Reviews: Take a ride on Timberland Twister

Posted at 8:04 PM EST (0104 GMT)

Mar. 16th, 2004 -- View the ride gallery here. View Jill Anne's video here.

Timberland Twister, the newest addition to Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America, opened March 15 after a preview the evening before featuring Chubby Checker. Camp Snoopy is only seven acres large and is entirely enclosed which makes it a difficult space to develop. There have been a lot of rumors over the years about what coaster the park would be installing next: Enthusiasts have been guessing everything from a tall ride that would utilize a lift through the ceiling or an Arrowbatic. The addition of a spinning coaster has not gained much coverage from the coaster community, but it honestly should have. The ride could almost be your general unassuming spinning mouse -- except, of course, that it is not. Spinning mice are being installed at many parks (at nearly the rate of indoor water parks) but I ask you to take a second look at this one.

Timberland Twister is a spinning Gerstlauer coaster 54 feet tall and 1,345 feet long. But, as a ride op put it early Monday morning while we were waiting for the second train on opening day, this is currently a one of a kind ride. Unlike most spinning mice, riders in these cars face each other. He admitted that this is done on Face/Off, but Face/Off doesn't spin. And after a single ride on Twister, I'd have to agree that the park has something unique here.

Like most spinning coasters and mice, Twister offers a different ride each time. I rode the coaster four times on Monday -- while taking time out to shop, take pictures and video, and ride the other rides of course -- and each was completely unique. What makes each ride unique beyond the spinning, though, is that each time I was riding with different people who had different reactions to the hills, spins, and drops. Watching the faces of fellow passengers is probably one of the most fun parts of the coaster.

But if you're not a people-watcher, that really isn't a problem. This Gerstlauer delivers on other levels as well. It features decent forces and is simply fun. I didn't once exit the ride without laughing and wearing a big cheesy grin for a while. Bigger rides like Millennium Force tend to have that effect on me -- but a smaller coaster? Not even 100 feet tall? Hardly ever happens. This is one very well designed ride. It uses the "terrain" of the indoor park to its maximum benefit and even has some nice head choppers. One of the helices circles the Kite Eating Tree (the Charlie Brown themed swing ride), and when the ride is in operation, will provide nice foot choppers for Tree-riders and no doubt a neat effect for coaster riders too. There are a couple decent pops of airtime depending on what seat you are sitting in. Riding up the steep and fast lift hill backward was also fun as I sort of hung against the restraints. The restraints themselves are really comfortable, and the seats have a nifty embossed Gerstlauer logo on them.

What impresses me the most, however, is just how good a fit this ride is for the park. Before, the big ticket ride was the Ripsaw -- a family coaster with a long midcourse brake run. It was one of the first coasters I rode as an adult, and I remember it being a lot of fun then. The park also has the Mighty Axe -- an 82-foot-tall Zamperla Rotoshake -- that was installed in 1998, as well as a variety of other flats. But the park clearly needed another coaster -- at least according to enthusiasts.

Timberland Twister is exciting. It fills a hole in the park's ride collection. There are a number of children's rides and a number of flats (in fact, there are several you will be hard-pressed to find at other Cedar Fair parks). However, there wasn't really a thrilling coaster. Timberland Twister's seating arrangement and spinning novelty may be enough to pull in some enthusiasts, and the general fun it provides will attract families who are the main patrons of the park. Better yet, the screams of park patrons on the ride can be heard in many parts of the mall, which will attract visitors to Camp Snoopy. This is one installation decision that I refuse to question -- it works.

The ride had a sneak preview on the evening of March 14, and there was a VIP party for the grand opening celebration on the night of the 15th. Gerstlauer himself was at the park -- we saw him -- to ride the ride and participate in the celebrations, as well as a few other engineers from the project. This was also, of course, when the official first ride would occur. But, this editor knows that the first car out on the first day of normal operation held one teenager seeking park employment, a father, and a very excited blonde 5-year-old girl who just recently learned to tie her shoes (and the second car of the day was me).

ThrillNetwork had the opportunity to interview Craig Freeman, vice president and general manager of Camp Snoopy. Craig also used to work at Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland.

