Photo TR: Road Trip! Scott's Keystone State Tour

Scaparri · August 15, 2007

So one of my biggest goals for this year, albeit simple, was to finally visit Hersheypark. Ever since they added Storm Runner, I've been dying to get out there. The ride just looks to wicked awesome. When Hercules put a pair of tickets up for sale, I jumped at the chance and snagged them.

By the time I decided to head out there, I began to say to myself, "Self, why don't you go to Kennywood on the way back?" Then I got to thinkin', "well, if I leave early tp head out to PA, I'm gonna have time to kill that night, so why not go to Knoebel's? It's not too far away." My single park trip turned into a three park roadie, with two of those parks being new to me. So my girlfriend and I headed out to PA, which I hadn't been to in four years.

First up; Knoebel's. We got up early one morning and headed out on the long drive to Elysburg with the intentions of getting there at around 6 or 7 so that we could whore out the park. I know the hardcore enthusiast in you is screaming, "you can't whore out Knoebel's!" But quite frankly, a few hours at the park was better to me than just chillaxin' in Harrisburg for an evening, and honestly to me, Knoebel's looked like a place that was severely hyped. I had never seen anything that made me think the park would be something amazing, and the same goes for it's coasters. The Twister looked interesting, but the Phoenix looked fairly bland to me. I have always had a hard time believing that ride is as good as it is.

So, after dealing with half an hour of frustrating, stand still construction traffic, we finally rolled into the park at around 7. I was pretty stunned by what I saw. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. It was more like a permanent fair. A large portion of the pathways are gravel, there are roads that go through the middle of it, and there are cabins and 'houses' in the middle of the park as well. The whole park is sort of random. I was all about it though. It was so awesome in a really bizarre, this is effed up, sorta way.

Because of time and money, we only did six rides. We still had a blast though and I can't wait to get back and experience more of the park. Enjoy the pics!

Sorry, but I had to include this. This was INSIDE our hotel. The place was a complete craphole, especially for how much we paid. I will never stay in an Econo Lodge again. Stay tuned! Hershey is up next!

On our way out, I snagged a night pic. I finally popped my Power Surge cherry!

It's definitely a fun place to spend time with your significant other at.

I've finally made the pilgrimage to Knoebel's! And it was well worth it.

This is the sickest flat I've ever been on. This death cage was mad fun. You feel like you're going to die, but it is a blast. Words can't really describe it.

Some hot, steamy Phoenix action at night.

I've never been a graceful eater. I might have to retire the bumper car avatar. What do you guys think?

Food time! Two pieces of southern fried chicken, a corn bread muffin, and an ear of corn... for $4.75! At an amusement park! Is this place for serious!? And it was pretty damn good!

Our own on-ride photo of the High Speed Thrill Coaster. This thing packs a punch!

For all you lift hill enthusiasts. I think this was secretly built by the Blue Flash dude.

80 cents? This is the best deal in the park!

The flyers! We passed though. I got discouraged when I saw the "no snapping" sign.

It was really crazy how this ride was set up. Unfortunately, I wasn't as impressed with it. Way too jerky for what it was. Still fun though. Would be awesome if it was a little smoother.

Next up: Twister. It looks fun, but does it match up?

It left us smiling.

Ok, so yeah, it met the hype. This thing is freakin' awesome. Pure fun.

Thar she is!! Time to see if this thing meets the hype.

I'm still a little confused as to how this has taken so long. Oh well. It looks like a lot of fun. I'm sure I'll be back.

There are tons of bridges spanning across this creek. Some look more-or-less like metal planks.

This park is really unique.

This is more like it! Finally here!

Well that's a good start. Still gotta ways to go. Hopefully Mother Nature stops being a whore.

Road Trip!!!! Laura is definitely excited.

ginzo · August 15, 2007

I'm glad you enjoyed Knoebels. It's such an awesome place. Not over-hyped in the slightest.

Sorry, but I had to include this. This was INSIDE our hotel. The place was a complete craphole, especially for how much we paid. I will never stay in an Econo Lodge again.

Next time take the key back to the front desk, and politely ask for a refund. If you do this immediately after checking in they'll probably just give you the refund without much of a fight. If they put up a fight, give them the key back, and call the bank and charge the room back on your credit card.

