I had the day off work on Friday so I made my first ever trip to Knoeble's with my family for the day. It was about a 3.5 hour drive from the DC area to the park. We arrived around 11:15. After parking for free and entering the park for free (already loving this place), we found a ticket booth towards the middle of the park with no line and bought $40 worth of tickets, we got some money back thanks to the deal they have on the ticket books on Fridays.

We started our day off at the Haunted Mansion. There was no line so my mom and dad jumped in their car before I got on my own. I wasn't sure what to expect from his ride, I had not been on any of these really old classic haunted dark rides like this before, but heard this was a really good one. I was expecting a kind of campy, fun but not overly scary ride. Boy was I surprised... This was one freaky ride. Pitch black darkness and plenty of surprising moments that made me jump. Being alone definitely made it a bit more startling and unsettling. All in all I was very pleased and a bit jumpy following this ride.

Next we continued toward the back of the park where we found the Phoenix. The ride was running one train and the line stretched to the bottom of the ramp leading to the station. It ended up being about a 15 minute wait for a ride in the third row. I had very high expectations for this ride, and it more then lived up to them. Incredibly smooth with some really amazing airtime over just about every single hill. The single lap bar and no seat belt really let you fly out of your seat which was amazing. Definitely my new #2 wood coaster right behind El Toro. 10/10

The storm clouds and some rain started to come in as we were waiting for Phoenix; after Phoenix we made our way over the other coaster, Twister. This ride also was running one train and had a line extending down the entry ramp. It was about 20 minutes for a front seat ride. I had considerably lower expectations for Twister then I had for Phoenix, I was very pleased with Twister, though. It had some superb drops and some nice intense pops of airtime. My favorite part of the ride was the hill leading into the double helix, some nice airtime followed by intense laterals through the helix. All in all I thought it was a great ride and among the best wooden coasters I've been. 8/10.

After Twister we went on the Flyers. It was a couple cycles wait or about 15 minutes. I was looking forward to an intense ride and these did not disappoint. You could really get you car soaring way high and way sideways. I came off with a huge smile on my face.

It was close to lunch time so we made our way over to the international food court. I heard they had gator bites and can never turn down a chance to get those. We ended up ordering gator bites, "great balls of fire" (chicken with cheese and hot sauce breaded and deep friend), a bison burger, fries, fish and chips, and a polish sampler dish. It was all delicious and very reasonably priced. I can't wait to go back and try even more of the parks great food.

After eating this great feast we were completely full. Looking for a nice easy going ride we went to the ski lift ride up the mountain across from the park. It was a walk on. The views were great and it was a nice relaxing ride perfect for digesting that huge lunch.

After exiting the skyway I went over to The Satellite. I figured I had to get on this neat looking classic flat ride. It was about a 15 minute wait. This ride was pretty fun, although it can beat you up pretty good. It is hard to brace for the changes in direction so you get thrown around the car pretty well. I banged my arm up a couple times. All in all pretty neat, though.

We went back to the Phoenix for another ride, now they had two trains running which made the line fly by. We went on the very front which I found to be even better then the first ride. Following the front seat ride on Phoenix we went next to the antique cars, the wait was about 20 minutes. Although it was a pretty short ride I really enjoyed the great views of Phoenix. Driving right under the structure of the turnaround was pretty neat.

The rain started coming back as we exited and made our way back to the Twister for another ride. By the time we were in line for Twister is was a full on down pour. We jumped on in the back and braced for a wild ride. Although a bit more rough, in the back there was some great airtime. Since it was pouring pretty good and the rides were starting to close for the coming thunderstorm we decided it was a perfect time to run to a couple souvenir shops to get tee shirts and such. I ended up getting Twister and Phoenix tee shirts and a Knoeble's shot glass. The souvenirs, just like everything else in the park were very fairly priced, only $10-$12 for the majority of the shirts that I saw.

We found a dry spot to wait out the rest of the rain. After about 20 minutes or so the rain began to slow down and soon Phoenix was testing. We had enough tickets for me to take another ride alone so I joined the line and after some test runs and waiting a couple trains was back on in the front seat again. With the track nice and slick from the rain the airtime was even better then the previous two rides.

We had $.25 in tickets left so I decided I would walk around to snap some pictures and take a final look around before we left the park at about 5PM.


All in all Knoebel's is without a doubt one of my favorite amusement parks. It was incredibly clean, affordable, and the employees were all great. They easily had the best operations I've seen at a park. When Phoenix was running two trains not only was there never any stacking but just as soon as a train came into the station it was out again it seemed. Absolutely awesome job by the park in operating the coasters. The park is in a beautiful location with mountains on all sides and the amount of shade all over the park is fantastic, trees are everywhere. Much better then the 50 foot wide hotter then heck paths you see at the bigger parks.

All in all Knoebel's is really a neat place with some great rides including one of the best woodies out there; I can't recommend it enough. I can't wait to make another trip out there when Flying Turns is open, hopefully next time I'll camp right there on site so I can enjoy the park even more.

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"For each path you walk down, there are several others you have to bypass. Maybe walking those paths would have made you happy, maybe they wouldn't have. You'll never know. Choose your path, walk it, and make the best of it."

Rightfully so man. Before El Toro came in shocking us all you knew where Phoenix was on my list. My new Phoenix shirt I got last year is amongst my most prized shirts. Satellite is that crazy two armed ride that sits next to the swings right? I had to really brace for that because it was too slow for my hanging upside down, meaning I had to brace for the direction changes. I was really going to hang. Did the replacement come next door for the High Thrill Speed Coaster for the kids? I didn't get that credit til last year when it coincidentally turned out to be its last year.

I could be one of those people to say "Forget Disney World" and be totally pleased with a visit to Knoebels.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
Working Vaca Name: 2010 Whiz on Target Tour
SFGAM-Dells-MoA-VF-Iowa while Whizzer's around

Yeah that is satellite, riding alone seems to be a bad idea as I was thrown from side to side like mad, haha. Maybe with another person next to me that wouldn't be too much of a problem. I wasn't looking for it but the new kiddie coaster is definitely not open yet and I didn't even see any signs of it, actually.

I can definitely see spending a weekend up there and enjoying it more then a trip to Orlando. The price is right and I can see it being a fantastic, small family vacation.

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"For each path you walk down, there are several others you have to bypass. Maybe walking those paths would have made you happy, maybe they wouldn't have. You'll never know. Choose your path, walk it, and make the best of it."