Knoebels' Amusement Park

Large trees cover the well worn gravel paths that wind their way through Knoebel's Amusement Park leading park goers to all their favorite park rides and concession stands. The park employees open conversations with anyone who has time to talk and eventually befriend the amusement park regulars. People are relaxed, no one is obligated to ride rides, some simply go to enjoy the lively park atmosphere.

Knoebel's, located just north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is on the outskirts of Elysburg. The town of Elysburg is quiet and quaint; it contrasts the energy of the amusement park experience. A large number of the people, who live near are park employees, giving the park area a warm and personal vibe. Knoebel's family has owned and operated the park since 1926. You can still go there and meet people from the original Knoebel's clan. Like most parks where you have to pay a flat admission rate, Knoebel's sells all day bracelets for thirty dollars or you can purchase rides by the ticket which cost anywhere from seventy cents to four dollars making Knoebel's more affordable than Hershey which charges fifty dollars to get into the park. This policy of no admission rate makes Knoebel's a great destination for people who do not enjoy rides but like the amusement park environment or simply enjoy going for the delectable food.

Knoebel's food booths sell typical amusement park food such as deep fried Oreos and Dippin' Dots but also include homemade food like pies and fresh squeezed orange-aid made by the locals. In addition, Knoebel's puts its own spin on regular amusement park rides. There are the same kinds of rides at Kennywood and Hershey Park which are both Pennsylvanian amusement parks such as the water slide, bumper cars, roller coasters, and merry-go-round but at Knoebel's the people who operate the rides and the way the rides are decorated and named makes a difference. The ride known as "Old Smokey Train" is an authentic steam engine that takes riders of all ages on a small loop through the park. On this ride you pass the camping community where campers wave at you as you pass by their camp sites. The ride also takes its passengers out into the marshy-like forest area where squirrels are the main attraction at a massive squirrel feeder. Another feature of Knoebel's unique personal feel is the park campground. People are not permitted to camp at either Kennywood or Hershey Park whereas at Knoebel's people are able to rent houses or set up tents that are on park property making Knoebel's a temporary community.

In 1972 Knoebel's experienced its worst flood, caused by Hurricane Agnes. 90% of the park was underwater and had to shut down. Throughout Knoebel's there are markers of how high the water was throughout the flood years. These markers are located on trees, rides, and fences. This is just as much of the parks history as any of the rides and people who work at Knoebel's. The markers help track of the park's growth the same way that parents mark the milestone changes in their children's height on a door. It makes sense, since in a way Knoebel's Amusement park is the child of Elysburg, Pennsylvania.

Asterix Park - An Amusement Park For Everyone

Designed after the popular and much loved, Asterix comic by Goscinni and Uderzo, Asterix Park is a fun packed, enthralling theme park that suits the entire family. This amazing amusement park has something for everyone and therefore anyone who visits Park Asterix will go home with lasting memories.
Managed by Compagnie des Alpes, Asterix Park opened its gates to the public in 1989. The park is positioned about 35 kilometres from the city of Paris and lies close to Disneyland Resort Paris which is also a famous amusement park in France. At one point the management of Asterix feared the prospective lack of business due to its close proximity to another theme park. However, on the contrary both parks eventually benefited together.
Asterix theme Park is well known for its enthralling roller coaster rides. The park consists of 27 attractions, 6 shows and 7 adventure areas. The main highlight, Tonnerre de Zeus is a gigantic roller coaster made entirely out of wood. The track is1230 metres long and 30 metres above ground. Tonnerre de Zeus or Thunder of Zeus is Europe's 3rd longest wooden coaster.
There is also the steel roller coaster named Goudurix. This roller coaster once held a joint world record for the most number of inversions. However, in 1995 Dragon Khan in Spain outdid Goudurix which is located opposite Tonnerre de Zeus.
Yet another main attraction in Asterix Park is the Oxygenarium which is an outsized water slide. Other attractions include Transdemonium, la Trace du Hourra, la Galere, Menhir Express, Grand Splatch and so much more.
This splendid 20 hectare theme park is open from April to October and can be explored within a day. Travellers can easily access Asterix Park via car and local public transport that include buses and trains. Guests can also conveniently plan their stay at a nearby hotel in Paris. Most hotels here offer a host of contemporary amenities together with the warmest of hospitality.
Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry.

