Knoebels Power Outage

[no cars go]

At about 9PM today, I was at Knoebels in the Carousel Museum and the power went out. We thought it was just in the store but we went outside and it happened again, but the WHOLE park's power was out. The power came back on, then it was out again and never came back on. I left about a half hour after that and seriously there was like no one left in the park. All I could think about was how glad I was I went on the Haunted Mansion before. I would have freaked if the power went out while I was in there! So was anyone else at Knoebels today? I saw a person with an ACE shirt when I was on the train with 2 other people who had coaster shirts on (1 had a Behemoth shirt on and the other a Ravine Flyer II), but that doesn't really have to do with this... I don't know if the power ever came back on or if they just tried to get everyone out to close the park since it was going to close at 10 anyway.

[pacoasterrider]

That could be troublesome if the campground had no power.

 

But I didn't hear anything about it or wasn't there. Hopefully you got an enjoyable day in before that.

[no cars go]

I don't really know whether the campground lost power or not but I think it probably did. The whole park had been out for about a half hour when I left and the only lights were from people's flashlights and from a few spotlights they were using for the parking lots. Unless the campground power comes from different power lines or something, I don't really know.

 

I did have a great time before we had to leave, I didn't get on a huge number of rides but at Knoebels I tend to just hang out since it's free admission and all. The Phoenix and Twister were both running great today though.

[Johnny Upsidedown]

And here is a news article to go along with your posts...

 

http://www.dailyitem.com/0100_news/local_story_207003021.html

 

ELYSBURG -- Thousands of guests had to be evacuated from Knoebels Groves Amusement Resort at 9 p.m. Thursday when a total power outage closed down the park.

 

 

"There were people on rides when this happened," said co-manager Buddy Knoebel. "Some had to be rescued from atop The Skyway ride when the electricity shut off."

 

The 14-minute-long ski lift ride, which takes passengers 360 feet off the ground, is operated by a computer, so when the electricity shut off, the ride shut down.

 

A backup gas generator had to be turned on and that's how the guests were brought down safely, with no injuries reported.

 

The first indication of a power failure occurred at 8:50, Knoebel said. "There were a series of three glitches in which the power shut off and then came right back on," he said. "At that point, the roller-coaster cars paused at the starter gate and the operation went into a cautionary mode."

 

There were three power glitches followed by a final power outage at 9 p.m.

 

"At this point, the park went dark," Knoebel said.

 

According to the PPL Web site, 417 customers in the area were affected by the blackout.

 

There was no indication when the power might be restored or what caused the outage.

 

Golf carts and maintenance and fire truck headlights were used to illuminate the walkways, so that people could leave safely.

 

"Thankfully, all of this happened at the end of the day, when people were already preparing to go," Knoebel said. "So the evacuation was quite orderly and I didn't get any reports of panic."

 

Lara and Susan Willet, sisters from Shamokin, were two customers about to go on the ferris wheel when the power went out.

 

"I'm not too upset by what happened, but I'm sure glad I wasn't at the top when this happened," said Lara Willet.

 

Knoebel estimated that there were an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 guests at the resort on Thursday. "Some of those customers were staying at our campgrounds. The power is out there, too, so they are going to have to camp in the dark tonight," he said.

 

By 10, most of the resort's parking lots were empty

[SharkTums]

That could be troublesome if the campground had no power.

 

But I didn't hear anything about it or wasn't there. Hopefully you got an enjoyable day in before that.

 

Isn't the point of camping to get away from electricity and power!?!?

 

I don't see how it would be a big deal. Although, I refuse to camp so what do I know!

[topthrillmaverick]

Hah, I was just reading about this actually. Since I live only 10 minutes away from the park I too lost power but it came back on after just a few minutes. However, I did lose my cable and internet connection all night and just got it back on a few hours ago. It would've been weird being there in the dark though, and I feel bad for all the people who had to be 'rescued' from the sky ride.

[Ccron10]

That could be troublesome if the campground had no power.

 

But I didn't hear anything about it or wasn't there. Hopefully you got an enjoyable day in before that.

 

Isn't the point of camping to get away from electricity and power!?!?

 

I don't see how it would be a big deal. Although, I refuse to camp so what do I know!

 

Not really. Most people use RV's.

 

I wonder what happens during "cautionary mode"?

