Knoebels | Impulse | Zierer Vertical Lift Coaster
- Thread starter Youngster Joey
- Start date
Antinos
Slut for Spinners
If Impulse looks like a generic ride, it's supposed to be a generic ride. Knoebel's is a very special and unique amusement park - anyone who has been there will tell you that. There's a certain charm that you cannot find at any other amusement park. The Knoebel family and those working behind the scenes understand this aspect of their park so they were very particular when they chose a new roller coaster to build. They had to choose a ride that would draw people to the park, just as any new addition is supposed to do, BUT they did not want this ride to become the new face of the park. We enthusiasts are going to go for the airtime machine known as Phoenix and the one of a kind wonder that is The Flying Turns. Locals will go to spend a day with their families or have a picnic or enjoy everything else the park has to offer. Nobody is going to go to Knoebel's because they saw an advertisement for Impulse.
owentaylor121
Giga Poster
^ That's not fair to say nobody will go if they saw an advertisement for Impulse, because the general public may be very excited for this, plus the park wouldn't have built it, if nobody was going to come for it.
Well said, but this...Antinos said:
...not so much.
Locals return to Knoebels in droves for new rides, as has been proven with attendance increases for both Flying Turns and Black Diamond. Advertising Impluse will lure them back to the park again and will likely give the park even better attendance than last year (when Flying Turns was actually advertised) and 2011.
Even if by 'nobody' you mean 'no enthusiasts', well they'll come for a new coaster regardless if they see an advertisement for it or not.
Antinos
Slut for Spinners
The main point is that they could've build a B&M looper if they wanted to, but they didn't. You're going to go to ride Phoenix and Flying Turns. Yes, you'll show up to get your cred but after you get your cred, you're going to return to ride Phoenix and Flying Turns. It won't be Impulse that keeps you returning to Knoebel's year after year.
Intricks
Strata Poster
Phoenix is so bland though, it really only gives the airtime in a specified seat during certain weather conditions (at least to me it does). Twister is the better choice for me, so I tend to ride it more when I make a trip out that way.
While I do agree that they could have built something else - a B&M looper....really? Maybe if they didnt build anything for a handful of years would they be able to afford one; however, it wouldnt just fit with the park. Hell, I still see flack over the decision to get Impulse and not an older steel coaster.
While I do agree that they could have built something else - a B&M looper....really? Maybe if they didnt build anything for a handful of years would they be able to afford one; however, it wouldnt just fit with the park. Hell, I still see flack over the decision to get Impulse and not an older steel coaster.
Antinos
Slut for Spinners
Intricks - reread both my posts. The entire point I am trying to make is that the ride is a new addition that doesn't change the face of Knoebel's. A B&M looper at their park would just be silly, but if the family really wanted to build one, they absolutely could. They chose Impulse so they didn't have to remove the spotlight from their other rides.
By the time I got to Knoebels Saturday morning for Impulse's opening I was pretty burnt out. I drove 13 hours on Wednesday followed by a 5am wake up on Thursday for Thunderbird's media event. That evening I drove 10 hours to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and got less than four hours sleep Friday night. After Tempesto's media event I had another eight hour drive back home before another early morning wake up for the nearly three hour drive to Knoebels.
The park worked all night to get the coaster ready for the park's opening day and barely got the job done, so there was no media day and I will be returning to the park in the next week or two to film a POV, etc. It will also be a few days before I can post the opening ceremony as well as the off-ride footage I filmed, so once again photos will have to suffice for now.
After speeches from Dick, Rick and Brian Knoebel it was time for the First Rider auction, which was held right there on the spot instead of beforehand like other parks do.
After the auction was the ribbon cutting next to where people had already been waiting in line for a couple of hours to ride the coaster.
Here are the First Rider auction winners that raised over $7000 for Give Kids The World, Not bad for such a small capacity train.
After the First Riders I got my turn to ride, with Dick and Brian Knoebel no less.
I'll post the ORP as soon as I scan it.
I was a bit shocked by how smooth the coaster actually is. Not just in terms of roughness, but also how smooth it flows from one element tot the next. Zierer and the park really did a fantastic job of designing the coaster and it's probably my favorite small footprint steel coaster. Definitely the biggest surprise of this road trip. Too bad Gerstlauer can't build their Euro Fighters and Infinity Coasters like this.
I got a second ride before the coaster opened to the GP - this time with Martin Weichselgartner, Zierer's Managing Director who I also interviewed and will post the video of in a few days. A few minutes later the screams began as we ate cake.
I think the park has a real winner here, judging by the way the crowd reacted throughout the day. The coaster is highly re-ridable. I could easily ride it 20 times in a row. There's so much going on, but it's never too much. The vertical lift hill is just tall enough to get the point across, the drop doesn't match Maverick's or Fahrenheit's beyond vertical but is better than any El Loco, the over-sized cobra roll is just different (but in a good way), the in-line twist is as good as Thunderbird's and the double helix is a perfect punch to finish everything off with. I'm looking forward to returning to the park to ride it again almost as much as I am to filming some on-ride footage.
Once again, these photos are from our Facebook and Twitter. I'll post more with the videos in a few days.
The park worked all night to get the coaster ready for the park's opening day and barely got the job done, so there was no media day and I will be returning to the park in the next week or two to film a POV, etc. It will also be a few days before I can post the opening ceremony as well as the off-ride footage I filmed, so once again photos will have to suffice for now.
After speeches from Dick, Rick and Brian Knoebel it was time for the First Rider auction, which was held right there on the spot instead of beforehand like other parks do.
After the auction was the ribbon cutting next to where people had already been waiting in line for a couple of hours to ride the coaster.
