palmerleeberry Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Hey Ya!!! I wanted to drop a line and tell you how much I've enjoyed your photo tour of small parks. Yes, I've been to Lakemont and I'm delighted that they are getting another ride, but it's not a roller coaster. "Rats! No coaster. I mean I like Skyline and Leap the Dips, but they should have a family coaster in there somewhere!" Anyway, to your question about the water side of Lakemont, as it's true they have the mat sliders (three slides: slow, medium, and As for the Skydiver, I cannot ride that ride; the restraints on that ride is like a torture device. Leaps the Dip is the only roller coaster of its kind in operation, and its worth the extra bucks to ride it. Well, that's enough for now. Keep up the good work and never stop riding! "Are you finished yet? I miss you in bed." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 ^Thanks for the nice comments! I hope to get the remainder of Lakemont up today after I eat breakfast. I agree that if you visit, you HAVE to spend the extra $3 (or whatever it was) to ride Leap Teh Dips. And I agree, a family coaster would be nice to have at that park along with a little revamp to the water park. And the Wisp at Deep Creek does have a Mountain Coaster!!!!! Hmmm...I am going to have to do some digging on this one - sounds interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 Well, enough procrastinating...I need to update this report and get the rest of Lakemont Park on the board! All that I am hoping for is that all of these pics go on Page 4 and not on Page 3 or it will take forever to load! Enjoy! Here it is folks! The one, the only...Leap Teh Dips! It's like Teh Big Dipper, but people really give a crap about this coaster! While they mis-spelled Teh, I will give bonus points for Lep The Dips. Dear Kat, PSSST...you might want to contact an organization like this if you ever have the itch to save a SBNO classic coaster. Love, Phil Our chariot awaits - woot! For all of you transfer track enthusiasts...this is about as old school as it gets! I have a brake run for those enthusiasts as well...can't leave you guys out of the loop! They'll do on-ride photos for free if you ask nicely! No lap bar, buzz bar, seat belt, OTSR's...but will there be airtime? The ascent begins... These sections made me think I was riding in an Amish buggy on a dirt road, but each hill had a nice pop of crazy out of control air...I had to hold on a couple of times because you felt like you're going to fly right out of the seat! We give it a big thumbs up! I am sooo glad we got a chance to ride this classic coaster! A shot of Leap Teh Dips as well as a fence & a storage building. Not sure why they disassembled this ride. Unless it was because they already have a kick-ass Octopus, which craps all over a Spider! Didn't ride these, but wished that I would have. I decided I was going to wait until I had consumed mass quantities of beer and hot wings! But I did ride this! Tilt-A-Whirl and Octopus are two of the best flats out there in my opinion. Old school, but they can be VERY intense when they want to be! This was SBNO like the one at Conneaut Lake...but looked to be in better shape. Now for the parks other classic woodie - Teh Skyliner! Actually there is no Teh in the name - my mistake. LOVE the retro sign and would liked to have seen it lit up at night. I think there was more air on Leap Teh Dips, but this coaster wasn't Hurler or Wildbeast awful by any means. Anyone into whoring it up will want to check out their Lakemont's kiddy coaster. Not sure if they'll let you ride without a kid though. Who can look at this and wonder whether the boys really are back in town? Okay, maybe a few of you might not get that. Oooooh...old school ferris wheel! This ain't Tin Lizzy...no rockin' allowed here! Kiddy ferris wheel. Park overview from the ferris wheel. Lakemont is basically like a county fair with four coasters, a train ride and a mini water park. Being that the temp had soared and with the rain we received in the morning, it was quite hot and humid. Time for a grape Sno-Cone before heading out! See ya, Lakemont...you're a cool little park! Too bad we didn't get back for the Wing-Off...perhaps next year. Thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Linn Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Nice TR. I was at Lakemont once in (I think) 2004, and really didn't enjoy it. Skyliner was good, but the rest of the park wasn't in very good shape. Leap-the-Dips being closed that day didn't help matters, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie200330 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Last time we were there, they had an age limit on the kiddy coaster. I believe it was 12 and under regardless of height. I couldn't take my son, but he was big enough to go it alone anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 ^ Well that's stinks. I'm a dirty, nasty, little whore. Thanks Philrad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 ^ I was at Lakemont once in (I think) 2004, and really didn't enjoy it. Skyliner was good, but the rest of the park wasn't in very good shape. Leap-the-Dips being closed that day didn't help matters, either. Yeah, the park is definitely a little