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Photo TR: Canobie Coaster's 2017 US Adventures


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On all the other S&S towers I've been on, the portion of the restraint that rests above your thighs is flat. On the Triple Tower, this portion of the restraint was curved around the thighs. The restraints also released differently on Triple Tower. I could feel more of a ratchet on these ones and you had to push the restraint down quite a bit before you were able to push up to release it. On other S&S towers, you can push the restraint right up without pushing down.

 

That makes it seem a lot better than my tower as it is EXTREMELY restrictive to guests of "abnormal" proportions. A few guests have left simply because they have broad shoulders. And neither is it kind to those with poor metabolisms.

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^ I'm not sure if the new restraints are any more or less restrictive since I'm a rather small guy. I just noticed they felt different when I boarded and then noticed the subtle difference by the thighs only when I looked for it.

 

I thought that Sesame Place at one time had a "shopping pass" where you go to the ticket booth, pay admission, but if you are back within an hour, you get the entire ticket price credited back to you. We did that about 10 years ago or so and wound up paying then $10 to park which I still found annoying.

 

I tried Googling that pass but couldn't seem to see anything on it. That would have definitely helped me out. I wonder if they would have said anything if I didn't have any merchandise and was wet from a water slide.

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Knoebels

 

Knoebels is truly a gift from the amusement park gods. In an era where parks are adding more corporate sponsorships, rules, and restraints, Knoebels seems firmly rooted in the past and delivers an experience unmatched by other parks. Most people dread being sent to central Pennsylvania for work. They view it as a death sentence. However, as a coaster enthusiast it brought me within an hour of one of my favorite parks. Nothing like finishing a workday and then driving 1.5 hours through nothing to get to the happiest place east of the Mississippi, Knoebels. Despite having two days at the park, I could have very well spent more without getting bored.

 

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Few signs so simple can elicit so much joy for coaster enthusiasts.

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The park was empty. Everyone was parked close. Yet Knoebels still had the tram going because they're awesome.

Phoenix is the ride that put Knoebels on the map. Since my last visit Boulder Dash had passed Phoenix on my wooden coaster ranks. Night rides on Boulder Dash are pretty tough to beat, but after my first ride on Phoenix had me smiling ear to ear and laughing onto the brake run, I knew I needed to flip those two back. I can't think of a more rerideable coaster out there that makes you want to run down the exit ramp and back into the queue quite like the Phoenix. Each hill on Phoenix gets better and better with the final bunny hill before the brake run serving as the ultimate crescendo.

 

Phoenix's strongest asset is the trains. Buzz bars only and no seat belts. That's a recipe for foot off the seat airtime. From the double up onward, each hill is practically guaranteed to send you skyrocketing into the lap bar. It's coaster nirvana. Closely behind the trains is just how well Knoebels maintains their award-winning woody. Even in a wheel seat, I can't think of a single rough spot on the coaster. Honestly it wouldn't shock me if they ran out of spots to retrack that they someday retrack the tunnel or brake run. They take that good care of the coaster! Meanwhile Six Flags is barely willing to do as much as replace a wooden bench in their parks. Despite only running one train, their 20 second dispatches (yes you read that right) kept the line flying. The front is the best seat, but really any seat on this classic is a surefire 10 out of 10.

 

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The crown jewel of Knoebels fittingly has a crown atop the lift hill.

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Amazing airtime on every hill.

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Every...single...hill. It's pure bliss.

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It even has chaser lights. Phoenix truly is perfection.

In my prior visits, I always found Twister a fun 7/10 type of ride. In this visit I finally got Twister. While Phoenix focuses entirely on airtime, Twister is more about (as the name suggests) twists and turns. The primary reason I haven't liked Twister too much in past visits was that it was somewhat bumpy. In this visit, Twister was riding glass smooth which allowed me to fully appreciate the ride's brilliance. The ride's layout is really unique. The double helix provides strong laterals and Twister maintains its speed whole way through. While not an airtime monster, Twister isn't too shabby in that area either. The first turnaround gives a pop of ejector air rivaling its brother across the park and the final few hills provide great air as well. The ride also has a very wild and well-placed tunnel.

