Planning Knoebel's/Hersheypark trip in October

GayCoasterGuy said:

I've only been to the park twice and got lost both times. But that's a good thing - I like the layout. I will have no clue where to go once I get there. Maybe I should go to the park Friday night to get an idea of where the food places are - how late are the gates open?

I believe the park is open only from 10-6 on Friday. At least those are the hours for the Festival.

gator, maybe phairly phrigid by phlorida standards. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the mid to upper 40s according to local forecasters.

GayCoasterGuy said:

I've only been to the park twice and got lost both times. But that's a good thing - I like the layout. I will have no clue where to go once I get there.

If you have a smart phone, there is a Knoebels app that pinpoints your current location and assists you to everything in the park. With the short amount of time we had there, this proved to be very useful in finding all the must-do attractions quickly, in the dark.

Looks like there is a good chance (30-50%) of rain on Sat and Sunday. Bummer - but more reason to park close and bring a change of clothes I guess :)

RatherGoodBear said:
gator, maybe phairly phrigid by phlorida standards. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the mid to upper 40s according to local forecasters.

I'm not the one to ask about "standards", but to me 40s is COLD! ;~P

Decisions decisions... my friend from NJ (who just had a car accident and isn't going to be able to meet me there) said PPP is fun "even in the rain." But with that and the 12 hour drive I'm back to maybe not going. It's a tough call... If it were 3 or 4 hours it would be a no-brainer. But that long 12 hour solo drive has got me debating whether to go or not. Again.

If I was 100% certain I was going at this point, I'd tell you to drive half way to my place and I'll drive the rest of the way, but I've been on the edge of that stomach bug that's been going around, and if I get it full-blown, I'm not going to risk it.

Hey Josh, if you go, you wearin' the bearin'?

^^Thanks, Josh.

^Yeah, that bear outfit looks killer. Reminds me of Rufus coming to help the stranded car in House of 1,000 corpses. Halloween is coming :)

Lol no, I don't have it yet, but I am going as Blake for Halloween this year. :)

And I loved that scene with the stranded car.

^Blake who?

The guy in my avatar.

Don't know yet whether I'll be going, but there's still a bit of a chance. If I go, look for the bald guy in the Walking Dead t-shirt and say howdy-do. If I don't, for those who are...have a blast, and take a ride on Twister for me...AND Phoenix, AND the Haunted Mansion, AND the Skooters, AND Black Diamond. Heck, get 'em all!

If I don't go, I'll probably be at GrAdv for the early part of the day.

For those who are on the fence about attending because the weather may not be the best, I'd encourage you to go. Just be prepared and dress appropriately for rain or showers. Wear layers that you can add or remove if needed, and have a water repellent outer layer and you'll be fine. Cover your head too. Personally I can deal with just about any other body parts being wet other than head and feet.

If it's overcast, it won't get quite as cold as if it were clear. There were some nights I had to scrape light frost off the windows when I was leaving. So you won't have that much cold to deal with. Phoenix Junction will be serving hot beverages like coffee, hot chocolate and hot cider. Showers will also cut down on the craft fair crowds too.

One other thing, Phoenix and Twister in the rain go from fantastic to "are you ****ing kidding me?"

I always knew the craft fair folks stayed away from showers... ;-)

Screw it... I'm going. Packing now :) Toledo here I come.

I love that mentality. When in debate, just go for it. It's got to be a better experience than staying home, rain or no rain.

^I usually do myself, but with friends not able to make it and a looooong drive, I cancelled the trip, then changed my mind today (again)... so I broke the ride up into 2 days (staying in "Sandusky/Milan" tonight) and I know plenty of coaster folks that will be there, so I went with it. I had my heart set on PPP, especially since I've never done it before.

Strange being "down the road" from Cedar Point tonight. The car ride here was great, with all the changing leaves - but lots of bugs on my windshield. I never remember stopping so much to clean the window, is this crazy bug season?

I had a very interesting music experience on my drive. I was listening to Black Sabbath's "Never Say Die" on my ipod... the next song was from Abba. I stopped to clean off bugs and go to the bathroom, and the janitor dude cleaning the bathroom had "Crazy Train" blasting. A while later, I turned off the ipod and was flipping though the radio. An Abba song came on. I turned my ipod back on and "2000 man" from Kiss came on - which is a Rolling Stones cover song. Flipping through channels later, a Stones song came on. Back between ipod and radio, "Detroit Rock City" by Kiss came on, but I turned it off (the reception wasn't good - and I've heard that song enough times in the past 30 years). This is a lot of weird Twilight Zone stuff. Very cool and eerie. All this weird stuff says to me "yup, you belong on this trip" after nearly cancelling it.

Raven-Phile said:

I always knew the craft fair folks stayed away from showers... ;-)

Yes, when the rain comes, they run and hide their heads.

GayCoasterGuy said:

The car ride here was great, with all the changing leaves - but lots of bugs on my windshield. I never remember stopping so much to clean the window, is this crazy bug season?

Yep, until we get a decent frost, the bugs stay really thick out around the lake this time of year.

Holy cow, what a great time PPP was! Great to see many of you - again and/or for the first time. I forgot how much Knoebel's rocks. Looks like this will be my "must" trip for next year.