sscamatt Posted May 13, 2008 Posted May 13, 2008 I was taking a trip from back from Maryland to upstate NY, so of course there were some amusement parks to visit along the way. First stop was Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA. It's a small park, very clean, and VERY family oriented. My car was one of the few in the lot that wasn't a van or SUV. Park was somewhat busy, but it was early, so most things were walk on. Kingdom coaster was first. I think this was CCI's first coaster. Not really any airtime, but probably the smoothest junior wooden coaster I've been on. (I thought I had more pictures of the coaster than this, but apparently not) Joust was next, pretty lame, even for a junior steel. A lot of the rides in the park are made of adult sized components, but tamed down for smaller children, making it a good place for families to enjoy the rides together: Kind of dangerous if you ask me: More like “boat food”: They have two C.P. Huntington's in the same station: I just got my credits and left shortly after. There aren't a ton of rides for adults, but a great park for families: Knoebels is ~2 hour drive north of Dutch Wonderland. It was around 11:30 now, so Knoebels would be the perfect place to grab some lunch and ride a few rides. A visit to central PA is not complete without a visit to Wawa (it's like a nicer 711): Knoebels is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Most GPS devices don't recognize it's location, so have to go old school and whip out the paper directions. It was pretty busy today (compared to the last time I visited in 2007). They were running the tram. The tram is quite the ride, makes you feel like you've time warped to the 1950's or something: It's still too cold for the crystal pool: Twister was running a bit smoother than in 2007. I think there was some track work done on some of the valleys. They were running one train, it was about a 3-4 train wait: Knoebels in one of the few parks that allows you to bring a pet dog with you. It's a really nice and homey kind of place: Flying turns is still not open, it looks like they are still experimenting with different train configurations: Other than the trains, the ride seems to be complete: Phoenix was next, the ride had a bit of a line (out to the entrance). About a 7-8 train wait for middle rows. (also running one train): The new for 2008 ride is located near Phoenix. It was not yet open, but they definitely got it second hand: One of the best haunted houses in the country. (It's actually scary): Got some awesome lunch from the food court. The variety and wholesomeness of the food at this park is ridiculous. It's no wonder they win the best park food golden ticket. View from the top of the sky ride: Are these the Knoebels moonshine tanks? Headed out after ~2 hours at the park. Knoebels is a great park to spend a few hours in since parking is free, admission is free, and the ride prices are reasonable. I'm not in any way saying your can't spent a whole day here though.
Groteslurf Posted May 13, 2008 Posted May 13, 2008 Great report. I'm looking forward to my first visit to Knoebels in 1.5 week. Fingers crossed that Flyin' turns will be open by then, although I in fact gave up hope that it will be.
Ccron10 Posted May 13, 2008 Posted May 13, 2008 Great TR. In my opinion I think that Knoebels could do better than that cheesy carnival ride-type Wipeout. I thought it would look more permanent.
RCoasterny Posted May 13, 2008 Posted May 13, 2008 You're right about the WipeOut. It does seem a little "plopped down", and hasitly put in place. Hopefully for the off season they will build a nice location for it and make it look more permanent. Looks like all they have left to do is run the electrical to the ride. I prefer the traveling version over the park model. The reason being is that the turret is on an incline, while the park model is flat. That means the platform will be angled more steeply on one side than the other. That means...
Kennyweird Posted May 13, 2008 Posted May 13, 2008 DAFE always votes this thing as their favorite dark ride. These old pretzel-style dark rides are getting harder and harder to come by, I'm afraid. Nice TR. Originally, I was going to try to do Hershey and Knoebel's this summer as one giant trip, but due to time constraints I'll only be able to go to Hershey, which is sad because I've heard Knoebel's is a great park .
All Clear Posted May 13, 2008 Posted May 13, 2008 I wish I had done the chairlift when I was there. I got annoyed that it was an upcharge and didn't do it. I stamped my feet and cursed the ride op out and flashed my ACE card at him and everything, but he still said I had to pay two dollars or something. Actually it was more like I didn't have any cash, the nearest-by ticket booth was closed, I was running out of time and I just didn't feel like entering into the hassle so I hit the road instead. Now I think it might have been worth the hassle. We got WaWa in Virginia a couple of years ago. I LOVE it. I would wear a WaWa tee shirt.
Primogen18 Posted May 15, 2008 Posted May 15, 2008 Nice TR, Im hoping the Wipeout gets a little more permanent looking as well, but Knoebels seems to have a few rides like that. Wawa does rule... I have a few shirts as many friends work or have worked at them, but to be honest I wish they would just stay around here, I want Wawa all to myself
Hercules Posted May 15, 2008 Posted May 15, 2008 A trip to PA is not complete without a trip to SHEETZ!!! Not WAWA!!!! SHEETZ!!!
Hercules Posted May 15, 2008 Posted May 15, 2008 Oh no no no. Sheets is the place to be. But that is just my opinion, not fact.
Primogen18 Posted May 16, 2008 Posted May 16, 2008 ...Theres been wars in PA fought over this very subject...
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