Jim S.
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Posts posted by Jim S.
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Are Dorney and Knoebels really doable, both in a single day?
Can't miss Knoebels attractions other than the obvious (coasters)?
If you go to Dorney early, the crowd should be light enough to get through the coasters quickly. Doing Knoebels later in the day is always a good idea, because the coasters will be warmed up really well and the night adds to the ambience.
How long it takes to do Knoebels depends on how interested you are in the flats. I'm not a huge fan of flats, but here's what I wouldn't miss: (nothing should have an unreasonable line)
"Skooters" bumper cars: classic model, heavy metal, usually lots of action
"Flyer" flying scooters: classic model, heavy metal, usually lots of action
Haunted House: a well-maintained classic darkride
Grand Carousel: one of the few that still has its ring machine
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When I was there yesterday they seemed to have the next generation cars sitting on the brake run. They didn't have any seats to them, but it doesn't seems like it would take much to finish the ride up.
The FT cars have been sitting on the brake run all season. I don't even know if they've been testing them at all. It looks like there isn't even any grease on the lift chain that goes back up to the station.
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Doesn't a wacky worm have safety wheels? I'm not picturing how it could run over a leg. If it hit his leg and crushed it badly enough to require amputation, I could understand that, but rolling over it, then rolling over it again twice? And that would seem to rule out something like the guy having his leg THROUGH the track and getting it torn off too, unless it's just sloppy reporting.
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I was last at Dorney in 2008, and the beginning and end of Steel Force looked freshly-painted then. Maybe they don't ever paint the rest of the track.
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According to Coastin' Steve on RRC, the Blue Streak work is being done by Structural Technologies Inc. (Len Adams of Knoebels fame.)
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So what is currently happening with the coaster? Is it still just sitting there? Are they still waiting for the new trains? Or are they testing? It just seems wierd how there has been no word about it for the last 2 months.
It's sitting. I've been there three times this season and I haven't seen any testing going on. The new chassis that they got last November are sitting on the track covered up. I don't think there are any bodies on any of them, but it's hard to tell.
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EDIT: Some servey markers have been recently spotted in the Comet Hollow area and from the looks of them, they are strikingly similar to Fahrenheit's when it was under construction. By the end of summer I am going to be moving out there and going to college nearby, so if this is what I am thinking it could be, I'll have to see about posting updates about it.
Screamscape says it's for a B&M. But, isn't everything at Hershey, for the past decade or so, a B&M til it's announced?
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I don't think I've EVER been to Hershey more than one time when it wasn't extraordinarily crowded, and that includes times when I've deliberately gone in the middle of the week in hopes of smaller crowds.
I have no problem with the food in Minetown, other than it's average precooked food at average high park prices.
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I don't like Hershey's indoor restaurants. Minetown Restaurant is always crowded, and the Gourmet Grille's food has never seemed well-cooked to me. I like the food court behind the cobra roll of Sidewinder, the Vekoma Boomerang.
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At Dorney, I'd AVOID the Game Day Grille unless you really need a cool place to sit down to eat, or a beer. The service has been horribly slow every time I've been there, and the food only average. At least it's hot though... I've only eaten at Coaster's, the drive-in-themed restaurant, once, and I found the food almost cold. I usually try to eat before and after visiting the park, and if I'm hungry while I'm there, I get a few tacos from the stand downhill from Hydra. They're amazingly cheap (thus the recommendation to get a few), and quite good (the last time I was there anyway.) (Hopefully this stand hasn't been knocked down to make room for Demon Drop.)
At Hershey, if you're not looking for an indoor restaurant, there's a very nice food court hidden behind the cobra roll of the boomerang. (I say hidden because Hershey's paths are confusing as hell, and the map has serious scale and perspective issues so it's not always a help.) I've also heard nothing but good things about Freeman's Texas Barbecue, but for some reason I've never stopped there.
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At Knoebels, the Mexican section of the International Food Court is one of the better size vs. price deals, particularly the Three Amigos Platter. Another place to check out is The Wharf. They're the only place in the park to get a gyro, and the only place in the park to get real iced tea. But they also have some great deals on good food, for example the Spud Platter (a pile of waffle fries with cheese and chili), Fancy Fries (waffle fries with cheese, bacon, and ranch dressing), and the D&D Pita (cheesesteak between two full-size slabs of pita bread, like a cheesesteak pie!)
