Park Connoisseurs

29/10/2024

There's a lot to look forward to with Universal Orlando Resort 's new Epic Universe park in May. Monsters Unchained may be our most anticipated attraction

28/10/2024

The cat is officially out of the bag at Kings Dominion ! Looking forward to their 2025 season!

Kings Dominion Connoisseurs

27/10/2024

At Knoebels Amusement Resort, about 2/3 up the Skryride on the right, there is a baseball strangely stuck in to a small branch near the top of a tree.

We have one question... how?!

Knoebels Connoisseurs

27/10/2024

We found this to be interesting...

The shadow of Phoenix's second turn is lined up with the roof of the brake run. Kinda like watching a ghost train running the rails at Knoebels Amusement Resort Hallo-Fun Weekends.

We're here today and tomorrow for our last days of Knoebels fun!

Knoebels Connoisseurs

23/10/2024

Yay statistics!

07/10/2024

We love this walk between Thunderhawk and Steel Force any time of the year at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom. But we especially appreciate it during Haunt!

While heading to Steel Force for our final rides of the night, we caught this path unoccupied - we had to snap a quick photo! The lighting here, both on the trees and on Thunderhawk, really make the area pop.

You have just three more weekends to experience Haunt at Dorney! Then Steel Force, Iron Menace, and the rest of the park hibernate for the winter!

05/10/2024

Well played! We're excited to learn more!

The project is nearing completion. 🪦 11/3 is your final day to ride 305 as you know it.

28/09/2024

When you ride Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom 's Enterprise ride on a damp Haunt evening, you may find the roof next door provides a perfect reflection of your surroundings!

We love Dorney's Haunt event! And they really outdid themselves with the Steel Yard decor!

Their 'Ghost in the Machine' haunted walk-through was among the best we've experienced!

Plus, foggy night rides on Iron Menace and Steel Force are so memorable!

Be sure to check all it out this year!

Dorney Park Connoisseurs

19/09/2024

Well, color us pleasantly shocked! A roller coaster for Cedar Point !

Cedar Point Connoisseurs

28/08/2024

Nice! Well done, Indiana Beach Amusement & Water Park Resort ! Fantastic news!

🚨 Exciting News, Thrill Seekers! 🚨

We've heard your feedback loud and clear! 🎢 We're thrilled to announce a major upgrade to the All American Triple Loop—after testing by our third party engineering group, we have determined that the Over The Shoulder Restraints are not required nor necessary.

Experience the ride like never before with enhanced freedom and comfort, making those triple loops even more exhilarating.

Come and feel the difference for yourself! 🎢✨

24/08/2024

23/08/2024

Ooo... this one hurts. We love Scorpion - it's an important attraction at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay!

Time's ticking! Don't miss your LAST CHANCE to take a ride on the iconic Scorpion roller coaster before its final run on the track on Labor Day, 9/2. 🎢 And stay tuned... this closure paves the way for future thrills.

16/08/2024

Armed with a wristband for two train operations at Knoebels Amusement Resort for 2024. Hard to beat! How many Phoenix rides can we get today?

11/08/2024

It's been a busy Disney D23 Expo this year! Look at all of these announcements, which have the initial appearance of being a step above "Blue Sky", for Walt Disney World ! We're excited to learn more - hopefully soon!

Disney World Connoisseurs

08/08/2024

at Canada's Wonderland !

Face nature’s wrath on AlpenFury, Canada’s longest, tallest and fastest launch coaster. https://bit.ly/3YUIbHZ

03/08/2024

Noooo! While we're always excited to see what Cedar Point is up to, we hate seeing water rides go! What's next for Cedar Point?

Cedar Point Connoisseurs
Flume Connoisseurs

03/08/2024

Hersheypark Connoisseurs! The new FuelRod upgrades are now LIVE at Hersheypark! Beginning today, you can now upgrade your FuelRod at any of the park's seven kiosks!

These new rods are faster and more powerful than the previous version, utilizing a speedy USB-C port for both charging your device and recharging the FuelRod! And they now come with a power indicator to let you know your FuelRod's charge level!

How do you swap your current FuelRod for the new version? Simple!

🔋 Bring your current FuelRod(s) to any Hersheypark kiosk
🔋 Follow the prompts to swap as you normally would
🔋 The kiosk will tell you that that rod is no longer supported and will ask you if you'd like to upgrade - hit 'Upgrade'
🔋 For the price of a normal swap, you will receive an all new kit! (You may need to insert the old rod a second time to complete the transaction.)