 

While Twister is great during the day, it really comes alive at night. Because its located in a pretty secluded area of the park, the entire layout is almost in entirely engulfed in darkness. This results in one of the most out-of-control coaster rides out there. My favorite seat by far is the front because of the great air during the finale and the rush of the wind during the helices and turns. While I prefer coasters focused on airtime, I can still appreciate a great twister like this. 9 out of 10

 

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I finally got Twister in this visit.

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The great layout and sustained speed make this an excellent sidekick to Phoenix.

Knoebels also has a third woody, one that many critics and armchair engineers on this site said could never be built. It took years. Many had given up on the ride (honestly I had as well), but finally the Flying Turns took flight. It's a fun coaster, but it's only a once-per-visit kind of ride. That's partly due to the ride and mostly because of the ride's low capacity causing 30-45 minute waits. I lucked out that I only had a 15 minute wait. The portion after the first lift is relatively uneventful but the section after the second lift is where the ride shines. There are a few really nice turns with good movement. 7 out of 10

 

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I'm in that group. Not ashamed to admit it.

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Flying Turns is fun. I just wish the line wasn't as long.

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It's nearly impossible to photograph the turns since the layout crosses over itself so many times.

Black Diamond is another Knoebels reclamation project gone well. While technically a coaster, Black Diamond is more of a dark ride. Actually it's almost entirely a dark ride. There are two drops that are pretty weak, but the trains seem out of control for the short straightaways afterwards thanks to how narrow the ride's passageways are. The ride is pretty dark so some sections are hard to see, but the ride has a large amount of practical sets. My favorite element by far is the vertigo wheel. While a simple effect, it always gets me on any ride. 6.5 out of 10

 

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Tamer than a ski slope and more of a dark ride than a coaster, Black Diamond is another cool classic the park saved.

It's still weird for me seeing a modern steel coaster at Knoebels, but Impulse is a welcome addition. The lap bar only trains are a godsend. The first drop gives great ejector air and despite the ride's compactness, it really crams a lot of elements in. I particularly love the inline twist's hangtime and the helices. Unfortunately, it is a bit rattly between elements but never does it get rough. I'd still take Hydrus over Impulse, but it's a great change of pace from the woodies. 7.5 out of 10

 

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Still can't get over how weird it is to see a large steel coaster at this park.

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Those riders are likely not in their seat.

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Impulse isn't short on elements, that's for sure.

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I love the neon sign at night!

Knoebels has the best flat ride lineup of any park. The park seamlessly weaves in classics along with modern thrillers. Pretty much every ride in the park is amazing. Most of them are run insanely long or insanely fast. Then there are the truly special ones that do both.

 

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This shot embodies Knoebels. You have a rare classic in the Satellite with the modern Impulse.

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Hey this ride is open! Last year it was disassembled during my visit.

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I still wish Canobie had their Paratrooper.

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This is about the only flat at Knoebels that isn't best in class. And this "bad" flat is merely average.

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This is no ordinary kids slide. You absolutely haul down this thing.

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One of my favorite flat rides. Very disorienting.

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I much prefer the frisbees with the outward seating.

 

Flyer is one of those special rides. Flying Scooters are typically a mundane family ride. At Knoebels, these are the most terrifying attraction in the park. If there's a park that runs their flyers as fast, please let me know. The rate at which Knoebels runs the Flyer at allows for snapping unmatched by any other flyer. I had one op who slowed the ride down if people were snapping the Flyer too much, but thankfully I ran into a different operator the second day who didn't care and let us run wild. There's nothing like hurtling towards a tree with the unnaturally segmented acceleration from a flyer when they snap. Snapping these flyers is so addicting and a few who saw me doing it were interested to know how I was going so high. 10 out of 10

 

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They look so innocent now, but when running the Flyers are anything but.

Closely behind the Flyer for the park's most terrifying ride is non other than a Larson/ARM drop tower. Stratosfear is my favorite one out there. The views high above the treeline at Knoebels are fantastic and the drop is even more epic than usual on this one. I was ejected out of my seat for the entire duration of the drop only to slam back down when the brakes engaged only mere feet above the ground. The ride also had an awesome, sassy operator who was spraying guests with water guns when they playfully sassed back to her. 10 out of 10

 

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Of course Knoebels has a Larson/ARM tower. And yes it's bonkers as always.

