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The Twister is a tough coaster to nail down. Like most woodies it has various moods, but the Twister can be downright bipolar sometimes. On the Phoenix I can consistently tell, ride after ride, what sort of experience to expect. The Twister is tougher to read even after repeat rides in the same seat. The biggest complaint here seems to be roughness and I can attest that sometimes the Twister can get brutal, but other times it can be downright fantastic.
I hear a lot of people getting off the Twister comparing it to the Phoenix and comparisons are kind of pointless. They're both made of wood, but the similarities really end there. Phoenix is a rather straightforward double out & back coaster loaded with airtime-producing hills. The Twister is, well, a twister. The track isn't a simple figure-8 and your path tends to take you careening through the inside of the ride itself with wood all around you. Lateral G's are plentiful though there are some bits of airtime. The overall ride experience is faster with a much greater element of that "out of control" feeling.
I recommend the front car over any other and the front seat in particular. The other cars and especially the further back you go tend to transfer a lot of motion which can cause the aforementioned roughness. A lot of it will depend on the composition of your train as well as some environmental factors. For instance, I've found the Twister to be extremely smooth in all positions just after a thunderstorm. If you do decide to ride near the middle or back I would suggest trying to grab a seat that isn't located on top of the wheels of the car.
As for the ride itself, the switchback dual lift hill design with its turnaround components are some of the best tension-building devices you'll find on a wooden coaster. The main drop off the 2nd lift hill is superb and there's nothing quite like hurtling face-first down a steep wooden track with nothing to protect you but a questionable piece of metal across your lap. Things don't really start to get "twisty" on the Twister until the helix, then you can expect to get jostled from one direction to the next until the end of the ride. A few bunny hills here and there add variety, especially the last one after the tunnel just before the station brake run.
My best suggestion is to ride the Twister at night. If possible, catch a ride or two when Knoebels hosts its Halloween event and they turn the running lights off. Hurtling through the darkness on a twisting woodie is sure to get your blood pumping and the Halloween special effects like strobe lights, fog and a well-place air horn only add to the excitement.
Most Recent Ride: October 17, 2010
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