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Knoebels Discussion Thread


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5 hours ago, Alex Sutcliff said:

Hello from England... I am travelling to USA in June for a coaster road trip and Knoebels is my first stop on the list. I have allowed a full day (June 8th) and I'm Looking to find out how to make the best of our day here. Should I have a strategy in mind to get round the place or just chill and soak up the atmosphere? I wonder if I will need any skip the line pass and what the typical crowds are like at this time of the year? 

I'm curious to ride flying turns but I wouldn't want to wait more than 30 minutes or so.

We plan on visiting Hershey park the following day. Should I anticipate having enough time to take advantage of the preview offer or will I be too busy at Knoebels. 

Any tips would be much appreciated.

 

The preview hour at Hershey is good, but Knoebels is a thousand times better. I would say just spend the day at Knoebels and worry about Hershey for the next day.

The park basically has no layout and everything seems kinda randomly placed so studying the park map is not a bad idea in this case.

As others have said hit Flying Turns (assuming it's open) and Impulse first. Beyond that the operations at the park are fantastic, so you can pretty much just wonder around and enjoy encountering all the different/unique/weird/fun things at the park

Don't sleep on Twister, Phoenix gets all the attention but I think Twister is where it's at! It's also all back by itself so it tends to have less of a line.

They had trouble with staffing last year so some rides were down, but hopefully they should have it sorted out by next summer. They did try their best to be transparent about what stuff was open or closed, and pretty much everything major (except Flying Turns) was open.

Other bits:

-Since your going on a weekday, I highly HIGHLY recommend that you buy the wristband. It includes everything but the haunted house, the mini golf and the pool. It's so worth it to be able to just wonder around and ride all the rides.

- The pierogis are good (MAKE SURE you get the ones from "The Oasis" by the Power Surge, not the ones from the big round stand by the haunted house), but I think the real winner is the Boom-Shak-A-Lak burger from the place by Phoenix. Now that's GOOD!!!! Also, the ice cream sundaes from the Old Mill are fantastic.

- The Knoebels, Coal Mining, and Carousel history museums are fun and free.

- The Haunted Mansion (which isn't included on the wristband) is fun, albeit old school. I would do it (it's only like $3 to ride) once and then choose of you want to reride later. Black Diamond (which is on the wristband) is I think the sleeper hit at the park, so definitely don't pass it up. Again it's old school (I mean the whole park is so you should be expecting that), but really fun.

- If for some reason (not sure why you would but ok) you choose to use individual tickets rather than the wristband either buy them online now (I think they are running a Christmas special) or buy them at a Weis grocery store (I know it sounds weird but this whole park is so just roll with it) on your way to the park. If you go to the customer service counter, they will sell you a $20 book of tickets for $16 (actually they give you a voucher to redeem at the park, but that's beside the point). I think all Weis (it's a regional chain) stores sell them, but only the ones in eastern/central Pennsylvania really know about it since they do it regularly. Again though, if you have the option DO THE WRISTBAND!! I promise you won't regret it.

- Everything is so inexpensive and fun at this park that you can and should do many things that you wouldn't do at other parks like midway games, lots of food, fascination, drinking out of a lion's mouth, etc.

- Have fun! This park is easily one of if not the best in Pennsylvania/New England, and it's so different so just enjoy it and have fun!

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Ok thanks all for the good advice. I will give Knoebels the full day and purchase a day ticket for best value. 

We are spending our first full day driving from JFK to Knoebels hotel which looks to take around 3.5 hours so I wonder if there is anything in the vicinity to do once we arrive? We will likely be tired from our trip so we won't want to go crazy but if there's a nearby mountain coaster or even just a nice woodland walk to spend an hour we would be interested in suggestions.

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3 hours ago, Alex Sutcliff said:

Ok thanks all for the good advice. I will give Knoebels the full day and purchase a day ticket for best value. 

We are spending our first full day driving from JFK to Knoebels hotel which looks to take around 3.5 hours so I wonder if there is anything in the vicinity to do once we arrive? We will likely be tired from our trip so we won't want to go crazy but if there's a nearby mountain coaster or even just a nice woodland walk to spend an hour we would be interested in suggestions.

As far as I know, Knoebel's is in the middle of the wilderness.  There's not really anything but there might be some trails.

Can I ask why you're flying into JFK instead of Philly Airport when Knoebel's is your first stop?

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14 hours ago, Alex Sutcliff said:

Hello from England... I am travelling to USA in June for a coaster road trip and Knoebels is my first stop on the list. I have allowed a full day (June 8th) and I'm Looking to find out how to make the best of our day here. Should I have a strategy in mind to get round the place or just chill and soak up the atmosphere? I wonder if I will need any skip the line pass and what the typical crowds are like at this time of the year? 

I'm curious to ride flying turns but I wouldn't want to wait more than 30 minutes or so.

We plan on visiting Hershey park the following day. Should I anticipate having enough time to take advantage of the preview offer or will I be too busy at Knoebels. 

