coneyislandchris

There's a pretty good article over at PennLive.com about this season being Knoebels' 90th anniversary. The real highlight though is the embedded image gallery of over 2 dozen photos dating back from the 20s. It's amazing to see just how many of the iconic rides and structures have been there for so long!

Actually, looks like Zumanjaro is the biggest ride that's currently closed... but if that makes the Kingda Ka line move a little faster the next few days, I'm all for it.

Going to try to make every attempt to get down to the park on Wednesday. This may require going into my job around 4 AM morning of so I can wrap up all my necessary tasks and be back on the road between 8 and 9. If I don't make it on Wednesday, I'll still shoot for Friday.

I'm just quoting this for truth here. I'm a father of a 4-year-old boy who absolutely loves his coasters, but is currently measuring up at 44", so he's a bit restricted in what he's able to ride at any given park. As it stands, with their current lineup of rides, I wouldn't be taking my family to BGW until he puts on a few more inches. If this woodie ends up having a 42" restriction? I might end up rethinking our 2017 travel plans. This is why I love parks like Knoebels and Hersheypark, where they have a great mix of both intense stuff for grown ups as well as ones that even the brave little kids can enjoy. More parks would do well to keep as much in mind.

Ugh. SNOW. Winter's not going out without a fight I guess.

According to the folks at Great Adventure Online, The Joker has now been topped off! Hooray!

D-Did I miss something? Are they rebuilding it from scratch?!

From this article on BrooklynPaper.com, it appears that in addition to the fresh paint job for the Cyclone, Zamperla has also gone in and done some track work on it as well, including replacing some rough sections. I thought it was riding pretty well last season, so I'm impressed that they're continuing to keep up quality maintenance on this. Can't wait for Sunday!

Grizzly is great but I loved Rebel Yell. It's all airtime all the way, plus I have a serious soft spot for racers. As far as Hurler goes? I hope the "maintenance" involves a few cans of kerosene and an ignition source.

Very cool! HITP was an amazing experience last year at SFGAdv, and if they do even half a good a job with it down SFA way, you guys should have a blast.

IIRC, The Dark Knight has the same height requirement as Road Runner (42"); if he's been on RRR he should be able to get on TDK without any problems, as long as he's okay with the darkness and potential jump-scares at 2 and a half. I'm just happy my big kid has finally crossed over the 44" threshold so he'll be able to get on Runaway Mine Train, Skull Mountain, and Skyscreamer without any potential problems or meltdowns this season. Hopefully he'll hit that growth spurt soon so I can introduce him to the pure joy of El Toro, though!

I am this close to coming in super early to work next Wednesday just so I can finish everything I need to and bounce down the turnpike to get there in time for opening. I CAN'T HELP IT WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. (Those gifs aren't helping either. )

That is a ridiculous deal and equally ridiculous lineup of craft beer. Right about now, I'm really wishing I lived a bit closer to BGW. ;_;

Looks like the new 2016 park map is up. Of note, it appears that the price has been raised on the Cyclone, and it is now 10 credits / $10 per ride, up from 9 last year. This brings it in line with Thunderbolt which is still staying steady at 10. I guess we're paying for the new paint job... In fact, this year it seems there's been a standardization across the board. All "mild thrill" rides are 3 credits, "moderate thrill" rides are 4 credits, and "high thrill" rides are 7 credits. In addition to the Endeavor, which has a posted minimum height of 48" and is classified as "high thrill", it appears that the kids section also got a classic Convoy ride installed, replacing the old Big Top Express. Windstarz has been bumped up from "mild thrill" to "moderate thrill". Assuming the weather holds up, I hope to be able to swing by Sunday afternoon or evening and get some photos!

There's a pretty good writeup and behind-the-scenes look at the conversion from Air to Galactica over at Mashable today. Also, it appears legit astronaut Cmdr. Chris Hadfield was one of of the first test riders to try it out!

SOLD. I'm in! I love the one at Knoebels, so this sounds like an absolute can't-miss for me. Thanks for the tips!

Totally agreed. The clone of this was my favorite ride at SFDK last weekend, so having one within a "short" driving distance makes me immeasurably happy. Very much looking forward to making my first LC visit this season!

Watched the video, and I am thoroughly impressed. This looks REALLY cool. Here's hoping the roll-out goes super smooth for all the different parks! Also now that I have an idea of what the "New Revolution" VR experience is like, I can't wait to see what the "Superman" one will be like as well! Thanks for the awesome report and video!

You lost the plot a bit there.

Third construction update video has just been posted, and it's got lots of delicious drone footage! Looks like they only have a handful of pieces left to place at this point. [youtu_be] [/youtu_be]

Pretty sweet shot from inside the shop where they're getting the Cyclone trains ready for the season, thanks to yesterday's New York Times:

Yeah, agreed. I got a chance to ride the Bizarro clone out at Magic Mountain last weekend, and to be honest, ain't nothing like the real thing. The effects and theming are a lot more appealing than the SFMM version being literally installed directly over a parking lot, and I've never had Bizarro hit me with anywhere near the amount of headringing that Scream did. And yes. El Toro! Sadly looks like the kiddo only grew a half-inch since HITP, so he won't be able to experience the joy of the bull just yet, but I have faith that if he keeps eating his Wheaties and drinking his milk he'll make it up to 48" by Fright Fest. Thanks. Saw it when I went back and actually clicked through to the articles. Guess Friday will be the most likely culprit for me, then. Just gotta talk to the wife and get her on board... fingers crossed.

Fixed your typo for you.

If Wednesdays weren't the busiest day of my work week, I would be there in a heartbeat. I may POSSIBLY do either Thursday or Friday, but it all depends at this point. Also, only select rides? I must have completely missed that...

I've heard similar rumors. I have a feeling there's a chance the long-rumored moving of the entrance + a new gate coaster could happen. I only want a gate coaster if Alfundo is involved in some manner.