- June 4th, 2012, 12:48 am
#49132
Dorney Park and Knoebels - May 18-19, 2012
45 Dorney Park photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/s ... 912596476/
61 Knoebels photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/s ... 912936378/
My last multi-park, multi-day amusement park trip was in 2010, so another one was overdue. This time I got to show some friends from North Carolina around some of my local parks, as we headed to Pennsylvania for Dorney Park, Knoebels and Hersheypark. My previous visits to Dorney were in 2004 and 2010, and while I found it to be a nice enough park, it did not really wow me. The weather was perfect for the entire weekend; sunny and in the 70's.
First up, the only new coaster for me at Dorney: Stinger, new for 2012 relocated from Great America in California.
You know, I absolutely hate the regular boomerang models. I cannot describe the sheer unhappiness that they cause me; there may not be another coaster out there I hate worse. For some reason, though, I find the inverted kind to be somewhat enjoyable.
If you can do this then I think you should be allowed to line jump.
The last true major ride at Dorney was Hydra in 2005. It's one of the best floorless coasters out there in my opinion, and has a fairly unique layout for a B&M.
The ride's signature moment is the slow "Jo Jo Roll" directly out of the station, which somehow became the subject of constant jokes throughout the weekend until it was long worn out.
Hydra makes use of the hillside that once contained Hercules, one of the larger wooden coasters out there that I unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately from what I hear) never had the chance to ride.
Next, the park's standard wild mouse.
Why so sad?
Okay, which one of you is the child?
Talon was a real hit with our group. It is one of the more recent B&M inverteds, but surprisingly short.
Despite its length, though, it is extremely smooth and packs a punch while differing slightly from the cookie cutter B&M layout with its diving low to the ground turns.
Apparently the future is now the present, as Dippin' Dots is now just plain old "ice cream".
Thunderhawk is a classic wooden coaster that has been neutered a bit over the years, but everyone enjoyed their ride on it. The real highlight of Dorney Park was waiting in the background, however...
Dinosaurs Alive! Okay, maybe not.
Steel Force. One of the earlier hyper coasters, which does not get a lot of respect these days, but is still one of my favorite steel coasters.
It's smooth, it's fast, it's long and it has great airtime.
Steel Force album cover.
What is going on down there?!
An old friend, Cedar Point's Demon Drop, which I had no interest in riding; Jay and Doug were down for some torture, though.
It was pretty dead crowd wise in the park, so we got to try out some of the flat rides, which I had not done before.
Always great to see an old Whip ride in action. Every park on this trip had one.
We cannot forget the kiddie coaster credit.
Lines were clearly not a problem as we hit Talon for a last ride.
Hydra looks particularly nice at night, and we swung by for a final ride on that.
The ultimate goal, however, was to finish the night out with a lot of rides on Steel Force, and that is exactly what happened. My first night rides on the coaster, and I loved it. I can see why a lot of people don't find it intense enough, but it has everything I love in a coaster.
This was easily the best of my three visits to Dorney Park, and I have a little more appreciation for it as a park now. It would be really great, though, to see Cedar Fair install a GCI woodie in here. Then I would be a repeat customer.
Accomodations for the weekend were in cabins at a KOA campground in the middle of nowhere, and I do mean middle of nowhere, in central Pennsylvania. Friday was just the warmup, as Saturday we were headed for what is one of several meccas for coaster enthusiasts.
First, a detour. On my last trip to Knoebels for Phoenix Phall Phunfest 2011, I had been convinced to go to Centralia, a ghost town that was abandoned due to an underground coal fire that has been burning for fifty years. Our route from the campground to Knoebels took us right through Centralia, so I forced the group to stop and hunt down the abandoned portion of PA Route 61, which we had missed on my last trip. Supposedly steam and smoke can still be seen rising from the ground in certain places, but we didn't see anything.
We arrived at Knoebels to find long ticket lines for what was a pretty busy day. For Alan, John and Doug, this was their first ever visit to Knoebels, and it is always fun to bring someone to my favorite park for the first time. I knew they were going to love it, and even though it was extremely hyped up in their minds I think, it did not disappoint. The day got off on the right foot as Dick Knoebel himself sold us our tickets. You won't see that at Six Flags.
I cannot wait to see the footage from this trip, which should be out sometime around 2025.
The first stop just has to be Phoenix.
It is a roller coaster that has received so much praise and so much attention, but in person it just does not look like much, and you have to wonder if it can really live up to the hype.
But it does. Every single time, it does.