run down, but after being at Conneaut Lake it looked pretty good! I think that the main draw to this park (especially for enthusiasts) is Leap Teh Dips and if it would have been closed that day, I would have been disappointed too. I wondered when we left if that was really the only thing keeping the park open? I would say that when we visited, there may have been a total of fifty people in the entire park - and that was probably being generous. I would imagine that having the special events on weekday evenings might be a big draw for locals though - and the ball games next door probably pull in some crowds too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) Shame to see the Spider taken apart, Lakemont used to run a ridiculous cycle. Edited January 10, 2011 by larrygator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 ^That's too bad about the Spider getting disassembled...while I do like that ride, the Octopus just seemed to do much more intense spinning and dropping. I will say that I have only ridden an Octopus model a handful of times versus the Spider model though. Could be just the maintenance, weight in the car, motor speed, alignment of the moon, etc that makes one spin more than another? The cycle I got on Octopus was also one of the craziest I have ever had on a flat in a park. I was almost begging them to stop because everything was just a ridiculous blur for about ten minutes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie200330 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 That is what is cool about the deadness of Lakemont. You get on a ride and if no one is waiting they will run it forever. The Octopus and tilt-a-whirl are only good that way. Let er rip and run for 10 minutes to get a good spin cycle out of them!!! YEEHA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Okay, time to step outside the box for a minute... This July, we decided to take a jaunt out to our local county (Chautauqua) fair as we hadn't been for quite a few years. While not as ghetto as I remembered, I think a lot of the fair's ghetto-ness was more the clientele than the carnies and unsafe looking rides. I will say that our ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl was without a doubt the CRAZIEST cycles on a flat ride I have ever had - even more than the Octopus cycle at Lakemont. It was at least 15 minutes long (probably because there was no line and the ride op was busy texting) and our car just kept spinning & spinning relentlessly. I have never had a ride on a Tilt-A-Whirl like this before! They also had a crazy cycle on the Fireball (KMG) that I swore seemed like we were very close to being upside down. No ride on the Skydiver again, but this one was down for a bit for maintenance (probably to replace a cotter pin holding a car together or something). We left right before a storm blew in and I was amazed when we were driving out of the lot (there was lightning flashing in the area) that the rides were still operating! Welcome to the Shaw-Taw-Kwa County Fair! I think this Sexy Skydiver is an annual staple - at least it has been here every year I have ever visited. Wave Swinger, Vortex and Paratrooper. I totally jammed my funny bone on the Wave Swinger when another swing hit me from behind unexpectedly. While it drew a little blood, I wasn't in as bad a shape as whoever puked up their deep fried Snickers bar on the platform. At least....I sorta hope it was deep fried Snickers puke. Speaking of deep fried Snickers...Michael had to try one so I tried a bite. Not too bad! FYI...it wasn't our substance on the Wave Swinger ride platform. Can someone in California verify this? I was a little skeptical and Michael Oher didn't look too amazed either.Wait...the Buffalo Bills could have drafted Oher? Oh wait...we took Aaron Maybin out of Penn State with the 11th pick instead! LMAO! Spoiler alert: I believe this would would be called a Capybara. Craziest cycle on a Tilt-A-Whirl...EVER! Should have ridden the Hurricane, but it was making strange noises that made me think otherwise. This would be the lone credit, but I refuse to whore myself out like some folks on here! I can't help pondering over a ride called 'Bear Affair'. It just seems like a somewhat inappropriate name for a ride, let alone a kiddy ride! Sheesh! But what western NY attraction would be complete without some 'I Got It!' We missed the tractor pull and demolition derby...and probably the biggest redneck congregation in the county for 2010. What were we thinking? So many photo-ops lost. But they had a "zoo". PETA members might wanna skip over the next few pics... Don't worry...it was both consensual & reciprocal. Hard to believe they are endangered. GO GATORS! They should have had this next to the only credit...duhhh! Ummm...yeah. Only, this would be two gators stuffed into a Beverly Hillbillies style bathtub. Put 'em on the main midway with a 1,000 pound tattoo'ed woman already. Gotta admit, I love the grass "theming" on the tub! This exhibit was aptly named 'Goats-N-Tortoise'....take that Wisconsin State Fair! At night, the poor tortoise had no one to watch his back from the wanton billy goats - including the one's with the bathtub fetish. I was going to say something standard here like "Noted!" but WTF is up