Hutch
Strata Poster
I wrote most of this months ago but schoolwork had prolonged me finishing this. And for a while I just never really bothered to post this (it's been some time since I've posted anything on here I think). Oh well, better late than never, right?
Back in late August, my dad and I did a college tour out in New York and Pennsylvania, and Knoebels Amusement Park was conveniently in between two colleges on my list. We had an afternoon off between the two schools, so timing worked out pretty well for us.
Now, we could’ve done other stuff like Hersheypark and Dorney Park (this was the second occurrence where we passed by Dorney), but we had planned to visit colleges during the week and while kids were in session. And by the time we were done visiting schools, it was basically Labor Day weekend anyway, and we didn't want to deal with crowds.
I can’t really complain about only visiting one park anyway, because at the end of the day we had pretty good time.
We arrived at the park at around 1:15. A bit earlier than I expected too, which was nice. I wanted to give ourselves least 3 hours in the park just so I could get everything I wanted done, but we were there less than that due to the park being dead.
Now you would think that the park’s newest, low-capacity coaster located at the entrance and running one train would be a nightmare, but nobody was in line. I knew we’d have no trouble at all.
We went and got our tickets. I probably should’ve just settled for an unlimited wristband, but compared to the # of tickets we actually paid for, the price wouldn’t have been much different.
We pretty much just did the creds in the order we saw them, with Impulse up first.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Eurofighter-type ride like this run with one train, but honestly any more than one wasn’t really necessary. Today was probably the only day were I accepted one-train operations (I believe all coasters were doing them except Black Diamond and maybe Flying Turns). From the trains I saw throughout the day on all coasters, most seats were pretty empty. I never had to wait for multiple dispatches.
Our ride on Impulse had just enough people in the queue to fill up the entire train, but we still managed to snag a front row ride. I enjoyed it. It’s a solid ride and there’s not much wrong with it. Well, tbh, the inversions and helices don’t really do anything (the zero g roll was good though), but it flows nicely and they’re enjoyable enough. The lift hill is pretty quick and the drop is fun: it doesn’t go beyond vertical but it exchanges that for clamshell restraints! The drop has a bit of nice airtime, there’s some + g forces in between the drop and the inversions, the I liked the hangtime in the zero go roll. There’s a bit of a rattle in some spots, but overall I think I enjoyed it more than any other Eurofighter I’ve done (or any other Gerstlauer tbh), mainly because of the lap bars and smoothness. 7/10
I didn’t feel the need to do it again though, so once was enough.
Next up was that kiddie cred, whatever it’s called. And honestly I actually kind of liked it! It’s definitely one of the more enjoyable kiddie creds I’ve done. It’s pretty jerky, there’s a couple of fun hops, and you go around 3 times. It also looks nice with the family boat ride going underneath it. I got off smiling and saying “That was fun.” Obviously I didn’t do it again, but it was nice that it wasn’t just an average +1.
Next up was Flying Turns. Kinda hard to get decent photos of this one.
Unsurprisingly, it was the longest (only) queue of the day. The queue didn’t really go beyond the station, but it was around 5 minute wait. I could imagine that this thing could generate some pretty slow and painful waits.
They seemed to have their best team running this coaster. The other coasters didn’t have more than two or three staff operating the ride, but this one had a few more. They did a pretty good job though. Obviously the scale weighing is a bit of a hassle, but they keep it pretty organized. That meant I couldn’t choose my row; they keep the heavier people towards the front of the train (was hoping for back row, but I ended up in the middle).
I enjoyed the ride though. Now tbh it’s actually pretty dull, but the uniqueness makes it a bit more fun. The two main lift hills are an interesting choice (why not just have one “big” one?). Some of the turns in the second half are decent enough, you get some pretty heavy banking, and it does a good job losing your sense of direction.
It’s really all about the design of the track though. If this was just a typical steel coaster, I’d be bored.
It was also very smooth, and it was nice to have just a seatbelt and not some other restraint. My dad loved it too, mainly for the uniqueness of it as well.
So it was an alright ride. The novelty makes it more interesting. 6/10
I wanted to do Phoenix next. But, despite the park being pretty small and easy to navigate (once you know the area), we wound next to Black Diamond. I figured we’d nab that, and I had no idea what it did going into it. Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to be spoiled.
