PTR: Knoebels Opening Day 2009

[Schmoofy]

It's been a while since a visit to Knoebels, and figured opening day would be a great time to visit. There was a handstand special today, which prompted a group consisting of a few close friends and myself to head down. $23 for a hand stamp, which when purchased allowed one free, BOGO.

 

We arrived around 1:20, and got out hand stamps for the day by 1:45. Crowds were large and steady all day, allowing us few rides for the time allotted. Around 5:00 an announcement came over the loud speaker announcing that they were extending the wristbands to 7:00 because of the huge turnout, which gave us another hour to ride some things we didn't have time for if we were cut out at 6:00.

 

Day started out with Phoenix, and ended with Cosmotron, a winning combination. Two rides on Phoenix and one on Twister, mainly due to large wait times. Phoenix was running both trains, while Twister was only running its blue train. High Speed Thrill Coaster is gone, all that remains is the footers. There's a new kiddie ride, Kiddie Himalaya, and it appeared to be a blast with the younger ones, many rushed back in line for a second go.

 

Flying Turns has undergone some MAJOR changes since last season. The brake run no longer has a roof over it, the pieces are scattered throughout the park. The trough that used to be after the brake run before the third lift hill is no longer there, it is being replaced with a tracked segment, more than likely for better control of the vehicles before entering the third lift. The part off of the first lift, where the transfer track is (was?) is now re-done consisting of a LOT less wood than last year, which makes it look more appeasing. A segment of track before the second lift hill, the main lift, is also missing. No idea what is going on there. Many parts of the track are covered with clear tarps, probably for work that has to be kept dry.

 

All and all, a pretty good day. Knoebels NEVER disappoints, even though they again removed Moxie from their necessities shop's cooler.

 

Trip report pictures this post, Flying Turns construction pictures to follow in another post.

A good day, and good weather to boot. Thanks Knoebels!

Flyers got a new fence for this year, it looks very sexy. Here's a background for Flyers enthusiasts: http://i39.tinypic.com/dcda4k.jpg

5. Ride ends, lights come on, music turns off, and everyone leaves the building. For such a simple idea, it's so cool.

4. Even more trippy lights and blaring music.

3. More trippy lights and louder music.

2. Trippy lights and loud music.

1. Normal lights on, they turn off and the ride begins.

An average ride on the Cosmotron, a full-sized Himalaya indoors, consists of the following pictures.

"This ride goes both ways."

I concur with the above statement.

Something called me to go and make out with the north pole. Not sure what, and I did get some awkward stares.

Last ride on the Phoenix for the day.

Ran out of frips right in front of me. I did get fried cheese on a stick however, just as delicious.

It was around 6:00 now, and the crowds started to clear out. Maybe not many heard the announcement that wrist bands were given an extra hour to ride?

"Haha, double penetration."

"Maybe Knoebels should update their map?" Nah, their pamphlets for this year have everything updated.

"Maybe Knoebels should update their map?"

"Maybe Knoebels should update their map?"

These condiment contraptions never get old. So simple, yet so...arous..amusing.

AKA "The Acer Line"

There's only a flood light hooked up on the edge of the attraction. Hopefully they will add some other light.

The Kiddie Himalaya seemed to be a big hit with the kids.

This fire truck wasn't here last year. Nice addition.

Artsy.

The bumper boat water is clear, for now at least. Interesting to see how deep the water really is.

Galleon was down today, not sure why.

For some reason the station is still up. Perhaps there is hope for a new coaster here? Here's hoping for one as good as HSTC.

Really, really bare.

It looks so bare now.

Yeah, it's really gone. No mechanical/metal parts anywhere to be found.

The past entry to High Speed Thrill Coaster. A moment of silence..

Even the motor boats had a longer than normal line.

Peace, tranquility, away from the crowds for a minute or so.

In this case, the targets were unsuspecting swarms of guests.

I think those letters have seen some better days.

Crowds everywhere, this spot was one not infested.

Counting the time waiting in line, and then waiting for my number to be called, linner took about 30 minutes.

The log flume was packed, probably because it was nearing 80 degrees all day.

As much as I hate you, I love you.

I think our wait time was nearing 30 minutes, and with the purple train just begging to be let out onto the course, I don't know what stopped them from doing so.

Tension enthusiasts take note.

Old signage.

The Twister was running, unfortunately, so I was obligated for a ride.

Last report I complained about not riding Wipeout. I regret riding this entirely now. VERY forceful.

Everything was running short rides today, or at least it seemed it.

I still prefer this coaster over El Toro for some reason. Probably because I grew up with the Phoenix.

Leaving the station to enter the mysterious dark tunnel.

Very sexy.

I timed it right, but the location of the picture is absurd. My bad.

Returning from their flight.

Both the orange and yellow trains were running today, making the long line go by decently fast.

Last visit I didn't snap too many picture of the Phoenix. I made sure I didn't make the same mistake this time.