[Primogen18]

It is a bit of a stretch to say "most" use RV's, maybe 1/3rd or 1/4th of the grounds are for them. We go camping every year at Knoebels, and we use some electricity but at the most its a coffee pot and a few strings of lights, nothing major. Some people do go all out to the point where you would think it would be easier if they just got a cabin or RV. I could see it being quite creepy if you were in one of the shower houses though, lol.

[no cars go]

It was really eerie and sort of creepy being in the park when the power started going out. Like I said the first time it went out I was in the carousel museum and that place is sort of creepy, with the old carousel music and all the old carousel animals. Then outside it was really weird too, we were by the Tilt-A-Whirl and Tea Cups the third time it went out and came back on and everybody would cheer when it would come back. The rides actually put off such a huge amount of light, I never noticed it but there aren't really many lights around the park that aren't on rides. And with all the trees Knoebels has just made it kind of creepy and secluded-feeling. When it wouldn't come back on all the people in the food and game stands were scrambling around to find flashlights but people didn't seem to be that agitated about it. For the people not on rides, we all just sort of walked out, there wasn't anyone telling us to get out of the park or anything, it was actually pretty calm. The parking lot workers just had a lot of cars to deal with leaving all at once haha. It was weird leaving the park without seeing the Twister, Phoenix, Ferris Wheel etc all lit up, the only lights were from the cars leaving.

[Yeti762]

I saw a person with an ACE shirt when I was on the train with 2 other people who had coaster shirts on (1 had a Behemoth shirt on and the other a Ravine Flyer II)

 

That was us!!!!

 

We had just made our purchases in the gift shop and were headed to get ice cream when the power went off.

 

Luckily, it was the end of the day and we were on our way out anyway. I agree about it being creepy leaving the park in the dark, but it was pretty orderly.

 

Was there ever any official word on what caused the outage? There was no storm happening at that time either. Someone at our hotel said they were there and that they heard a squirrel was in the transformer and chewed the wire (??? I know, real reliable source!!!! LOL!!!)

[Jim S.]

On the TV news today they said it was a squirrel chewing through wires. I don't think that's entirely accurate. It sounds to me like the line was shorted, not broken, and the short failed to clear between cycles of the automatic reclosers. It must have been a really big squirrel...

[no cars go]

I saw a person with an ACE shirt when I was on the train with 2 other people who had coaster shirts on (1 had a Behemoth shirt on and the other a Ravine Flyer II)

 

That was us!!!!

 

We had just made our purchases in the gift shop and were headed to get ice cream when the power went off.

 

Luckily, it was the end of the day and we were on our way out anyway. I agree about it being creepy leaving the park in the dark, but it was pretty orderly.

 

I was wondering if I would ever find out who you people were, when we were in line for the train my sister was like "hey, that guy up there is wearing an ACE shirt!" I was wearing a black shirt with a big neon music note thing on the back.

 

Have you ever been to Knoebels before Thursday? I love the black cherry ice cream from the Old Mill, when the power went out the last time we walked past it and the workers did have flashlights there.

 

Actually on the way to the park (I was coming from around Harrisburg, through Liverpool if anyone here is familiar with the area) there was this really sudden, huge storm. Our van's temperature sensor (which probably isn't all that accurate) said the temp went from 74 to 59 degrees in a mile of road. This really hard rain started and then there was hail, but it stopped within a few minutes. We thought the power outage might have had to do with that, maybe a fallen power line or something. I don't know very much about electricity, I'm just a silly teenager so I'm not going to really go into that haha.

[Yeti762]

Have you ever been to Knoebels before Thursday?

 

Oh, yes - many times!!!

We've been going there since the early 1990's.

 

Never tried the black cherry ice cream though. We were going to have the waffles and ice cream from the round stand near the Haunted House, but we'll have to wait till next time!!!!

[no cars go]

My parents have been bringing my sister and I to Knoebels since we were born (which was the early 1990s) so I guess I've been going about the same time as you have but I was too young to remember things back then anyway. I only started riding coasters in 2004, that year I went on the Phoenix and it was my first coaster (except for the High Speed Thrill Coaster). The Phoenix got me totally addicted but it's still my favorite woodie. I've never had the waffles and ice cream but we get the pierogies and tri-taters from the round stand every time we go to Knoebels (haha I'm starting to get really hungry now!)