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Well I'd say Stratosfear is turned on. It has a great lighting package and also seriously looks like a dick.

I hope you aren't sick of seeing 10 out of 10s. The park also has the best carousel around. The Grand Carousel is true candy to both the eyes and ears with the classic horses and booming band organ. But the true reason for this 10 is going for the brass ring. Usually I skip carousels. They look great but they often are boring and uneventful for me. But not when you give me the challenge of grabbing a 1 inch diameter ring. It seems so simple but it's ridiculously fun. 10 out of 10

 

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Santa Cruz is close, but Knoebels still has the best carousel anywhere.

Even the bumper cars are best of their class. Fast, hard-hitting cars. Check. Long cycle. Check. The Lusse scooters are beautiful and each hit really packs a wallop. 10 out of 10

 

Unfortunately I saw a few obnoxious teens during my ride who thought it would be funny to drive in the opposite direction and create head-on collisions with the elderly and young children. The operator immediately saw this and stopped the ride. Instead of waiting for the cars to come to a complete stop, the teens ran out with their arms in the air like they just won an Olympic medal, grabbed their bags, and hopped the fence like a gazelle. The operator told them to never come back. I'm glad he stopped the ride. I enjoy a good collision, but what they were doing was just reckless. I saw those idiots around the park later with a toy billiards set they presumably won at Fascination and they were running up behind people screaming "Billiards" to frighten them. The only downside about Knoebels having open borders is that there was no easy way to keep them out.

 

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These bumper cars are better than 3/4 of the coasters out there.

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Nothing like a bone-jarring hit in cars that run these fast and hit this hard.

Knoebels never stops adding. During my visit I saw the pad back by Fandango where they planned to install their newest ride, Over the Top, which is one of those SBF Wave Riders. I was hoping the ride would be ready to go for my visit after just barely missing the one down in Pigeon Forge, but I wasn't so lucky since they hadn't gone vertical on the ride yet. No problem, something to look forward in the inevitable return visit.

 

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And less than 2-3 weeks later, Over the Top was assembled in this spot.

It's not just the flats and coasters that are awesome at Knoebels (really everything is if you haven't gotten the message yet). Their Flume is also one of the best around. The ride has a great setting through the woods and two fantastic drops. 10 out of 10

 

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One of the best lfumes anywhere. Great drops and a great setting.

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An acceptable amount of wetness.

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An unacceptable amount of wetness.

Haunted Mansion isn't as much scary for me as it is impressive. All of the gags are very well maintained and well placed. The ride is a multisensory and psychological experience as several gags combine visual and audio thrillers, and then there are a few tactile thrillers that are really unnerving for first time riders. 10 out of 10

 

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I have an even fonder appreciation of this ride after getting the walkback tour last year.

Food is a major part of any visit to Knoebels. Over two days, I had Cesari's pizza, pierogies, steak fries, a burrito, a pretzel, and a fried chicken sandwich. The pretzel was disappointingly a standard super pretzel and the burrito was just ok, but everything else was top notch. I particularly loved the fries and fried chicken sandwich.

 

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Hmmm do I get food from Mexico or the US? No wall to be seen here.

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This hulking fried chicken sandwich was probably my favorite item there. Simple but oh so good.

There really isn't any other park like Knoebels. In some ways, that's a good thing since it makes every visit to the park that much more special.

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Are you talking about that fifth drop into the tunnel? I didn't get that effect when I rode it in May, but that drop was great and gave good air.

Yes, that's the one. It's been a couple of years since I've visited, so the park may have smoothed out that awesome kink halfway down the hill since then.

 

Also, I REALLY need to get back to Knoebels!

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What else is there to say about Knoebels that hasn't been said already?

 

Great photos! Glad you had fun.

 

Thanks. It's still my favorite park after Disneyland!

 

Are you talking about that fifth drop into the tunnel? I didn't get that effect when I rode it in May, but that drop was great and gave good air.