I was actually kind of impressed by it. Well, at least when it comes to the length and the theming. You’re supposed to be in a minecart traveling through some spooky mine. The theming may not be quite up to date, but they did a pretty good job with it. It has a pretty substantial length too. There’re multiple lift hills but it doesn’t go very fast. There’re a couple of real drops too, but they’re neutered by trims. It’s a coaster too (only reason why I rode it), but it acts as more of a dark ride.
It’s a decent dark ride but rather poor coaster. 5/10
Phoenix was obviously the main draw for visiting the park. I had heard that the front half is better than the back, so we went with that. The front was already taken so we did the third row, which I heard was the best row anyway.
The tunnel before the lift hill was a bit longer than I expected. It’s funny, they probably could’ve just began the lift hill right out of the station, but the tunnel is kind of fun (and it does get pretty dark in there).
Our first ride was great. The airtime was ridiculous… but… on each airtime hill I found myself hitting my stomach against the lap bar. It wasn’t painful, but it was kind of annoying.
On my second ride (front row this time), I tried something. I found a little bump in the floor of the train, sort of underneath the front “wall” of the car. I’d plant the front of my feet against it, and what do you know! That easily solved the problem I had on my first ride. So now, while I would go over each airtime hill, my feet would stop me from flailing forward. Now I could enjoy the airtime!
I pretty much just kept doing that technique on the rest of my rides. I know people say that you shouldn’t “ride a certain way” to enjoy a coaster, but this method isn’t uncomfortable or a nuisance that I’d have to focus on. And it’s far from having to brace yourself for some violent element.
So yeah, I loved it. I started with four back-to-back rides. The first drop isn’t anything special; you get a bit of airtime in the back, but that’s all. The turnarounds are fine really; obviously they’re not that exciting, but if you sit towards the front you get some fantastic gentle floater when you enter them. The turnarounds probably break up the pace but I guess it’s a nice breather in between the constant airtime hills.
And the airtime hills… those are what make the coaster! You’re given two to begin with, then three after the second turnaround (double up/down), and then it gets even better with those final four (with the very last one being the most abrupt). It’s amazing, without a doubt some of the best individual airtime moments I’ve ever experienced. I hear people say that some rides like B&M hypers or Intamins or other woodies or give you “out of your seat airtime,” but Phoenix is the only ride that holds true to that statement. Thanks the absence of seatbelts and a single lap bar that covers the entire row with a good few inches above your legs, there were moments where the only part of me touching the car was my feet. You’re sort of standing for a second or two each time, and even getting headchoppers depending on what hill it is.
It’s pretty smooth for a woodie too. I’m amazed that this ride is also just a classic PTC. I tried back at one point and it was a little rougher back there, so front is the place to be. Actually, I mainly stuck with the 3rd row, and I seemed to enjoy that more than the very front row.
So Phoenix awesome! It’s earned a spot in my Top 10. #7 I believe… Maverick and the stuff above I simply enjoy more, but Phoenix is definitely better than the RMCs that I’ve done, which are now just below. 9.5/10
After a few rides on that, we got the final cred of the day, Twister. It was pretty meh, but it had an interesting layout. It’s a bit bigger than I expected (pretty sure it breaks 100 ft), and it had two lift hills (which is weird with the way they arranged it). It’s definitely the most violent cred in the park, all because of the roughness. There’re one or two okay airtime moments, and I did kind of enjoy that big, slanted helix. It’s a decent length and it crosses over and underneath itself, but it’s pretty exhausting. And we rode somewhere in the middle too. 4/10
After Twister I went back and whored Phoenix some more, and pretty much did that before we decidedly to head out. During our visit I got ten rides on the thing (my dad stopped after 1), and as I kept riding it, I seemed to love it more and more.
Eventually, when pulling out of the station, I noticed some camera crew filming some shots of the coaster. Turns out they were filming a commercial for the park, and at one point, one of the staff members said we could go on again for free! I think they wanted some footage with a full train (up until this point, there were no more than a handful of people per ride). The camera crew also set themselves up underneath the track at one point; it was pretty neat to see them inside the structure. The only “downside” to this meant that they ride ops would wait to dispatch until they get a full train, and sometimes I'd get stuck with the middle rows.