with no period after animals...but an exclamation point after 'Thank You'?? Fail! Billy Goat Gruff had about had it with this stupid fair exhibit at this point and was looking for something different. The tortoise was an interesting change-up, but the goat was ticked when the tortoise kept retracting his head during foreplay. He had certainly had his share of kiddy fingers during the week and was looking to make his way to the beer tent & deep fried Snickers stand! "Baaaaaa....Gimme outta heah....bleeeeeeet." I work for one of the companies here, but it is not a football team, the rebel flag or Batman. I wondered if my company gave them permission to print some cool t-shirts or temporary tattoos? And now...the #1 reason you go to the Shaw-Taw-Kwa Fair...the awesome chiken fingers and fris for only $9! PS - For all beer lovers, they had Southern Tier beers for $3 per bottle under the tractor pull bleachers! Woot! I also coulda probably stole a kiss from the barhop that only had half her teeth, but I chose restraint! (Disclaimer: Three years ago, the chiken and fris was only $5, but the fris ARE the bomb!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatle11 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I've never been a big fan of those crazy unsafe looking flats. Nice report though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samisthabomb Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 It doesn't matter where you sit, that Hurricane ride is evil! Great TR! I'm really enjoying this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Evil as in it really jostles you around, makes you sick, or is really awesome? I don't believe I have ever ridden a flat like that before. The closest would be the Corn Popper at Darien Lake and the space jet thingies at Disney. They had a Hurricane-like ride at Knoebels that I was going to ride, but I never got on it. It wasn't making the same strange noises that the one at this fair was making! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie200330 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 It kinda rides like the Swing Around that used to sit on top of the lagoon stage at Kennywood, or the Appolo at Dorney. credit LarryG from the park index Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 ^Thanks for posting...it is just like the Corn Popper at Darien Lake. I love that flat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samisthabomb Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Evil as in it really jostles you around, makes you sick, or is really awesome? I don't believe I have ever ridden a flat like that before. The closest would be the Corn Popper at Darien Lake and the space jet thingies at Disney. They had a Hurricane-like ride at Knoebels that I was going to ride, but I never got on it. It wasn't making the same strange noises that the one at this fair was making! Haha! It's evil as in it makes you feel as though you just broke every bone in your body! There weren't any seat dividers in the one I rode. Ouch. Oh, and I want to go up there and get me some fris! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Anyone care for a Knoebel's report? This trip wasn't part of the East Coast tour we did this year, but was a very fun weekend getaway this past summer. I had heard so many good things about Knoebel's on here, that I knew we HAD to make a trek down to Elysburg! We wanted to make reservations at the campground next door, but they were sold out. My recommendation for any campers looking to spend a summer weekend here...book REALLY early! We ended up at a campground (Indian Head) about ten miles away and while it served it's purpose, it was like something out of National Lampoon's 'Vacation'. You could tell that the campground had seen it's better days and there wasn't a whole lot of maintenance going on. The bathrooms were also pretty creepy. Just down from where we set up camp were some "weekend retreats" and while they were lit up nicely with Christmas lights, the demonic cut-out faces in their driveways and "Warning - trespassers will be shot" signs were just a tad menacing. These folks obviously liked their alcohol (to the tune of partying till 5:00 AM). While no one messed with us and the partying didn't really bother us, we would certainly not deem this a "family friendly" campground. The profanity laced drunken conversations near the restroom around 4:00 AM certainly cemented those thoughts! The embarrassing part about that is that there was a nice family camping very close to where that conversation took place that night. As far as Knoebel's...what can I say that hasn't already been said? Great food, rides, prices, coasters, old-fashioned atmosphere...it truly is a one of a kind park! Even though they don't have the highest, fastest anything...you can't help but walk out of that park in a good mood thinking what a great time you just had! I'm gonna do this report in a couple of parts as there are a lot of pictures...hope you enjoy! Yay, we're here...wait, what? Is that a trailer with a tin roof over it? Let's pick our campsite...how about here? Noooo.... A special playground for the kiddies..."watch for dem skeeters, in dem dare tires Lyrlene!!!" And you thought that the rides at the county fair looked