Again, the seven Hersheypark kiosks are now stocked, updated, and ready to upgrade you to the new FuelRod!

Hersheypark FuelRod kiosk locations:

🔋 Hersheypark Supply Co. (Next to the Chocolatier stairs)
🔋 Chocolatetown Restrooms
🔋 Character Central retail store
🔋 Outside Overlook Food Court (drop towers side)
🔋 Subway Patio (Frontier Food Court)
🔋 Outside Playdome Arcade
🔋 Midway Restrooms (next to Ferris wheel)

Thank you for being FuelRod customers!

31/07/2024

Here is the official news about the worst kept secret! But, we're ecstatic to have all of the details for Kings Dominion 's new ride!

Kings Dominion Connoisseurs

27/07/2024

Obviously, this page is primarily focused on amusement and theme parks. But, on this cross-country road trip, we're focused on a handful of national and state parks. So we thought we'd share some photos!

We're still at Disneyland. But we'll add more photos from Grand Canyon later!

26/07/2024

Happy 2024 from Knott's Berry Farm! This 1902 Dentzel machine has graced Knotts since 1955, originally operating at Hersheypark until 1936. It had one stop in Ohio before making its home in Southern California.

We hope you were able to ride a carousel today or this week to celebrate the day!

If you're interested in carousels, consider joining our Carousel Connoisseurs group!

Hersheypark Connoisseurs

25/07/2024

We're on a two week cross country trip, en route to Disneyland, while seeing various sights, monuments, and national parks along the way.

While cutting south through Utah, we had to stop at Lagoon Amusement Park, albeit very briefly (we've been here a handful of times). We got to experience their new interactive roller coaster/dark ride, Primordial - we'll share some thoughts and photos a little later.

In the meantime, we got two more rides on the fantastic Cannibal and one ride each on their classic wooden Roller Coaster and on one of our all-time favorites, Colossus.

Lagoon is a gorgeous park with a phenomenal ride lineup - including two classic haunted rides. It's out of the way, for sure. But it's well worth the visit.

23/07/2024

Our condolences to the Morey family and to the entire Morey's Piers & Beachfront Water Parks staff. Jack was a great man - gone far too soon.

Jack Morey and his brother Will were both equal 2nd generation owners of Morey's Piers.

10/07/2024

Let's take a moment to talk about Impulse at Knoebels Amusement Resort. We visited the park recently, snapped this shot while in line for the Scenic Skyway, and rode this 2015 ZIERER vertical lift steel coaster.

At Knoebels, we do wristband days, and we do ticket days. As a result, we consider some rides to be "ticket day rides" - rides that we're happy to spend tickets on - our absolute favorites. And others we consider to be "wristband day" rides - rides that we're not likely to do unless we have a wristband. We imagine that most Knoebels visitors employ a similar philosophy, right?

Impulse is usually a wristband day ride, not a ticket day ride. It's not that there is anything we don't like about Impulse, but we typically prioritize the wooden coasters, the Grand Carousel, the Haunted Mansion, Auto Skooters, Pioneer Train, etc. over Impulse.

But that wasn't case on our most recent visit, which was a ticket day. Perhaps it was the short wait, or the fact that we purchased a season photo pass (and Impulse has an on-ride photo), or the fact that we may not have even ridden it in 2023. But we chose to board- and we're glad we did!

Impulse sure packs quite a punch in that compact layout. The vertical drop is breathtaking. The train navigates the course so smoothly, and it's inversions are super fun - particularly that slow inline twist toward the end. And it looks great with it's fresh paint job!

So, we left our recent visit with new found appreciation for Impulse. Has it moved to our "ticket day" list? Perhaps!

What do our fellow Knoebels Connoisseurs think about Impulse?

Here is rcdb.com's listing for Impulse.
https://rcdb.com/12000.htm

09/07/2024

Yesterday, many in the amusement industry recognized what would have been the 100th birthday of Anton Schwarzkopf, famed German designer of steel roller coasters, particularly in the 1970's and 1980's.

His contributions to steel coaster design were immense, and many of his designs still hold up as smooth, thrilling, and popular attractions today!

Hersheypark 's sooperdooperLooper was one of our earliest encounters with Herr Schwarzkopf. For many reasons, it's still one of our favorites!

Here's a link to rcdb.com 's list of Schwarzkopf designs. How many of these have you experienced? Which is your favorite?

https://rcdb.com/r.htm?mk=6844&ot=2