Here are the First Rider auction winners that raised over $7000 for Give Kids The World, Not bad for such a small capacity train.
After the First Riders I got my turn to ride, with Dick and Brian Knoebel no less.
I'll post the ORP as soon as I scan it.
I was a bit shocked by how smooth the coaster actually is. Not just in terms of roughness, but also how smooth it flows from one element tot the next. Zierer and the park really did a fantastic job of designing the coaster and it's probably my favorite small footprint steel coaster. Definitely the biggest surprise of this road trip. Too bad Gerstlauer can't build their Euro Fighters and Infinity Coasters like this.
I got a second ride before the coaster opened to the GP - this time with Martin Weichselgartner, Zierer's Managing Director who I also interviewed and will post the video of in a few days. A few minutes later the screams began as we ate cake.
I think the park has a real winner here, judging by the way the crowd reacted throughout the day. The coaster is highly re-ridable. I could easily ride it 20 times in a row. There's so much going on, but it's never too much. The vertical lift hill is just tall enough to get the point across, the drop doesn't match Maverick's or Fahrenheit's beyond vertical but is better than any El Loco, the over-sized cobra roll is just different (but in a good way), the in-line twist is as good as Thunderbird's and the double helix is a perfect punch to finish everything off with. I'm looking forward to returning to the park to ride it again almost as much as I am to filming some on-ride footage.
Once again, these photos are from our Facebook and Twitter. I'll post more with the videos in a few days.
GuyWithAStick
Captain Basic
I don't think this drop is beyond vertical?
Also, the cake is so fab. <3
Sent from my VS840 4G using Tapatalk
Also, the cake is so fab. <3
Sent from my VS840 4G using Tapatalk
GuyWithAStick
Captain Basic
Oh, I see. The way you worded it made it seem that this had one. But I do agree, beyond vertical drops are far less enjoyable than vertical ones.
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Sent from my VS840 4G using Tapatalk
GuyWithAStick
Captain Basic
I'll just stop.
Time for another update. :wink:
I mentioned last week that I wasn't able to do any on-ride filming on opening day, so I returned to the park this weekend to get that done. I was only able to film an on-ride POV this time around and I'll be going back at a later date to film a ridercam video.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5ehAGIGS-s[/youtube]
I actually filmed all my off-ride footage on opening day, but held off posting the video until I had the on-ride to go with it.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyDHFdxc434[/youtube]
How about some more photos?
Let's start with the station.
Here's another cool feature I forgot to mention.
Knoebels is a very family orientated park and they didn't want to exclude the little ones from riding Impulse, so the coaster has its own version of booster seats.
Yes, it takes about 10-15 seconds to put them into place and another 5-10 seconds to take them back out, but I don't want to hear about how that will cause massive queue line delays.
The wait times are never really that long at Knoebels and a less than one minute delay every now and then is well worth giving the kiddies an opportunity to ride.
FYI - The wait was about 45 minutes on opening day and about 30 minutes on Saturday - the third day of operations. The wait times will only continue to drop the more the crew gets used to operating the coaster, just like it did for Flying Turns.
The queue line also gives all you support huggers a chance for some coaster lovin'. :--D
Although I've seen the coaster up close and personal many times, I still can't get used to the transitions from the flat track to the vertical.
And now for the final two videos I filmed on opening day, for those that are interested and haven't seen them yet.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6SA7V0ByKE[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnD4N2ZWNew[/youtube]
I mentioned last week that I wasn't able to do any on-ride filming on opening day, so I returned to the park this weekend to get that done. I was only able to film an on-ride POV this time around and I'll be going back at a later date to film a ridercam video.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5ehAGIGS-s[/youtube]
I actually filmed all my off-ride footage on opening day, but held off posting the video until I had the on-ride to go with it.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyDHFdxc434[/youtube]
How about some more photos?
Let's start with the station.
Here's another cool feature I forgot to mention.
Knoebels is a very family orientated park and they didn't want to exclude the little ones from riding Impulse, so the coaster has its own version of booster seats.
Yes, it takes about 10-15 seconds to put them into place and another 5-10 seconds to take them back out, but I don't want to hear about how that will cause massive queue line delays.
The wait times are never really that long at Knoebels and a less than one minute delay every now and then is well worth giving the kiddies an opportunity to ride.
FYI - The wait was about 45 minutes on opening day and about 30 minutes on Saturday - the third day of operations. The wait times will only continue to drop the more the crew gets used to operating the coaster, just like it did for Flying Turns.
The queue line also gives all you support huggers a chance for some coaster lovin'. :--D
Although I've seen the coaster up close and personal many times, I still can't get used to the transitions from the flat track to the vertical.
And now for the final two videos I filmed on opening day, for those that are interested and haven't seen them yet.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6SA7V0ByKE[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnD4N2ZWNew[/youtube]
This is really, really neat. I'm sure it has it's drawbacks, but it's really cool to see the park trying to accommodate as many people as possible.ECG said:Here's another cool feature I forgot to mention.
Knoebels is a very family orientated park and they didn't want to exclude the little ones from riding Impulse, so the coaster has its own version of booster seats.
Yes, it takes about 10-15 seconds to put them into place and another 5-10 seconds to take them back out, but I don't want to hear about how that will cause massive queue line delays.
IntaminToWin
Mega Poster
^That "booster seat" idea is a great one. I don't think anyone would complain if more parks implemented that kind of thing.
Mysterious Sue
Strata Poster
Great to see your review Jerry. Only time will tell if it remains as smooth, but hopefully it will and there'll be some more competition for Gerst. Might even make them buck up thier act.
Pink Cadillac
Giga Poster
Omg the booster seats!! <3 They would be perfect for the tamer B&Ms stamped with the 1.4m height restriction.