Knoebels Recovery 06/30/06

After seeing on the local news and the parks website that they were going to open as of 6pm for limited operations we decided we must go and show our support. The only problems we encountered on the way was finding some alternate routes to the park, since rt 487 was closed right at the bottom of the mountain leading to the park.

Once we pulled into the road leading into the park the amount of damage hits you right away. Kiddieland was hit hardest, and all of the rides are covered in mud and debris. The crushed stone paths are all but gone, and I am guessing that there are many electric motors needing to be replaced. I just hope the Stein and Goldstien merry-go-round did not suffer too much damage.

They did a great job of getting the back side of the park near Phoenix open, Twister was operating, as well as the Flume, Super Roundup, Antique Cars, Fandango, Cub Cars, Para-Drop, Tilt-A-Whirl, Tea Cups, Haunted Mansion, Comsotron, Paratrooper, Flyer, Power Surge, Downdraft, Rockin' Tug, Pioneer Train, Flying Tigers, Balloon Race, Merry Mixer and Giant Wheel.

Most surpising of all was that the Grand Carousel was open, although flood damage is evident by looking at the wood on the floor of the ride. I am just glad that after 1972 the park moved this ride up a little higher, and built a better drainage system under the structure.

All of kiddieland, as well as the Scooters, Flying Trapese, Whip, Galleon are not operational. The Motor Boats are stacked along the front entrance to the park, and ball crawl balls are scattered about the area.

The biggest cleanup effort is defiantely the Pool area, as it has approximately 2-3 feet of mud settled in places. The crew at the pool seems optimistic, telling guests that they are confident the pool will be open in a week or so. They have had to do this many times in the past, so I will take their word for it.

All in all we had a great time despite the damage, it was heartwarming to see crews working willingly late into the night to get the park ready to reopen fully.

We have some pictures of flood damage, and they can be seen at www.flickr.com/coastercub84 . I hope the best for the park, and hope to see it recover soon.

I just hope that the scooters are all right. Everyone talks about how great they are and to lose those old Lusse cars would be a terrible shame.

is anyone else having problems viewing the pictures?

anyway I hope they can bounce back from this. i'm planning a trip there in about a week and a half.

I was at the park tonight. I'd say the park is at least 85% operational. The only rides I notied were down were the Panther Cars, Kiddie Bumper Cars, Frog Hopper, Sky Slide, Jet Fighters, Carousel all in Kiddieland, Motorboats, Mini Golf, and the bridge that goes between the Old Mill Ice Cream Stand and Grand Carousel. The remote control boats near the Bumper Cars are closed too.

Aside from those rides being down and the some of the railing along the creek being bent, missing and roped off you would never know that most of the park was under several feet of water! I didn't see any water markers around the park yet.

^That's good to hear that the cleanup is progressing. :-)

-Tina

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SmurfRacer said:
is anyone else having problems viewing the pictures?

anyway I hope they can bounce back from this. i'm planning a trip there in about a week and a half.

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Yup, same here I get the page cannot be found message. But I agree it's great how fast they came back, amazing. I guess they are going to replace some of the railings that were bent?

But how are the swans doing? :)