Well, the park just added Kozmo's Kurves, bought the Golden Nugget track, and are still trying to get Flying Turns right. What's next?

I thought the Golden Nugget was possibly for next year, unless that's not until the following year. The whole Flying Turns situation sort of drives me nuts, but I guess they want to take their time to get it right.

Kosmo's Kurves is living up to it's reputation from what I've heard and is just like High Speed Thrill Coaster. Here's a video rom opening day that I found:
http://www.themeparkreview.com/coastertube/play.php?vid=M4H00371_w70q

Flying Turns might open up as early as October from the way it looks. If so then Black Diamond open in late 2010 or 2011.

I never rode HSTC, but as far as kiddie coasters go, Kozmo's Kurves is pretty good. It's a fun ride and does have the strong pops of air on the final bunny hops.

I think I remember reading somewhere that they wanted to finish the Flying Turns before they started any work on the Golden Nugget/Black Diamond.

I have a trip to Knoebels planned for Wednesday the 19th, and I am looking forward to trying out Kosmo's Kurves with my oldest son.

As for 2010, I see Flying Turns finally getting done. If they happen to get it open late this year, then I see them putting their attention to getting Black Diamond where they would like it for a possible opening late season or 2011. I wouldn't be surprised if something else pops up though.

I'm sure the park will have at least one flat ride addition next year. As with a lot of their recent new rides (Wipeout, Kiddie Himalaya and Goin' Buggy come to mind), they just came out of nowhere. Where the rides will be added is a different story. As far as I remember, the only space I can remember seeing that would fit a flat would be next to the Flying Turns, in amongst the trees to the right of the band organ.

I do believe that is part of someone's yard there. I could have sworn I saw a cottage tucked back there.

Oh well... if it were my lawn I'd be more than happy to let them put a ride on it! LOL

The latest news going around is that the new trains for Flying Turns are coming in the next 2 weeks (just in time for the season to be over).

The news on Black Diamond is that Knoebels is currently trying to get the approval to start construction on the building the coaster will be built in. The park might open the coaster as early as next year.

Park World has posted a good article about what's been going on with Flying Turns. Word that is going around is that the trains have been designed and ordered and testing could start before the snow files at the earliest.

It seems like every month we hear about it should be testing and opening soon. I have given up on following its progress.

Did you change the thread title? The improved trains have arrived, if that accounts for anything.

Screamscape: "(11/11/09) A Screamscape source tells us that the new Flying Turns train has now arrived at the park and testing is expected to begin possibly by the end of the week if possible."
Sounds good.

Um didn't they say that like a year and a half ago?=/

Maybe more....you never know when they will extend the opening date....again.

Knoebels has started moving some cabins around and preparing to start work on Black Diamond. I guess that this is good news for Flying Turns. 2010 opening possibly?

Is this diamond ride the new rollercoaster there putting in????

Yes, And it should be opening in 2011 if everything goes right.

With tomorrow opening day, it seems that there hasn't been any updates as far as what's been done with Flying Turns (too quiet). My guess is that either they will open it suprisingly soon or they found another problem that needs fixing.
As far as Black Diamond, my guess is that since they were pouring footers for the building back in January, they should be working at a good constant pace.

I personally think they should demolish the flying turns That thing is a waist of space and its been up for what 5 years now!!!!!!????

That would also look bad if they just gave up on a ride that never opend.

I will be heading up to Knoebels this Saturday. I've never went there during the weekend so I'm going to guess that crowds will be a little worse than on a weekday. I plan on going to the pool while I'm there as well. I'll see what's going on with Flying Turns and Black Diamond too while I'm there.

How long has Flying Turns been sitting there? When we went in 2008, there was nothing happening and even back then they were sure it was going to open.

They started construction in the beginning of 2006 and by August they had some of the coaster up and it was on the park map. In 2007 I think they completed it and they started testing it in 2008. They made some changes to it through out the 2009 season including redoing the brake run. They got a new pair of train chasis in Nov. 2009, but when California got that earthquake in 2010 appearently the guy doing the designing of the trains lost all his blueprints and data and that's the last I've heard. Right now the park is saying that it will be done when it gets done. So far it's been 4 1/2 years and counting making it probably the longest coaster to be constructed, but knowing Knoebels they want it to be done just right (and I don't blame them).

From what I've heard the ride is vacant and no activity is going on around it. I really hope this isn't true...