The group was unanimous on sheer love for the Phoenix. It's still my second favorite coaster, behind only The Voyage. It's a classic in every sense of the word. The wonderful trains with fixed position lap bars and no seat belts, that tunnel at the beginning between the station and the lift. No coaster has airtime like this. Sure, rides like El Toro and some of the other Intamin coasters certainly have far greater negative G forces, but the trains on Phoenix are the key, allowing that airtime to truly be experienced in a sometimes terrifying way. Sometimes it seems like more time is spent out of the seat than in it on this ride.
Next was the longest wait of the day, for the newest ride at Knoebels, the dark ride Black Diamond which dubiously qualifies as a roller coaster.
Black Diamond ran for 50 years at the Jersey shore as Golden Nugget, and after it closed Knoebels purchased it and restored it, opening it for the first time at Phall Phunfest 2011. It's a long dark ride with a couple of heavily braked roller coaster-like drops. It's the perfect sort of ride for a park like Knoebels.
As everyone in the group was very familiar with the flyers down at Carowinds, they were excited to try the other legendary model, and the one that is widely considered to be the best.
The Knoebels Flyer is hard to master, but if flown properly can be ridiculous. The canvas sails give so much control over the flight of the car that there is an instant feedback to any movement with it.
Because this is Knoebels, the ride is operated by a guy who hangs out in a plastic chair in the middle of the ride.
Also, because this is Knoebels, the ride appears to be driven by a tractor motor.
Across the park, Knoebels' other signature coaster, Twister.
A reincarnation of the legendary lost Mister Twister, it is a unique coaster with two lift hills at the beginning of the ride and some great lateral forces.
I am more about airtime so this coaster will never be on my favorites list, but much like Legend at Holiday World was a prefect compliment to Raven, Twister is a perfect compliment to Phoenix.
Of course, there is one sad thing about every trip to Knoebels in recent years, as the Flying Turns project continues to be mired in uncertainty. I am beginning to accept the fact that this ride may never open.
In addition to a carousel museum, Knoebels has a museum focused on its own history, which I had never been in until this visit.
The museum has some great exhibits, and really showcases the pride that the Knoebel family has taken in the park for generations, which is what really separates it from the pack and helps make it my personal favorite park.
No trip to Knoebels is complete without riding the Haunted House, one of several rides in the park that is just like you can find elsewhere, only done much better.
Inside this building they cram in every effect you could possibly think of for a scary dark ride.
I say this every time, but some day I will actually ride this slide.
Virtually every park has bumper cars, and virtually none of them are worth going out of your way to ride. Except here.
The Knoebels bumper cars is one of the most terrifying rides I have ever been on. Every hit seems to be like being in an actual car accident. It may be the healthiest way to take out pent up aggression that you can find.
As Alan cleverly pointed out, this one shot encapsulates everything about what sets Knoebels apart. How many other parks would just chop down a tree like this? Probably most of them.
Like the bumper cars, the Knoebels carousel is just a notch above the rest, always rated the best carousel in America.
There are not many carousels left in the United States that still have operating ring dispensers. Knoebels, of course, keeps theirs in immaculate condition.
One thing I never knew until this visit was that the carousel was relocated from Rahway, New Jersey in 1941.
What is even more impressive about Knoebels is that the place is regularly decimated by extreme flooding, yet they get right back to work cleaning up and rebuilding, restoring everything to top condition.
Being within a day trip of this place was one of the best things about moving to New Jersey.
Here's another ride that Jay and Doug were willing to do that everyone else would only watch. Not in a million years.
We kept ending back up over at the Phoenix, which was at or near the top of everyone's favorite coasters list by the end of the day.
Though this particular gentleman appears to be standing up, on a number of the hills the ride causes it to happen.
One last ride on Twister, which unlike most every other wooden coaster I have been on I think I actually prefer near the front of the train.
Sometimes I wonder how a park like Knoebels can get it all so right while so many places get it so wrong. It seems like management from a lot of other parks could come here and get some very simple lessons.
Despite fairly heavy crowds, we got everything we wanted to get done at Knoebels and had a fairly relaxed day. It's always a great day here.
As has been the case every single time I have been to Knoebels, we found ourselves still riding the Phoenix long after the park was supposed to have closed. Sometimes it seems like the employees have as hard a time tearing themselves away from the place as the guests.
A wonderful day at the park led to a high stress evening of trying desperately (and failing) to find a grocery store open at 10 PM in rural Pennsylvania. The one open convenience store that we found meant that hot dogs on hamburger buns would have to make do as well as the knowledge to prepare better for the next night. Next up, Hersheypark.