Amusement Park Accidents and Personal Injury

By their nature amusement parks are risky locales. While the risk and thrill of park rides can be exciting, it can also be devastating if something goes wrong. Ride accidents can happen at high speeds or heights which can cause serious injury and even death.
Amusement park accidents are no joke. If you or someone you know has been involved in a park accident, consulting with an amusement park injury attorney immediately could help you get the compensation to which you may be entitled.
Causes of Park Accidents
According to the Consumer Protection Safety Commission, the occurrence of theme park accidents is most commonly due to one or more of the following:
Ride operator negligence
Mechanical failure of ride components
Defects in the design of the ride
Negligent maintenance
If you have sustained injuries from an amusement park ride, the ride's operators, maintenance crew, engineers, or architects may be liable.
Park Ride Risks
In some cases it is difficult to obtain data on theme park accidents, because some states do not require the parks to disclose accident data to the public. The lack of regulation on accident monitoring and reporting makes it more difficult to calculate the risks involved in riding roller coasters and other rides.
Unfortunately, this lack of surveillance may also suggest that there is less accountability for ride injuries than there should be. The Consumer Protection Safety Commission estimates that injuries requiring emergency room treatment are becoming increasingly common: the number of reported ER injuries due to ride accidents rose by more than 80 percent in the past five years.
Why You Need a Lawyer If you or someone you know has been involved in an theme park ride accident, you may be entitled to compensation for injuries and damages due to someone else's negligence. For more information on amusement park personal injury claims, visit the website of Waukesha, Wisconsin personal injury attorneys Habush, Habush, & Rottier, S.C. here..

Amusement Park Safety

Going to an amusement park is a pastime enjoyed by many. Whether you love the thrill of your stomach dropping as your soar down a roller coaster or crave the taste of a freshly made funnel cake, theme parks are a delight. As technology advances, parks are able to offer bigger and faster rides. Avid guests are willing to travel great distances and pay expensive prices to have the opportunity to ride the new attractions. Although most passengers leave the parks with only a smile, every year there are some injuries. Engineers have worked very hard to ensure the ride is as safe as possible, but there are still risks involved. To minimize the risk of injury, rules have been developed to keep guests safe. It is imperative that these rules be followed to reduce your chance of harm.
Do not ignore or try to cheat the ride's rules. Even if you think the rules are lame, there was a strategic reason they were put in place. For instance, there is a river running throughout a water park in Texas. Every now and then there are bridges that run over the river with large signs that say not to hang on the bridge. Most guests ignore these rules and try to hang on the bridges anyway because they perceive it as fun. As a result, the lifeguards are always telling the guests to please not hang from the bridge. What the guests are probably not aware of is that in the bridge are cables that connect one part of the park to another. Therefore, if the bridges were to break because of too much weight causing distress, there would be a lot more problems than a simple broken bridge.
When riding a ride, stay flatly seated and sit in normal position. Grab the hand bar if there is one. If there is not a hand bar, place you hands in your lap. If the ride is floorless, don't swing your legs but rather let them dangle beneath you. Make sure that your seatbelt is secure and locked. If it is not, be sure to yell to get the attendant's attention. This is imperative. Do not exit the ride until instructed to do so. The vehicle you are riding in should be at a complete stop. If you see anything dangerous, be sure to alert park staff.

Ocean Park – Hong Kong’s Spectacular Maritime Based Amusement Park

All those looking to enjoy a thrilling and exciting day of family fun must definitely visit Ocean Park which is a world famous marine based amusement park in the area of Kowloon in Hong Kong. With very much the same popularity as Hong Kong’s Disney World, the park is ideal for visitors of all ages and contains spectacular aquariums, rides and animal exhibits and shows that are bound to capture your heart.
Filled with countless land and sea water animals both large and small, some of the maritime attractions at the park include an Ocean Theatre where you can see dolphins and seals entertaining people and the Atoll Reef that is shaped like an elliptical fish bowl which is filled with hundreds of species of underwater animals. The Shark Aquarium is also another maritime attraction which consists of an underwater tunnel where you can observe these dangerous creatures move in silence. On the lighter side, kids will definitely enjoy having a look at the Panda habitat, the Goldfish Pagoda and the Butterfly House.
A trip to Ocean World will not be complete without sampling some of the park’s highly entertaining rides. The Dragon which is a thrill seeker’s rollercoaster ride will leave you on the edge of you seat, whilst the Abyss Turbo Drop is sure to make your hair stand on end as it suddenly drops you. Some of the other rides include the Flying Swing and the Crazy Galleon.
Guests wishing to visit this fun filled and magical maritime park would definitely want to come back for more and would need to stay at a Kowloon hotel for easy access. The Langham Hotel Hong Kong which is a luxurious hotel amid many of the hotels in Hong Kong provides a relaxing and elegant base from which to enjoy much of the city’s attractions as well as to experience the enchantment and wonder of Ocean Park.

