Knoebels 8-24-2022

I got the chance to go to Knoebels and thought it was awesome. We went with my son, his girlfriend and her parents who grew up in the area so it was like we had our own personal tour guides. We started with Haunted Mansion. Very well done theming and lots of fun. Then we rode Pheonix. Nice air time. We headed to Black Diamond but it was closed but we did go through the mining and park museum later in the day. We also walked through the carousel museum which was small but interesting. They had a horse from a Prior and Church racing derby like Cedar Downs. Flying Turns was a neat experience. With Cedar Point being my home park I already have experience with a trackless bobsled style coaster in the past but this felt more wild and out of control. This would be the longest line we waited in all day but it was worth it. I think 40 minutes or so. Then Twister...Oh I loved Twister. My favorite in the park for sure. It was everything Mean Streak could have been if it had been well designed. I rode it three more times at the end of the day. Impulse was interesting, it had some unnerving hang time. We had lunch at Pheonix Junction. The line was long so I rode Pheonix while my husband and son waited and ordered my food. I had the chicken Bella Burger. It was really good and filling. Shared some onion rings with my son, those were also really good. When I found out there was a pierogi stand I thought that was rather amusing. I meant to get a pierogi before we left but never got to it. Now I'm craving pierogi. We also rode the train. Seats are small but the ride was enjoyable. When our engineer shouted all aboard he stretched it out so long the guy sure had a set of lungs on him. I liked the way the train weaved through Twister and the woods and cottages. We also rode the bumper cars as a large group. The girlfriend's father was the self proclaimed bumper car champion. He used to spend hours there riding over and over because one of the ticket takers knew his dad and would wave him through for free. I've been missing bumper cars since Cedar Point got their new cars that suck so Knoebels cars were a real treat. Nice and heavy and fast like a bumper car should be. my husband and son and I were back in our element and didn't hold anything back. A stranger hit me a good one so we went back and forth with payback a few times and I got my son and husband pretty good. Everyone on the track during our time were really taking their bumping seriously and when our time was up the ride op announced it had been the best driving they had seen all day so far. If the day was longer I would have spent more time with the bumper cars. I miss Cedar Point's old cars. The new ones just aren't any fun. I'm sure the liability insurance company likes them but I don't. The cars at Knoebels were everything the cars at Cedar Point aren't.

The overall vibe of the park was really cool the way the rental cottages were almost integrated into the park in some spots and the casual campground county fair feel the park had. It felt so weird that people were just walking around with their dogs all over and I even saw someone riding the train with their dog. People watching the music show with their dogs sleeping under the bench...it was just such a different atmosphere than I'm used to at an amusement park and I loved it. If I lived close by I could see myself just going there for a couple hours to listen to music and people watch, like a mall but fun. Lots of facilities were clearly old but I felt everything was adequate and clean. I liked the big stone drinking fountains. The only complaint I can come up with for the whole visit was that the T-shirt stock was extremely sparse but being end of the summer and a small park I guess that's to be expected.