Knoebels Trip Report Pt. 1

This past week (July 15^th), my dad and I made the four-hour drive from Pittsburgh to what is probably my favorite amusement park, Knoebels. Located in Elysburg, PA, which is in the central part of the state, Knoebels started out as a small picnic grove in 1926 but has since grown to include some 60-odd rides, tons of refreshment stands, and a variety of unique attractions.

Walking in, Knoebels' large steel coaster, Impulse, is the first attraction you see. It makes a good first impression and is one of the park's most thrilling rides. It's far from being my favorite ride at the park, though, as it has a bit of a rattle to it.

This is the coaster of which Knoebels is perhaps most well known for, Phoenix. Known for the intense "airtime" it provides, the ride is a favorite of many amusement park fans. The first time I rode it three years ago, I was a bit underwhelmed, but this visit more than made up for that. By far one of the most fun wooden coasters I've been on! It's historic, too - originally called the Rocket and built in the 1940s, it was completely relocated from Texas when the park it was located at closed in the 1980s. This was significant because no other amusement park had ever attempted to move a wooden roller coaster before.

Another Knoebels favorite is the Skooter bumper cars. These are my dad's favorite ride and by far are one of the most intense bumper car rides in existence today. Although many parks have removed their Lusse Auto Skooters, Knoebels has kept theirs, which is great. It was certainly a fun ride, but nothing will beat my first experience on this ride when a complete renegade rider decided to drive the opposite direction with plenty of wooing a waving of fists. Good times.

Another classic "flat ride" is Flyer. A first for me,  this ride completely blew all other Flying Scooter ride's I'd been on out of the water! It seemed like you could barely move the sail and the tub would start flying all over the place. Again, like Phoenix, I should’ve been expecting this, but the amount of awesomeness Flyer provides was such a surprise to me. The combination of soaring inches away from tree branches and the thought of “Am I supposed to be doing this?” when my car did a huge jolt really made this a thrilling ride… and I had no idea what the operator thought of me.

We'll be continuing this tour of my day at Knoebels tomorrow.