Is Knoebel's a Snoozefest?

when you gonna ban this troll, Its just plain stupid. Porn and Coasters don't mix of course Tina would dissagree and Coastermoms writing a book about coasters and sex LOL

Just following Coaster Reimer's "logic" here:

Knoebels = snoozefest
Knoebels fan = porn addict

therefore

Knoebels = porn

Now that's something I can agree with! ;)

Im sure *DICK* would be proud!

The only mistake I can find in Dan's post: There IS a top-10 coaster in Elysburg! :)

But I *do* need to get some bumper-car paybacks on ALL of you who were at PPP during the mini- marathon. Between that and the Phlyers and Phoenix (and HSTC), my back was sore for over a week. Good Times! :)

Snoozefest? For some. For me, it's a DREAM!

*** Edited 4/28/2006 3:28:46 AM UTC by rollergator***

Knoebels is one of the few parks where I lost myself and became immersed in the experience totally forgetting about my day to day reality. It was much like my visit to Rye Playland.

I showed up right at dusk after the infamous and lengthy mountain drive, which was captivating in itself. The sun set and the twinkly lights came on while a MASSIVE storm brewed just over the hills unbeknownst to me. Two hours later after numerous incredible Phoenix and Twister rides as well as the INSANELY WONDERFUL flying scooters and other flats, the wind whips up while I'm stuck at the top of the Ferris Wheel and riders are hurriedly unloaded. I finally get off and run to a shelter while the rain POURS. Lightning and thunder crashing all around. I decided to make a dash to the carousel (my first brass ring grab!) and then somehow stumbled upon the exit to the Haunted House. After asking if it was open and not realizing it was an upcharge, the ride ops let me ride for FREE. Needless to say I had a very memorable Knoebels experience. Some people "get it", some people just don't and probably never will. You might even say my experience was like a dream, so therefore like Moosh I'll happily snooze away.

Yeah by the way, what happened to TeknoClint? It suddenly occured to me just the other day I haven't seen him post in what seems like a VERY long time.

*** Edited 4/28/2006 3:59:29 AM UTC by thrillerman1***

I've been to Knoebels twice. First time was back in 2004 and came away from there with anticappointment. I have read so much on how this park is *great* and walked away feeling something different. The ride are *great*, best train ride ever. But to me it felt like a glorified county fair. Guess I am used to the SFGAm's and CP's. Mind you I did have a great time but just didn't get the feeling there.

Now back in PloodPhest of 2005 (PPP) with a great group of FF peeps I had a blast and loved the park. Sometimes time spent at parks with othere people give it that sentimental value!

Iggy

well i live about an hour and 15 minutes from knoebels and i have to say i go there every year with my son and he has a great time and i do also. maybe its just the fact that he has a good time that makes it worth wild but hey i love Twister and Phoenix plus the fact that it doesnt have that commercial feel to it. Hey, Flying turns are coming also, what more do ya want? *** Edited 4/28/2006 4:55:02 AM UTC by robert mosley***

... to be about 13 hours closer. ;)

Try about 3,000 miles closer! ;)

I'm glad I discovered Knoebel's on my own before I was an enthusiast and was able to formulate my own opinions. Even though I enjoy the park very much and look forward to return visits, I must admit, if I was going to Knoebels for the first time after digesting all the hype that is gets in the enthusiast's community, I would probably be disappointed, not in the park, but in the fact that nothing could possibly live up to those expectations.

I'm also glad that I put Phoenix in my top five before I ever saw coaster polls or rankings.

But, having been there and smelled the gravy, there are a few things I don't get--I don't get the excitement about the High Speed Thrill Coaster--come on, its a kiddie coaster! If people raved that much about Woodstock Express, they would be laughed off the board. As far as starter coasters go, IMHO, the best ever was the Dipper at KW which was wiped out when Ragiding Rapids was built.

My only complaint about the park is no matter how close you are to the area, it seems like it takes forever to get there. But, I'm sure people feel the same way about getting to KW.

Ed

(Who gets a kick out of Impul-sive daring to push the envelope--maybe he'll get excited when CP annouces they are building a launched version of the flying turns as "Maverick")

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Coastin Reimer said:
porn addicts

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You know, everyone is entitled to their own opinion about parks. You don't have to like Knoebel's. You can even have valid reasons why not (as Gonch demonstrated).

But stupid posts like this? Well, that's another story...

Yeah, stupid posts don't exactly prove what youre trying to push on us, they just make you seem... really really pathetic and lessen the chances (even more) that somebody will ever side on you.