As for Black Diamond, they are probably almost done with the building, but we'll see on Saturday.

Perhaps they have run out of funding? Besides, if they didn't want to complete it, they would demolish it and reuse the scrap for something else, plus the footprint.

haha I remember stopping in at Knoebels after my Cedar Point trip back in 2007 and it was completely built and my dad and I asked when opening was gonna be and he said "in another few weeks definitely"...yep 3 years later lol. I sure hope it opens it looks like a very unique ride

The status of Flying Turns is that they have one next generation train sitting on the brake run, but it doesn't have any seats or body to it (just the basic wheel frame and chasis). The rest of the ride is completed so it looks like it could easily open.

As for Black Diamond, I didn't get a good look at it, but the roof is installed making it look more like the mining museum and most of the track has been installed on the 3rd level. It looks like there is a chance of this opening in October.

The Phoenix was great as always, but I think the second to last turnaround has got a little rougher since last year. Speaking of rougher, the Twister feels like it got worse than last year. I kind of gave me a small headache so it may be as bad as Sidewinder at Hershey.

On a sidenote I met Dick Knoebel briefly while he handing out ride tickets.

I forgot to mention it yesterday, but Knoebels celebrated their 84th anniversary yesterday.

Just wanted to share this article from PennLive: Fans of 'dark rides' anticipate the relocation, reincarnation of the Golden Nugget at Knoebels Amusement Resort

PennLive is my local news website, and let me just warn you... it is oftentimes not too pretty. It's not too hard to find grammar/factual problems in their articles.

But regardless, it's great to hear they've been doing some good work on the Golden Nugget. The building seems to be progressing nicely. Knoebels has been my 'home away from home' since I was little and it's a bit painstaking to have to go time after time after time just taking pictures of the dormant Flying Turns. It does seem a little neglected at the moment, I was there I think 2 weeks ago and I didn't see any work being done on it... kind of depressing, it seems like there haven't been any notable updates in a while but who knows, hopefully it'll open fairly soon. It's definitely gonna be a good ride though - I have complete faith in Knoebels just going for the perfectionist aim and getting the ride exactly how they want it.

Knoebels has posted some new Black Diamond Photos.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=458883&id=207828210550
I just find it wierd that instead of having an outdoor ride portion like the old version, they've chose to enclose the entire thing. I'm interested in seeing what the ride elements are going to be.

Breaking news from facebook. The trackwork for Black Diamond is complete! See their page for photos.

October of what year? lol

I hope they can get it running soon.

I was there 2 weeks ago, talked to someone and said they hope this set of trains will finally do the trick, no telling if these will work though, keep those fingers tightly crossed haha

Fresh from Screamscape:

Quote:

???? - Flying Turns - Test & Adjust - (1/4/11) Disregard that article link posted yesterday about the possibility of the Flying Turns opening in 2011. I got in touch with the author and clarified things a bit, and unfortunately they were not privy to any new information about the ride either, so for now The Flying Turns will remain in limbo.

I don't know what to think of this one. I'm guessing that another season will go by without it being open?

The article kind of said that Flying Turns and Black Diamond could possibly open this year, then the author changed the wording because it sounded like it would open this year.

Because we've heard just about silence from this project doesn't mean it still couldn't open this year.

They might be waiting for a bigger reveal, but probably not. It could open in 2011 like you said, but I bet they don't want to keep anybody's hopes up.

Knoebels posted a photo of what Black Diamond looks like right now in the snow. Work is moving right along and things are looking good for it.

I really need to go back to Kenobels. I haven't been there in years and the last time I went was really little. Kind of off topic but oh well.

Knoebels posted another photo on their wall again recently showing what seems to be a horse in some type of display. My guess is that it could have been taken from inside the Coal Mining Museum or from one of the displays going into Black Diamond.


EDIT: Judging from the caption they put, it looks like it's for Black Diamond. This looks like it might be better than Haunted Mansion!

We have our first look of the new Black Diamond Trains from the Knoebels Facebook Fanpage. It looks like they went with a new pair of cars (a wise decision since the old ones haven't been used in over a decade), but decided to make them look like replicas of the old ones.

Here's another interior photo of Black Diamond from the Knoebels Facebook page.

The whole system and construction seems to be coming along nicely. The final product should look great!
I like that they keep you updated on the progress, too.