Yes, that's the one. It's been a couple of years since I've visited, so the park may have smoothed out that awesome kink halfway down the hill since then.

 

Also, I REALLY need to get back to Knoebels!

 

I was only planning on going to Knoebels one day, but I decided it was worth driving to again the second day. It was only a 1.5 hour detour which is closer than it usually is for me.

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I haven't been following your trip report until now, but I just went back and ready your visits to Clementon, Hershey and Knoebels and I really enjoyed it. I like your writing style, it's well written and contains a good doze of humor. You also have a very good balance between text and pictures. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this thread from now on!

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DelGrosso's Amusement Park

DelGrosso's Amusement Park is a cute little family park in central Pennsylvania. It's often passed over in favor of Kennywood or Knoebels, but this park has carved a niche market among families and it definitely seems to be doing better than the closest park in Lakemont. The park is probably best known for its food, but the park is well-run, clean, has a solid flat ride collection, and a decent water park.

 

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Same sign as before.

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But an awesome new entrance. Can you tell the park's owners are Italian? If you can't yet, just wait.

If you come to DelGrosso's for coasters, you'll likely be disappointed. The park has a standard Crazy Mouse (5 out of 10) and a Wacky Worm. The former is the only attraction on the ride side that pulls any sort of line and even still it was no more than 15 minutes. As far as spinning mice go, it's pretty average. I'll still take a non-spinning mouse over a spinning one since a few of the turns on the spinners aren't the most comfortable.

 

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The most popular attraction on the ride side.

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Average spinner. Nothing more, nothing less.

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I proudly did not ride the Wacky Worm...only because I rode it 6-7 years ago.

X-Scream is by far the best attraction in the park. Really all you need to get me to like a park is to have a Larson/ARM tower...unless you're Clementon and manage to be so bad everywhere else that you can cancel out the awesomeness. X-Scream absolutely towers over everything else in the park and there's really nothing in the park that comes close to providing thrills anywhere close. One thing I noticed from my trip is that the towers with the circular seating the whole way around provide just a smidgen better of a ride (something I was able to piece together after riding 5 different versions of these towers in a week). Like the other towers, this one had great ejector air and a great stomach dropping sensation. Just not quite as good as Knoebels's version. 10 out of 10

 

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Easily the best ride in the park. X-Scream is better than most coasters.

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Artistically framed shot or a penis? You decide.

The rest of the park's flats are considerably tamer in comparison. I think the most disappointing thing from my visit is that the Space Odyssey was removed in favor of a garden variety magic carpet flat. Space Odyssey was a classic caterpillar that operated without the canopy, but instead of the canopy they enclosed it and threw a rave with lights and music. I didn't realize they had removed it so I was pretty bummed out to not find it there.

 

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Mini X-Scream seemed more popular with the park's clientele.

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Rock Star was ok, but it was hard not to look at that ride and think about Space Odyssey.

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Classic Scrambler.

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Classic Tilt-a-Whirl.

It wouldn't be a DelGrosso's update without the food. Because of the DelGrosso family's Italian background, I knew I had to get something. I went with the basic pizza. I thought it tasted good, but it wasn't quite as good as Cesari's at Knoebels. The sauce was better than Cesari's, but the Knoebels had better cheese and crust.

 

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I can smell the pizza.

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Food porn.

DelGrosso's water park, Laguna Splash appears to be the bigger draw than the ride park. While the ride said had almost no queue lines, the water park side had 10-15 minute waits for all the slides. The water park made the park's Italian roots even more obvious.

 

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An overview of the water park.

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Some Italian flags.

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And a soaking Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The two most noteworthy slides at the water park are Twin Twisters and Gravity Groove. Twin Twisters is a racing mat slide. The slide starts slow, but the double down at the end gives some fantastic air for a water slide and feels completely out of control. 10 out of 10

 

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That double down gives some serious airtime. Especially cool being on a tiny little mat.

Gravity Groove starts off as a standard tube slide, but midway through there is a gigantic drop. That's not too uncommon, but it's what happens after. There's a unique uphill section. Unfortunately it provided no air and was pretty slow, but it was interesting to experience on a non-water coaster. 6 out of 10

 

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Looks like a normal slide. Starts off as a normal slide.

