The Twister, 1999 A big congratulations to Jim and the rest of the gang at Knoebels who worked on making this Twister coaster a new reality at Knoebels. Wow, do I have a bunch of reasons for loving this coaster. If you have not been there, then you have to check it out next summer. Hollee molee, if you are into the old-time feeling of what an amusement park was originally meant to be, and are getting a little too used to the super-hype that swarms around all the big name parks nowadays, then you need to plan a trip to Pennsylvania. You have not only Knoebels, but also Kennywood, and a few others that still have the charm of a park from times past. Knoebels is located basically in a forest...or at least that is how it feels. Really, there is only one or two radio stations up there, and not much around except for a few small towns like Centralia, the one with the 30+ year coal mine fire. The park is not imprisoned by a fence, nor does it contain an endless sea of concrete or blacktop. You can sit down in this park and forget everything else exists. I will leave the rest up to your imagination until you see it for yourself. This Twister coaster is incredible. I will tell you why. I first rode it when I went up to the annual Phoenix Phall Phunfest on Oct 9th, which will probably soon be labeled the annual Twister Fall Funfest. I went on the Phoenix first, which is usually the highlight of most of the evening. When I walked up to the Twister, I was seriously amazed at the size of this thing. Those trees sure can hide the largest of objects. I began walking up the ramp, slowly trying to examine all of what I was seeing. The ride was such a work of art. The station, I can hardly explain in a way that gives you a true feeling for the way it strikes you back in time to the good old days, probably from a time before I was even born when life was so much simpler. The roof of the station has this great antique-looking arch to it, with all kinds of lattice features along the joists and around the perimeter of the station. There are no bright quartz or mercury lights, but only the old-fashioned lines of small incandescent bulbs. As I watched the train being loaded and unloaded, something seemed so strikingly familiar to me, yet I had no idea what it was. I just felt so at home there that I couldn't stop laughing and smiling. When I finaly got in the car, it felt great knowing that this new coaster would now be part of the annual tradition. So, the train got to the top of the lift hill, and I was still smiling so much that it didn't occur to me that we were leaving one lift hill only to swing around onto another lift hill...on TOP of the first one, but in the other direction! I got a big kick out of that too, I must say. This ride was so much fun I must have gone on over 20 times. The track actually swings clear around the station, as you can see in the lower left of the above photo, and then it swings through again, and let me tell you, as it goes through there,...it is bookin! So, as the ride ended we entered the braking area and slowly drifted to a stop on the reduction brake. Wow!, it finally dawned on me why this ride really struck home with me. It was built with the original skid-brakes! Bravo! That is sooo awesome, I can hardly tell you how cool that is. No jerky stops, no noise, just a sweet, smooth slide to a stop. Ok enough of my babbling, click here for the next photo of the Twister station! |
