as more and more rides stay open). I love the costumes, the gathering in the Phoenix Junction Steak House when they give prizes and announce the event's attendance, the bonfire and driving home tired but smiling. Instead of being a series of good things, it is one great moment for me. Just as it has been for the past decade or so that I have been attending.

If there is one thing that deserves comment, it is how the event has grown each year. When I first started going, there was just the Phoenix and a few other rides open. I remember riding the log flume in the rain with an umbrella and the "eerie-ness" of walking through the dark park, only seeing the occasional soul or two. I forget the exact number, but when I started going in the early 90's, there couldn't have been more than two or three hundred people there. Now, something like 1300 people descend upon Knoebels, and you can't walk anywhere without being with a crowd of people around you.

In some ways, its a bad thing. The event has lost some of the "intimacy" that it once had. Less people made the whole thing feel more "personal", like you knew each and every person in attendance and were guaranteed to get a ride on the Phoenix with each of them. Now, there are so many people that, at times, you see someone for the first time at the bonfire, shocked that you spent the whole night in the same park without seeing each other once. But there are just as many upsides to the increase in attendance... there are more costumes and more creativity amongst "the masked" to stand out and be noticed... there are many more rides open to help spread the crowds... there are new people to meet and create new memories with, which keeps each year from seeming like last year's event.

If you can find a way to go, then go. Sell lemonade on the side of the road. Get rid of those old valuable baseball cards on ebay. Do whatever, but make sure that you go, because it will be a memory that you will never forget.

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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002