Any tips would be much appreciated.

 

Hi there!

We made a round trip from Germany four years ago. We hit Kings Island, Cedar Point, Knoebels and Coney Island.

We had the trip of our lives.

Why I'm telling you that? Well, we made one huge mistake in our planning we are suffering from to this day: We only spent six hours at Knoebels due to our too strict plans, as we had to be in New York that the same evening.

We would never plan this again. Even heavier: We swore to ourselves to have the night before and after our Knoebels day in the area as soon as we go again, so that we can appreciate this place more, at most in the evening when it is lit up. Also, it will not matter to us what we will be visiting in the U.S., Knoebels is set as one destination.
You can't imagine how beautiful and awesome this place is until you are there and you see it with your own eyes. So I am totally with Bill, even besides the fact that Hersheypark is still on our bucket list: You could leave Knoebels early, but there is no single good idea why you should do this. Go early, stay long, stay overnight if possible.

Also: Don't mind if lines are longer than 30 minutes for Flying Turns, Phoenix (will not happen) or Twister. All of them are worth it. If you like the backstory of the building process of Flying Turns (if you don't know it, read the first couple of pages of this thread again), wait for it, no matter how long the line is. It's a gem you have to see.

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Really, at any better park you should be sure to experience the night portion, however, the logistics of a road trip are complicated.  HP at night is also great, and one case it might be worth the preview session is if you can't stay late the main HP day.

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You're dedicating an entire day to drive from JFK to Knoebels?

Well, you have options.

1) You're driving through New York City. Have you ever been? If not, go there. Let me know what type of stuff you're into and I can come up with suggestions, but it's an amazing city with virtually limitless options on things to do. This is the option that I'd recommend.

2) Take 78 instead of 80 and go to Dorney on the way . You don't need more than 3-4 hours there.

3) Go to the American Dream Mall on the way but I actually hate this option and am just putting it here because I feel like I guess I should acknowledge that it's a thing.

PS: JFK is close to Coney Island, just throwing that out into the world. if you take the Verazanno you'll be literally 3 blocks from the Coney Island Cyclone so if that's not part of your itinerary, it's an option. I mean it's literally right there...

If you'd rather drive to Knoebels first then there's nothing to do whatsoever unless you just want to go to Knoebels the night before too, buy tickets and do a few rides which is a fine plan.

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3 hours ago, Mike240SX said:

As far as I know, Knoebel's is in the middle of the wilderness.  There's not really anything but there might be some trails.

Can I ask why you're flying into JFK instead of Philly Airport when Knoebel's is your first stop?

I really tried for Philly but the cost was 40% more in flights due to less competition unfortunately.

2 hours ago, bill_s said:

Really, at any better park you should be sure to experience the night portion, however, the logistics of a road trip are complicated.  HP at night is also great, and one case it might be worth the preview session is if you can't stay late the main HP day.

We do have the whole day at Hershey the next day. My concern was needing to use the preview to be able to see everything but it sounds like Knoebels is equally worth the visit so we will portion one whole day for each. Dumb question but what time does it get dark there in June? Over here it doesn't really get dark till after 10pm that time of year.

 

35 minutes ago, coasterbill said:

You're dedicating an entire day to drive from JFK to Knoebels?

Well, you have options.

1) You're driving through New York City. Have you ever been? If not, go there. Let me know what type of stuff you're into and I can come up with suggestions, but it's an amazing city with virtually limitless options on things to do. This is the option that I'd recommend.

2) Take 78 instead of 80 and go to Dorney on the way . You don't need more than 3-4 hours there.

3) Go to the American Dream Mall on the way but I actually hate this option and am just putting it here because I feel like I guess I should acknowledge that it's a thing.

PS: JFK is close to Coney Island, just throwing that out into the world. if you take the Verazanno you'll be literally 3 blocks from the Coney Island Cyclone so if that's not part of your itinerary, it's an option. I mean it's literally right there...

If you'd rather drive to Knoebels first then there's nothing to do whatsoever unless you just want to go to Knoebels the night before too, buy tickets and do a few rides which is a fine plan.

Coney island is in our schedule for the last day because we are driving from GA area in the morning and our flight is not until 9 pm so we have the day to waste. Coney looks like a good option for that.

Thanks for the offer of plans in NY. We are not really city lovers. Driving through the projects and other iconic areas from film might be interesting but overall I like the idea of getting some evening Knoebels time the most I think. 

Is dream mall really not worth a stop off on the way?

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Alex. . did you look into flying into Pittsburgh?

that's what WE did on our Penn. trip years ago, and it was way (WAY) cheaper than flying into Philly.

added bonus, is we got to spend a day at Kennywood before driving to Knoebels & HersheyPark

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It's nice, but very overpriced and the rides probably won't all be open.

For example... it's Christmas week and their two best coasters are closed simply because they suck like that. This park has a shocking inability to keep rides that (aside from Sandy) are very basic and should be reliable open even though they're pretty new and in a mall, not exposed to the elements ever. It's actually amazing how f*cked up this place is.