Its people like this that I don't think crave attention, they WANT to be hated, its obvious. This could also somehow be rooted in sexual fetish as well ( ie getting your jollies off of other people's dislike, and on a coaster site no less, I can see it now "oh HATE me you big woodie lover you..." ). So whose the porn addict NOW? Hm?

;) *** Edited 4/28/2006 12:47:49 PM UTC by P18***

A few years ago, I started building a model amusement park. At the time, I had never visited Knoebels. I just built the park based on my own ideas on what I liked as well as from inspiration from other parks that I liked. When I showed somebody pictures of the model, they commented that it reminded them a lot of Knoebels. When I finally did visit Knoebels, it felt strangely familiar to me. I think we all have this vague undefined image in our heads of what something, *anything* should be like and we use that image when forming opinions. Apparently, My vague generic image of an amusement park is something a lot like Knoebels. The atmosphere and charm is so thick you can cut it with a knife.

The magic of Knoebels is hard to pin down and nearly impossible to put into words. Calling Dick Knoebel a "tool" is an unbelievable insult as I don't think you could find somebody with a deeper love or knowledge about the amusement industry. That goes for John Fetterman and the entire Knoebels staff as well. Bragging about Twister is so far removed from the meaningless marketing slogans and other crap you hear from amusement parks all the time: El Toro is the greatest woody in the world, Cedar Point has the best [insert anything] on the planet, or those old Six Flags commercials comparing themselves to Disneyland. Knoebels had built two solid respectable rides nearly entirely as in-house projects and now they're undertaking a third. Despite the petty rankings and ranting opinions of enthusiasts, I think both coasters were very successful for the park, and there probably aren't many parks that have the ability, skill, passion, or desire to take on such projects. It's that kind of dedication and devotion that earns respect from me.

But it is so much more than that. Far from "playing the nostalgia card", Knoebels is authentic and genuine. If you look at old pictures of the park, you'll see that it has changed a lot over the years, and there are a number of modern rides if anybody took the time to look. But the real joy is with the older rides, true amusement park antiques that they lovingly maintain, not to keep a nostalgic atmosphere necessarily, They may be old and nostalgic but that doesn't mean they aren't great fun and popular rides. And last year they restored the Looper! Maybe the only operating example of it's type. And it's not a curiousity to fit in a nostalgia theme. Knoebels has that rare deep knowledge of the amusement industry and history to know what kind of ride they want and they have the skill to make what they want happen. Does it matter to 90% of the guests that the ride is old and nostalgic? Probably not. All they know is it is a ride they never saw before but is great fun to ride.

The big mega-parks are too perfect and sanitized for me. Despite the huge amounts of cash thrown into theming and rebuilding, they all seem a bit homogeneous and bland. I like to see the passage of time and a sort of "organic flow" about a place that speaks to it's history. A bit of rotted wood here and there, gravel paths, peeling paint, all coupled with newer repairs, new construction, and improvements are interesting to me. It brings the place down to a human scale that shows the park is owned, built, and maintained by people, not some faceless corporate boardroom who quickly re-theme and repaint everything to match whatver prevailing fad or cartoon character is currently "in".

And Knoebels has incredible attention to detail. Look at the station for Twister! They just don't build stuff like that anymore. And how many people realize that some of the coaches on the Pioneer train came from Elitch Gardens where they used to travel by Mr. Twister and now they are passing underneath a close copy. How many park managers would even care about that? And there are so many other things from the lighted cupola on top of Phoenix to the clock tower (a copy of another tower that was once on top of a building in a nearby town). Everything is unique to the park, a slice of life, full of local history, rooted deep into the community. Not some one-size fits all mass market experience.

Knoebels is the type of park that I can visit and have a great time without riding anything at all. I don't pretend to know how they do it but I'm certainly glad they can.

As for the Flying Turns, I've had goosebumps ever since it was announced. I never thought I would have a chance to ride one of those. Sometimes I still think the images on the webcam are just my imagination. *** Edited 4/28/2006 1:12:33 PM UTC by millrace***

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Iggy ACE said:
I've been to Knoebels twice. First time was back in 2004 and came away from there with anticappointment. Iggy

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Knoebels is a peculiar place you either get it or don't. I don't. They have wonderfully classic rides run by cranky people that are almost robots. Sure, there are a few standouts, like the bumber car guy and the coaster crews but in general the ride ops at Knoebels are cold, impersonal and almost invisible.

I still enjoy Knoebels because I go with friends, but I still wonder how people get so enamored with Knoebels.

What particularly bugs me is the people that claim that Knoebels has better customer service than a six flags park or a cedar fair park. I say BULL! Do this experiment next time you hit the big "K"

Say hello how are you to the ride ops, my experience is that they usually just stare at you like you're some fool from the city. Or, they don't respond at all!

