Coupla Notes From Hershey 6/14 and Knoebels 6/15

Not gonna do a full-fledged trip report, but I wanted to note a few things:

I went to Hershey with a small group that included two autistic 20-somethings. We were able to get exit passes for our group with no limitations. We had two rides on SkyRush, but it was was intermittent throughout the day..there was downtime. While I found the ride very intense and fun, I did indeed feel the pain. It did not linger, though, and the only pain I have in my legs is from walking so much for two days. I was very happy to find two food outlets that served fresh brewed unsweetened iced tea. Not only that, they had fresh lemon and Sweet and Low, which sometimes I can't even find in restaurants. Found awesome onion rings, too.

I think Sidewinder has a new train with a new type of OTSR, soft rubberish. I can't believe I took two consecutive rides on a Boomerang, but they were actually very smooth circuits (relatively speaking.) Used the exit route on Fahrenheit and SkyRush only. Two of my party wanted a last ride on SkyRush. One, a former ride op at BGE and elsewhere, claimed he figured out the secret to avoiding the ThighCrush. I did not test his theory, continuing my tradition in recent years of closing down Lightning Racer with multiple runs. It's my favorite nighttime ride. I've always said it gives the illusion of being about 20mph faster at night..dunno why.

Stayed over night with my ex and the two autistic persons, and made it to Knoebels yesterday about 12:30. I'm one of those people in the minority that vastly prefers Twister to Phoenix, and yesterday was no exception. Twister was flying for all our six rides. Phoenix actually delivered a pretty solid ride, which it always does. We only grabbed one.

I rode the carousel twice, the second time securing an outside horse. This was my intent, as I had never rode it before, and it was the first time I've ever had the opportunity to do the brass ring grab. I pulled 8, which I considered pretty good for a first- time- in-my- life experience.

Although I have no SPECIFIC memory of riding Gold Nugget at Wildwood as a child, I know I did. It would have had to be one of my first coasters, so I was really looking forward to it. It didn't disappoint, and I enjoyed it a lot. All of the scenes seemed to be working, and I especially liked the revolving tunnel near the end. Two things, though, about the facade. The building itself looks wrong for the ride...no theming to speak of, looks like a warehouse. And, maybe I missed something, but I saw no signage indicating the ride's name!!

Kozmo's Kurves is a worthy successor to the late, lamented High Speed Thrill Coaster that formerly occupied the space. Yanked me up and down like a yo-yo, it did.

We finished with an awesome-as-usual session on the Skooters. Honestly, I almost forgot about them (blasphemy, I know) I remembered them as we were about to board Twister, (with the plan of one more on that, then leaving.) A jaunt on Knoebels' Skooters may be the most physically draining and exhausting ride experience anywhere..love it!! For some reason, the group before we got on was given thre separate cycles/start-ups. I'm not exaggerating when I say they were on (and moving for most of) 12-13 minutes. My cycle was close to 5, I think.

Was also supposed to have gone to GAdv Wednesday, but my companion backed out last second (literally..I was five minutes from her apartment en route to picking her up.)

Great trip report, Mike! I DID notice the new restraints on Sidewinder when I was there with a small group of friends a few weeks ago. They're nice because they totally eliminate headbanging, and they're nice and soft, but they still feel secure. I wanted to ride Sidewinder again, actually, but I couldn't because no one in my group liked the backwards track.

I agree with you about Lightning Racer at night, and it is so beautiful with all those lights everywhere twisting in and under the existing structure...I usually either power ride Lightning Racer on the Lightning side or I hit Storm Runner as many times as I can...it all depends on my mood, but LR is a fantastic ride and is definitely my second favorite wood (Toro still being the first).

I am glad that you enjoyed Skyrush. It is a great ride, but for me, I'm gonna have to agree with Carrie, who said that while the coaster has potential to be a mindblowing ride, it loses much of its joy because I dread the pain of each airtime hill.

Kosmos Kurves IS a great little ride, isn't it? I rode it because I was being a credit ho', but I was shocked by that first little drop being as forceful as it was, and I make all my nieces and nephews ride it now so I can ride with them. I haven't ridden the new ride yet, but I'm lookin forward to it.

I'm actually with you on Twister over Phoenix. I LIKE Phoenix, but I almost feel like the airtime is so closely spaced on Phoenix that you're still coming down when the train rises back up and it can feel sort of jarring. Twister, in my opinion, is beautiful, unique, and very interesting in layout and pacing.

Sorry your pal ditched you for Great Adventure. You should have gone by yourself though! It is actually more fun in some ways because then you only have you to agree with on what to do next.

Anyway, sounds like you had a great time! I'm envious! Looking forward to reading your next report.

Bunky666, I often AM by myself at parks, so, yeah, I know what you're saying. I'd been looking forward to going, because when I took Donna last year for her first visit in around 20 years, we got on two rides.

You and I seem to have similar wood taste..Toro's my favorite ride too.

I also neglected to mention the awesome french fries I had at the food court near Phoenix. They were the best I've ever had in a park, and, yes (warning, more blasphemy and heresy ahead) I HAVE been to Kennywood.

And soon, we won't even have to say the name SkyRush aloud to ID the coaster. We'll just point to both thighs with both hands and grimace..sign language, if you will, as demonstrated by the gestures of many, many (many) people I saw getting off the ride.

Mike Gallagher said:

Two things, though, about the facade. The building itself looks wrong for the ride...no theming to speak of, looks like a warehouse. And, maybe I missed something, but I saw no signage indicating the ride's name!!

The building looks kind of like a coal cracker. They probably should've added some fake equipment sticking out the top of it or something, though. I'm not sure if I saw a sign anywhere either! I think there's a sign somewhere on the facade behind the loading track somewhere saying something like "Black Diamond Mining Company", though.

I did see a sign to the effect, Jim. But considering how the ride is tucked away in a corner like it is, they should have something more noticeable, an entranceway type thing.

Mike Gallagher said:
Bunky666, I often AM by myself at parks, so, yeah, I know what you're saying. I'd been looking forward to going, because when I took Donna last year for her first visit in around 20 years, we got on two rides.

And soon, we won't even have to say the name SkyRush aloud to ID the coaster. We'll just point to both thighs with both hands and grimace..sign language, if you will, as demonstrated by the gestures of many, many (many) people I saw getting off the ride.

Yeah, if I do take people with me, they better be pretty hardcore, or it is a waste of time for me. I stop and smell the roses, but at the same time, I didn't drive multiple hours and drop probably hundreds of dollars to stand around and do nothing.

Skyrush: excellent thought. :)

Well, I have never been to Kennywood, so to me, you are not blaspheming at all. I have no basis for comparison. I miss the Boardwalk Fries at Hershey though, so glad to know there are still good fries somewhere.

I also go to parks alone most of the time although not entirely by choice. None of my friends have any interest in going, even though I have tried over the years, even offering to take a friend for free last year using a bring a friend free coupon from my season pass booklet from Great Adventure.

It is nice being able to ride whatever I want as many times as I want to though.

Yoshi, yeah, even my friends who like coasters are not really so into them that they'll go with me on a whim, and most of them have kids now even if they WERE the impulsive crazy enthusiasts that I am still today. I am lucky that my husband likes coasters enough that he is willing to go to Universal this July as an anniversary vacation, but even HE rarely wants to go to the parks (really hoping they'll let me wear my GoPro cam...haven't called the park yet to check). I keep meaning to contact some Buzzers to see if they wanna get together, but like I said, I'm a little impulsive with it and can rarely say where I'm gonna go until I get up in the morning and go.