Knoebels

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**Knoebels Amusement Park & Resort**

Location	Elysburg, Pennsylvania
Website	http://www.knoebels.com/
Owner	Knoebel family
Opened	1926
Previous names	Knoebels Groves, Knoebels Amusement Park
Operating season	April-September
Rides	55 total 3 roller coasters 2 water rides
Slogan	Pennsylvania's Hometown Park
Always free admission

Knoebels Amusement Park & Resort is a family owned and operated amusement park, picnic grove and campground which is located in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1926, the park boasts over 50 rides, free admission, two world-class wooden roller coasters, a 1913 carousel and a haunted house dark ride that has been featured on the Discovery Channel. The park and its rides have won many awards from organizations such as Amusement Today, American Coaster Enthusiasts and The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

The amusement park is owned and operated by the Knoebel family, who also operate a lumber yard next door to the park. The name Knoebel is pronounced with the hard K sound (kuh-NO-bel.) The park's name has also traditionally been spelled Knoebels without the apostrophe, and appears that way on all official park advertising and correspondence.

1 Park history
2 Admissions
3 Roller Coasters
4 Carousels
5 Trains
6 Other rides and attractions
7 Restaurants
8 Accident History
9 External links

[edit] Park history

Knoebels is located in a small wooded valley in Central Pennsylvania. The valley, with its creek-fed swimming hole, became a popular picnic destination in the early part of the 20th century, attracting Sunday travellers and horse-drawn hayride wagons. Henry Knoebel, who had been farming the area, tended to the horses and later began to sell soft drinks, ice cream and snacks to the visitors. As the popularity of "Knoebel's Grove" grew, Knoebel leased plots of land along the creeks for use as summer cottage sites. Some of these privately owned cottages, as well as cottages Knoebel himself built and rented, still exist in the park.

The year 1926 marks the official beginning of Knoebels Amusement Park. That year, Knoebel added a restaurant and a steam-powered carousel to his grove. On July 4 of that year, he opened a large concrete swimming pool on the site of the old swimming hole. Featuring a filtration system that provided clean water instead of muddy creek water, the pool was named "The Crystal Pool". Since then the park has developed around the pool, adding 50 more rides in addition to assorted games, concession stands and other attractions. A campground with six sites opened behind the amusement park in 1962, and as of 2004 the campground covered 160 acres (650,000 m²) with 500 sites..^[1]

On June 22, 1972, the creeks that run through Knoebels overflowed six feet over their banks, swollen with heavy rains from Hurricane Agnes. The flood destroyed several cottages and damaged many other buildings including the park's roller rink. Work began on a new building but it was later decided that the original roller rink could be reused, and the new building under construction became the Haunted Mansion. The roller rink building was refloored and used as a skating rink until the mid 1980's when it was converted into the "Roaring Creek Saloon", which now hosts a concession stand, an arcade and free performances. To prove that the park had recovered from the flood, the "Haunted Mansion" dark ride was opened in 1973. The ride has been recognized as one of America's best dark rides by organizations such as Dark Ride and Funhouse Enthusiasts and The National Amusement Park Historical Association.

The park again suffered major flooding in 1975, 1977, 1996, 2004 and 2006. It has recovered each time.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Admissions

Knoebels boasts free admission, free parking and free entertainment. Visitors are able to ride the park's attractions by purchasing either all-day/unlimited hand stamp passes or books of tickets, with hand stamp costs for the 2006 season varying depending on the height of the rider. Knoebels has several other options such as "Sundown Plan" and "Bargain Nights", when the park offers discounts of regular ride passes. Potential visitors should note that Knoebels does not include the Haunted Mansion, the Scenic Skyway and a few other attractions with the purchase of an all-day ride pass.

[edit] Roller Coasters

Knoebels currently has three roller coasters with a fourth under construction. The park is unusual for having no major steel coaster and no roller coaster with an inversion. However, Knoebel's two wooden roller coasters are well known and are on multiple top 100 lists. [2] [3]

