DaFunkyOne

Kingda Ka, rode it once, that was enough. I have decided my new height cap is about 230ft, more or less Supes: ROS at SFNE

Impulse at Knoebel's.

My first coatser was Mighty Lightnin' at Rocky Glen Park in Moosic, PA, the year was 1978, I was 7 years old. Followed by Python at Busch Gardens in 1979, then Sooper Dooper Looper at hershey the summer of 1979, and my all time favorite woodie was conquered in 1985, Knoebel's Phoenix. My all time favorite Steel become Superman ROS @ SFNE when it was conquered in 2002.

Boulder Dash... when it was new. hell if I ever won the lottery, I would build that sucker on my property I live on a mountain. I have plenty of terrain type elements as the ride.

As someone who worked at Knoebels from 90-95, and one last season in 99 as I was looking to pay down student loans on the quick... The park has really changed. I remember when you could drive through the park. the Whirlwind was still operating, hell even the Jet Star was still around in my early seasons. One thing about Knoebels is ride maintenance. John Fetterman and Jim Sheckles headed up the Maintenance department, and one thing that always received top priority was the Phoenix, the 2nd was the Flyer. Knoebels always knew these were the main attractions, and the phoenix always received re-track work on the 2nd turnaround ever year. If you ride front seat and look at the guide trough you'll notice where the train wears into the turn as it approaches the drop before the double up. This was a significant area of wear and tear so each November the trains were removed, and track work would begin. Trains also refurbished each year with new assemblies for running gear. When it came to pouring money into a coaster, Phoenix received it duly respected share. I last went to Knoebels in 2016 to Ride impulse. After years of working at the park, and spending the last 2 season (94-95) working on the phoenix during single train operation, I would probably say i have rode that ride over 1000 times and it never fails to impress. In the 99 season I was assign to twister and then resume my old faithful spot (Cosmotron). Cosomotron was always my favorite ride simply for the music. Being a former DJ, helped with that placement, and I was the only employee allowed to provide my own music because I, like the park was the only one to own a Sony Mini Disc, ad I could provide the hit songs faster as being a Dj I had subscriptions to a lot of music services. If the park had to wait on the provider it could be months before a new disc would show up. But I will say my last season was my greatest as that was the introduction of Twister, since I commuted from Allentown to the park to work weekends and some off days from my 2-3-2 job at the time I would show up early to help with maintenance, which led to many a free ride time. I'll never forget one August Saturday morning getting to the park at 7am and riding for 4 hours straight with a stop watch to time the ride based on Liquid helium additions to the running gear for the trains. they were trying to lock it in at 2:10, but the closest we got was 2:04, and it was running fast that day. (FYI it's fastest run time was 2:01) Subsequent visits in 2002, 2006, and 2009 twister fell out of favor with me due to how rough the ride was becoming It sure wasn't getting the love Phoenix was getting, but still a great ride if you did the front of the train. Back of the train required a Chiropractic visit the following week. When it comes to the Phoenix, the 3rd seat section in car one of any train is the place to ride. All of the air time seems almost calculated to that position. So If you haven't sat there I highly recommend it. The Phoenix will forever be my favorite Knoebels coaster, but ranks #2 behind my all time favorite, Boulder Dash, but from what i have been hearing lately Boulder Dash is needing some serious work. All in all, I have sent people from as far away as NC to Knoebels, and when they returned praised the park and wished they had something like it in their state. Knoebels is a rarity in Amusement parks. If you want to thank someone for that Thank the knoebels family as they have always been committed to keeping the park the same old fashioned family fun park it has always been. =O)