The rides are, of course, the main draw, and they have some amazing pieces there (even if you're not attracted to them in that way). The absolute hands down star is the Phoenix. Phoenix originally was in San Antonio and named the Rocket, but was moved to Knoebels in 1985. It's essentially been there the entire time I've been old enough to be aware of the existance of rollercoasters, it was the first coaster I rode on, and it is still hands down my favorite and the best coaster I've ridden. I say that as a coaster aficiando and someone who actually had a summer job as a teen running a coaster. Phoenix has the perfect equation of a tunnel and a nice long series of lift you out of your seat bumps. I'm not the only one who thinks so either, the ride has an entire trophy case at the bottom of awards it's won.
The other coaster is Twister, another rescued coaster. It's okay, I went on it opening weekend and have a soft spot for no other reason. The track is a little shakey and the turns are tiring after a while, frankly.
While I'm making it painfully obvious the history I have with this place, I'll point out that the Hand Cars were the best part about being a child and I nearly wept when I outgrew them. Doesn't matter that the ride is older than my mother.
Keeping with the preservation of history deal, the place has a two carusols. The one is a large, historical deal, with weird paintings of absurb scenarios from the turn of the century. (The one above has a woman spanking a man. Another has a woman playing baseball. Scandalous. Several of the other feature characature drunks.) The fun part about the carosul is that they actually have brass rings for you to catch, which I've never seen anywhere else.
Don't you love it? That's the Sky Slide, and it's just that, a giant slide where you walk up the center and slide down around and around the outside. It's so wonderfully simple, retro, and fun. Half the people coming down are parents with babies and toddlers all laughing, and the lines for this one get surpringly long.
One of the things you have to understand about Knoebels is that they don't charge admission. You either buy an unlimited pass for the rides or tickets to ride them, and pay for food, but you can come and go out of the park as you please. They even provide huge pavilions for you to bring your own food and picnic, provided you clean up your area. So, if you're just bringing your kids and not riding, it's a huge savings. Plus, thanks to the picnicing, they keep their food prices lower than you'd pay at, say Busch Gardens. It's still overpriced, but not highway robbery.
Right, I can stretch this into another day, can't I? Not like anyone's reading this...
1 comment:
just because you don't get comments, does not mean that nobody is reading the blog. Love it!
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