On Saturday I woke up early and got ready to drive the 20 minutes to Knoebels. We got to the park about 45 minutes before opening. That gave us time to get to the handstamp booth and get in line before noon.
They were running an opening day deal buy one pass for $18 get one free. :) That included the woodies $14 without.
Knoebels did lots of construction to many of the shops. They have a brand new Funnel cake stand wher the old one was located anout triple the size of the original one. They also expanded the soft ice cream stand nearby too. Over at Cezari's pizza they doubled it's size as well. (that should help the lines at PPP for the pizza)
It was a bit chilly Saturday I don't think it reached more than 60 degrees. It was perfect weather for a sweat shirt (which I left at home).
A few ride prices went up this year. The most drastic I thought was the Whirlwind that went up .40 to $1.40. The Log Flume went up .20 to $1.40. Some food went up slightly as well but it's still cheaper and tastier than most other park food.
We were on the second or third train out on the Phoenix. The good ole Phoenix was in fine form enen early in the day. I rode in seat 3 several times that day. She was faster than ever in the turns and delivered it's typical monster air every where as usual. The off season track work really paid off.
Our next encounter was the Flyers. WOW! new paint on the tubs and the arms. I was a little worried about them slowing the rotation down but it was running as fast as ever. I took several laps on it snapping the cables like a maniac. What a fantastic ride. Deffinately the greatest Flying Scooters anywhere!
We then made our way to the Haunted Mansion. the stunts seemed to be a little darker than usual but it's still a great dark ride.
Twister was hell on rails early on too. She was screaming along every foot of the track. It's pretty good when you get air on the final hop as the train is on the brakes. Twister is running even better this year then the previous 2. After the train is sitting in the station you can still hear the under wheels still spinning! They say 3 years for a woodie to break in fully. Twisters broken in nicely. Another fantastic coaster.
Bumper cars were awsome as well. I got a few hard hits in and took a few as well. Nothing comes close to these 50's Lusse Auto Scooters.
It was time to grab somthing to eat so we went to the International food court. I grabbed a bison burger. I never would have guessed it was a buffalo at one time tasted just like a regular burger.
At this time it was time to meet up with Coasterbuzzer Gregleg at the Phoenix. He made the journey from Pittsburgh. We did a lap on the Phoenix then strolled around to other rides.
I saw the new Frog Hopper in kiddieland it looked like the little ones like it. I also found out that the new big ride "Downdraft" will be located somewhere near Skloosh.
We stayed at the park untill our handstamps expired at 6pm.
On Sunday I arrived at Knoebels solo around 1pm. It wasn't as crowed as the previous day a light crowd today.
I grabbed a $10 book of tickets and went for the Phoenix still running great. I took 2 quick trips. I also hit the Flyers twice then made my way to Twister. My buddy was collecting tickets so it was a free ride for me. :)
I didn't hit the Carousel yet this year so that was next on my list. My first ride of the year and I grabbed the brass ring!:) a hour or so later I took anoter ride and caught it again! :):):) 2 for 2!!!! :):):)My third trip I didn't catch it.
I also met up with Sam Marks and rode several rides and discussed the plans for our California trip next week!
I had two great days at Knoebels. I can't wait to get back in 3 or 4 weeks! :)
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Hello, My name is Dan and I'm a coasterholic.
Nice Signature. Great minds think alike
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My name is Jason, and I'm addicted to coasters.
I was there for about an hour on sat and for most of the day on sun. Funny think, I saw clair from gci in line for the train. The haunted house seems a lot different this year for some reason. It seems a bit darker. When I went to ride the phoenix near the end of the day there was nobody in line ANYWHERE! I couldn't believe it, me and my g/f were the only ones riding for about two laps.
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"Nippy!! Where the hell are ya?"
You're so lucky, you only have a 20 minute drive to Knoebels... its a two and a half hour drive for me, coming from northern NJ!
Glad to hear that Cesari's Pizza has expanded, they will definitely need that since more and more people are attending PPP each year! I'm also glad to hear that Phoenix and Twister are in fine form... but is anything less to be expected of Knoebels?
I have been eagerly awaiting my first Knoebels visit of 2001... now I am even more eager!
Hey, it's a 25 hour drive coming from Houston, TX - don't feel so bad.
Looking forward to hitting Knoebels as part of CoasterCon next month...
