Knoebels (6/22/2007)

Weather: Clear skies, hot

Who: Myself and my wife.

We got a late start and arrived at the park around 2pm. Driving into the park it looked crowded around the kiddie ride area that you can see from the road, but we found the parking lot about ¼ full (just the closest lots toward the park). First order of business was to stop and get a wrist band for me. Chele said she would just use up the old tickets we had from last year and buy new additional ones as needed. On the way to the main ticket window (just beyond the carrousel) we passed an odd site…. A ride at Knoebels that was down… Power Surge had a group of mechanics climbing all over it. Unusual, but no biggie for me since I am not all that fond of that ride (I don’t mind being inverted… but I don’t like being inverted with my entire body weight pressed against the restraints for an extended period of time).

After getting the wrist band we headed off for Phoenix. Running great as always. Fast runs, efficient operations. A 5 or 6 train wait for the front, a 2 or 3 train wait for other seats. 3 rides in a row. Still one of my favorite wooden coasters!

The next destination was Twister. Of course I never can walk to Twister from Phoenix with out stopping at the Flyers. We boarded and had a fun ride. Something sounded odd though. The motor sounded a bit “weak”… like it was on a lower speed. I thought it was because they were training a new op and they were just taking it easy on him, but came to find out a few days later from a post here on Coasterbuzz that a few days after our visit the Flyers were down for the day with a new motor being installed. Anyway, even running slow these are still the best flyers around. Unfortunately the her first ride on the Flyers turned out to be Chele’s last ride of the day as she got dizzy from the spinning and never quite recovered.

Twister was next… or was supposed to be next… but when we arrived in that section of the park we found the gate closed at the entrance and a train sitting on the lift. We waited around for a while, but no movement was seen so we back tracked to the Flyers. Five more rides on these things with some of the best snapping I ever managed to do. I suppose the strong breeze of the day more then compensated for the slightly slower speed of the motor!

While riding the flyers we heard the roar of Twister so we then returned there. Four rides, two in front, two in back. Were this coaster in most other parks, it would easily be the best coaster in the entire park… only the fact that it is in the same park as the incredible Phoenix puts this masterpiece in 2nd place! On my fourth ride, as the train entered the station it passed through a cloud of bluish-gray smoke that had a very metallic smell. Since it was very close to the camp ground, I first thought that perhaps some was having one nasty barbecue. However, when I got in line for ride 5, I found that the ride was down with maintenance checking out the area near the station breaks. Not sure if the puff of acrid smelling smoke and this problem were related or not. After waiting about 5 minutes an announcement was made that the ride was going to be down for a while and we could either wait or have our tickets (for those using tickets) refunded. I chose not to wait.

Back toward Phoenix but only after stopping for lunch / dinner at the food stand (not sure if it has a name) next to Phoenix. I love those Prime Rib sandwiches! Two more rides on Phoenix followed. On my final ride on Phoenix there was an Amish family of three (father, son, daughter) waiting behind me. The son looked to be about 8 and he wanted to ride with his father, so when I sat down they asked if I minded a passenger in my car and boarded. I don’t know why, but I find it kind of odd to be coasting with the Amish. That’s never even happened to me at Dutch Wonderland! (sorry, bad joke).

Anyway, we had been at the park a few hours and we knew we had a 2 hr drive ahead of us and two dogs waiting at home to be fed and let out side, so we decided to then call it a day. As we walked toward the parking lot, Chele saw me looking at Down Draft so she said, “No line, grab a quick ride”. Okay, I must be getting old and losing my nerve… all I could think of while riding with its ejector seat air when the cars drop toward the ground was “Could I hang on and stay in the car if the restraints would pop open?” I decided to tighten my grip on the restraints, as futile as that would probably be if the ride decided to send me flying.

And that brought to an end yet another great day at Knoebels (as if there were any other kind).

*** Edited 7/2/2007 6:48:36 PM UTC by SLFAKE***