KBrylczyk Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Welcome, welcome, to my trip report that's been two weeks in the making. Don't take that to mean that I put any extra effort into this, though, haha. I've been busy busy, finally have time to get around to posting all of this. Now, this was my first ever time visiting Knoebels. I've lived in Central Jersey my whole life and have never made the trip to Knoebels, and I have no clue what the deuce I was waiting for. This was one of the best, most fun parks I've ever been to, and I only spent two and a half hours there! You can bet that I'll be making another trip out there before I move to Florida next month. The surprises of the trip were the Flyers and the Roll-O-Plane. I've never ridden a Roll-O-Plane before, and that thing threw me for a loop (no pun intended). Tons of fun compacted down to that one little contraption. The Flyers, though? I've ridden flyers before. The ones at Hershey, mainly. I've never understood everyone's love for these things. Every one that I've ridden has been slow, boring, and you can't get any height whatsoever. These monsters at Knoebels, though?! WHAT THE DEUCE DID I JUST RIDE?! This thing was a beast let loose form the very bowels of Hell itself with one mission - to make me have the most fun on any ride anywhere ever. Obviously I'm a novice at these things, but I picked up the technique in no time. Major height, going vertical / horizontal, snapping the cables a few times (before I noticed Mr. Ride Op about to say something). These things were BEYOND fun. I never wanted the ride to end. Twister was a fun ride. Very strong laterals, nice layout, and very sneaky with it's speed. The only real problem is those damn lapbars on the trains. I've never liked them (why would you have the things curve inwards right where your knees are? WHY?!). Fun coaster, though. Phoenix, well, now I know that the rumors are true. This really is a stand-up rollercoaster. I had to explain to my friend Mike why we were going traight to the third row rather than the front or back (he doesn't understand the "catapult" action of third-seats on PTC). Short woodie (heh) but fast and wicked. Airtime out the yingyang. The Haunted House was a nice treat. I can see why it gets rated so high by DAFE. As usual, the train gag is the one that really got me. Bumper Cars...well, now, these are from a separate dimension. I saw people getting knocked onto TWO WHEELS on these things! Another huge surprise of the trip, and another ride I would love to sit on for the entire day. We were on a tight schedule, though, so we didn't get a chance to ride everything or re-ride everything. We did re-rides on Phoenix and the Flyers, but that's all. Definitely going to be comin back and getting a wristband for the day. Being there for a little more than 2 hours and only spending $15, though, is one hell of a good deal or the amount we got done. After Knoebels we drove the half hour down to Centralia, PA, the abandoned town due to the massive underground coal fire. It's still burning, and will burn for another 250 years. More info here - http://offroaders.com/album/centralia/ Following Centralia, we had a date at the King Of Prussia IMAX for Transformers 2, which was the mistake of the trip. I want my money back. Terrible movie. Cool explosions and Megan Fox is hot and all, but the movie was horrible. IMAX for life, though, haha. And now...ON WITH THE PICS! This was taken at the intersection between Lockheed Martin's headquarters and the IMAX. Purty purty lights. Apparently abandoned towns still have commemorative plaques. And benches. No abandoned town is complete without a creepy gothic church looking over it from a mountain. This used to all be residential properties. Now it's, well, green. One of many Windmills on the outskirts of Centralia. Mooooooooooo. This was about two miles away from Knoebels on our way to Centralia. Skloosh! Possibly the most appropriate name for a water ride anywhere. Flying Turns. 3 years and counting in the making. The most fun you can have while sitting in a little tin box. That includes your Dodge Neon. Knoebels Photo Cliche #235-25387-A I was NOT expecting it to go sideways. Freaky surprise! This ride is flippin sweet. Knoebels Photo Cliche #1245 Knoebels Photo Cliche #2345078 Here's something you probably never thought you'd see. Knoebels Haunted House...THROUGH THE TREES! Ooooo, spooky, well landscaped, haunted house, haha. YEAH! Panning for gold! Rising from the ashes, cliche #257, etc. etc. H-H-H-HELIX! Its a twister! Its a twister! Auntie Em! Knoebels Parking Lot! 90% grass, 100% free. Gotta love it. Gettin close to the park now. No longer on an interstate, haha. I love the Pennsylvania landscape. On the road again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electerik Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Cool report. I've never seen pictures of Centralia before (or even heard of it before Nicole brought it up). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan1127 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Did you go to the creepy part of Centralia where the smoke from the fire is venting and all of the vegetation is dead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBrylczyk Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share Posted July 11, 2009 Did you go to the creepy part of Centralia where the smoke from the fire is venting and all of the vegetation is dead? We wanted to, but we missed the turn for the old road. We drove right next to it, too, haha. We're gonna go back. We were in a hurry to get to King Of Prussia because my friend Mike decided it'd be a good idea to wear his glasses on Phoenix and lose them on the last bunny hop, haha. While I was driving he was calling Lens Crafters and Pearl Vision to see if they'd be able to make a quick and dirty new prescription pair for him before the movie. We were successful, with 5 minutes to spare before showtime, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim S. Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Wow, it must have been in top form that night! I've never lost items, or seen items get lost, on Phoenix. Opening weekend this year though, I managed to lose my sunglasses on the flyers. I think it was the wind, yeah, that's it, the wind... It certainly wasn't anything I was doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHILLERLC1 Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Lockheed Martin headquarters is in Bethesda, MD. That is a current Lockheed Martin facility in KoP that went through the GE Aerospace, Martin Marietta, Lockheed Martin change. There used to be a huge satellite on the PA Turnpike side of LM property downhill by the eastbound on ramp. If there is anything worth photo-ing in KoP it would have been the massive mall and nearby Valley Forge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajinaz Posted July 11, 2009 Share Posted July 11, 2009 Did you go to the creepy part of Centralia where the smoke from the fire is venting and all of the vegetation is dead? That's the Silent Hill section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medusa1861 Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Wait, Centralia is actually a nice place? I thought Centralia was dead like the other picture posted. That was the only place in Centralia I went to for my Geography class. Took the temperature of the ground. (our highest recorded was 130 degrees if you were wondering) I'm also surprised you said Transformers sucked. I've only heard good things about it, and 3 people who hated it. Any reason why it was bad? Without giving away spoilers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tnguy Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Really nice pictures! I've always wanted to see whats left of Centralia, and of course I've always wanted to go to Knoebels. Maybe someday... I have been to King of Prussia though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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