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But then there's this uphill section.

DelGrosso's was fun to stop into for just a few hours, but it's definitely not a full-day park. If the park does expand and continues to maintain their current level of quality, I could see the park putting themselves on the map. They just need a noteworthy coaster like a Gravity Group woody.

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I absolutely loved Waldameer. They have one of the best rain policies I've ever seen and I had a full day there with no lines. It was amazing.

 

DelGrosso's is a nice park, but I wouldn't really be able to spend a whole day there.

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Thanks for the update. I know very little about the little PA parks even living so close to many of them, and while I'd heard of Delgrossos had never really looked into the place.

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I wasn't planning on hitting DelGrosso's, but had a few free hours and it was only 20 minutes away. Since my last visit, it seems the park has focused heavily on general park improvements.

 

It's too bad they couldn't build Libertyland's old loop-screw since they are in dire need of another coaster. I know these coasters aren't popular with enthusiasts, but when the only adult coaster is a Crazy Mouse, that would definitely fill a niche.

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Did what actually happened with that ever come out? I always wondered if the coaster was just too far gone to be worth saving, or if it was an issue with the land, or something else entirely?

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The only thing missing from your Knoebel's update was more pics of the food! I went there about 20 years ago and need to get back since clearly I've been spending too much time at major corporate parks. I remember spending my whole evening back then alternating between snatching brass circles on the carousel and flying on Phoenix.

 

ETA I just saw you have a trip in 4 days for Lightning Rod. I sure hope it's working for you (and me in 13 days) so will be crossing my fingers that you get on it.

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Haha I usually ate the food too fast to take pictures of it. I've never had anything bad foodwise there.

 

I'm hoping I finally am lucky this time with Lightning Rod. Missed it last year, missed it last month, and last weekend's CD made me extremely nervous. Though if it's down at least I didn't plan an entire trip for it. I was down there for something else this Sunday.

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Idlewild

 

After missing out on Casino Pier's kiddie coaster and Steel Pier, my plan to make Laff Trakk my 400th coaster got derailed. Laff Trakk ended up being credit 399. With no new credits at Knoebels or DelGrosso's, my next credit was slated to be non other than Kennywood's Phantom! No not the awesome Morgan coaster. No the bait for a credit whore, Lil Phantom. However, on principle I really did not want that credit to be number 400. Or the dinky little coaster at Fun Fore All. Instead I found a park I had never been to in Idlewild.

 

I had heard the park was a nice traditional park that catered more to kids. If the Rollo Coaster were open, Idlewild would have been a no-brainer but I was originally intending to pass it since the only other coaster they had was a wild mouse. When I thought about it, I decided I'd rather have a mouse as credit 400 rather than a kiddie coaster (skipping the kiddie coasters wasn't something I considered ). When I pulled into the parking lot I was greeted with a list of closed rides. Rollo Coaster. Expected. Tilt-a-Whirl. Didn't care. Wild Mouse. No! Don't do this to me Idlewild. The sign did have an asterisk next to Wild Mouse saying it would open later. I hoped later wasn't too late so I wouldn't eat too much into my time at Kennywood. I decided to take a gamble and entered into the park.

 

With Wild Mouse down, my first stop was the most unique thing about Idlewild, the Story Book Forest. I remember seeing bits of it on Great Old Amusement Parks (still my favorite theme park special) and thought it looked cool. Though the only thing I really remember was the tiny little keyhole and I'm proud to say I fit through as well as a B&M wing coaster.

 

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Story Book Forest was the real gem of the park.

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This would be a hysterical and cruel go/no go gauge for a roller coaster. "You must fit through the key hole to ride. No exceptions."

The area definitely seems frozen in time. Most of the sections were well taken care of despite their age. The thing that most impressed me was the size. I was expecting a short little area. Instead it was a huge, sprawling area that passed through many of the children's stories I remember loving as a kid. I think the Story Book Forest took up at least half the park's area. This definitely is a must in a visit to Idlewild and shouldn't be skipped over despite there being shiny credits on the other side of the park. It probably took me about a half hour to walk through and it was really relaxing. Shady and laid back.