If you land and click on the park alerts page and everything you care about is somehow open or if it's raining, then I guess go. Otherwise, go to Dorney because they're a normal park and the rides will actually be open and it won't cost $70.

As for why you flew into NYC, it makes total sense... LHR to NYC flights are often the chepaest, and you're going to Coney Island anyway. I 100% get it.

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Not sure if anyone has mentioned but the preview night at Hershey doesn't have to be the day before your visit.  You could drive and do the Hershey preview hours, then Knoebels the next day, then your daily visit to Hershey.  Just adding to the list of options.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Doing a 2022 Season Update on this: (Prices 2001, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022 via Wayback Machine); Inflation is $1 in 2001 = $1.59 today.

Phoenix: $1.50 $2, $2, $2.50, $3, $3, $3.50, $4

Flyers: $0.80, $1, $1.20, $1.50, $1.75, $2.50, $2.50, $3

Carousel: $0.70 $0.80 $0.90, $1, $1.50, $1.75, $2, $2.50

Red Baron: $0.60, $0.70 $0.80, $1, $1.25, $1.50, $1.75, $2

Adult Wristband w/ Coasters: (not available), $31, $37, $39.50, $47, $50, $53, not available for 2022

Other notes- Black Diamond is $3.50, Phoenix, Twister, Impulse - $4, Flying Turns - Not listed. Haunted Mansion increased from $2.50 to $3. All flats are $2.50-3 now, Ferris Wheel = $3.50, Skyway = $5 Kiddie rides are $2 (Kozmo's Kurves = $3.00)

Campground rates went up from like $56/58 to $62/66 as well which seems pretty steep.

Prices increased again and really quite dramatically. Across the board, ride ticket prices increased 50 cents. This is like 15-25% increase on everything in one year. If you are a family of four and you ride with tickets for a day and rode 15 rides each, that is $30 more than last year. It seems like they're pretty clearly trying to push people toward wristbands more and more. Which sucks. I know labor and other costs are up, but these hikes seem more dramatic than warranted at face value. If they rose wristband prices from $50-60 in one year and added nothing, would that seem steep? I think so.

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Knoebels is also cutting hours, only being open Noon-8 during the summer. They also increased wages, unsurprisingly.

https://www.dailyitem.com/news/knoebels-hours-reduced-park-offering-employee-incentives/article_f65f95cc-933e-11ec-b216-1f2e86f00f5e.html

Seems like even Knoebels, which seemed to be immune from staffing problems forever, is having trouble. Hope they are able to figure it out as it was definitely noticeable that they were having trouble last year.

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Adding a Bayern Kurve in 2023. This comes from the two they bought over the last couple years. One is from Fun Spot, IN and the other was in the carnval circuit traveling around the US and Europe.

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I don't think anyone was surprised by this (it's been "when" not "if" for a few years now I think), I'm still excited. Plus knowing Knoebels, they'll probably find a way to make it the best version out there...

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6 hours ago, swfan1988 said:

I don't think anyone was surprised by this (it's been "when" not "if" for a few years now I think), I'm still excited. Plus knowing Knoebels, they'll probably find a way to make it the best version out there...

80mph and a 5-minute cycle.

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^I know you're joking but a lot of people online elsewhere have seriously said they think it will run at 75mph at Knoebels ha. All of them failed basic physics it seems. None were ever proven to go anywhere near that fast, older rides just always lied in marketing.

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Just for fun I ran the numbers, and if my calculations are correct it would need to complete a full revolution a little over every 1.5 seconds to go more than 70mph!

In actuality, each rotation takes about 4 seconds at full speed, for a top speed of approx 27mph.

Note for my calculations I'm assuming a 50ft diameter (measured with google map's measure distance tool).

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9 hours ago, JG-77 said:

Just for fun I ran the numbers, and if my calculations are correct it would need to complete a full revolution a little over every 1.5 seconds to go more than 70mph!

In actuality, each rotation takes about 4 seconds at full speed, for a top speed of approx 27mph.

Note for my calculations I'm assuming a 50ft diameter (measured with google map's measure distance tool).

That seems about right. I also ran some numbers and at 75mph and a 21m diameter, I'm coming up with slightly more than 10 G's. 27mph sounds safer. 😂

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21 hours ago, JG-77 said:

Just for fun I ran the numbers, and if my calculations are correct it would need to complete a full revolution a little over every 1.5 seconds to go more than 70mph!

In actuality, each rotation takes about 4 seconds at full speed, for a top speed of approx 27mph.

Note for my calculations I'm assuming a 50ft diameter (measured with google map's measure distance tool).

Well everyone, we found him.  The biggest nerd on TPR.

Season 9 Nbc GIF by The Office

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20 hours ago, tndank said:

This one gets nuts around 5:20.  Seems to be making to be making it around ~ 2.5s.   

 

I fully expect Knoebels to run theirs like this and I absolutely cannot f*cking wait.

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