Ccron10 · August 15, 2007

I do agree Twister is rough, hopefully they'll do something about it during the off-season.

Can't wait for the HP pics! Be sure to look for all the serveying markers around Minetown and Canyon River Rapids.

Jim S. · August 15, 2007

I don't remember the "no snapping" sign being in a prominent place lately, usually it sits off to the side where you can barely see it and is only a suggestion, as is the "you must have 2 riders per car" sign. The best thing to do is to watch for a while and see if anybody else is snapping. (This can be a problem if there don't happen to actually be any experienced riders in the crowd.) Of course, it's always possible they've had someone force a change of policy since I was there last.

I'm glad you gave the HSTC a try, everybody should do it once. I've seen other portable kiddie coasters with a similar layout of bunny hops, but not with operators so enthusiastic about ramming the train over them

Hopefully you rode the front seat of Twister, it seems to usually keep the shaking to a tolerable level.

BTW, your "death cage" ride used to be a regular feature at local carnivals (well, not that particular unit I hope), which is scary if you've seen the sort of operators who used to be a regular feature at local carnivals.

bulldogmom · August 15, 2007

Great TR and pics. Love the corn-eating one! The last one (bugs)- eeeeeew. I love Roll-o-Planes too! Half the fun is thinking you might fall out.

Shockwave · August 15, 2007

Looks like your pilgrimage was well worth it! Great report as always Scott.

Knoebels just looks so different to almost anywhere else, and that food looks amazing. And for that price as well! One of these days I'll get myself over there.

Spookbaby · August 15, 2007

Retire the bumer car avatar! Youlook kinda scary in that one.

And don't worry, I'm not a graceful eater either.

Great PTR! Can't wait to see the pics from Hershey!

Bubba Z · August 15, 2007

Speaking of your avatar ...You didn't ride the best bumper cars ever?

Looks like you definitely need to go back for them, maybe for PPP!

CoasterFanatic · August 15, 2007

I got discouraged when I saw the "no snapping" sign.

I always thought the sign said "Do Not Whip The Sails". There is a difference.

But then again, we do not talk about snapping. Snapping doesn't exist.

USRoadTripper · August 15, 2007

You missed the second best ride in the park by passing on the flyers! And indeed, the sign says not to whip the sails. I'd say it's pretty close to impossible *not* to snap them.

Glad you enjoyed Knoebels, Scott...I had pretty much the same reaction. Figured that it would be overrated, but walked out feeling that it deserves every bit of the hype it gets.

-Julie

Groteslurf · August 15, 2007

Great TR and pics.

stevenpensacola · August 16, 2007

I remember reading a review of Knoebels which stated:

"Disney may make magic, but Knoebels is magic"

Scaparri · August 16, 2007

Julie and Ted, you guys are right. I knew it said something along those lines and just assumed it was the same thing. Snap (no pun intended). Oh well, I'm sure I'll be back before long.

UPDATE!!!

Part II: Hersheypark

As I mentioned at the beginning, the whole point of this trip was to go to Hersheypark for the first time. I've been drooling over Storm Runner ever since it was installed and the rest of the park has always looked pretty solid too, so I was completely amped about finally getting to this park.

It didn't let down. As far as major, not-really-themed amusement parks, it's definitely my favorite. The park was beautiful, had a pretty good flat selection, and every coaster there was solid. Even the boomerang wasn't that bad. They just need to rip out Roller Soaker as it is a capacity nightmare.

And Storm Runner definitely didn't let me down either. I can't get over that ride. The entire twist/snake dive is wicked insane and the launch felt super intense. People have told me it's not one of the more intense launches which baffles me and makes me want to hit up Xcelerator badly. I felt as if we hit top speed within a second. My vision even blurred during it. Never experienced that before. The ride was just sick.

Anyway, enjoy the pics! Kennywood is up next!

Thanks again to Hercules for the Hershey ticket offer.

I was really impressed with the park. Beautiful place, solid rides, and the air smells really does smell like chocolate! Stay tuned for Kennywood!

The old timer might have been the surprise of the day. Nothing spectacular, but still alive and kickin'. Pure fun.

Great Bear was another coaster in the park that looked massive in places because it sits on top of a hill.