 

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The area is, as our president would say, yuge.

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I remember when Duke was just at Dutch Wonderland. The wannabe Barney has claimed another park. I mean look at him Captain Morgan that barrel.

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If you stick your finger in the well, I bet you'll find the pussy.

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Jack be nimble. Jack be quick. Jack took the flame to the dick.

The first ride I stumbled upon after leaving the Story Book Forest was Paul Bunyan's Loggin' Toboggan. The flume is kind of in a weird spot as it's off in its own little area (Hootin' Holler) along with a random spinning ride, separated from the rest of the amusement rides. This is where I learned about a major flaw at Idlewild, capacity. While I thought Lake Compounce was bad for only having 4 logs running on their flume, Idlewild beat them by running half that. Despite only having 20 or so people ahead of me in line, I had to wait almost 20 minutes. They wouldn't send out a log until the previous one returned.

 

Aside from the poor capacity, Paul Bunyan was cute. Not the muscular logger, but the ride. This may be the shortest layout I've ever seen for a flume, but I'll take a short flume over no flume. The drop fits in with the rest of the ride as it's comparably small. I'd guess it's maybe only 20ft tall. However, it was decently steep so it was a solid drop. Overall it was a fun flume and perfect for the park, but I wasn't going to wait for it a second time as the line had gotten a little longer. 6 out of 10

 

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Phew, glad I timed that since it would have been another 2-3 minutes for the next log.

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This is pretty much the entirety of the layout.

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The drop is equally as short but decently steep. Overall a solid flume and perfect for the park.

I was planning on stopping at Kennywood's Potato Patch later in the day, but I didn't have to wait that long as I passed by Idlewild's version of the popular food stand. Typically I only get the plain fries but on this day I was feeling daring. I was in the mood for an artery clogging mountain of gluttony. Potato Patch provided that with the cheesy bacon fries. The first few were quite good. Extremely cheesy and tons of bacon bits, but by the second layer and beyond had gotten very soggy, which was disappointing. I also started to feel like I'd have a heart attack, and this is from someone who routinely orders one pound burgers at Fuddruckers. I think I'll stick to the regular fries in the future since after the first few fries, they were really diminishing returns due to the sogginess.

 

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This outhouse looking building has a name well known with theme park enthusiasts.

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The first layer was as good as it looked. The second layer and beyond was soggy and I could feel the heart attack.

I decided it was time to check on Wild Mouse. Unlike when I optimistically walked to Jukebox Junction last month only to find a giant wooden lawn ornament, I saw an open queue line and an adorable mouse car high above the treetops. Sweet credit 400 here I come! I just wasn't expecting a 45 minute wait. Much like the flume, the Wild Mouse had a painstakingly slow line. The park only had two cars and they couldn't dispatch the next car until the previous one completed its circuit. Thankfully the line was shady and provided some great views of the ride.

 

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Credit 400!

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Your eyes aren't deceiving you. The lift hill is actually banked.

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No seriously, it is!

Going in, the only thing I knew about this mouse was the awkward tilted lift hill and it was a Vekoma. I was impressed to see how expansive the layout was for a Wild Mouse. It was nicely tucked between the trees and had a custom layout with quite a few drops. Finally I boarded and everyone rejoiced for credit 400. And when I say everyone, I mean just me. The first two drops were quite fast and had really nice pops of air after, much stronger than air I've gotten on any other mouse. The turns were pretty good and the laterals got heavier and heavier as the ride progressed. Plus the ride felt much longer than your average mouse. This is my new favorite traditional wild mouse.

 

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The first two drops were really good for a wild mouse and the hills after had good air.

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Just look at that layout. There really is no mouse like it.

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The laterals got more intense as the ride progressed.

Aside from the line, the only other bad part were the brakes. Typically you have to brace while riding Vekomas, but that's because most of their loopers are medieval torture devices that try and turn your skull to porridge. On this one, the brakes are brutal. The park has signs warning riders since the brakes bring the train to a full and very abrupt stop. This is most evident in the station where the operator by the unloading area is specifically warning riders when the stops are coming. Still this was a minor issue since I knew to brace myself after the first one. Overall this was a great wild mouse coaster and I just wish the capacity were higher so I could have ridden twice. 7 out of 10

 

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They aren't kidding. Assume Vekoma brace position.