At around 3:30, we decided to hit the road, but there was one more thing I wanted to do. Intricks suggested I try out the Flyers, which at first I thought was just your average flying scooters thing. But then I realized that these ones were a bit different and that you could actually “snap” them.
For anyone who’s unfamiliar with snapping (I wasn’t familiar until Intricks mentioned it), check out this video. I had something written that attempted explain the process, but it's probably easier to understand if you just watch this (not my video, but helped me understand the idea of snapping):
I was able to pull it off, and it’s amazing. I was actually kind of terrified at some points too; when you swing up to the left it seems like you get so ****ing close to the trees and think you’re gonna smash into them. The whole thing is absurd. The ride lasts a quite a while as well. After snapping them for most of the ride I stopped and calmed down before the ride ended. Phew.
I loved it though. So glad I did it. Honestly, it was probably my favorite ride in the park after Phoenix (and maybe Impulse). It was that exciting.
It was time to go after that. Both of us enjoyed our time here, and it worked out well with the free afternoon we had. I don’t think I’ve ever visited a park this dead before, but there were still enough peeps to give some sort of atmosphere.
Phoenix is fantastic, earning a spot in my Top Ten. That coaster alone makes the visit here worthwhile. Impulse is good, and the rest are generally meh (though Flying Turns has uniqueness going for it). The Flyers are fab though!
6 creds is a decent number of coasters at a park, but if I were to come back (and I’d like to), I’d probably only do one ride each on Impulse, the Flyers, and maybe Flying Turns, but I’d really just spend time whoring the **** out of Phoenix. So the overall coaster quality isn’t the best, but I don’t expect them to get another coaster in years. And it's nice that you just pay for ride tickets, so it's a pretty good deal if you want to pop in and ride Phoenix.
I really enjoyed Knoebels. It had an old retro feel and it looked nice in some places (particularly toward the back). The front didn’t look as good though (it was just a bunch of rides plopped onto some concrete). But overall it was nice little park and our visit was really easy.
Sorry I didn't get this report out several months earlier. But I hope you enjoyed reading!
Back in late August, my dad and I did a college tour out in New York and Pennsylvania, and Knoebels Amusement Park was conveniently in between two colleges on my list. We had an afternoon off between the two schools, so timing worked out pretty well for us.
Now, we could’ve done other stuff like Hersheypark and Dorney Park (this was the second occurrence where we passed by Dorney), but we had planned to visit colleges during the week and while kids were in session. And by the time we were done visiting schools, it was basically Labor Day weekend anyway, and we didn't want to deal with crowds.
I can’t really complain about only visiting one park anyway, because at the end of the day we had pretty good time.
We arrived at the park at around 1:15. A bit earlier than I expected too, which was nice. I wanted to give ourselves least 3 hours in the park just so I could get everything I wanted done, but we were there less than that due to the park being dead.
Now you would think that the park’s newest, low-capacity coaster located at the entrance and running one train would be a nightmare, but nobody was in line. I knew we’d have no trouble at all.
We went and got our tickets. I probably should’ve just settled for an unlimited wristband, but compared to the # of tickets we actually paid for, the price wouldn’t have been much different.
We pretty much just did the creds in the order we saw them, with Impulse up first.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Eurofighter-type ride like this run with one train, but honestly any more than one wasn’t really necessary. Today was probably the only day were I accepted one-train operations (I believe all coasters were doing them except Black Diamond and maybe Flying Turns). From the trains I saw throughout the day on all coasters, most seats were pretty empty. I never had to wait for multiple dispatches.
Our ride on Impulse had just enough people in the queue to fill up the entire train, but we still managed to snag a front row ride. I enjoyed it. It’s a solid ride and there’s not much wrong with it. Well, tbh, the inversions and helices don’t really do anything (the zero g roll was good though), but it flows nicely and they’re enjoyable enough. The lift hill is pretty quick and the drop is fun: it doesn’t go beyond vertical but it exchanges that for clamshell restraints! The drop has a bit of nice airtime, there’s some + g forces in between the drop and the inversions, the I liked the hangtime in the zero go roll. There’s a bit of a rattle in some spots, but overall I think I enjoyed it more than any other Eurofighter I’ve done (or any other Gerstlauer tbh), mainly because of the lap bars and smoothness. 7/10
I didn’t feel the need to do it again though, so once was enough.
