Canobie Coaster

I liked Bob and Alpine Bobsled, but the inline seating on La Vibora caused me to keep smashing my knees on the side of the car. It's definitely worth trying for the uniqueness though.

They should buy the cars from Efteling's Bob if they're available. But this is Six Flags so the only hope may be when Alpine Bobsled inevitably closes someday.

You absolutely catch back up to the seat. It's when your ass slams back down on the seat with the fury of a thousand suns as soon as reach the ground. This thing has bruised my tailbone more than once. Funny thing is, I never seem to learn my lesson! Mental note: next time I visit Knoebels, bring a bag of Chex Mix for the Flyer op. Great photos and writeup as always, Canobie! Making me more and more anxious to get out there again soon. Thanks! I love that drop tower, but I can see how it could be a rough landing for some. And I'm totally stealing that idea to bring a bag of Chex Mix. Oddly my family didn't like them. Something about there being too much butter. More for me.

I thought American Eagle was fine in 2017. I'd put it on par with Racer at Kings Island or Rebel Yell/Racer 75 before they were retracked.

Yeah the single rider line was a walk-on in my only visit to the park. Mr. Freeze had a lot of downtime for me and that seems to be a recurring theme in any TR I've seen, so I'd make sure to get over to that ride early if you see it running. That ride is very good and it'd be a shame to miss it.

From my experience, all the GCIs I've ridden start smooth. But they can get quite bumpy over time if the maintenance isn't kept up. See Prowler. But I agree their recent woodies have been paced very well.

^ I only had two pages of results since Google gave me that "similar results have been omitted" message. They could call this the Locker Rings for all I care. I just care they're getting an RMC that will almost certainly be awesome.

Thanks! I've definitely gotten ops like that in the past, but not on this visit. My favorite was the dude who turned his back to the ride and didn't watch anyone. It's like he didn't want to know if we were snapping. I agree whipping the sails and snapping are two different things, but the fact that whipping the sails can be a way to get snapping sort of blurs the line. I use smooth movements, but I notice others really slam it to the side at the bottom of the arc. It's so Knoebels.

Do we know if Gwazi is actually a real fable or did Busch Gardens just make it up? I tried Googling it and every single result brings back the coaster. If Busch did make it up, they're making their own rules here.

^ I had a car in the Netherlands, so I'm not sure what your transit situation is like. The park is massive in terms of land. That combined with it being a pretty busy day meant I had to cut things out. I had almost 8 hours there for reference. I'd definitely say go there though. It's a beautiful and well-themed park even if you can't quite see everything in a single day. It's crazy how quickly they removed the trees around Bob. I rode it just two weeks before that and it seemed well covered minus the field to the right of the lift.

They also did a straight drop on Invadr, but I agree it's very rare for them.

^ That's true. It's interesting they picked 5 different manufacturers.

Knoebels truly is one of the best parks. Like I enjoy snapping, but if you're told not to, you simply don't do it.

I really like the name and all the airtime hills. And I like the air-time humps on both the forwards and backwards spikes.

This park needed an air-time machine and now it's officially announced. I can't wait! As for the name, it 100% makes sense to put something like Iron in the name. We know these hybrids are steel coasters, but to most they look like wood coasters from a distance. And considering old Gwazi's reputation, you want to hammer home that it's steel.

I like the sound of 15 airtime hills.