Can't beat it!

Heavy Crowds to start the day, waited quite a long time to get our wrist bands for the day.

[mayberry21]

You beat me to the punch Schmoofy, I was five minutes away from posting my own!! LOL.

 

It was really gorgeous; it couldn't have been any better for Knoebel's opening day. The lines were a little too long for my taste but that certainly didn't stop anyone

 

I was really sad to see nothing in High Speed Thrill's place, it really was.

 

When we were in line for the Pioneer Train, the funniest thing happened. This lady came in line with a collie. We couldn't stop laughing, partly because we have a collie, but mostly because we've never seen a dog on the Pioneer Train, much less see anybody even try to bring one on. They did let the dog on! I don't know if they charged her extra LOL...

[Schmoofy]

Instead of copy/pasting what I wrote about Flying Turns in my first post, I'll assume you read what I wrote there before you check out these pictures, even though I am captioning them all. Enjoy!

 

Oh, and on a side note, I was not able to find any hint of Golden Nugget anywhere in the park.

A close-up of the drop-off section. Hope you enjoyed!

New drop-off from the first lift, looks nice.

So lovely.

Another roof piece hiding near Cosmotron.

More tracking.

The poor third lift hill..

It appears that most of this isn't nailed down yet.

More of the newly tracked section.

..and walk up this line.

I just want to walk under this archway...

There's a phone in the ride operator booth, but I believe that was there last season as well.

Lots of changes here since last season.

More plastic, I assume they can't get this new section wet.

The plastic was covering the cars from the rain, probably.

Bare brake run, No shelter anymore.

Looks like this was used to make holes for the footers.

But that's about all you can do with it right now, being you can't see inside of it.

Nothing much at all. It's still something to marvel at, however.

Not much has changed on this trough section.

Footers are cool, right?

Two of the brake-run roof pieces hanging out behind the Phoenix.

So the trough wouldn't work I'm assuming, any reason?

Yes, most definitely a tracked section.

Working hard on where a trough used to be. It appears to be a tracked section.

Ending trough.

Some of the station wood is becoming 'colored' in with the rest of the park. Aging really does make it look better.

Looking good, beautiful!

[Thrillrider92]

Great pictures of a great park. I went to Knoebels last July and it was truley an awesome park. The rides are great and they have two of the best coasters I have ever ridden. Great park. Thanks for sharing the pictures. Does Knoebels have any idea when Flying Turns will open this season if the ride even opens this season?

[Schmoofy]

...When we were in line for the Pioneer Train, the funniest thing happened. This lady came in line with a collie...

That is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time! A friend of mine was joking around today saying that there are dog wrist bands you can buy too, haha.

 

Does Knoebels have any idea when Flying Turns will open this season if the ride even opens this season?

According to their website, they want to open it when it's ready, which could be next week or next year. It feels like the ride is becoming an endless pit of expenses for the park.

[larrygator]

I overheard a couple of managers at the park say that they were unprepared for crowds of this size today, but at least they had two trains running on Phoenix.

 

It appeared to me they were running the normal cycles on the flats I rode (Skooters, Flyers and Fandango and Italian Trapeze).

 

The staff at the Fried Pierogie stand was completely overwhelmed by the crowds.

[ctriceman]

I overheard a couple of managers at the park say that they were unprepared for crowds of this size today,

 

I've never seen so many people lined up for hand stamps. They were lined up across the bridge and under the Knoebels sign out on the road. Also, I didn't see anyone making out with the 1001 naughts, that's always a good thing.

[Jim S.]

That's ironic that they're replacing trough turns with track. The whole point of making trough for seemingly trivial parts of the layout was that the cars wouldn't turn smoothly on track since the wheels swivel! This track looks like it's cambered though, maybe that's how they're going to get the wheels to follow it. I don't remember the tracked sections that were there last year looking like that.

 

I hope they extend the hours today too if the crowds are that bad again. Other years, when the hours have been listed as "12 - ?" they've kept the park open til 7 or so but after 6 you had to pay tickets. That sucks because I always have a stash of leftover tickets but I don't take it with me when I'm going to get a handstamp.

[Mochtroid]

Great TR. I hope that Knoebels gets an S&S Free Fly, but they are more nostalgic and that probably isn't their first choice.

[Speeddeamon128]

Awesome TR! Where is Knoebels putting the new kiddie coaster?

[coastersrule85]

Awesome photos! Gosh, I can't wait to get back up to Knoebels. I'll be there the end of June, so with some Divine intervention, hopefully Flying Turns will be operating by then.

[Ccron10]

Awesome TR! Where is Knoebels putting the new kiddie coaster?

From the way it seems probably right where High Speed Thrill Coaster was becuase if they didn't, then the station roof, the entrance path, and coaster bridges would probably be long gone.

 

It seems like those new tracked sections might actually work, but I don't understand the purpose of removing the brake run roof.