unsafe? I wonder how many chipped teeth, blackened shins and broken ankles this little gem has caused over the years? I'm gonna hope that is rust on there and not dried blood! Word has it that Mary Lou Retton got her start right here...on this very log! I was set to go all Sam Cassel on somebody, but there were no challengers. Did I mention that the restrooms were a little ghetto? Actually, they did have a restroom...this was here in case you don't think you could make the journey to the middle of the campground. If you look at the bottom of the door, I would imagine that you might be sharing it with some friendly little critters of the forest. Some of the "regulars" had lot's of skull and demon cut-out's at the entrance to their sites - although their version of Bench-The Ride was pretty cool. Needless to say, we didn't observe too many kids riding their Schwinn's around here! We finally set up camp at this site before heading to... ...the finest f%$&in' family fun park in America! Hey, I'm just tryin' to fit in with some of the locals here! Oh dear...this place looks PACKED! Hooray for the front seat on the people mover...seriously, these things kick butt! The only thing that would have been even more awesome is if they would have had a hayride with a tractor take us to the front of the park! The craft fair may have brought even more people to the park. I believe that this is the tallest ferris wheel in Pennsylvania. Wished we would have ridden it. This too...reminded me of the Hurricane and Corn Popper. Everyone knows I love me some Corn Popper. Just in case you get 500 yards into the park and suddenly forget where you are. Seriously, I would imagine that this is the old front entrance gate from many moons ago. Seriously? Deep pools with slides and all kinds of diving boards? Oh...and they also have a couple decent wooden coasters too. We didn't ride anything till we made our way to this one. Very underwhelming to look at when first viewed... But OMG...just ride it! Phoenix is just an old school woodie with buzz bars and no seat belts. If you're an airtime enthusiast (who isn't?) that likes air without pain....get to Knoebels NOW! Or...perhaps wait till the spring, when it's open. I got's me a ticket! See how badly I wanted to ride...I couldn't take a picture because I was just shimmering with ecstasy! (No, not the drug!) Of course our first ride had to be in the...OMG is that a tunnel right out of the chute? I felt like I was having a flashback to 1984. I believe I may have been nervously humming Van Halen's 'Drop Dead Legs' at this time. At this point, we took it and we loved it. Ya know, I just don't get all the fuss over 1001 Nachts. Why would you want to marry that when you could make passionate love to this sweet, sweet beauty? I'm thinking of filing the paperwork next spring. More later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatle11 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 I definitely can not wait to visit this place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samisthabomb Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Every picture of Phoenix I see makes my desire to ride it even greater! Great TR; looking forward to the next update! P.S. - That campground looks classy That's what I love about staying at some random campground, you never know what you're getting yourself into! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie200330 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 This is one of the few PA parks I have yet to make it too. Definitely thinking of hitting it up this summer. Camping is cool, but that campground looks like something right out of a cheesy slasher flick!!!! Glad to see you all made it out of there with your life still intact...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Thanks for the comments, guys! Yes, the campground was was one of two interesting campgrounds we visited near amusement parks in 2010 - the other being near Lake Compounce (report coming eventually). Actually, the skull people seemed to keep to themselves, they just got really intoxicated and loud at a time when you would normally justify "quiet time at a campground." I certainly wasn't going to complain for fear that my head might have been mounted on a stake at my tent site the next morning! I would definitely recommend booking at the park campground or staying at one of the hotels near I-80 when visiting Knoebels. Although I have to admit that when you end up at oddball places like this, it usually makes for interesting stories (and fun trip reports) after the fact! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Nice rip on the 1001 Nachts lady. Seriously, there are so many other rides at Knoebels worthy of marriage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 ^Word...I would rather have a one night stand with the Skooters, or smooch the Flyers then commit my life to a flying carpet ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechanic Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 In fairness to 1001 Nachts, it does have the "ribbing below his main display". And let's not forget the, "narrowness of his jibs". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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