45 Dorney Park photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/s ... 912596476/
61 Knoebels photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhawkins/s ... 912936378/
My last multi-park, multi-day amusement park trip was in 2010, so another one was overdue. This time I got to show some friends from North Carolina around some of my local parks, as we headed to Pennsylvania for Dorney Park, Knoebels and Hersheypark. My previous visits to Dorney were in 2004 and 2010, and while I found it to be a nice enough park, it did not really wow me. The weather was perfect for the entire weekend; sunny and in the 70's.
First up, the only new coaster for me at Dorney: Stinger, new for 2012 relocated from Great America in California.
You know, I absolutely hate the regular boomerang models. I cannot describe the sheer unhappiness that they cause me; there may not be another coaster out there I hate worse. For some reason, though, I find the inverted kind to be somewhat enjoyable.
If you can do this then I think you should be allowed to line jump.
The last true major ride at Dorney was Hydra in 2005. It's one of the best floorless coasters out there in my opinion, and has a fairly unique layout for a B&M.
The ride's signature moment is the slow "Jo Jo Roll" directly out of the station, which somehow became the subject of constant jokes throughout the weekend until it was long worn out.
Hydra makes use of the hillside that once contained Hercules, one of the larger wooden coasters out there that I unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately from what I hear) never had the chance to ride.
Next, the park's standard wild mouse.
Why so sad?
Okay, which one of you is the child?
Talon was a real hit with our group. It is one of the more recent B&M inverteds, but surprisingly short.
Despite its length, though, it is extremely smooth and packs a punch while differing slightly from the cookie cutter B&M layout with its diving low to the ground turns.
Apparently the future is now the present, as Dippin' Dots is now just plain old "ice cream".
Thunderhawk is a classic wooden coaster that has been neutered a bit over the years, but everyone enjoyed their ride on it. The real highlight of Dorney Park was waiting in the background, however...
Dinosaurs Alive! Okay, maybe not.
Steel Force. One of the earlier hyper coasters, which does not get a lot of respect these days, but is still one of my favorite steel coasters.
It's smooth, it's fast, it's long and it has great airtime.
Steel Force album cover.
What is going on down there?!
An old friend, Cedar Point's Demon Drop, which I had no interest in riding; Jay and Doug were down for some torture, though.
It was pretty dead crowd wise in the park, so we got to try out some of the flat rides, which I had not done before.
Always great to see an old Whip ride in action. Every park on this trip had one.
We cannot forget the kiddie coaster credit.
Lines were clearly not a problem as we hit Talon for a last ride.
Hydra looks particularly nice at night, and we swung by for a final ride on that.
The ultimate goal, however, was to finish the night out with a lot of rides on Steel Force, and that is exactly what happened. My first night rides on the coaster, and I loved it. I can see why a lot of people don't find it intense enough, but it has everything I love in a coaster.
This was easily the best of my three visits to Dorney Park, and I have a little more appreciation for it as a park now. It would be really great, though, to see Cedar Fair install a GCI woodie in here. Then I would be a repeat customer.
Accomodations for the weekend were in cabins at a KOA campground in the middle of nowhere, and I do mean middle of nowhere, in central Pennsylvania. Friday was just the warmup, as Saturday we were headed for what is one of several meccas for coaster enthusiasts.
First, a detour. On my last trip to Knoebels for Phoenix Phall Phunfest 2011, I had been convinced to go to Centralia, a ghost town that was abandoned due to an underground coal fire that has been burning for fifty years. Our route from the campground to Knoebels took us right through Centralia, so I forced the group to stop and hunt down the abandoned portion of PA Route 61, which we had missed on my last trip. Supposedly steam and smoke can still be seen rising from the ground in certain places, but we didn't see anything.
We arrived at Knoebels to find long ticket lines for what was a pretty busy day. For Alan, John and Doug, this was their first ever visit to Knoebels, and it is always fun to bring someone to my favorite park for the first time. I knew they were going to love it, and even though it was extremely hyped up in their minds I think, it did not disappoint. The day got off on the right foot as Dick Knoebel himself sold us our tickets. You won't see that at Six Flags.
I cannot wait to see the footage from this trip, which should be out sometime around 2025.
The first stop just has to be Phoenix.
It is a roller coaster that has received so much praise and so much attention, but in person it just does not look like much, and you have to wonder if it can really live up to the hype.
But it does. Every single time, it does.
