Knoebels' Amusement Park

PHOENIX

The original home of the Phoenix was at Playland Park in San Antonio, Texas.  During this stage of its life it was known as "The Rocket".  The Rocket was built in 1947 by Herb Schmeck and the Philadelphia Toboggan Company.

In 1980 Playland Park closed their doors and in 1984 Dick Knoebels purchased the Rocket.  A year later he hired Charles Dinn to relocate and reconstruct this classic wooden coaster. Unfortunately, the move was quite a challenge since the blueprints for the rides were not available.  They had to individually number every board and then pack and transport it to Pennsylvania.  It took over 34 trucks to accomplish the move.  It was given the name Phoenix to symbolize its rebirth.  The Phoenix was reassemble at Knoebels' and the ride opened on June 15, 1985.  It was the first traditional wooden roller coaster at the park.

The height of the Phoenix is 78 feet with a 72 foot drop.  It reaches a maximum speed of 45 mph.  The duration of the ride is 2 minutes and it holds 24 passengers.  The Trains has four cars with three rows each, seating two per row.  There is a minimum height of 42 inches to ride the Phoenix.

Phoenix is consistently ranked as one of the top ten wooden roller coasters.

TWISTER

 A new wooden roller coaster project began at Knoebels in 1998. The park acquired "Mister Twister" from Elitch Gardens amusement park in Denver, Colorado when the park was relocated and the ride abandoned. The original design was by John C, Allen in 1964.

Space contraints made in physically impossible to relocate it as it stood at Knoebels.  So the project began - Knoebles purchased the blueprints and hired John Fetterman in 1999 to rebuild the roller coaster to fit the space. The Knoebels Twister would not be an exact replica of its earlier life.

Knoebles "Twister" opened on July 24, 1999.  The first rides were to raise money for the Make-A-Wish-Foundation and were auctioned off to raise $8,000.

The twister is 101.5 feet tall with a 89.6 foot drop.  It reaches a maximum speed of over 50 miles per hour and the ride lasts 2:10 minutes.   It has two 24 passenger trains. There is a minimum height of 42 inches to ride the Twister.

The Twister is taller an more intense than the Phoenix but like its counterpart is also has good rankings for top roller coasters.