Photo TR: Knoebel's - 10 Jul 2010

[A.J.]

Hey, look! A.J. is posting his first photo TR!

 

EDIT: I'm still a TPR rookie, and I posted all my photos in IMG tags instead of attachments, because I'm so used to using vBulletin. My apologies to 56K users.

 

~~~

 

Today was one of the only days I had time to take a amusement park trip for myself, so I drove out to Knoebel's for the day. It's my favorite amusement park, and it seemed like a good idea, until I got on Interstate 80. When I got on Interstate 80, I realized that I forgot something crucial to my day...

 

...my wallet.

 

It's surely a good thing that Knoebel's is free admission. It's also a good thing that I keep my DL in my car. I found five dollars in my storage compartment, so that would be able to buy me food, but unfortunately I was too far away from home to turn around, and that meant no rides for me. But that's okay!

 

 

It was a dark and cloudy day, but that didn't stop me from having a relaxing day at Knoebel's. I got drizzled on a few times too. That Giant Wheel picture was taken early in my day - about 10:30AM. It's THROUGH THE TREES, too!

 

After I took the Giant Wheel picture, I started walking around the park. I first stopped at Sklooosh, which hadn't opened yet at the time. In case you didn't know, this is what happens when Sklooosh is closed - they rest one of the boats on the lift hill. I was told that this is because it uses less power to rest the boat on the lift hill than to put it in the transfer section. Check it out...

 

I then started toward the Giant Flume hoping for a similar photo. I made some observations along the way. For you 1001 Nacht enthusiasts, the backdrop has been removed. Power Surge enthusiasts, that ride looks like it definitely has seen better days and that it's due for a cleanup/refreshing. Flying Turns enthusiasts, I'll talk to you in a bit. Same with you Phoenix enthusiasts also.

 

I got to the Giant Flume (which hadn't been opened yet either), and snapped this...

 

It's a traffic jam. I was told they rest as many boats on the conveyors as possible because the current doesn't run when the ride is closed (obviously...).

 

Now, I headed over behind the Giant Flume to the Mining Museum. I've always liked the Mining Museum, but it's what was next to it that piqued my interests...Black Diamond!

 

It seems like they're making faster progress on Black Diamond than Flying Turns, probably because they're actually using the old Golden Nugget blueprints for assistance, as opposed to going completely from scratch with Flying Turns.

 

Here's some track...

 

OMGZ more track...

 

By the time I had finished at Black Diamond, a lot of the rides had opened. As I was walking around, it looked like none of the rides were experiencing any downtime at all, which is great for Knoebel's reputation. I eventually found my way to Knoebel's new for 2009 coaster, Kozmo's Kurves. On my way, I noticed something about the Satellite that I didn't know before (because I've never ridden a roll-o-plane) - when the arms are spinning horizontally, the cars end up banking 90 degrees outward on one side of the spin. I thought that was pretty cool.

 

Kozmo's Kurves...

 

I took that photo, and on the next lap around, a boy lost his Penn State hat coming down the first drop. I went over, stuck my hand through the fence, grabbed the hat, and proceeded to return it. However, I spotted something about Kurve's track that prompted me to go back and take a picture (after returning the hat to its rightful owner of course)...

 

There's a small gap in the track! Is that supposed to be there? It doesn't seem to affect the ride, but something like that could be dangerous in the long run. Maybe to compensate for thermal expansion (physics geeks?).

 

I then noticed another ride that's seen better days - the motor boats. I didn't get to take a photo because it happened too quickly. But, two boats got stuck next to each other, and a staff member actually hopped on the boats and moved them using his feet! I understand the classic nature of the ride, but there has to be something Knoebels can do to improve the experience.

 

I looped back around the park stopping to get a quick bite at one of the snack stands (I think it was the one next to the Giant Wheel), and this time went toward the Flying Turns. I wasn't able to talk to any of the staff about the Flying Turns (not that they would be able to tell me anything), but I spotted something in the newly-expanded brake shed...

 

OMGZORZTRAINCHASSIS!!!1!1

 

It's a two-car train chassis, and it's probably been sitting there for a while. I doubt that they'll have this open until 2011 at the earliest. RCDB says that the trains will have five cars per train. If they are struggling testing with two chassis, it's going to be a while until testing begins with five fully-built cars.

 

I continued my loop moving toward the Phoenix. I didn't get any good photo ops, so I went back to Black Diamond and took another picture...

 

It looks like they're going to make the exterior of Black Diamond look like the Mining Museum. I think that's a good idea. This is just a pipe dream, but maybe they'll expand the Mining Museum and build the entrance and exit in there. I don't know. Don't take my word for it.

 

I went back to Phoenix, past the Antique cars, and to Fandango. As I went to take a picture of the Phoenix, Fandango was running, and it's baffling how close the disc comes to innocent bystanders waiting in line...

 

I know it's safe clearance, but come on! How is that little kid just standing there with a blunt look on her face?

 

Anyway, I went over to Phoenix, and I was getting impatient waiting for a train (single train operation), but I did notice something on Phoenix's third large turn...

 

Are they beginning to re-track Phoenix? Only time will tell.

 

The afternoon approached, and I was done here. I had a very relaxing day at Knoebel's, and it was a nice change from my life as an incoming college freshman (ughhhhh...). I'll close this photo TR with the mandatory "Twister in the helix" shot...

 

Hope you enjoyed reading my TR.

 

~A.J.

[Midgetman82]

Nice first TR, hope you get that attachment thing right next time . I think that gap is there on purpose and they would be watching it just in case, not every roller coaster fits 100% perfectly; transfer tracks usually have some kind of 1cm or 2cm gap.

[Band-Aid]

Heh, I was at Knoebel's yesterday. I was going to post a somewhat long TR, but you beat me to it. So, thanks to you, I don't have to. So...thanks for saving me 2 hours of my life!

 

Anyhoo, for a first TR, it was quite good.

[ctriceman]

 

I know it's safe clearance, but come on! How is that little kid just standing there with a blunt look on her face?

 

 

When we would go to Knoebels as kids, I can remember the operator of the old Eli wheel sitting extremely close to the edge of the wheel while it was in motion. We would all sit there in awe wondering why this guy never got his head caught, but he never did, your post reminded me of that.

 

Anyway, great tr.

[Philrad71]

For you 1001 Nacht enthusiasts, the backdrop has been removed.

 

I wonder if Knoebel's did this to ummm...make it look less sexy and attractive to certain people???

[ctriceman]

^hahahah nice, I think that's why they did that

[A.J.]

I think that gap is there on purpose and they would be watching it just in case, not every roller coaster fits 100% perfectly; transfer tracks usually have some kind of 1cm or 2cm gap.

 

It just sort of made me wonder what was going on - the gap is located at the very bottom of the first drop, the fastest (and proably most stressed) point of the ride.