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Knoebels Discussion Thread


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You painted a great picture of what sounded like a really fun time.

 

This park is on my priority list for next year. I trust that Phoenix really is special from the way everyone raves about it. However, can someone please try explain just what makes this ride so special? For example, from the looks of it the Beast doesn't look that great, but I've read plenty of examples describing the constant building of anticipation and other features which accurately describes what makes the ride so special.

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You painted a great picture of what sounded like a really fun time.

 

This park is on my priority list for next year. I trust that Phoenix really is special from the way everyone raves about it. However, can someone please try explain just what makes this ride so special? For example, from the looks of it the Beast doesn't look that great, but I've read plenty of examples describing the constant building of anticipation and other features which accurately describes what makes the ride so special.

 

It's the best airtime machine anywhere, it's really that simple. It's also in a gorgeous setting, immaculately maintained, and never runs at anything less than 100%

 

Twister is also amazing, but a very different sort of coaster, and a bit less consistent.

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I still haven't been to Knoebels (shut up, I know) but its pretty apparent how much air there is just from watching reverse POVs. Like this one at about 3:15.

 

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Thanks for the responses. I'm anxious to see how the coaster will sit with me. I actually don't prefer much airtime on wooden coasters. Usually the more tame, the better. That's probably why I like Beast and Screamin Eagle.

 

Emily has jumped from four jobs over the past two years, which has really cock blocked our NE trip. Hopefully 2018 will be the year we finally make it to this park. I'm even more inspired by this most recent TR and Andrew's NE TR. Both of them were fantastic reads.

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^ Phoenix is also very sneaky if you are a first time rider. I had my hands in the air for the pleasant first drop. The kid/young adult , behind me laughed and said, you won't have your hands in the air much longer. He was right. Phoenix just keeps getting crazier as it goes on, right to the very end.

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I also strongly recommend riding Phoenix in different seats. My favorite seats are row 3, and the back row. Whether you ride near the front or the back will provide a different experience, and you will experience airtime on different points of the ride.

 

My credit count is close to 250 now, and Phoenix is still my #1 wood and #3 overall. (Best only by Skyrush and Expedition GeForce). You will have an great time.

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^The awesome thing about Knoebels is, to the first time visitor, it doesn't appear perfect. It looks like you are pulling into a flea market. Once they get inside and spend about 10 minutes there, they are hooked though!

 

I love that place.

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Sometimes the new finds aren't all they are promoted to be. I was really looking forward to the pork chop on a stick. It was reasonably priced, but it was too dry and bland. But I'll give it one more try next visit.

Edited by larrygator
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Phoenix is weird.

 

I guarantee that when you go down the (completely forgettable) first drop you'll be wondering what all the hype is about. After the first drop it goes up into a standard and uneventful turn. Following that it goes down another totally forgettable drop over two nice (but not amazing) airtime hills and heads up into another turnaround. By that point you'll probably be convinced that everyone is crazy.

 

Right at the end of that turn though, the train absolutely rips down that next drop with pretty impressive ferocity, almost as if to say "okay, enough of that bullsh*t... get ready to fly, b*tches" and you spend the rest of the ride wondering if you should put your hands up in the air or hold on so you don't get ejected from the train. Honestly, a ride like El Toro definitely has more powerful airtime, but Phoenix tests the limits of how much airtime you could have on a coaster with a buzz bar and no seatbelt. It's also the smoothest wood coaster running PTC trains possibly ever. Feel free to sit on a wheel seat, it really doesn't matter. Every seat on Phoenix is awesome.

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^The awesome thing about Knoebels is, to the first time visitor, it doesn't appear perfect. It looks like you are pulling into a flea market. Once they get inside and spend about 10 minutes there, they are hooked though!

This. When I went for my maiden visit last month, upon arriving I said to myself "This is the place everyone goes crazy for?" Fast forward a few hours, and I was grinning like a kid in a candy store, trying to think of how I can get back ASAP.

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^The awesome thing about Knoebels is, to the first time visitor, it doesn't appear perfect. It looks like you are pulling into a flea market. Once they get inside and spend about 10 minutes there, they are hooked though!

This. When I went for my maiden visit last month, upon arriving I said to myself "This is the place everyone goes crazy for?" Fast forward a few hours, and I was grinning like a kid in a candy store, trying to think of how I can get back ASAP.

For real. I was there on Tuesday and I'm already scheming on how to get back there one more time before Phunfest. God, I love that place.

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Right at the end of that turn though, the train absolutely rips down that next drop with pretty impressive ferocity, almost as if to say "okay, enough of that bullsh*t... get ready to fly, b*tches" and you spend the rest of the ride wondering if you should put your hands up in the air or hold on so you don't get ejected from the train.

I make it a priority to take first-time riders on Phoenix on the ride in the very back seat just so they can experience the sheer terror of the double-down.

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can someone please try explain just what makes this ride so special?
I actually don't prefer much airtime on wooden coasters. Usually the more tame, the better.

I'm kind of the same in terms of airtime (I assume I'm one of very few here that doesn't particularly dig the kind of thigh-slamming ejection you get on certain RMCs / Intamins), yet this ride's genuinely great. I remember watching a reverse POV on here and assuming that the riders were exaggerating by slightly standing up in their seats, but that's exactly what it does to you (you can watch riders launching out of their seats on the return bunny hop-leg from outside the ride). It has plenty of the ricketiness you might expect from a classic woodie, but it's not that rough or uncomfortable overall, and the launching airtime is more funny than freaky. When people discuss it as an intense airtime machine, they're right, but it's a different experience to riding something like an RMC or Skyrush. If it had more robust restraints that pinned you down, it'd probably be a fairly mediocre ride.

 

I didn't enjoy the park as much as I hoped I would, but I certainly see why so many people love it. The anti-corporate style is a breath of fresh air, but the place also has a kind of Deliverance-style atmosphere to it. I like classic, old-school dark rides, so it's worth it for the two they have, and the place is definitely a trip. I'm not a fan of greasy / fried food (or cooked food in general really), but folks go nuts for the stuff on offer here.

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For me the entire reason Phoenix is special is the Buzz Bars. You can almost literally stand up the ride has so much space to actually experience the airtime.

 

So many coasters and parks staple you into the ride, which is totally acceptable for safety reasons, but you never actually come off of your seat.

 

But with Phoenix it's almost European in the "how do they still operate it like this" aspect. If they ever replaced it with modern PTC bars it would honestly be like deleting the ride IMO. They have several other things at Knoebels that are in this vein, such as "is there actually an entrance to this park? Oh I guess not" and "wait the food is ACTUALLY good" and my favorite "Wait they have one of those rides still?" Knoebels is special because the experience is very unique and unlike other parks, for the positive.

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I agree. I took my boyfriend to Knoebels this summer for his first visit and I told him nothing about the park except that the food was amazing and that it was very unique. He couldn't get over how unique it was especially the way you just walk into the park and how there is a road down the center of it. Parts of this park I hope never change, and I think if the owners stay the owners it never will!

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^The awesome thing about Knoebels is, to the first time visitor, it doesn't appear perfect. It looks like you are pulling into a flea market. Once they get inside and spend about 10 minutes there, they are hooked though!

This. When I went for my maiden visit last month, upon arriving I said to myself "This is the place everyone goes crazy for?" Fast forward a few hours, and I was grinning like a kid in a candy store, trying to think of how I can get back ASAP.

 

I went for the first time about 3 weeks ago, and this was my reaction exactly too.

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