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So BB, looks like you were the first of the N-11 to get a ride. Good job! Those comp tickets have to be used sometime, right? My work schedule gives me every other Friday off-- plus I can usually exchange that for another day if I have to-- as long as I give a week or so notice and get my time in. Hershey is definitely better to deal with in the middle of the week as opposed to a weekend. Although Sundays late afternoon and evenings are usually less crowded too.

Further clarification. The valleyed train was, um retrieved just before 3:00 PM. (You missed it by about 10-15 minutes, knowit). The first train with people went out at around 4:15, give or take a few minutes. (Yep, I witnessed it. Pretty darn fast turnaround.) I ran into two of the guys from the Nantimi group who said they were going to wait in line and asked if I were interested in joining them. Although I wasn't planning on staying that long, I figured the line probably wouldn't be much shorter any other time this year, so I said sure. We got into line around 4:40. We were told the wait would be around 2 hours. There was one minor breakdown-- they temporarily had the people in the train waiting to dispatch disembark. But maybe 10 minutes later, everything was back up and running. And after that, things appeared to run pretty smoothly. There appeared to be some gaps in dispatching trains, but I would attribute that more to loading procedures than to anything mechanical. It took just about 2 hours, but we did get our ride in. People watching it are saying it looks slow, but I never felt that way on the ride. There was one little rumble entering the cobra, but other than that it is smooth as Reese's PB. I didn't think the >90 degrees would be a big deal, but it is. And the Norwegian loop, or whatever they're calling it-- totally awesome element. Just before you rotate each time, there's a quick kick in the opposite direction. After the overbank turn there's a little bunny hop that doesn't look like much, but it gives some nice airtime. I rode in the 3rd seat-- would be nice to hear from people who rode in other seats how their ride was. Before I forget... it was great meeting the other folks from this site who were part of the Nantimi 11. Too bad we didn't get to ride together, and that some of you didn't get to ride at all today. Hopefully all of you will soon. IMO, it's well worth the wait. And thanks to Jason, Gary and Martin from HP for taking the time from their busy schedules to meet with us today.

Great TR! As someone who lives so close to the park and gets to visit many times a year (go ahead, start hating ) it's nice to read the viewpoints of people who only visit occasionally. I agree, Knoebels is not a park you'll enjoy if you are on a time schedule. It's definitely a place to just go with the flow. Knoebels doesn't have any record breakers-- although it definitely has some one of a kind attractions. In addition to what other posters have mentioned, I think the other thing that makes Knoebels a special place is the attitude of the employees and ownership. Maybe you'll wait awhile to get on a ride, but once on you know you're going to get a much longer ride than you'll get in other parks. I don't think I've ever seen the trains on Phoenix stacked more than once. Both coaster crews pride themselves on swift, efficient dispatch times. The people at Knoebels sincerely care about their guests and want to provide a fun experience. Plus, unlike other places I've been, I've never had the feeling I was being held by the ankles and shaken until every last bit of change fell out of my pockets. BTW, at one time where the Knoebels sign is WAS the entrance to the park. That was before my time, but when I was a kid the only things across the road were the Merry Mixer, Pioneer Train, and the pool. And that road was the entrance to the park (no Knoebels parkway). And now back to your regular 21st century programming.

DelGrosso's-- Pasta Wednesdays Knoebels--Alligator Bites, Olde Mill Ice Cream (esp. Sundaes), BBQ'd chicken and the Fish Fry @ the Oasis, just about anything at the Alamo (inside) Hersheypark-- Kettle Korn, Funnel Cakes w/ whipped cream and chocolate syrup, Freeman's roast beef sandwiches.

Hey I stayed in that same hotel a few years ago--- once I found the freakin' driveway entrance in the dark. Cool pics.

I think it's more a case of the Amish wanting to be left alone. They're pretty much trying to go about their daily business and some people treat them like they're characters in an amusement park. If people are discrete and tasteful about it, they probably don't mind. But some clods really get in their faces about it, treating them like they're mentally challenged, asking them to pose, etc. Just remember, this is their life and their customs. They're not playing dress up.

I believe those people are Amish. Not too long ago, taking pictures of the Amish would have been strictly frowned upon. (Useless factoid of knowledge: there are actually 7 different Amish and Mennonite "orders" with varying degrees of strictness.) More useful bit of knowledge, you could buy a combo ticket good for one day each at Dutch Wonderland and Hersheypark. Check out the park's website for pricing and info.