Craig shared that the park adds new attractions every two to three years, which is about the same rate as larger parks in the Cedar Fair chain. The Mighty Axe is cited often as being the last major attraction added to the park, but since then the park has installed Ghost Blasters -- a Sally dark ride, Speedway -- a themed kiddie whip, an X-treme Trampoline, a Frog Hopper, and has frequently gotten new movies in its "Mystery Mine Ride" simulation theater (currently playing "Spongebob Squarepants: The Movie"). Timberland Twister is actually their 21st ride. That's 21 rides in seven acres!

I asked how the decision was made to install a spinning coaster, and Freeman answered, "We knew we couldn't be the highest, fastest, and we had to come up with something new -- and we have very limited space. We finally came up with this idea here and liked it, and it's been very well received so far. The very first time I went on it I loved it, and now I've seen the smiles of kids coming off of it during the preview -- I think we've got a winner."

Although attendance is not precisely kept as it can be in enclosed parks, Freeman expects that Timberland Twister will draw in an additional half a million guests during its first operating year.

There was a rumor for a long time concerning adding an Arrowbatic to Camp Snoopy, and I finally had the chance to ask Freeman in person. His response? "We were going to do the Arrowbatic. (We) looked at it for a long time, and we finally decided against it. Twister is more of a family attraction and given the space we had available -- it's just a better ride for the space."

While it might be easy to consider space the largest issue in managing Camp Snoopy -- which feels as dense as some parts of Blackpool Pleasure Beach -- apparently this is not always management's top concern in adding new rides. "It's very different from managing an enclosed park with a captive audience. We're in the middle of a mall with a lot of attractions. You have no captive audience. You have to do a lot to keep people's attention and keep them in the park. You have to be very competitive with everything else that's going on around you."

Maintenance differs as well, of course, as there is no off season for this indoor park. "Seasonal" maintenance generally involves one ride down at a time, scheduled, much as Disneyland closes some of its rides for routine maintenance during slower periods. There are many ride cycles. However, this is balanced by not having to deal with weather.

Of course, ThrillNetwork members want to know everything they can about the Geauga Lake buyout, but Freeman feels that Six Flags' decision to sell is based purely in the need to get out from under a great deal of debt and that Cedar Fair was in a good position to buy them.

Camp Snoopy hopes to continue adding attractions every two to three years, and may be able to add some without removing attractions or paths; especially as attractions surrounding the park close. But as for coaster enthusiasts hope that a lift hill will sometime break through the roof of Camp Snoopy: "I can't say we won't ever do it, but I've seen the prediction on some of those sites are not practical for the space."

So is it possible that Camp Snoopy will someday receive larger attractions? Sure. But are they really necessary? Having ridden Timberland Twister, I'm tempted to answer "no." In a small footprint with a very small hill, Twister packs a lot of fun into a short ride and is easy to jump back on again. And if well-designed rides for the space the park should be purchased, why would management ever build something taller, faster, and maybe not as fun?

For more information on the ride visit Camp Snoopy's web site. An animation of the ride is available here.

From their Web site:

Timberland Twister takes park visitors on a quarter-mile ride in a spinning, speeding car as it tears through Camp Snoopy and around the Kite Eating Tree. The spinning coaster features a four-person car that spins on its own axis as it travels five stories high and reaches speeds up to 31 mph (or, about 45 feet per second).

• Trip Time: 1:15 minutes
• Point Value: 6
• Height Requirements: 43" or taller. Riders under 47" must be accompanied by a responsible chaperone at least 47" tall.

1. If you can make the trip out, do. The Mall has many other attractions, and even though Camp Snoopy is small, it is very well laid out, well maintained, and excellently themed. The rides themselves feature some theming, but the park is laid out and designed with an overall theme in mind. Note: it looks good.
2. Try to get there early and ride 2 people to one car -- and ride on the same side. You will spin the most with two people on one side and either one or none on the other. The least amount of spinning occurs when the car is full (four people).
3. Leaning to the left at certain parts of the ride supposedly allows you to spin more. Whether or not this is the case, it feels neat. (After a ride or two you will get the notion of where this is.)
4. Although the spinning may scare some members of your family, this really is a family attraction and it might be a good stepping stone coaster to getting people used to larger rides.
5. There's at least a couple park employs who think it would be fun to see somebody try to marathon this ride -- with the right arrangement of riders it really can be nauseating.
6. Buy a wristband for all day riding unless you really only plan on going once or twice. This is a very rerideable coaster and you will save yourself money in the long run.

- Photos and video by Jill Anne.
- Article posted by Chip.