There are three little words that mean more to me than anything else in the world.
“It’s coaster season!”
(what were you expecting?)
The long off season has ended, and I have just come back from my first American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) event of the season….the Spring Conference at Hersheypark and Knoebel’s, in Pennsylvania.
The event was held from May 15-17. The day before the event, my parents dropped my nieces off at my work (hey, I am not doing Knoebel’s without them-it is their favourite place!). We took off, did the border with little hassle. I picked up a pay as you go phone in Buffalo (decided it was best to have a cell that works in the USA), and we stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel… and then we were on our way.
The drive there was something….fog throughout south central NY state as well as north central/central PA. Very few cars on the road, and even came across a bizarre accident scene that should have looked like it came out of a Halloween attraction (but it didn’t, everyone was fine). We arrived at our hotel in Harrisburg, PA at 2 AM on the Friday.
7:30 AM rolled around way too quickly for me. As I reminded my nieces, I did not have the luxury of sleeping the whole way there. We got ourselves ready and out the door and got to Hersheypark at 9:30 AM. There, we picked up our registration goodies, and met with my friends from the Negative G coaster board ( http://www.negative-g.com ) , Ken, Mike, and Nick. We would meet up with another friend, Jeremy, later, and his friend Zach.
No morning ERT session was scheduled, as our arrival time coincided with the opening of the park, so once the gates opened, we ran in to get our fill of rides.
We started off with rides on the first three coasters we saw: Comet, Great Bear, and Superdooperlooper (whoever thought of that name should have their head checked).
We then had a couple trips on the Reese Xtreme Cup challenge-a GREAT shoot-em-up dark ride that pits two cars against each other in the eternal battle for supremacy, that of chocolate lovers vs. peanut butter lovers. A well done ride!
We then made our way to the back of the park to check out Fahrenheit.
The line was a little too long, so we decided to go back later, and opted to go further back to try out the wild mouse, Lightning Racer, and WildCat. After having our fill, we went back to wait for Fahrenheit. Wow…what a ride! The 97 degree drop just takes your breath away! A definite must if you ever go there!
We took the time to check out the other attractions at the park, like the Kissing Tower, the monorail (which actually leaves the park and goes downtown), the bumper cars (lame!), the Trailblazer coaster, and so on… and before we knew it, dinner time had rolled around, and so we headed to the pavilion for another ACE tradition… the buffet dinner!
Dinner was alright. I enjoyed a pulled pork sandwich, pasta salad, and, well, I forget the rest… Best part of the dinner was when my niece Brittany had her ticket number called for a door prize. She screamed when her number was called, and went up and collected her prize : a Hershey gift basket, filled with chocolate (all Hershey brands of course!), plus a mug, a shirt, stuffed toys, and fridge magnets. She was a happy girl!
After dinner, with the park closed and all the customers swept out, it was time for Exclusive Ride Time (ERT).
First off was a behind the scenes tour of the Reese Xtreme Cup Challenge dark ride. We got to walk through the whole attraction and see it without all the bells and whistles working. Very interesting.
After that, it was time for ERT on the three coasters in the front of the park : Comet, Great Bear, and Superdooperlooper , as well as the Tilt-A-Whirl.
All three are good coasters. Great Bear is a great inverted coaster with lots of speed and force. Comet is a classic woodie. Superdooperlooper, while tame, evokes the charm and talent of its creator (Schwartzkopf).
Hershey also put out a kickass midnight junk food buffet for us… homemade cookies…chips…pretzels….beverages. I left…full……..
The next morning, we assembled in the tram loop at Hersheypark at 7:30 AM, to be escorted to the rear of the park for morning ERT.
Things started off at Fahrenheit, which was a nice jolt to wake us up. Breakfast was provided, and then other attractions in the area opened up for us, like the Howler spin and puke ride, the Claw, the flyers, the wild mouse, WildCat, and Lightning Racer.
I think Lightning Racer became the star of the morning ERT for us. The ride is a twisted mess of two coaster tracks that provides “pass-bys” or “near misses” on several occasions, as the trains race to the finish. Katelyn and I took one train, while the boys and Brittany took the other. I lost track of the amount of rides we got… we were on it for about a half hour!
We finished off ERT on their Music Express. Once that was done, the park opened, and I asked the girls what else they wanted to do before we left Hersheypark. Without hesitation, they said they wanted to go on the Reese Xtreme Cup Challenge once again…and so we did. Oh, did I mention they kept beating me at it?
At that point, we left the park, and went next door to Chocolate World!
This is what you will find in Chocolate World:
A 10 minute ride (free of charge!) that takes you through a fake chocolate factory, showing you how chocolate is made, from the field to the store.
There is also a mini Hershey’s Kiss production line for the kids, a 4-D theatre that is all about chocolate, a chocolate tasting seminar, a food court that features Hershey products…..and a giant Hershey Store! Needless to say, the girls went nuts in there!