Ride	Year Opened	Description
High Speed Thrill Coaster	1955	A steel roller coaster in operation since its opening in 1955, believed to be the last operating Overland coaster in the world. Although it was designed to be a children's coaster, it is very popular among adults due to its major airtime on the ride's bunny hills.
Phoenix	1985	A relocated and restored Herb Schmeck (Philadelphia Toboggan Company) design. The first large-scale wooden roller coaster relocation. - This ride was purchased from the Playland amusement park in San Antonio, Texas. It operated under the name of Rocket before being moved to Knoebels. Uses Buzz bars.
Twister	1999	A slightly redesigned "Mister Twister," a 1964 John Allen design.
Flying Turns	2006	A wooden bobsled roller coaster modeled after a 1920s John Norman Bartlett and John A. Miller design.
Jet Star	1977	A standard production model Schwarzkopf Jet Star, removed from Knoebels after the 1992 season. - This ride was purchased from Schwarzkopf, originally owned by an independent operator who fell on some hard times. After being removed from Knoebels the Jet Star was relocated to Morey's Piers where it also operated under the name Jet Star. It is currently unknown where this ride now resides.
Whirlwind	1993	A Vekoma Whirlwind double corkscrew roller coaster, removed from Knoebels after the 2004 season. - This ride was purchased from the Playland amusement park in New York, it operated under the name of Whirlwind before being moved to Knoebels. After the 2004 operating season the ride was moved to Parque de Diversiones Dr. Roberto Ortiz Brenes and operates under the name Bocaraca.

Roller coasters at Knoebels Amusement Resort
Flying Turns - High Speed Thrill Coaster - Phoenix - Twister
Past: Jet Star - Whirlwind

[edit] Carousels

Knoebels has two carousels: one small merry-go-round in Kiddieland (added in 1976) which was built by Stein & Goldstein in 1910; and the Grand Carousel, a 1912/1913 carousel built by Kramer Carousel Works in Brooklyn, with a frame by Charles I. D. Looff and 63 hand-carved horses by Charles Carmel. It was purchased in 1941 from Riverview Park in Rahway, New Jersey and relocated to Knoebels. It is one of the few carousels remaining with a working ring dispenser, allowing riders on the outside row of horses to reach out and grab iron rings as they pass. The rider who grabs the brass ring is allowed to ride again free of charge. Three band organs provide music for the riders.

[edit] Trains

Old Smokey, an anthracite coal-fueled miniature steam locomotive narrow-gauge train ride, whose track meanders through part of the park. Old Smokey replaced the Nickel Plate which had been installed in 1946.

Pioneer, a gasoline-powered narrow-gauge railroad installed around 1960. The track travels from near the edge of the park into a wooded area where there are feeders for viewing the local wildlife.

[edit] Other rides and attractions

In addition to a 110' Ferris Wheel, a log flume and a boat flume ride named "Sklooosh!", the park maintains over 50 rides including many classic amusements:

a William F. Mangels "Whip" ride
a set of Lusse Auto Scooters (bumper cars)
the "Flyer" (one of the fastest running flying scooter rides in operation)
the "Satellite" (a Lee Eyerly Roll-O-Plane)
the "Roto-Jet" (1952)
a restored vintage Allan Herschell Looper flat ride called "The Looper"
The Haunted Mansion
and one of the last remaining Fascination parlors in the United States

[edit] Restaurants

Knoebels also has a great variety of restaurants throughout the park, both sit-down and counter service in nature. These eateries have contributed toward the park winning numerous awards from organizations which judge amusement park food, including Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Award for Best Food every year since 1999.

The primary sit-down restaurant at the park is the Alamo, which has a storied history in and of itself. Counter service restaurants include Cesari's Pizza, Oasis Cafeteria, Phoenix Junction Steakhouse and the International Food Court. Food ranges from "Famous Fresh Cut French Fries" and potato cakes to Bison sandwiches and Ostrichburgers to milkshakes and homemade fudge.

[edit] Accident History

Only two major cases have been reported regarding accidents during the park's recent history.

On March 2, 1999, An attorney representing two girls who sustained injuries while riding a water slide at a Pennsylvania amusement park discovered a history of complaints of injuries made by riders after they had ridden the same ride. Fifteen injuries had been reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Ride and Measurement Standards in recent years, including six other reports of injuries to riders' genital areas. The Speed Slide, also known as the Super Slide, is a 40-foot vertical drop water slide attraction. The tort lawsuit filed sought $9,200 in medical costs and at least $50,000 in damages on behalf of one girl, age 11. The suit also sought $5,300 in medical costs and at least $100,000 in damages on behalf of the other girl, age 12. The park was charged with negligence, failure to monitor the amount of force of the water and its effect on riders, failure to fix defects, and failure to provide adequate warnings to riders. ^[4]

On June 13, 2003, a man was seriously injured in a 30-foot-fall from the Scenic Skyway chairlift ride at Knoebels Amusement Park. The man was a member of a group home for mentally disabled people and was riding alone. The man was airlifted to a local hospital and recovered. The ride opened just 2 weeks prior to the accident. Inspectors found no problems with the ride. ^[5]

The park's overall safety record is excellent.