Associated parks:
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Properly filled with awesome pancakes, we were off to Knoebel's. This was the third PPP for Matt and myself; Lori was attending her 2nd PPP, and Liz was at her first (although she had been to Knoebel's before).
We arrived at the park around 2pm, having stopped off at the hotel to check in first. We quickly registered for the event and each bought a $10 book of tickets, and we were off.
Of my three PPP's, this was by far the best weather I've seen. It was also the most fun for me in terms of seeing so many familiar faces, although I think my companions were getting a bit antsy at times when I'd stop to talk to someone
Wandering around the park, we hit Twister and Phoenix multiple times, as well as some of the great flatrides. We were able to get a ride on Power Surge with Kara and her crew, and witnessed one of the operators running over and grabbing one of the cars as they were released, giving them a spin before the ride even began. Downdraft was as intense as ever.
In all the times I've been to Knoebel's, I had never ridden the Cosmotron, but we fixed that this time. This is basically a completely enclosed Music Express style ride, running backwards as well as forwards. It was fun, although not as fast (or intense) as most actual Music Express rides.
By this time, 5pm was rolling around, and we had a few tickets left to burn. We hopped on the Paratrooper, but the cool op looked at our handstamps and said "Keep the tickets". Nice. Liz provided some entertainment for the evening when trying to hop up into her car when it rocked out from under her. She could have been hurt, but instead starting laughing like crazy, lightening up the mood for all of us even more.
From this point on, we would hit Phoenix multiple times (11 total for me on Saturday), and I also took a spin on Twister (4 total on the day). We also hit the Haunted Mansion, the train (which was cool in the dark), and of course the fabulous Skooters.
The other great part of PPP is, of course, the people. Now, there were a LOT of people there (I heard 1600? We didn't actually stick around for the bonfire, as we were planning on getting up early on Sunday to hit Dorney), but as a social event, that's not a bad thing. Over the course of the day, I saw an amazing number of people, including Tim, Dave, Julie, Alan, Sue, Rich, Steve, Robb, Elissa, Kara, Brad, Jess, Joe, Chris, Moosh, Adam, and so many other people -- if I didn't mention you by name, it's not to diss you, it's just that there were so many friends there I can't possibly name everyone. That's a big part of PPP, IMHO.
Well, that, plus the costumes. I really thought some of the costumes pushed "good taste" too far this year -- the Osama's Mammas group, for instance, just didn't seem to have any redeeming features, and I know a lot of other people felt the same. Some of the other costumes, though, were great -- the witches, the Haunted Mansion, the guy wearing the Phoenix cupola.
We also returned to the park on Sunday, after hitting Dorney, "on the way home" to Pittsburgh. Yes, that's the long way, but it was worth it -- we did still have tickets to burn, after all. ;) In fact, we actually ended up buying even more, riding Phoenix twice, and Twister, High Speed Thrill Coaster, Skooters, and Power Surge before really heading home.
The weekend was long, tiring, and worth every second. I already eagerly anticipate PPP '03.
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--Greg
"Now all I want is to find a way home, to warn Earth -- look upward, and share the wonders I see..."
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*** This post was edited by GregLeg on 10/8/2002. ***
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