The group was unanimous on sheer love for the Phoenix. It's still my second favorite coaster, behind only The Voyage. It's a classic in every sense of the word. The wonderful trains with fixed position lap bars and no seat belts, that tunnel at the beginning between the station and the lift. No coaster has airtime like this. Sure, rides like El Toro and some of the other Intamin coasters certainly have far greater negative G forces, but the trains on Phoenix are the key, allowing that airtime to truly be experienced in a sometimes terrifying way. Sometimes it seems like more time is spent out of the seat than in it on this ride.
Next was the longest wait of the day, for the newest ride at Knoebels, the dark ride Black Diamond which dubiously qualifies as a roller coaster.
Black Diamond ran for 50 years at the Jersey shore as Golden Nugget, and after it closed Knoebels purchased it and restored it, opening it for the first time at Phall Phunfest 2011. It's a long dark ride with a couple of heavily braked roller coaster-like drops. It's the perfect sort of ride for a park like Knoebels.
As everyone in the group was very familiar with the flyers down at Carowinds, they were excited to try the other legendary model, and the one that is widely considered to be the best.
The Knoebels Flyer is hard to master, but if flown properly can be ridiculous. The canvas sails give so much control over the flight of the car that there is an instant feedback to any movement with it.
Because this is Knoebels, the ride is operated by a guy who hangs out in a plastic chair in the middle of the ride.
Also, because this is Knoebels, the ride appears to be driven by a tractor motor.
Across the park, Knoebels' other signature coaster, Twister.
A reincarnation of the legendary lost Mister Twister, it is a unique coaster with two lift hills at the beginning of the ride and some great lateral forces.
I am more about airtime so this coaster will never be on my favorites list, but much like Legend at Holiday World was a prefect compliment to Raven, Twister is a perfect compliment to Phoenix.
Of course, there is one sad thing about every trip to Knoebels in recent years, as the Flying Turns project continues to be mired in uncertainty. I am beginning to accept the fact that this ride may never open.
In addition to a carousel museum, Knoebels has a museum focused on its own history, which I had never been in until this visit.
The museum has some great exhibits, and really showcases the pride that the Knoebel family has taken in the park for generations, which is what really separates it from the pack and helps make it my personal favorite park.
No trip to Knoebels is complete without riding the Haunted House, one of several rides in the park that is just like you can find elsewhere, only done much better.
Inside this building they cram in every effect you could possibly think of for a scary dark ride.
I say this every time, but some day I will actually ride this slide.
Virtually every park has bumper cars, and virtually none of them are worth going out of your way to ride. Except here.
The Knoebels bumper cars is one of the most terrifying rides I have ever been on. Every hit seems to be like being in an actual car accident. It may be the healthiest way to take out pent up aggression that you can find.
As Alan cleverly pointed out, this one shot encapsulates everything about what sets Knoebels apart. How many other parks would just chop down a tree like this? Probably most of them.
Like the bumper cars, the Knoebels carousel is just a notch above the rest, always rated the best carousel in America.
There are not many carousels left in the United States that still have operating ring dispensers. Knoebels, of course, keeps theirs in immaculate condition.
One thing I never knew until this visit was that the carousel was relocated from Rahway, New Jersey in 1941.
What is even more impressive about Knoebels is that the place is regularly decimated by extreme flooding, yet they get right back to work cleaning up and rebuilding, restoring everything to top condition.
Being within a day trip of this place was one of the best things about moving to New Jersey.
Here's another ride that Jay and Doug were willing to do that everyone else would only watch. Not in a million years.
We kept ending back up over at the Phoenix, which was at or near the top of everyone's favorite coasters list by the end of the day.
Though this particular gentleman appears to be standing up, on a number of the hills the ride causes it to happen.
One last ride on Twister, which unlike most every other wooden coaster I have been on I think I actually prefer near the front of the train.
Sometimes I wonder how a park like Knoebels can get it all so right while so many places get it so wrong. It seems like management from a lot of other parks could come here and get some very simple lessons.
Despite fairly heavy crowds, we got everything we wanted to get done at Knoebels and had a fairly relaxed day. It's always a great day here.
As has been the case every single time I have been to Knoebels, we found ourselves still riding the Phoenix long after the park was supposed to have closed. Sometimes it seems like the employees have as hard a time tearing themselves away from the place as the guests.
A wonderful day at the park led to a high stress evening of trying desperately (and failing) to find a grocery store open at 10 PM in rural Pennsylvania. The one open convenience store that we found meant that hot dogs on hamburger buns would have to make do as well as the knowledge to prepare better for the next night. Next up, Hersheypark.