There are more pics over on dafe.org. Looks like the ride is going to be awesome.

Also, I was at the RV Show at the Convention Center in Oaks and Knoebels had a booth there. A guy was grilling the booth attendant about Flying Turns and when it's going to open. He replied, "on, it's going to open....we'll get it right (meaning the cars)...it's alot of trial and error". They really don't seem worried about when it will open but they do seem confident that they will open it within a reasonable time frame.

Knoebels has posted a teaser video for Black Diamond on their Youtube page:

Sounds like this is going to be another award-winning attraction.

Looking good...hoping this will be a huge success with the park. Now only if they can get Flying Turns to work...

Not much of a teaser video, but I'm glad that they are showing the public that they're making progress.

Coaster Force has stopped by the park recently and was given the chance of being able to tour Black Diamond and pick up on a lot of things that have been going on inside and outside the ride. Here's a link to the photo portion of the update:
http://coasterforce.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29905

And here's the link to the video portion of the update:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WcSeVSfIjI

http://dailyitem.com/0100_news/x1019715828/Safety-issues-derail-coaster

Quote:

1 - Info on Flying Turn train problem 2 - Black Diamond opening delayed until mid-summer 3 - New smoking policy at the park April 24, 2011 Safety issues derail coaster By Marcia Moore The Daily Item The Daily Item Sun Apr 24, 2011, 08:17 PM EDT ELYSBURG — The eagerly awaited Flying Turns coaster at Knoebels Amusement Resort is going off the rails during test runs, indefinitely delaying its opening. “If we could build vehicles like they did in the 1930s, it would be open. But, they’ve changed the rules,” park co-owner Dick Knoebel said Friday. The wooden, 1930s-style ride has been five years in the making. Knoebel rode the original Flying Turns ride at a Cleveland park in the 1960s and describes it as “the most thrilling ride” he’s ever been on. “It’s a real classic,” he said, and once it opens at Knoebels, would be the only one of its kind in the world. The bobsled-style ride’s connection to Cleveland prompted filmmakers in the Rust Belt city to film a documentary about Flying Turns’ rebirth in Central Pennsylvania. Construction began in April 2006, with planned openings for 2008 and then 2009 postponed because of wheel problems and other issues. Knoebel was optimistic they’d ironed out all the kinks last year, but the Flying Turn vehicles failed to make the cut during the latest round of test rides. “Back in March 2010, we had a good vehicle and ordered three,” he said. “They worked beautifully five out of six times.” The Flying Turns cars performed poorly on some test runs, even jackknifing. “It has to be right each time,” Knoebel said, explaining that new industry standards require heavier cars than were used in the early 20th century coaster design. The passenger cars are undergoing a redesign in Texas and will be tested again in about two weeks. It’s not the only attraction that won’t be ready for Knoebels’ 85th annual opening day on April 30. Black Diamond, a three-story, haunted coal mine-theme ride, has been pushed back to mid-summer as crews continue to work on it. But it’s the Flying Turns ride that has coaster enthusiasts worked up. Fans have even set up a Wikipedia page devoted to its awaited opening. Lance Hart, a coaster fan from Charlotte, N.C., has provided numerous updates about the two Knoebels attractions on his screamscape.com website over the years. In one post about Flying Turns, he wrote, “I have serious doubts 2011 will be the lucky year, but I’ve got my fingers crossed.” American Coaster Enthusiasts spokesman David Lipnicky said the ride is one of the most anticipated among its 7,000 members. “It’s been nearly half a century since that type of coaster disappeared,” he said. “I’ve ridden more than 500 coasters all over North America, and it’s the one kind I can’t wait to try. For some, it’s a piece of Americana and for others who have ridden it, they just want one more chance to experience it.” Lipnicky, a Texan who visits Knoebels each October, said he has “absolute faith” that the Flying Turns coaster will open once all safety issues are addressed. “They’ve done things the industry said they couldn’t,” he said, including creating a successful amusement park in rural Pennsylvania. Despite the setbacks in duplicating an 80-year-old ride, Knoebel said he’s determined to make it a reality. “I guess I’m stubborn. No, I’m dedicated,” he said. The park is scheduled to open noon to 6 p.m. April 30 and will be operate weekends only until May 25, when it opens daily. A new policy restricts tobacco smoking to nine designated areas within the park and one area at the pool.