Next up was that kiddie cred, whatever it’s called. And honestly I actually kind of liked it! It’s definitely one of the more enjoyable kiddie creds I’ve done. It’s pretty jerky, there’s a couple of fun hops, and you go around 3 times. It also looks nice with the family boat ride going underneath it. I got off smiling and saying “That was fun.” Obviously I didn’t do it again, but it was nice that it wasn’t just an average +1.
Next up was Flying Turns. Kinda hard to get decent photos of this one.
Unsurprisingly, it was the longest (only) queue of the day. The queue didn’t really go beyond the station, but it was around 5 minute wait. I could imagine that this thing could generate some pretty slow and painful waits.
They seemed to have their best team running this coaster. The other coasters didn’t have more than two or three staff operating the ride, but this one had a few more. They did a pretty good job though. Obviously the scale weighing is a bit of a hassle, but they keep it pretty organized. That meant I couldn’t choose my row; they keep the heavier people towards the front of the train (was hoping for back row, but I ended up in the middle).
I enjoyed the ride though. Now tbh it’s actually pretty dull, but the uniqueness makes it a bit more fun. The two main lift hills are an interesting choice (why not just have one “big” one?). Some of the turns in the second half are decent enough, you get some pretty heavy banking, and it does a good job losing your sense of direction.
It’s really all about the design of the track though. If this was just a typical steel coaster, I’d be bored.
It was also very smooth, and it was nice to have just a seatbelt and not some other restraint. My dad loved it too, mainly for the uniqueness of it as well.
So it was an alright ride. The novelty makes it more interesting. 6/10
I wanted to do Phoenix next. But, despite the park being pretty small and easy to navigate (once you know the area), we wound next to Black Diamond. I figured we’d nab that, and I had no idea what it did going into it. Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to be spoiled.
I was actually kind of impressed by it. Well, at least when it comes to the length and the theming. You’re supposed to be in a minecart traveling through some spooky mine. The theming may not be quite up to date, but they did a pretty good job with it. It has a pretty substantial length too. There’re multiple lift hills but it doesn’t go very fast. There’re a couple of real drops too, but they’re neutered by trims. It’s a coaster too (only reason why I rode it), but it acts as more of a dark ride.
It’s a decent dark ride but rather poor coaster. 5/10
Phoenix was obviously the main draw for visiting the park. I had heard that the front half is better than the back, so we went with that. The front was already taken so we did the third row, which I heard was the best row anyway.
The tunnel before the lift hill was a bit longer than I expected. It’s funny, they probably could’ve just began the lift hill right out of the station, but the tunnel is kind of fun (and it does get pretty dark in there).
Our first ride was great. The airtime was ridiculous… but… on each airtime hill I found myself hitting my stomach against the lap bar. It wasn’t painful, but it was kind of annoying.
On my second ride (front row this time), I tried something. I found a little bump in the floor of the train, sort of underneath the front “wall” of the car. I’d plant the front of my feet against it, and what do you know! That easily solved the problem I had on my first ride. So now, while I would go over each airtime hill, my feet would stop me from flailing forward. Now I could enjoy the airtime!
I pretty much just kept doing that technique on the rest of my rides. I know people say that you shouldn’t “ride a certain way” to enjoy a coaster, but this method isn’t uncomfortable or a nuisance that I’d have to focus on. And it’s far from having to brace yourself for some violent element.
So yeah, I loved it. I started with four back-to-back rides. The first drop isn’t anything special; you get a bit of airtime in the back, but that’s all. The turnarounds are fine really; obviously they’re not that exciting, but if you sit towards the front you get some fantastic gentle floater when you enter them. The turnarounds probably break up the pace but I guess it’s a nice breather in between the constant airtime hills.
