Photo TR - Knoebels Opening Day 2013

Hey everyone!

 

So, I was fortunate enough to take a trip to Knoebels today with a group of my friends from Penn State. The queues were very long (by Knoebels' standards anyways) for the entire day so I didn't get to do quite as much as I would have hoped, but the amazing buy-one-get-one free offer for handstamps was a wonderful thing, effectively costing me $13 plus food.

 

As you probably know, this year Knoebels installed a 140-foot tall ARM drop tower called Stratosfear.

 

I also ran into Big Mike! He really does earn his title of "TPR's Friendliest Guy".

 

Anyway, onto the photos!

 

EDIT: Even though the photos are properly oriented and the photos were uploaded on a computer through forum attachments, the vertically-oriented ones are rotated to their sides. Is this only a problem on Safari?

I stuck my head and camera out of a car window for the first time to get this clean shot. Does that mean I now know what it feels like to be a dog?

What park is this? Every park that I've ever been to has a ferris wheel...

The sign is telling me something, I'm not sure what.

Today started straight away with Phoenix. They've done a lot of re-tracking to the coaster and the "new" hills are a lot smoother. It still completely hauls and it's still my #1.

New this season was the ARM drop tower Stratosfear. They also installed some crazy sub thing, but I don't want to have any connection to The Beatles so I didn't ride it.

It stretches 140 feet into the sky, but you can only see it from certain places in the park. You can't see it from the main parking lot at all. It's very well-hidden.

It's also completely terrifying! Where's the chicken coop?!?

Hey Larry, how's it going?

[insert provocative joke here]

Twister is still incredibly aggressive. Those laterals are killer!

Oh, motion blur, how you love me so much. Use a faster shutter speed - NOTED!

Giant Flume was running today, but Sklooosh wasn't, even though it ended up being pretty warm today. (Is that the correct number of "o"s?)

 

Also - taking your own advice is a wonderful thing!

How about a Flying Turns progress update?

Is there really any progress to be updated about?

It still looks the same over here.

Wait a minute - what's this?

A quick adjustment to the focus (and a poorly-composed shot - darn it!) reveals a lone car - or car frame - sitting in the station. It looks like it's running on the track, but I'm not sure. Is this a promising sign?

Back to park updates, like the Flyers, which are still running well.

Kozmo's Kurves - which I didn't get to ride due to the queue extending very far from the station (sad face).

Skooters - which are currently experiencing some kind of commotion down stream caused by Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear...

Hey Laura, how's it going?

The Grand Carousel, where it's business as usual.

Ha! Motion blur! You will not defeat me this time! I used a faster shutter speed!

Comin' at ya!

Phoenix phun. (Yes, that's a pun.)

(Yes, that rhymed.)

Ironically, I didn't ride Gasoline Alley, again because of its queue. I could have gotten a lot more neat photos of Phoenix, too. What am I doing wrong with my life?!?

One more ride! One more ride!

Welcome to your new home, Stratosfear. You're in good company (even though one of your park-mates technically was supposed to have been born seven years ago).

Old Faceful - where you can get yourself a face full of water. Zing!

Despite the crowds, my friends and I had a fantastic day. $13 is a steal for any amusement park, and if you're willing to deal with waiting in longer queue lines, it's totally worth it. I can't wait to go back again, hopefully before Phunfest.

 

Thanks for reading!

Looks like I can leave my camera home when I go tomorrow.

Great report, love Knoebels, nice photos of Phoenix.

Great report, shows perfectly on my iPad, so the problem has already been fixed

Nice report!

Looks like I can leave my camera home when I go tomorrow.

Happy to be of assistance!

 

Great report, shows perfectly on my iPad, so the problem has already been fixed

The orientation is still screwed up on my end, but at least it works for some people!

 

Knoebels released a very interesting time lapse video of the Phoenix queue during opening day yesterday. Check it out here. I appear in the video twice - once in the morning in the queue. The second time I appear is very late, where you can see my friend taking the photo of me that appears at the end of this trip report. Pretty cool!

Great report! Hopefully going to Knoebels sometime this year, can't wait.

In regards to Flying Turns, at least there is a chassis on track! Hopefully it's done before Phunfest.

Park looks great and yet again nothing but good things said about it. I'm anxiously counting down to my first visit next month!

Thanks for a great report! Just under five weeks until I'll be seeing this park for the first time!

Hey Laura, how's it going?

You could've used that caption twice in a row.

 

Nice report on what may be my favorite park. Looks like they did a great job all-around with StratosFear, as expected. Of course, the #1 thing that got me to read this was the mention of Flying Turns.

Hope one of my favorite parks in the country had an awesome 2013 season! Wanted to go back and review from the opening, so thanks for posting these pics, AJ.

 

Who else got to visit Knoebels this year?

Who else got to visit Knoebels this year?

 

I went this summer for a quick visit. I believe we only had 2 hrs but it was a fantastic 2 hrs. Rode Phoenix twice, Laura got the brass ring on the carousel and of course we spent like 20 bucks on fascination. It was great visit but I want to go back already. When is TPR going back? I miss glow ERT.

I was there a couple weeks ago and also back in June. In June, we practically had whole park ERT due to the weather. Any year with more than one trip to Knoebels is a great year.

Was hoping to be lucky enough to grab some on ride pictures, but alas i wasn't on any of the trains that you caught, since i too was there opening day. Great PTR, never gets old remembering/looking at knoebels.

I had a blast on Sunday of opening weekend, but wasn't able to return later in the year.

I was there in June for my first visit. It was a great park with some nice charm.

I'm actually hoping to visit again on the last weekend of the season. That would actually be pretty funny.

I was there shortly before the Forth of July. Great day, as always; it rained overnight, but the weather during the day was perfect, crowds were nonexistant, and Knoebels was, as always, wonderful. The staff, the rides, the food, everything held up to the park's high standards. Lots of rides on Phoenix and Twister, and I'm pretty sure we got everything else in the park too. I'll be back next year, of course...finally will be time to try Flying Turns!