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The Twister Rollercoaster
One of the latest additions at Knoebels and the largest of Knoebels rollercoasters. Twister is a World class wooden roller
coaster created from a modified 1964 design with Switchback lift
hill folded on top of itself; curved brake run, curved station;
in-ground tunnel.
In 1998, Knoebels began a new wooden roller
coaster project. Seeking to preserve another
classic ride, the park looked into acquiring the
defunct "Mister Twister," a 1964 John Allen design
which had been abandoned when the entire Elitch
Gardens amusement park was relocated in Denver,
Colorado. This time, when space constraints made
physically relocating the ride impossible,
Knoebels purchased the blueprints and set out to
rebuild the roller coaster from scratch, modifying
the design to fit the space available.
For the
new "Twister," ride designer John Fetterman
created a modified mirror image of the original
"Mister Twister" layout, compacting the ride but
preserving the highlights of the old design. These
highlights included the large double helix, which
now wraps around the ride's curved station, and a
large swoop curve at the top of the lift hill. To
keep the swoop curve in the new design, Fetterman
created a split lift hill. The "Twister" train
climbs halfway up the structure on one lift hill,
makes a 180-degree turn and finishes the climb on
the second lift. While several roller coasters use
more than one lift hill in their layout,
"Twister's" zig-zag lift is unique.
"Twister" opened on July 24, 1999. Taller and
more intense than the "Phoenix," the coaster
enjoys steady ridership and good rankings in
roller coaster polls both formal and informal.
As dedication to the original Mister Twister
Coaster, an original bolt from that roller coaster was installed
and marked with a sign stating: " The Golden Bolt - Installed
here is a bolt from the Mister Twister Coaster, plans from which
Knoebels Twister were derived. 9 Oct. 99"
Twister facts
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Trains - 2 PTC, 24 passengers each
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Design - 1964 Original & 1965 modifications
- John Allen; 1999 modifications - John
Fetterman
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