Knoebels My family decided to take a roadtrip down to Washington D.C. The plan was to visit a beagle breeder and a few parks on the way. I did my part and found a top notch eatery on the way. Check out this TPR approved eatery. Since we hit the road later than anticipated, we only had 3.5 hours at Knoebels. That’s far from ideal. Even with the lightning fast operations of Knoebels, there is a ridiculous amount of must-dos at this park. So while it pained me to skip rides like the Flying Turns, Skooters, Flume, and Haunted Mansion, some Knoebels is better than no Knoebels. And the crown jewel of the park is Phoenix. It’s the world’s best wooden coaster after all according to the Golden Ticket Awards. It seems perfectly logical to me that a ride from 1985 claimed the top spot only after CCI, GCI, Gravity Group, Intamin, and RMC wooden coasters became a thing. The restraints, or rather the lack of restraints, make this ride. I cannot believe a ride with this much airtime can run without seatbelts and just buzz bars. What starts as nice floater air morphs into crazy ejector air from the double down onward. Every hill from that point launches you into the buzz bar. There are definitely more intense coasters out there. But few coasters are funner than Phoenix. After a day at Knoebels, my face physically hurts from how much I smiled while riding Phoenix. And that’s not an exaggeration. 10 out of 10 It's an oldie, but a goodie (Phoenix that is). So much airtime. So next I went to a ride that genuinely terrifies me, StratosFear. I don’t know what kind of science-fiction voodoo Larson uses to make their drop towers so intense, but it works. The aerial view of Knoebels is always a treat. It’s just so green. But then that drop happens. S&S towers give a strong jolt of air at the start of the drop, but you quickly slow down. On this tower, you get that jolt of air and never catch back up to the seat. It’s a rush! 10 out of 10 Enjoy this photo from last year. I have gotten some amazing rides on Twister the past two years. However, it wasn’t running too well on this visit. It was still quite smooth, but it just seemed to be running slow. The finale, which usually has some very underrated air, was missing a lot of airtime. The hill after the tunnel still delivered an abrupt pop, but a lot of the other hills had less air than Kozmo’s Kurves. The first drop and wicked pop of air on the turnaround were as great as ever though and I still love the layout. It compliments Phoenix perfectly. 7.5 out of 10 Twister compliments Phoenix perfectly. I think most of us agree the Knoebels Flyer is the best set of flying scooters out there. They’re fast and if you start snapping them, they’re one of the most intense rides on the planet. However, this is one ride that is heavily dependent upon the operator. In the cycles before I boarded, I noticed the op was slowing the ride down if anyone got too wild. Whether or not the riders wanted to snap is up for debate since I’m convinced these things snap on their own. My strategy with an op like this is to not go full tilt. The last thing I want to do is draw unwanted attention or worse, get kicked off. However, I ran into a problem. I snapped once pretty early in the ride and the op requested me to stop. Well I tried. I let go of the rudder, but the darn thing still had enough momentum to snap again on its own. Shortly thereafter, the operator slowed the ride down. When the operator sped the ride back up, I figured he’d be watching me like a hawk. So I definitely took it easy the rest of the ride. Even a relaxed ride on the Flyer kicks the keister of the others out there. 10 out of 10 However, it turns out I wasn’t the issue. When the operator sped the ride back up, I noticed a dude in a Steel Vengeance t-shirt almost do a complete 180. It appears he didn’t take the hint. After the ride, the op called him aside. All I overheard was “I wasn’t whipping the sails, I was just snapping.” Snapping was met with reprimanding on this day. Impulse wasn’t a priority for me. It’s a fine ride, but at a park like Knoebels, it just isn’t a standout for me. But my sister had never ridden it and wanted to give it a whirl. Since the main queue was long, we tried using the single rider line. The attendant said it was only for parties of 1. When we said we knew we wouldn’t ride together, she was still hesitant to break up a family but did let us use it. And I’m ever so thankful since we boarded in less than 5 minutes. Impulse is essentially the Zierer Eurofighter. It has an awesome first drop and some great hangtime in the inversions. But most importantly, it has lap bar only trains. 7 out of 10 It's still sort of weird for me to see a big steel coaster at Knoebels. As night fell on the park, we started making our way back towards Phoenix. On the way, we hopped aboard the Grand Carousel. I went 12 for 12 grabbing the ring, but my sister (whose considerably shorter) really struggled. So when she got one, she was all jazzed up. 10 out of 10 What the heck was I doing to that poor horse?!? We also made sure to play a game of Fascination. And sure enough, I continued my lifelong losing streak at this game. But at least I had fun. Maybe one day I’ll break through. If the Buffalo Bills can win the Super Bowl…oh wait. For the last half hour of operation, I kept throwing more and more money at Phoenix. I think I spent over half my ride tickets on Phoenix alone and I have no regrets. This is one of the best coasters in the world. I rode Skyrush the next day. And I rode Twisted Timbers and Intimidator 305 the day after. But without question, Phoenix was the superior ride. It truly is one of the best coasters in the world. Outside of Lightning Rod, nighttime Voyage, and Steel Vengeance, there may not be another coaster I’d take over Phoenix. And that’s because of how well Knoebels runs and cares for this coaster. Is there any other way to end a night at Knoebels? Maybe I’m just a Knoebels novice, but unfortunately I left some rides on the table. While the ticket booths closed at 10 pm, the rides continued running past that time. Something I’ll keep in mind in the future. Note to self, the 10 pm closing time is when the ticket booths close and not the rides. Knoebels doesn’t have the theme of Disney or the coaster lineup of Cedar Point, but I have just as much fun at this place. It’s a textbook classic amusement park with some really unique attractions and a bonafide star in Phoenix.

Enchanted Forest Carousel Speedway Bumper Cars Oaks Park Here are some shots of Adrenaline Peak operating. Eruption was renamed Zero Gravity. The park index is currently missing the Go Karts, Oaks Park Train, and Up, Up & Away. Go Karts Oaks Park Train Up, Up & Away Up, Up & Away Wild Waves Theme Park Enchanted Village has been renamed Wild Waves Theme Park. Falling Star, Octopus, and Tip Top have closed. Kiddie Coaster was painted. Here's Brain Drain Here's the sign for Downhill Tubin'. It isn't much, but it currently doesn't have one.

I would love the hyper coaster in that survey (or the extreme spinner), but this park really needs a dark ride on those cold days when all other outdoor rides not named Drop Line are closed.

Yeah these awards and the Discovery Channel shows really influenced where I wanted to visit when I was younger. Then I discovered the Mitch Hawker Poll.

Nice report! Both parks look really laid back.

Great report! Out of curiosity, did Wonder Woman have a shuffle/shimmy to it? I've seen a few people mention that. It wasn't there when I rode it, but I rode it opening day.

I love the promotional artwork! Hopefully the lap bars are the same as the ones on Taron and Red Force. They're amazingly comfy.

Great report! Parque Espana is really weird in a good way.

I bet the people fired up never went and they're mad they won't get the credit.