After about two hours in Chocolate World, we took off. The girls fell asleep in the car, and 75 minutes later, we were at the second park of the conference, Knoebels.
Those who have been reading this blog over the last few years know that the girls and I LOVE Knoebels. It is such a throwback to days gone by there, with classic rides not seen anywhere else, inexpensive prices for food...heck, a great selection of food at that…an old game called Fascination that is just not seen in very many places….oh, man I can go on about this place. Anyways, this was our first time there with ACE, and so we were looking forward to the experience there.
After whetting our appetites with attractions such as the Skooters, Flyers, Looper, and the Phoenix, we were treated to a walkthrough tour of Knoebels’ long term coaster construction project, the Flying Turns.
Now, as you can see, the Flying Turns is a coaster with no track. When it runs, it will be like a bobsled run, but only on wood. These coasters were popping up everywhere in the 1920s, but, sadly, the last one was put out of service in the 1960s. So, with no coaster around to copy, Knoebels has been winging it for the past three years on this coaster, trying to get everything right, and to make the classic ride meet today’s safety standards. It was supposed to be open for us this year, but they had a structural setback in the late winter, and had to do a major reprofiling of a section of the ride. They hope to have the ride open later this year…and maybe I will go back next year and be able to finally ride this coaster!
After the tour, we got a few rides in, and then met up for the group photo in front of the Phoenix. Always a tedious thing to do (it takes about 15 minutes to set up the shot), it is fun to see the photo in ROLLERCOASTER! (the magazine) and look back at a great day. A few more rides were taken, and then it was off to the pavilion for dinner.
During our buffet dinner, the skies opened up and the thunder and lightning and rain that was promised in the forecast finally came down. We were expecting a full day of it, and waiting for it to come. We were also concerned that ERT would be cancelled for the night, as the weather radar showed two fronts coming at us. Dinner concluded after a talk with Dick Knoebel (owner of the park), and the skies cleared for us just in time. We were warned of the approaching second front, but it ended up missing us, and we went on to enjoy two hours of ERT on the Skooters (vintage bumper cars), Flyers, Haunted Mansion, and the Twister and Phoenix roller coasters.
We all went for a lap on the Haunted House (ranked the best traditional haunted house in the world by DAFE), before heading over to the Skooters.
The Skooters are ranked as the best bumper cars in America, and I believe it. The girls and I love them. The vehicles date to the 1940s, and are made of metal. When you hit someone, you HIT them HARD. With practise, you can also make people spin out. We got a few rides on them, and then us guys left, and the girls stayed behind, as all they wanted to do was ride the Skooters.
We went off and rode the Flyers (best ones out there!). Major cable snapping going on, despite pleas from the ACE president to take it easy on the ride. You just can’t help it! We also got several rides in on the Twister, which ran very well after the rainstorm, providing airtime not normally seen on the ride.
We went back and joined the girls on the skooters after some time on the haunted house again, and before long we talked them into joining us for some time on the Phoenix.
Now, the Phoenix has been revered by enthusiasts for ages, and, while I have always thought it was a good coaster, I never saw the greatness in it. Well, ladies and gentlemen, after an evening of rain, I got to experience my best rides ever on the Phoenix. Wow…the airtime was phenomenal! All of us had a great time, and we easily got ten rides apiece during the final half hour of ERT. The atmosphere was electric, with hand slaps not only coming from the ride operators, but also occurring at the point where the lift hill climbs directly next to the station. Pure happiness!
We made our way to our hotel, the Super 8 in Mifflinville, PA, which has to be one of the nicer Super 8’s we have been to, despite the initial outside appearance. Washrooms that look similar to ones found at home, and a flat screen TV greeted us. Anyways, we were there only to sleep, and that we did until our wakeup and return to Knoebels in the morning for ERT that begun at 10 AM.
We get there, get our hand stamps, and the girls immediately want to go to the Skooters. It was a lot cooler, so everyone (but me of course!) had their jackets on, and I kept hearing comments about how good the girls were on the Skooters.
After about an hour, we decided to hit up the Phoenix for some more ERT, followed by the Twister.
ERT finished up at noon when the park opened. With the weather having cooled down, and it being Sunday, the park was not busy at all for the day, and we rarely had more than a one-cycle wait for anything. Later, after having dinner at the Alamo (a restaurant so good that people go to the park just to eat there), and getting last rides on the Flyers and Skooters (a tradition, having last rides for the day on that one), the event was over.
From there, the girls and I drove north to Rochester, NY (a 4 hour drive), to get to our hotel for the night, and then the next day to Niagara Falls, NY, where the girls could participate in their favourite sport….. Outlet Mall shopping! After that, we headed home, where I promptly crashed………
And, to think, I plan on doing this on a grander scale in 3 weeks, at Coaster Con!