Status Operating Cost US$ 3,000,000 Track layout Twister Max speed 82 km/h Height restriction 1.07 m Manufacturer Knoebels Amusement Resort | Opening date July 24, 1999 Type Wood Height 31 m Opened 24 July 1999 Park Knoebels Amusement Resort | |
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Designer John Fetterman, 1999;
from John Allen's 1964
"Mister Twister" design Similar Phoenix, Flying Turns, High Speed Thrill Coa, Impulse, Black Diamond | ||
The Twister is a wooden roller coaster located at the Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. It is a recreation of the famous "Mister Twister," a 1964 John C. Allen design.
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History
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", 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 and Allen's original mathematical model. 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. To achieve this, the train climbs halfway up the structure on one lift hill, makes a 180-degree turn and finishes the climb on the second lift, stacked directly above the first one. 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. The first rides were auctioned off to raise just over $8,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Taller and more intense than the "Phoenix" the coaster enjoys steady ridership and good rankings in roller coaster polls both formal and informal.