Our Summer Fun at Knoebels

We moved to Pennsylvania the first part of May, and it has definitely been an adjustment.  However, it has been a fun adjustment with some of local attractions we have gone to.  I blogged about our trip to Hershey Chocolate World the end of July, but I’ve not said a whole lot about some of the things that we did to keep busy during the summer.

This summer, we spent several days going to Knoebels.  It isn’t that far from us, and it can be an inexpensive way to spend the day.  Knoebels is on of the few parks left that allow you to enter without paying a gate fee.  In my book, that is HUGE!  You can buy a ride pass that allows riding all day…

but I prefer to buy the $20 ticket books.  The Weis grocery stores in the area sold voucher for $16 to get $20 worth of tickets.  Also, with the tickets, we could go over for a few hours and not feel like we had to stay the whole day.  That in itself is a great thing; since, DS10 has a hard time with the heat.  Also, these tickets never expire.  That way, we can use whatever we have left at the end of the season for next season.  Cool!

The kids’ favorite ride is the Tilt-a-Whirl, and they have to go on this ride every time we go.  It’s nice to see some of the old amusement park rides, and there are even older rides that I had never ridden before, like the Whipper.  There is a Tea Cup ride that DS10 likes to ride that is really old and sounds like a wooden roller coaster.  Speaking of roller coasters…

They do have roller coasters.  There are two called the Phoenix and the Twister that are wooden roller coasters.  We have been on the Phoenix but have not made it on the Twister, yet.  The picture above is the Flying Turns.  They have been working on this ride for quite some time, and it is rumored to open before the park closes for the season in October.  See the section that is marked by the red arrow above?  That is where the roller coaster car leaves the track…  It sounds like an interesting ride, but I will definitely be watching it run a few times before riding it…

There are so many rides at Knoebels that it seems like the park goes on forever.  If you are hot, a good place to stand is on the bridge at the end of the Sklooosh.  The plume of water is so high, and it looks even higher from the top of the ferris wheel.

There are several different carnival-style games that are a lot of fun.  Obviously, some are more fair than others, so we only have a select few that we play, in order to not blow a lot of money while at the park.

The food at the park is pretty good, and some of it is really priced fairly.  Both kids like the pizza there, and the ice cream just can’t be beat!  My favorite is the Salty Caramel Truffle!  It is full of yumminess, and the scoops are HUGE!  Since we prefer to go in the evening when it gets cooler and some of the crowds thin out, we usually get at least a snack there.  And yes, we have just gone over for supper and/or ice cream.  Because there is no entrance fee, it is also a nice place to just get out and walk.

Knoebels is open most weekends through the last weekend of October.  You can find their schedule here.