I like Knoebels.

The parks in what I call "reasonable day trip driving distance ("RDTDD") to me are as follows, in no particular order: Knoebels, Hersheypark, Dorney Park, (now defunct?) Williams Grove, Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags America, Clementon, Dutch Wonderland, DelGrossos and Lakemont.

Given the chance, out of all of those, eventhough Hershey is the closest and Great Adventure is the biggest, I would still pick Knoebels.

Main reasons: Atmosphere, Phoenix, Twister, Haunted House, Flyers.

That being said... IF Knoebels would NOT be with in "RDTDD", I don't know if I would be so keen on it and I am not sure if it would be on my "twice a season at least" list. I will admit though, after my first visit, I wasn't quite sure what to think. It is kind of "down home". While Kennywood has gone out of its way to make (at least part of) its park look like something from the early 20th centurey (i.e. Lost Kennywood), Knoebels looks like it got stuck somewhere in the 1950's or 1960's. Knoebels reminds me of my very earliest memories of Hershey Park (including a dark green painted Herb Schmeck masterpiece of a coaster) before that park made the transition from "amusement park" to modern "theme park" (including the name change to Herhseypark as well).

Then again, to each his own. Of the parks we visited on our vacation last year, I would take Indiana Beach, Geauga Lake, and even probably Michigan's Adventure over that big park on that penninsula sticking out into Lake Erie by Sandusky, Ohio. It's all relative I suppose.

Or perhaps it is as SpecialEd said...

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I'm glad I discovered Knoebel's on my own before I was an enthusiast and was able to formulate my own opinions....if I was going to Knoebels for the first time after digesting all the hype that is gets in the enthusiast's community, I would probably be disappointed, not in the park, but in the fact that nothing could possibly live up to those expectations.

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I might fall into that category as well. Even living this close to Knoebels, it took me from 1965 to 1999 to finally get there!

Up to that time, my park experience was mainly Hersheypark (though at that time my last visit there was even 10 years earlier), with visits to Great Adventure and Busch Gardens: The Old Country in the 1970's and one to Dorney in 1980... along with the pier rides at Ocean City MD. I went there with limited knowldege the first time... I knew of Phoenix and the (new) Twister, as well as the "legendary" Haunted House, but I didn't know of anything else... didn't even know of the flyers until AFTER my first visit and I started reading about them on line. Not having many pre conveived notions, I was pleasantly surprised and I fell in love with the place.

Had I grown up on the cement jungles of corporate theme parks, I may have thought differently. *** Edited 4/28/2006 1:27:04 PM UTC by SLFAKE***

Ok, I'm glad I missed this thread when it was hot. I just logged on this morning and see this sucker at the top and my blood began a-percolatin. I can respect anyones opinion on a park (see Gonch) as long as they can back it up. This, however, was obviously an attempt to just stir things up, which was successful, but after reading through everything, and clicking on a certain someones name and discovering that there is no info, I have calmed down now and can move on with life. I'm sure all of you know how I feel about Knoebels, but then again I have yet to go to ANY park and come away saying I don't like it or didn't have a good time. Good to hear all the positive stuff about DW too as I will be there for the first time on May 27th.

Tom

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SpecialEd said:
But, having been there and smelled the gravy, there are a few things I don't get--I don't get the excitement about the High Speed Thrill Coaster--come on, its a kiddie coaster! If people raved that much about Woodstock Express, they would be laughed off the board.

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Woodstock doesn't have the right layout, OR a variable-speed lift....but like Runaway Ore Cart from SDC, those HiLlY layouts, when combined with a good fast RUN up the lifthill, can provide QUITE the exciting ride. Knoebels is the only place I know of that takes a "kiddie" coaster then BLASTS it around the course...

I think Sherman...er I mean Peabody got it right a few posts back....you know...about Fatreimeronthecouch? ;) haha....porn addicts....hahhah

Right on Fatman! We coaster buffs crave the excitement. ;)

I think part of the HSTC charm is the fact that it's the only one of it's kind left too, but that might not do it for some people either. I like those rare rides. Kangaroo and Turtle at KW, Caterpillar at Idlewild, any Whip, they all seem to be in PA though!

Tom

Haven't gotten to Idlewild (yet!), but Canobie also has a fully-operational Caterpillar...excited me as much as any credit I got on the New England trip.

Of course, if SFGE had had a smaller crowd, I could see myself marathoning that indoor Anton for hours on end... ;)

Knoebels is definitely a park for folks (like me) who get a kick out of nostalgia... :)