And the airtime hills… those are what make the coaster! You’re given two to begin with, then three after the second turnaround (double up/down), and then it gets even better with those final four (with the very last one being the most abrupt). It’s amazing, without a doubt some of the best individual airtime moments I’ve ever experienced. I hear people say that some rides like B&M hypers or Intamins or other woodies or give you “out of your seat airtime,” but Phoenix is the only ride that holds true to that statement. Thanks the absence of seatbelts and a single lap bar that covers the entire row with a good few inches above your legs, there were moments where the only part of me touching the car was my feet. You’re sort of standing for a second or two each time, and even getting headchoppers depending on what hill it is.
It’s pretty smooth for a woodie too. I’m amazed that this ride is also just a classic PTC. I tried back at one point and it was a little rougher back there, so front is the place to be. Actually, I mainly stuck with the 3rd row, and I seemed to enjoy that more than the very front row.
So Phoenix awesome! It’s earned a spot in my Top 10. #7 I believe… Maverick and the stuff above I simply enjoy more, but Phoenix is definitely better than the RMCs that I’ve done, which are now just below. 9.5/10
After a few rides on that, we got the final cred of the day, Twister. It was pretty meh, but it had an interesting layout. It’s a bit bigger than I expected (pretty sure it breaks 100 ft), and it had two lift hills (which is weird with the way they arranged it). It’s definitely the most violent cred in the park, all because of the roughness. There’re one or two okay airtime moments, and I did kind of enjoy that big, slanted helix. It’s a decent length and it crosses over and underneath itself, but it’s pretty exhausting. And we rode somewhere in the middle too. 4/10
After Twister I went back and whored Phoenix some more, and pretty much did that before we decidedly to head out. During our visit I got ten rides on the thing (my dad stopped after 1), and as I kept riding it, I seemed to love it more and more.
Eventually, when pulling out of the station, I noticed some camera crew filming some shots of the coaster. Turns out they were filming a commercial for the park, and at one point, one of the staff members said we could go on again for free! I think they wanted some footage with a full train (up until this point, there were no more than a handful of people per ride). The camera crew also set themselves up underneath the track at one point; it was pretty neat to see them inside the structure. The only “downside” to this meant that they ride ops would wait to dispatch until they get a full train, and sometimes I'd get stuck with the middle rows.
At around 3:30, we decided to hit the road, but there was one more thing I wanted to do. Intricks suggested I try out the Flyers, which at first I thought was just your average flying scooters thing. But then I realized that these ones were a bit different and that you could actually “snap” them.
For anyone who’s unfamiliar with snapping (I wasn’t familiar until Intricks mentioned it), check out this video. I had something written that attempted explain the process, but it's probably easier to understand if you just watch this (not my video, but helped me understand the idea of snapping):
I was able to pull it off, and it’s amazing. I was actually kind of terrified at some points too; when you swing up to the left it seems like you get so ****ing close to the trees and think you’re gonna smash into them. The whole thing is absurd. The ride lasts a quite a while as well. After snapping them for most of the ride I stopped and calmed down before the ride ended. Phew.
I loved it though. So glad I did it. Honestly, it was probably my favorite ride in the park after Phoenix (and maybe Impulse). It was that exciting.
It was time to go after that. Both of us enjoyed our time here, and it worked out well with the free afternoon we had. I don’t think I’ve ever visited a park this dead before, but there were still enough peeps to give some sort of atmosphere.
Phoenix is fantastic, earning a spot in my Top Ten. That coaster alone makes the visit here worthwhile. Impulse is good, and the rest are generally meh (though Flying Turns has uniqueness going for it). The Flyers are fab though!
6 creds is a decent number of coasters at a park, but if I were to come back (and I’d like to), I’d probably only do one ride each on Impulse, the Flyers, and maybe Flying Turns, but I’d really just spend time whoring the **** out of Phoenix. So the overall coaster quality isn’t the best, but I don’t expect them to get another coaster in years. And it's nice that you just pay for ride tickets, so it's a pretty good deal if you want to pop in and ride Phoenix.
I really enjoyed Knoebels. It had an old retro feel and it looked nice in some places (particularly toward the back). The front didn’t look as good though (it was just a bunch of rides plopped onto some concrete). But overall it was nice little park and our visit was really easy.
Sorry I didn't get this report out several months earlier. But I hope you enjoyed reading!
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