I really liked Great Bear. I found it to be fairly intense and the unique layout was a lot of fun.

The entire time we waited for Great Bear, we had this big group of camp kids surrounding us. They had to have been from NYC or something because they had no concept of 'space cushion.' This picture doesn't really do justice though. They would literally stand against us at some points.

I was actually REALLY excited about Great Bear for some reason. Nobody really seems to think that highly about it though...

You know the construction crew hated their jobs when they were building this...

Hey Jow, have you ever seen this? There was .a 'lift' chain in the station track that pulled it up onto the lift hill. Kind of nifty

I thought this was a cool shot. I don't actually wait for stuff like this either. I'm very impatient when it comes to taking pictures. I just have to notice something is coming and snap it fast enough.

Oh! I scored a two-fer! How's it goin' Jow and Derek?

Dan and I would have got along just great today. Though it was hot as balls out.

This area of the park was less than stellar, but Lightning Racers made up for it.

Wildcat looked ginormous.

A few of the coasters are perched up, which makes them appear to be bigger than they really are.

This might have been the best mouse I've been on.

Speaking of which...

Actually, I didn't think it was THAT bad.

It sucked something awful.

How did you like it babe?

Wicked awesome inversion things. Or, 'snake dive' if you really wanna be technical.

The funky, super tall Immelman thingamajig.

Over zee hill, into zee vertical drop.

Couldn't start out the day with anything but Storm Runner. This is really tucked back here.

I'm pretty impressed so far and I'm not even in the park yet.

Wait, am I outside of Hershey or Busch Gardens TheEuroburgCountry?

That's right, 'cause I threw our tickets in the case so they wouldn't get smashed! I'm tellin' ya folks, those TPR dvds are multi-useful! You all should invest in some. I hear all the cool kids are doin' it....

Laura, you're awfully excited to have the UK tour dvd in your hand. Why is that?

Finally! Almost there!

Finally leaving this godforsaken town of Harrisburg! Nice city, but my hotel sucked balls and the road system is ridiculous. Whoever designed and named half the roads in this city as well as PA deserves a serious flogging. It's that ridiculous.

coastercrazed49 · August 16, 2007

Wow great pictures. Your trip report just got me really pumped up for when I go to Hershey next year!!

Ccron10 · August 16, 2007

I'm even impressed when I don't go in the park! Great TR!

ginzo · August 16, 2007

They just need to rip out Roller Soaker as it is a capacity nightmare.

Boo. The capacity does suck, but it's my favorite thing at Hershey. This opinion may have been influenced by the fact that it was so hot it felt like being baked in a kiln on the day we went. Still any ride where you can drench unsuspecting guests on the midway gets a big thumbs up from me.

Jim S. · August 16, 2007

The funky chain drive on SDL must be a Schwarzkopf thing. The other local Schwarzkopf, Laser at Dorney Park, has a weird lift arrangement that looks like nothing else I've seen other than the lift hill on the German wild mouse model I built last winter (except I hope Laser's cars are attached with chain dogs rather than magnets, and it has an anti-rollback system.)

The funky supports on Great Bear are due to the state department of environmental protection's overzealous refusal to allow anyone to excavate in even the most insignificant watercourse on their own property.

Scaparri · August 18, 2007

I had been building up Kennywood for a while to my girlfriend, so since our main purpose for this trip was to go to Hershey and we'd be driving right by Kennywood on the way back, we had to stop by so I could finally take her there.

Again, it was great. It was kind of disappointing to see some of the changes I've heard about, like Garfield's Nightmare. I loved Garfield as a kid, but they actually made the Old Mill worse with it.

Phantom's Revenge further solidified it's spot as my #1 steel as well. This thing is just incredible. I can only imagine how good it would have been if they had more space to keep those insane bunny hops going for a little longer. Oh well.

It was a great day at the park though. It wasn't very busy at all and we were pretty much able to do whatever we wanted. It was a blast. This is an awesome park to go to with your significant other. So much fun.

It was sad that this was the last day of our mini-PA tour, but it was a blast. Can't wait to do it again. And with all three of the parks we hit appearing to open major new rides next year, who knows? Maybe we'll just do the exact trip again next year!

Enjoy the final pics. Thanks for reading.