I usually don’t visit amusement parks on Labor Day or Memorial Day due to crowds. This year, however, I made an exception. Both Sam and Jen were free on Labor Day and I was feeling the itch to ride some coasters. The three of us have visited Busch Gardens Williamsburg (BGW), Kings Dominion, and Dorney Park together this year. I’ve also visited Hersheypark with both of them, but not together. One park I hadn’t done with either of them this year was Knoebels.
It was going on almost three years since Sam’s last Knoebels trip, but for Jen, it had been 25 long years. So Knoebels it was! I also figured that of all the parks, crowds at Knoebels would be more manageable if the park was busy. Thankfully, I turned out to be right.
No Need to Rush Around
Oftentimes when I visit an amusement park I try to maximize my time to fit in as many rides as possible. When it comes to Knoebels, however, I take a different approach. I don’t rush. I take my time, walk the park, eat some food, and just soak in everything. It’s a totally different vibe and one most people I visit the park also enjoy.
Thankfully the park wasn’t overly crowded which kept the lines manageable. With the weather being in the low 70’s, I figured the waterpark would be empty, thus meaning longer lines. While the pool and slides looked barren, our longest wait of the day was maybe 20-25 minutes for both Flying Turns and Impulse? That’s usually the case for most of my visits though.
Earlier in the day the park ran only one train on Phoenix and Twister, but that changed while we were on the ramps of Twister. A second train was added while we waited in line and later on we saw Phoenix had done the same. This made our re-rides later in the day walk-ons.
Phoenix
We ended up doing three rides on Phoenix. All three took place either in the back or toward the rear of the train. The airtime pops were insane and once again, Phoenix felt like it had a little bit more attitude than in years past. That airtime just felt a little more forceful and we all loved it. Our butts were literally hovering before gravity took over, slamming them back down into the seats.
Sam pointed out that the airtime reminded her a lot of the end of Phantom’s Revenge at Kennywood and I couldn’t agree more. While Phoenix has always had strong, forceful airtime pops, I feel like it’s just hitting a tad bit harder this year. Anyone else feel the same?
Twister
Twister is celebrating it’s 25th anniversary this year and the ride is running better than ever. You have to give Knoebels credit for is taking care of their rides, especially when it comes to their wooden coasters.
Like Phoenix, we rode Twister three times. Our first two rides came in the back rows with our final ride taking place up front. Jen much preferred her ride in the front, whereas I enjoyed the ones in the back. To be honest though, I’ll ride this in any seat and have a phenomenal ride experience.
Thankfully, Twister’s merch/ride photo stand was open this visit. It wasn’t in June. I made sure to pick up some 25th anniversary merch, including a pin and a t-shirt. I’ve been wanting more Twister merch and was glad I could pick some up to help celebrate the ride’s 25th.
Impulse
Man, Impulse sure does look nice with its fresh paint this year. I noticed it back in June and was admiring it again this visit. Since this is one of the rides that usually has a line, it always provides me time to take some photos and/or video. I feel like some of my best photos at Knoebels have been of this ride, like this trip report’s featured image. Shortly after I opened this site, Zierer, the ride’s manufacturer, contacted me to ask if they could use one of my older Impulse photos in one of their publications too. I said sure and they sent me a polo shirt with the company’s logo. That was such an honor.
When it comes to the ride experience of Impulse, I feel like this ride is running as good as ever. It’s a very smooth experience with only the slightest bit of rattle in the helix finale. I love the first drop and that hangtime moment has always been top notch. Sam echoed that feeling riding back into the brake run on our first ride.
Impulse sits only behind Fahrenheit at Hersheypark when it comes to my favorite vertical lift coaster. The majority of the other vertical lift coasters I’ve experienced come from Gerstlauer and Zamperla. Those have been either too rough or too short for me to rank over Fahrenheit (Intamin) and Impulse.
Final Ride Counts
Black Diamond (1)
Flying Turns (1)
Giant Flume (1)
Haunted Mansion (1)
Impulse (2)
Kozmo’s Kurves (1)
Ole Smokey (1)
Phoenix (3)
Pioneer Train (1)
Scenic Skyway (1)
Stratosphere (1: Jen, Patrick)
Twister (3)
Headed Down South Next?
With our 2 hour, 45 minute drive to Knoebels the three of us were talking about the possibility of us heading to a park during October. Since we’ve visited most of the parks in this region in 2024, I threw out a wild card – Dollywood. The car immediately fell silent. Both Sam and Jen have never been and it’s one of their bucket list parks. With only two visits myself, I’m keen to go back.
Right now we’re making our plans and I’m trying to tack on a bunch of the surrounding mountain coasters too. I’ll surely be back here reporting on that trip and everything we hopefully will get into. For now though, I just want to say that our most recent trip together was great. Thanks for being you Knoebels. It’s always an amazing time.
Knoebels Photo Gallery - September 2, 2024
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): n/a
Jen
Lieutenant
New Credit(s): Black Diamond, Flying Turns, Impulse, Kozmo's Kurves
