KNOEBELS Amusement Park - America's Oldest Free Admission Amusement Park!! - video Dailymotion

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00:00Welcome back to another exciting episode, today brings us to Knoebel's.

00:29Knoebel's is a free admission amusement park in Pennsylvania, it is actually the oldest

00:41free admission amusement park in all of America, well the United States of America.

00:50So come along with us and see what you can see.

00:54As we go around, I'm going to let my new friend tell you all about Knoebel's.

01:03But before that happens, let me explain that we are here because my son's work had a group

01:10event and they invited us.

01:13They have all kinds of picnic areas under pavilions that you can reserve and we were

01:20given vouchers from the company that gave us $20 worth of tickets which was really cool.

01:27We just had to go over to the group planning center and redeem those coupons and we got

01:34a little $20 book of tickets that we could use.

01:38You can also buy additional ticket booklets for $5, $20 or $50 at pretty much any little

01:46kiosk throughout the park.

01:50Knoebel's Amusement Resort is a family owned and operated amusement park, picnic grove and

01:55campground in Elysburg, Pennsylvania.

01:58Opened in 1926, it is the United States' largest free admission park.

02:03The park has more than 60 rides including three wooden roller coasters, three steel

02:08roller coasters, a 1913 carousel and two haunted house dark rides.

02:14This park is located in a small wooded valley in central Pennsylvania.

02:18In 1829, a local man by the name of Henry Knoebel purchased the land for $931, equivalent

02:24to $26,638 in 2025.

02:27The valley, originally known as Peggy's Farm, was used as farming land until the early 1900s

02:33when a creek fed swimming hole was introduced.

02:37Knoebel turned the property into a popular picnic destination, attracting Sunday travelers

02:42and horse-drawn hayride wagons.

02:44Soft drinks, ice cream and snacks were sold to visitors.

02:48As the popularity of Knoebel's Grove grew, Knoebel leased plots of land along the creeks

02:53for use as summer cottage sites.

02:55Some of these privately owned cottages, as well as cottages Knoebel built and rented,

03:00still exist on the property today.

03:03In 1926, Knoebel added a restaurant, a steam-powered Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel and

03:09a few simple games to his grove, marking the beginning of Knoebel's Amusement Park.

03:14On July 4, 1926, he opened a large concrete swimming pool on the site of the old swimming

03:20hole.

03:21With a filtration system that provided clean water instead of muddy creek water, the pool

03:26was named the Crystal Pool.

03:29Since then, the park has developed around the pool, adding over 50 rides, assorted games,

03:35concession stands and other attractions.

03:37A campground with six sites opened behind the amusement park in 1962, and as of 2004,

03:44the campground covered 160 acres with 500 sites.

03:48On June 22, 1972, South Branch Roaring Creek and Mugser Run Creeks rose six feet over their

03:54banks due to heavy rains from Hurricane Agnes.

03:58The flood destroyed six cottages and damaged many other buildings, including 24 of the

04:03park's 25 rides, as well as the roller rink.

04:06The roller rink building was refloored and used as a skating rink until the mid-1980s,

04:12when it was converted into the Roaring Creek Saloon, which now contains a concession stand,

04:17an arcade, the XD Theater, and performances.

04:21A new building constructed after the flood became the Haunted Mansion Dark Ride, which

04:26opened in 1973.

04:28The ride has been recognized as one of America's best dark rides by organizations such as Dark

04:34Ride and Funhouse Enthusiasts and the National Amusement Park Historical Association.

04:39The park again suffered major flooding in 1975, 1996, 2004, 2006, and 2011.

04:47Each caused substantial damage, but the 1975 and 1996 floods occurred during the off-season.

04:54Although the January 1996 flood left substantial damage, the worst occurred after the waters

04:59receded, when everything froze, making cleanup and repair throughout the amusement park difficult.

05:06The September 2004 flood caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan was only a half-day affair,

05:12and the amusement park partially reopened by mid-afternoon.

05:16On June 28, 2006, another large flood struck the park.

05:21About 90% of the amusement park was underwater just prior to the July 4th weekend, as the

05:27waters began to recede, 60% of the park's attractions were reopened within two days,

05:33and 90% within four days.

05:36Because over 100 tons of mud had to be dug out of the crystal pool, it was closed for

05:41ten days.

05:42The last ride to return to operation was the Kitty Panther Cars, whose repairs took almost

05:47three weeks.

05:49On September 7, 2011, the park experienced another flood, this time caused by Tropical

05:54Storm Lee.

05:56Water levels neared those of the flood of 1972, and damages exceeded that flood.

06:01The majority of the park reopened the following weekend, having missed only two days of operation.

06:07For the 2013 season, the park added Stratosphere, the park's tallest ride at 148 feet.

06:13In 2015, a new roller coaster opened named Impulse, which replaced two former rides,

06:19the Bumper Boats and Boat Tag.

06:21On July 23, 2018, the park was flooded when a creek overflowed.

06:26About 150 employees aided in cleaning up the park.

06:30The park then flooded again on July 25, 2018.

06:34The park reopened on July 27, 2018.

06:37In 2023, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum acquired a trolley that had been converted into a cottage

06:43at the park.

06:44The park and its rides have won awards from organizations such as Amusement Today, American

06:49Coaster Enthusiasts, and the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

06:55In 2014, Travel Channel rated this park one of their Top 10 Family-Friendly Amusement

07:01Parks in the United States.

07:14Oh, and there are handicap-accessible bathrooms throughout the park in case you need them.

07:19And we did ride a lot of rides, including the teacups and the tilt-a-whirl.

07:50But my favorite was the only trackless roller coaster in the world, at least according to

07:59them, called the Flying Turns.

08:03The slogan was, they told us we couldn't build it, but we did it anyway.

08:08This roller coaster technically does not even run on a track.

08:14Though the inclines are pretty steep, nonetheless, they're always absolutely under control with

08:23centrifugal force, which makes the cars just as safe as riding a baby carriage.

08:30At least, that's according to some of the literature that you read before getting on

08:35this trackless coaster.

08:37We did have to wait in line for this ride because it is very popular.

08:42You do have to put all loose items in a basket before you go on the ride, and you cannot

08:49videotape on the ride unless you get extra special permission, and you have to have a

08:55special harness to hold your camera so it doesn't fly off and hurt anybody, which I

09:00just happened to have that harness.

09:02So let's go on a ride and see what it's like.

09:12Woo!

09:16Hahaha!

09:20Woohoo!

09:24Hahaha!

09:28Woohoo!

09:30Hahaha!

09:34Woohoo!

09:38Hahaha!

09:42This is awesome!

09:58Here we go!

10:02Hahaha!

10:06Hahaha!

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10:18Hahaha!

10:22Woohoo!

10:26Woo!

10:30That is great!

10:56Woo!

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11:20Eli, what did you think?

11:26It was a very nice ride.

11:30Yes, I loved it.

11:38A family favorite, and one of our personal favorites, is Old Smoky.

11:44Now this is a train that takes you around the property, shows you some of the sights,

11:50and a few of the more forestry areas.

11:54It is a really nice ride, very relaxing, especially on a nice hot day.

11:59Let's see what Old Smoky has in store for us today.

12:14Woo!

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KNOEBELS Amusement Park - America's Oldest Free Admission Amusement Park!!

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