CoasterBuzz Podcast #194 posted

^^Carrie, I edited my post.

And to Toro, Jill said she's misjudged you and is sorry. Not riding with AVMatt in your car can make a big difference. I do remember Dave A. putting a price on "sensoring" each seat on Toro, and it was ridiculous cheap as I recall.

Come ON, GAdv, fix that situation so we can ride one of the greatest coasters ever in a more comfortable fashion! Kthxbye! :)

Edit: Bryan! Hey man, great to hang out...."Gator" gets used so much that "Bill" is almost an afterthought to ME at this point....:~P

rollergator said:
edit: Darnit Carrie! LOL! I get kinda overwhelmed - too many friends and acquaintances amnd introductions all in one place at one time together with...."party festivities" makes for a lousy memory. Long story short, I suck... :( ;)

LOL. It's all good, buddy. Next time you won't be able to miss my sandwich board and bell. ;) I get what you mean, though; there are a lot of people to meet in a short amount of time.

No, I think in Gator's case the main culprit is the 'party festivities' - short term memory loss and such. ;)

^Skooter says Hi! ;)

After I get pics up, we'll have to have a redux of this thread so we can all have fun with my constant editing... :)

rollergator said:
Come ON, GAdv, fix that situation so we can ride one of the greatest coasters ever in a more comfortable fashion! Kthxbye! :)

So what is this about now? The sensors depend on the size of the people in the car? If it's a matter of putting them on each individual seat, I'm all for that. A ride as forceful as El Toro *cannot* be enjoyed with a lapbar as tight as I experienced in the front. Even the times I've been stapled on Maverick weren't nearly as painful.

Edit: While we were waiting, we occasionally heard the operator telling the hosts to check certain rows that weren't registering, and they'd do their best to push further down on the lap bar. In my case, the guy just did it right from the start.

birdhombre said:

That said, it's 2 against 1, and El Toro moved ahead of Ravine Flyer and Voyage for me. :)

ET easily became my favorite ride ever* last night. I got my very first ride in the last seat, left side, with a lap bar that had enough slack in it that I could reach under and adjust my phone in my pocket. I let them put it down for me, and that's where it stayed. At the bottom of the first drop, I may have nudged it a little tighter out of fear, but I won't admit that. :) It wasn't a "loose" ride, but there was certainly enough room for me to feel it over those hills.

Second ride was just as nice, back seat, right side. I could live in that seat.

Well, for those of us who WEREN'T at PPP...

Box wine has a bad stigma, but there is indeed some decent wine available in box form. Boxes are a LOT less expensive to ship than bottles (cardboard and plastic being much cheaper than that heavy inefficient glass stuff ;) ) so it's possible to offer good wine at a lower cost. It keeps better too if you're not going to finish the bottle in a reasonable amount of time.

That said, we buy ours in bottles, and will do so until labels such as Coppola and Kendal Jackson offer boxes (if they do, we haven't seen them in PA).

(Not even remotely a wine expert/snob, we just have a few labels we know and like...)

gator, you have 363 days to memorize all the faces on that group pic. (gator telling everyone to line up was my only interaction with him for the day.) Everyone says Knoebels is a little park, but it's amazing how you could go the entire day without seeing somebody you know is there. Especially when they could only be at one of 3 or 4 rides.

Knoebels is FAR from a 'little' park in my mind. I didn't even see half of it! But you're right about not seeing people even when they're at 1 of 4 rides. How much time did we spend around the Flyers, and didn't run into people?

Coppola

I've only tried one or two of these, but I was Not Impressed. KJ, on the other hand, is usually reliable.

The Coppola Diamond Collection Claret is great. Haven't been ultra-impressed with the others I've tried.

As far as box wine (or cask wine as the more expensive ones call it) try Black Box or some of the higher end Australian ones. I was on a box wine kick for awhile, but have since been stuck on Folie a Deux's Menage a Trois Red and it's only in bottles.

Yeah, Black Box is the Riesling in my fridge now. Granted, that's a cold summer wine anyway, so taste isn't as critical, but I still dig it.

birdhombre said:
So what is this about now? The sensors depend on the size of the people in the car?

If any bar in the car isn't satisfying the sensors, the control panel says the car isn't locked. So the ops then proceed to lower every bar in the car until the sensor clears. When there are 5 tiny people and 1 tall/large person in the car, it's obvious which bar isn't clearing the sensor, but when there is more than one tall/large person in the car, everyone tends to get stapled until they find the right bar.

Gator's comment about me was referring to this. My long legs cause my knees to sit up high which makes it difficult to lower the lapbar low enough to appease the sensor. Thus the only way I am allowed to ride the thing is if I am stapled, which results in me not feeling the airtime, outside of the 4 really good hills, and usually means other people in the car get stapled too, even though they are already in the clear.

Clint, you actually saw most of the park, but the layout is so easy to get lost in that it's hard to get a sense of the size and spatial relationships of all the rides. Even I can't draw a map of the place.

Gator, I distinctly remember introducing Carrie to you. LOL

LOL, next time someone introduce me to Carrie before the "lunch break". I see you, Carrie, in the group shot directly behind me! ;)

Matt, I love hanging with you and always enjoy our time together - I just want you in a different car on Toro...until they implement Dave's fix, that is. :)

Yeah, when Matt and I both ride, we both get stapled (but we can both ride, so I guess that's a good thing). Seriously, They could do so much better in designing the restraints. I want stock in the company Intamin buys their sensors from.

rollergator said:
LOL, next time someone introduce me to Carrie before the "lunch break".

I've never had any desire to do PPP, but your account of the day keeps getting more and more persuasive. :)

^Gonch....here's my "pretty persuasion" (TM-REM). http://www.flickr.com/photos/rollergator/sets/72157625026573401/

In Family Guy lingo, I'm what they call a "leafer". The colors on those trees is nothing short of spectacular every October....then again, I guess it's not that big a deal to most everyone else, LOL. But Knoebels *and* virtually all my "coaster friends" *and* the leaves changing - it's an annual no-brainer, IMO.

Since it was a PPP trip, there's also a GAdv Frightfest set and one of pics from the Philly blow-thru (Jim's Steaks and Liberty Bell Center). FWIW, Jim's destroys Pat's or Geno's.

rollergator said:

FWIW, Jim's destroys Pat's or Geno's.

Amen to that. Just about every cheesesteak place in Philly I like better than Pat's or Geno's. I have friends in Northeast Philly and every place I have tried up there has been really good. Steve's in particular comes to mind.

As for PPP, this is my third year attending and I still have no idea who anyone is on here. :)

April, you need to tell us you're going to be there and we'll be sure to meet up with you!

Was just listening to the podcast...

There are several hotels/motels in Danville. I highly recommend the Hampton for a very comfy bed or the old standby for many of us is the Red Roof. It's only about a 20-minute drive from Knoebels. Unless we can secure a MUCH better cottage for next year, I will be going back to the Red Roof or Hampton myself. Many of us have gotten Red Roof rooms the last few years for under $60 a night. I believe the Hampton goes for about $100. You just have to reserve before September or you may be out of luck.