The Rating Of The Most Fantastic Amusement Parks

The Mental Floss portal has given to its readers the list of the most fantastic amusement parks in the world. Among the participants of the rating are a merry-go-round made of excavators and the Danish "candy land."
There is an artificial ocean - Ocean Dome situated in Japanese Miyazaki. This is the biggest aqua park in the world. Its pool is decorated with marble plates with the total weight of 600 tons. The space capacity of this park is 10 thousand people and its main decoration is a giant sliding roof, which allows the holiday-makers to tan in sunny days. In bad weather and in the evenings the roof shuts, and in the park turns on a unique illumination system with ultraviolet rays.
Inside the Japanese aqua park there is an artificial rainforest and a mini-volcano which erupts every hour. But the funniest thing is that this giant "artificial ocean" is situated 300 meters apart from the real ocean with wonderful beaches.
The Lithuanian Grutas Park joins entertainment and the dark monuments of the Soviet epoch. The giant sculptures of Joseph Stalin and Soviet liberator soldiers are neighboring here with the zoo and a playground. The park is surrounded with a ditch and watchtowers, turning it into a wicked illusion of a camp for the exiled ones.
The Nintendo amusement park is not connected with the Nintendo corporation which produces famous game consoles and games for them. It bears a little resemblance to a park. It is an embodiment in reality of "Super Mario" video game. In this park the guests are offered to go the way of the virtual Italian plumbers Mario Mario and Luigi Mario.
It is a perfect possibility to find out what could the characters of video games feel, if the scene of the game happened in the real life. Yet the park exists as s prototype, and its creators try to find money for its development and negotiate with Nintendo and Disney for the possible partnership.
The Danish "candy" amusement park BonBon-Land resembles the similar confectionery Hershey park in Pennsylvania. Though, in the Danish variation of this park all the characters are made quite frivolously, which is of small wonder in the most liberated European country. The lustful caramel cows with giant breasts, licentious turtles, erotic horses and other humanlike creatures attract the attention of adults and children. And a ride on a merry-go-round around a giant chocolate pile of dog poo (accompanied by the specific noises) elates the public.
The visitors of English Diggerland are given a ride on everything that can dig. The merry-go-rounds here are giant excavators, tractors and other construction equipment. The public screams with fright and delight, wiggling in the dipper of giant vehicles.
The Buddhist amusement park Suoi Tien is situated in Vietnam. Its interior appearance, including the giant statue of Buddha sensitizes you to the sad mood, but once the visitors ride the water go-rounds or peep into the amazing cave with bats, the mood immediately changes. The park is famous for its crocodile farm, the inhabitants of which put tourists in fear, and for the trip through the 12 "gates of hell" on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" amusement ride.
The entertainment industry doesn't leave unmentioned the Romanian earl Vlad Tepes, known also as Dracula. Alas, the Romanian authorities still renounce the idea of building a theme park in Transylvania, at the historical home of the legendary vampire. It is considered that the construction and mass tourist flow will harm the local forest, where grow 400 years old oaks. There is a rumor that the construction still will have place, but it will only be moved closer to Bucharest.
Those who are willing to see with their own eyes the brilliancy and poverty of the inhabitants of Great Britain in XIX century should not necessarily use the time machine. It will be sufficient enough to visit the Dickens World Park dedicated to the creation of great Dickens. Everything here is related to the characters of his legendary novels. The child playground is named "Fagin's Den", and the spirit of Ebenezer Scrooge from the "Christmas Tales" is going to chase the visitors. The construction of the park cost 62 million pounds sterling ($120 million).3

New Amusement Park in Beijing China; Sand World

Many parts of China are great vast deserts and over time the desert is moving closer to the large cities. Eventually the sand will build up and completely cover Beijing China.
This is unfortunate considering the billions of dollars in development that is going on there. Huge infrastructure projects are being built and the population is soaring along with the economy. Of course Mother Nature has a way of curbing its pollution and the sand is coming closer.
Recently I talked to a couple of geoscientists who were studying this phenomena and we sat down for a chat and a cup of coffee. One of them joked that maybe Beijing China should become a new giant amusement park they could call it; Sand World.
Indeed, we all got a laugh at that because there is Disneyland, Sea World and amusement parks called Water World. Why not call Beijing China; Sand World. Because that's eventually what it will become anyway.
Of course some day China will have to build giant walls around to the city to stop the sand flow and they may have to be as much as 150 feet high and then they will have to build another wall even higher just to hold back the sand, which is blowing constantly in the wind currents.
Maybe China should not worry about cleaning up its pollution? Because it seems Mother Nature is going to cover it all up over anyway? Something to think about I suppose? Please consider all this in 2006.