[Jim S.]

It seems like those new tracked sections might actually work, but I don't understand the purpose of removing the brake run roof.

 

I don't either, unless maybe they're going to put one big roof over the brake run and the to-be-constructed storage track. (There's a big concrete pad for it, but nothing else.) And I also don't understand the purpose of re-doing the final lift before the train returns to the station. That part was already track instead of trough!

 

On another note, does anyone know if the swans are all still there? All day today I only saw one. There were at least 4 last year.

[froggypheebs]

Knoebels does allow you to bring your dog on the Pioneer Train. Even more incredible is they will allow you to bring Fido onto the antique cars as well.

Isn't there a second new kiddie ride? It is on the website as "Goin Buggy" and looks like it is shaped like ladybugs.

 

My theory for the large crowd is that none of the parks in the vicinity were open today. Hershey was also packed a few weeks ago for springtime in the park.

I'm going to Knoebels next Saturday and I hope the crowds calm down.

[Josh Linn]

Awesome TR! Where is Knoebels putting the new kiddie coaster?

 

It's going right where HSTC was. Golden Nugget is going somewhere else, apparently.

[Ccron10]

Awesome TR! Where is Knoebels putting the new kiddie coaster?

 

It's going right where HSTC was. Golden Nugget is going somewhere else, apparently.

I heard that it's going in next to the Mining Museum in 2010 or later. It probably depends when Flying Turns is finished.

[masportster]

When we were in line for the Pioneer Train, the funniest thing happened. This lady came in line with a collie. We couldn't stop laughing, partly because we have a collie, but mostly because we've never seen a dog on the Pioneer Train, much less see anybody even try to bring one on. They did let the dog on! I don't know if they charged her extra LOL...

My wife and I have a Shar-Pei and a Boston Terrier. Each year, the dogs ride on the Pioneer Train, the Motor Boats, the Antique Cars and one time, even the Haunted Mansion...although they weren't too thrilled with that!!! They like the train but not the tunnel (everyone screaming through it). And no, they don't charge tickets either. It's the only park I know of where pets can go on rides!!! What an awesome place!! We were there this opening weekend, but we left the dogs up at the camper while we went to the park. It was a little too hot for them.

[Primogen18]

I am curious where goin buggy ended up too, as the new Himalaya looks awesome. lt seems as if they are really putting some work into makin these rides look better and more permanent. Downdraft stands out as a bit too carny next to it, just a simple concrete platform would look nice under it. The new flyer fence looks very nice, much better then the plastic PVC stuff they had before.

 

My dog LOVES the train as well, and the antique cars. No credits though, would be interesting if they made a doggie coaster that is calm enough for dogs lol. I think a wacky worm would work...

[CoasterFanatic]

I was not able to find any hint of Golden Nugget anywhere in the park.

 

I would have to imagine that it is in the boneyard up on Campground road.

 

The crowd was packed for both days over the weekend, but they seemed to handle the crowds fairly well. Other Twister and Motor Boats there were probably no lines over 10 minutes or so.

 

// Was it just me or was there like 50000 pregnant women in the park this past weekend.

[larrygator]

^Some of the family flats/rides had waits in excess of 20 minutes (Flume, Tilt-A-Whirl, Tea Cups).

 

We also waited about 20 minutes for Fandango.

 

Skooters were generally a 3-4 cycle wait all day.

 

Ted - I also noticed a lot of pregnant women, and more dogs than usual.

[Hercules]

I noticed a lot of pregnant women, but I figured we were in Elysburg, what else can you expect? I loved all of the dogs around though.

 

I really couldn't believe how packed it was this weekend. Though, I though, what else do people have to do up in that area? They have probably been salivating over the thought of Knoebels opening.

[coastermoosh]

One page 1 Jim S. said "That's ironic that they're replacing trough turns with track."

 

They aren't. Trough in that section is being replaced. What appears to be track is actually supports for trough. Notice the two at the bottom are angled towards the center. See labelled photo here:

 

 

Also, the plot of land formerlly occupied by HSTC will see a new custom family coaster by Miler later this year. Here is the RCDB listing:

 

http://www.rcdb.com/id4453.htm

[Hercules]

^ The new Miler has been discussed many times in a bunch of different threads, but thank you for the link to rcdb.

[CoasterFanatic]

I think you are mistaken Moosh. if you look at where that turn where the photo ends, the transition to left track is seamless. I am guess that the trough in question is gone for good.

 

They have probably been salivating over the thought of Knoebels opening.

 

That and impregnating all the local women.

 

// I took more pictures of the mess since I am an uber-dork ...[/img]

[Ccron10]

What happened to the last lift hill? When I was there in August, they had all the lift hill mechanisms in place including the chain. From the pic above it seems like they threw out the lift system (which I highly doubt).

From what I see, I don't think we'll see this ride running until late in the season if at all.