I got lucky with Wild Mouse opening. No such luck for Rollo Coaster, but I knew that would be the case considering the circumstances why the ride was down. The trains didn't look any different from old photos, so I wonder if they're ordering entirely new trains with new restraints. The ride looked fantastic with the classic station and its natural setting. It reminded me of a mini Boulder Dash. Hopefully the park can get the Rollo Coaster open again soon and I'd love to drop in for a ride when it does open.

 

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Everything about the Rollo Coaster looks like a classic woodie. Hope they can get this running again soon.

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The Skooter has a classic arena too. Let's take a look!

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Boo. Those modern cars look hideous.

The Olde Idlewild area is where the park keeps most of the rides. This is the area with the two coasters and a majority of the park's flats. Like the Story Book Forest, their flat collection seems frozen in time since they only seemed to have older rides and all of them were of the family-friendly variety. I took a ride on their Spider and flying scooters. The Spider was fun and the tubs were extremely easy to spin. The Flying Aces (flying scooters) was a major disappointment. With the rest of the park's classics, I was hoping for a snappable set of scooters. Instead I was greeted with a modern Larson installation, which sadly meant no snapping. They were run decently fast, but the fins didn't have enough movement to get any snapping. The cycle was also painfully short.

 

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I wish there were more spiders out there. These are some really fun flats.

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Sigh, Larson scooters. Well at least I got my snapping at Knoebels.

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The always classic Ferris Wheel.

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The park is very proud of their history. Several classic rides had plaques like the one found on the Merry-Go-Round.

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They really weren't kidding that the Tilt-a-Whirl would be closed.

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I'm going out on a limb and guessing this has been closed longer than the Tilt-a-Whirl.

Idlewild also had 4 other areas- SoakZone water park, Racoon Lagoon kids area, Jumpin' Jungle play structure, and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. I didn't venture into the water park, but it definitely seemed to be one of the smaller ones I've been to. I was disappointed to find out Mister Rogers was replaced with Daniel Tiger. I grew up loving Mister Rogers, so finding whatever the eff Daniel Tiger is wasn't a nice surprise for me. I walked over to the area and didn't see a trolley in sight, so I decided to skip out after seeing how putrid the capacities on the flume and Wild Mouse were.

 

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Soak Zone is a pretty small water park from what I could see.

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These play structures are going to come in handy when I have kids. A key to getting a good night sleep.

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WTF is a Daniel Tiger. Please don't tell me he replaced Mister Rogers.

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Sigh, I was bummed to see Daniel Tiger here instead of Mister Rogers. The ride still seemed popular though.

After about 2 hours, I decided it was time to hit the road to get some thrill rides in at Kennywood. Idlewild is definitely successful where it tries. The park is a paradise for kids with the family friendly rides, well-shaded pathways, and laid back atmosphere. I would have loved having this park growing up. As a thrill-seeker, this is one of those parks that I really couldn't spend an entire day at though. I will be back someday when the Rollo Coaster opens, but that will probably be on a day that I also visit Kennywood.

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Great TR! I have always wanted to ride that Wild Mouse in the forest!

I've known about it for years, and am glad to see it's still running.

 

Oh, and by the way....

 

The park is very proud of their history. Several classic rides had plaques like the one found on the Carousel.

 

Fixed. A merry-go-round goes clockwise.

A carousel does not. Apparently, that's the truth.

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^ Interesting, I never knew that there was any meaning to the names. I thought parks could just use Carousel or Merry-Go-Round interchangeably. Though on Idlewild's website they call the ride "Merry-Go-Round" so you should educate them as well.

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FWIW: Daniel Tiger is a spinoff from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. It's a new animated series that premiered about 5 years ago, takes place in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, and features the children of many of the characters from those segments, as well as some of the classics like King Friday and Henrietta Pussycat. I personally don't think it has the same charm as the original but as far as modern kids' shows go it's one of the better ones.

 

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