Storm Runner @ Hersheypark. First row at night. In all the rides I've had on SR that was the first time I've done that.

Just because they haven't had it on the website till now doesn't mean they haven't been doing all the stuff you mentioned. Tomorrow is Opening Day. If I get a chance and the weather cooperates, I'm going to head up for a few hours on Sunday. If I see anything worth reporting, I'll post it here.

Wow, go away for awhile, and look at all I missed. Only about 20 pages. Four weeks till opening.

If the weather cooperates, I might go to HP for Candylane this coming Sunday. I'll let you know what's going on if I do.

I guess people pretty much decided that $10 each isn't a reasonable price for a device like this-- especially to rent. The one disadvantage to cell phones is that people aren't always in the position where they can (or should) talk on them in a park. So you end up playing phone tag sometimes. (Fight on State!)

This might give you some information: http://moneycentral.msn.com/detail/stock_quote?symbol=FUN The dividend they're paying this quarter (Friday in fact) is 47.5 cents per share, or $1.90 for the year. IIRC, they did increase it sometime this year. Another good source for financial information is Motley Fool.

Some guy who worked for this company that wasn't a real company sent me this picture which was really just part of a picture. Then I heard that others like me who had incomplete pictures were gathering at this site from coaster sites all over. So I came here and added my piece to the mix.

If a person's too fat to fit, then they couldn't have ridden the coaster, and have no business ranking it, do they? And someone who actually goes to a park they hate just to ride a coaster so they can give it a low ranking in some poll needs a life.

It doesn't matter if that person ranked El Toro 58, 10,000 or 2. The only thing that counts as far as Mitch's poll goes is that they ranked Voyage higher head to head. When comparing two coasters head to head, the number of coasters in between doesn't matter, it's just a matter of which one was ranked higher. But maybe that person had a reason to rank El Toro that low. Maybe they looked at the overal experience not just the ride itself. Maybe they had a ridiculously long wait, the coaster was down, the loading and dispatch sucked. They could have based their ranking on things like that, and it's entirely their right to do that.

How about that old favorite "Loop and Screw?" http://www.rcdb.com/id1773.htm

Definitely not the mouse. Comet is the only coaster @ HP with 3 bench cars-- Wildcat's PTCs always had 2. Although I can't remember Comet's trains ever looking like that.

I was never keen on Hershey replacing the Conestoga wagon ride with the 3D virtual theatre. Granted, the ride may have been a P.I.T.A. for maintenance, but there were better choices for replacement. The theatre never had more than a handful of people on it anytime I passed it. I guess few people wanted to do foolish things in full view of people walking past on the midway. Luckily, they're supposed to be replacing it with the new Tornado ride.

Seven miles in 15 minutes? Holy ****, that's scary. Glad to hear you're alright though, and sorry to hear about any loss of life from this event.

Lightning Racer x 3 tonight. Lightning to be more specific. 24 hours ago I would have answered Phoenix. Not a bad weekend.

Names that are taken from other languages, or made up to sound like other languages. Gwazi, Sheikra, Kingda Ka. They tell us the word is supposed to mean something. But if you google the name, every item returned refers only to the coaster. No mention of African hawks or mythical half lion/tiger creatures. BTW, Sky Princess is now called Kingdom Coaster.

Tell me they weren't charging regular admission prices during those days when most of the rides were down either because of winds or fire/smoke. Did they have concessions open? "Get your smoked cotton candy right heah!" No extra charge for the ash.

I like the pic of LR from outside the park, and the Immelman on GB with the tower in the background. I've never seen them pictured from those angles before. Very cool. BTW, that Amish woman is a bit peeved that you stole her soul. The smores look good-- but has anybody had a funnel cake there w/whipped cream & chocolate syrup? Angina on a paper plate! I guess it's just the way the calendar worked out this year that HPITD is only two weekends. The first weekend of October is usually buyouts, and I suppose they need two weeks to get everything set up. If the 31st is closer to or on the weekend, they've had the event over three weekends instead of two. Next year, Halloween is on a Friday, so I hope they're open that whole weekend.

That's strange that they all have names. But I guess when there's 12-14 of them burning at once, you need some way to differentiate between them. On the Philly news this morning, they showed a reporter in SD reporting on his own house burning down. That was awful! I hope and pray this plays out without further injury or loss of life and property. Especially for the firemen.