Knoebels First Time and Twister!

Yes, first trip here. What an awsome park! Dick Knoebel gave us a 1 hour tour via golf cart. Saw the whole resort, cabins, recycle plant, even the new restrooms. They are proud of everything. Dare I say busy, but they had 20 caterings going on.

I expected a hillside parking lot like Idlewild, but was suprised to see a former airfield converted to parking lot. They must need it with picnic capacity for 11,000 at once. Very impressive.

Food. Had pieroghies, fries, pizza, pulled pork. All excellent. 8/10. Played about 6 games. Is there an arcade here? 7/10. Great retail shops. No two buildings are alike. Plenty of selection and friendly staff.

Here is what I rode. Pioneer Train? Long ride past Phoenix. If a bear ate the engineer, we wouldn't stop. Phoenix. Much longer ride than it looks. Very smooth. Fast. 9/10. Giant Flume. Long, and great rapids section. 9/10.

Walked through the Carousel Museum. Like this Trading Post gift shop. Toy guns. Excellent. Pool looked beautiful. Only about 6 people there due to rain.

Rode Roto Jets. Great. 8/10. Haven'r rode them since Cedar Point in 1980. Rode Looper. 8/10. I weigh more than my engineer brother, so he didn't think it was as funny as I did. 7/10. Haunted House. Quite long for an in house project. Everything worked. 9/10. It lived up to its legend.

I intentially skipped attractions for the next visit. Next time, I will hit the Giant Wheel, Skyride, Bumper Cars, Coal and Knoebels Museum, and the coal fired train. Also thought the guy cutting wood for fuel, and the speed boats were worth a second look.

Rode the High Speed Thrill Coaster. Crazy ride for kids. 6/10. Finally, did the Twister. VERY POWERFUL. The ride's lateral turns are strong, the split lift has a great curve, the drops are steep. The double helix totally destroys the Beast's helix set up. This ride is relentless from start to finish.

Placing the station inside the helix was genius, giving the show to soon to be riders. Hitting the brake run hard and fast, and the fact its friction brakes makes it smooth. No stupid seatbelts either. Powerful ride indeed. 10/10.

I rank it in the top three with the Thunderbolt, Georgia Cyclone, and Villian. But ahead of the Great White and CLP Blue Streak. Wow. Worth the drive. I want to visit this place again soon. 9.5/10.

An awesome and accurate review of Knoebels. Glad it was everything you expected and more. Take that, Knoebels-is-a-snoozefest-guy! ;)

Glad you had a great time, and nice quick TR. That tour must have been pretty cool, and they do take pride in everything there, which is a very good thing and they have alot to be proud of. You already have alot to look forward to next time, as well as any of the other crazy flat rides if you're into those (Power Surge, Fandango, Downdraft, etc). The Crystal Pool is also alot of fun (in better weather of course)

Is the coal-fired train Ol' Smokey? I always get the two trains confused. I hear there's the Pioneer Train and then there is also Ol' Smokey (I guess that's how you spell it). Do they run on the same track or are they totally different?

John Moore

They are totally different. The Pioneer is the longer of the 2 at 1.5 miles. Ole' Smokey is on the other side of the park and is much shorter, and is run on coal I believe.

http://www.knoebels.com/images/map2003_03.jpg

Even though that map is very out-dated (Knoebels REALLY needs to update the map on their site) you can see the 2 trains. The Pioneer is the one near the pool and goes off the map to the left. The Ole'Smokey goes around the top left side of the park. *** Edited 9/6/2006 5:03:41 PM UTC by P18***

This makes me want to go to PPP again this year. I just found out I have another engagement that day and was crushed.

Instagram, Ryan Rides on YouTube

Heading there this weekend. Great to hear the coasters running well. Flying Turns will be sooo close to completion, it will be hard not to stay and watch for its completion.

Flying Turns is no where near completion. They still have to spec the footers for the lift hill. It will be ready for next season, more or less.

Yeah, nowhere close to being done. I think the park is shooting for the beginning of next season but that might not even happen. You have to keep in mind that the Flying Turns is a prototype and the park is basically learning as they go along (with a lot of expert help from Mr. Fetterman & Mr. Adams).

Glad you enjoyed your first trip to Knoebels. It's always interesting to hear someone's reaction after years of hearing how great the place is. Too bad you missed the bumper cars but as long as you're planning on going back...

Another Twister fan. Love that ride!

AV Matt
Long live the Big Bad Wolf

Actually I forgot the Bumper Cars. Shame on me. But, already out the car, and raining, well, they will be better next time. Twister was screaming over the wet rails.

I thought the rides I had on Twister on Sunday were the best I've had all season. Hope they're even better in 31 more days. :)

Didn't take a nap on the benches near Phoenix? ;)

I'll never forget my first trip to KG and a marathon on Twister...that ride is more comfortable in water than most ducks...*pure* genius...great to hear it's "ready"... :)

Is it time to start the PPP clock?

*** Edited 9/7/2006 5:42:41 AM UTC by rollergator***

Agent Johnson said:

Is there an arcade here?
Finally, did the Twister. VERY POWERFUL. The ride's lateral turns are strong, the split lift has a great curve, the drops are steep. The double helix totally destroys the Beast's helix set up. This ride is relentless from start to finish.

There is an arcade called Playland. It has a few skeeball lanes, DDR, some pinball machines, and a bunch more popular games. Its located next to the Grand Carousel.

Good TR, I'm glad to hear that you liked me! ;) Twister seems to be running much smoother and with more force than in previous years. The turn into the helix is awesome... crazy negative and lateral G's simultaneously!

-TwisTer

Twister is one of those rides that seems to get better each year. I think it's a very "cerebral" ride because only if you pay close attention do you begin to notice the subtle design details that make the ride so great (like that incredible little "pop" hill before the turn into the underground tunnel.) The only thing Twister has going against it are the long switchbacks to and from the station, which make quick re-rides virtually impossible, unless there is no line so the ride-ops can let you keep your seat provided no one else is waiting for it.

Twister is also one of those rides where there there is a striking difference between a front and back seat ride.

rollergator said:

Is it time to start the PPP clock?
quote]
You didn't start October 9, 2005??? :)
Personally, I like the walk down the ramp. If you time it right, you hit the landings just as the next train makes its two passes through the helix.
Unfortunately, it seems the bigger impediment to a quick re-ride is the fact that too many people have no clue how many tickets they need for the ride. (And they're not locals, because we know it's $2.20!)

lol. I usually remember it's $2.20, but I also usually just buy a bunch of phoenix and twister tickets from the start to make it easier.

The last time I used tickets for the ride it was only $2! I'm surprised they increased the Twister price, actually. I was guessing they would raise the price of Phoenix to $2 to make the two coasters the same.

/\ I was thinking the same thing actually since Flying Turns was sure to be about $2.00, but Phoenix is still at $1.80.

Yeah, it is a little weird that the two coasters are still different prices. I think they should be the same.

I forgot that no POP was offered on Labor Day. We ended up buying $100 worth of tickets which gets you 10% off and 4 of us had a hard time using them over the course of 7 hours, even though lines were generally light.