They also have a full-service restaurant called The Alamo. Everybody says good things about it, but for some reason I've never eaten there yet.
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I wouldn't recommend spending less than a day at Hershey. In fact, if it's the only trip she plans on making to Hershey in the foreseeable future, she may want more than one day. Sure it's possible to ride all the coasters there in one day, but if it's a busy day she may only get one ride each, and a lot of them are worth re-riding.
And oh yeah, standard spiel since nobody else has done it yet: don't forget the Flyers at Knoebels! If you've never flown these, or more accurately, never flown a GOOD set of these, watch what everyone else is doing and try to imitate the most interesting ones
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As small as the coaster is, I don't see any problems with them doing the building first and the track second. I'm pretty sure they did Dark Knight that way, and I imagine that this ride was probably broken down into a similar number of pieces as a wild mouse comes from the factory as.
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May 15th construction status
In other news, the park has three new staff members:
baby swans!
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Thunderhawk, the woodie, was almost unbearable in the back, but surprisingly airtime filled in the front, around seats two and three.
I always tell people that despite its small size and advanced age, Thunderhawk is NOT for the inexperienced rider. But yeah, violent ejector airtime.
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Knoebels Wipeout rule only lasted the first year. Not only is there no way in hell that anyone big enough to ride it is going to get out from under the seatbelt and padded lap bar, but riding the outside seat with someone on the inside seat was painful due to the centrifugal force.
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I just noticed that they have a notice up on Kozmo's Facebook page now,
The Flying Turns is not ready to open. We won't open the ride until we are 100% satisfied that the ride is both safe and thrilling. The originals were thrilling but not up to current safety standards. We're working on solving that.So hopefully the final result won't be boring. But, I wish they'd explain in detail what the issues are. It's only 25mph, it's not going to pull a Whistler.
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I mean, with the time they're taking to build this, everyone is going to be expecting this ride to be amazing and overall expectations will be sky high.
+1!
If they're having that much trouble making the train "behave", who's to say that the final version won't be so tame as to lose all the thrill? I mean, the only other bobsled I've been on is Disaster Transport, but it's my least-favorite coaster (non-painful coaster anyway) of any kind anywhere. (Yes, I'm aware that a Flying Turns layout is completely unlike any other bobsled layout, but slow is slow.)
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The ride list on their website now includes the rides in Midway America!
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I'm not a big fan of spinning stuff, although a spinning mouse causes me no problems at all. I don't think the flyers at Knoebels would be disorienting unless you're really flying well, but if you're not flying well I'm not sure what the point is. Anyway, if you're going to puke on the flyers, please aim away from the queue and spectators.
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Plus I'm trying to envision what else is going to have to come out to put DD in that area. Maybe a few restaurants, or table area, but also maybe the century-old duck/fish pond.
Pennsylvania is pretty fascist about altering waterways these days. I doubt that the pond is going anywhere.
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That's just the turn between the brake run and the station, but who knows? I haven't even heard if they still intend to enclose the helix at the beginning of the ride.
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That looks weird with all the leftover supports from when that turn was trough instead of track. I wonder if they're going to cut them down or anything.
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I'm thrilled to see that GASM lost out to powered coasters!
What I don't understand is how both Great Adventure's and Cedar Point's mine trains did likewise. I thought both of them were pretty nice, especially Cedar Point's which for some reason came out lowest.
I also don't understand how Batman: The Ride came out ahead of, for example, Talon. B:TR is by far my least favorite invert. Wait in a dank station to get in a tight seat and then go through the ugliest scenery on any coaster anywhere? I don't think so.
Aug 2010 Quest for Coasters - Local Knowledge Welcome
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
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The only problem with doing Hershey quickly is, you won't feel like you're getting your $54 worth. You really have to hit Hershey on a non-crowded day, if such a thing even exists in fair weather anymore, or it sucks.
Sure, Great Bear isn't the twistiest thing B&M ever created, but in my opinion it makes up for it in use of terrain. Night rides on it are fun too with all the open space between elements. The only problem is, the front-seat queue is ludicrously long.
Lightning Racer is just pure fun. Everything that a mid-size woody should be, and nothing that it shouldn't!