View of the Twister rollercoaster at Knoebels Amusement Park near Elysburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Double rose bowl helixenormous positive forces

Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pennsylvania

Twister

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POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
Back row
Back row
What riders love
  • You just get tossed around like a ragdoll.
  • If Phoenix is the king of airtime, Twister is the king of laterals.
  • Twister isn't an exact duplicate of Mr. Twister but with its brutal laterals (especially in the powerful, underbanked double helix) and crazy headchoppers through a chaos of beams, it really does capture the spirit of the original ride.
  • It's so unique with the zig-zag split stacked lift hills and the giant double helix wrapping around the curving station. It's also set in a thick forest of trees so you sort of feel like it's built into the landscape.
  • The double rose bowl helix is the highlight; Enormous positive forces on a wooden coaster, with laterals between the two dives? Yes please!
  • First drop is awesome, and the double helix is a pretty intense moment!
  • It's non-stop turning, hills, and twists keep throwing you every which way and that I love!
  • An absolutely relentless coaster that was also very smooth and just an absolute blast.
  • The pacing is great and the laterals are some of the best on any coaster.
Twister Watch Performance Should I ride it? Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

Twister front seat on-ride 4K POV @60fps Knoebels Amusement Resort

youtube.com › CoasterForce

Twister POV 4K On-Ride Knoebels Wooden Roller Coaster Back Seat

youtube.com › Front Seat Media

Twister 2025 on-ride 5K POV - Knoebels Amusement Resort PA

youtube.com › Accelerated Creative

Twister Off-Ride Footage, Knoebels Wooden Coaster | Non-Copyright

youtube.com › Canobie Coaster

Twister Review Knoebels Wooden Roller Coaster

youtube.com › Coaster Studios

Twister - Review (Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg PA)

youtube.com › XscreamThrills

Twister Review (Knoebels Amusement Resort)

youtube.com › RampagingRex Productions

Slo Motion of Twister at Knoebels (2015)

youtube.com › whitewolf323

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Knoebels Amusement Resort

The airtime is on the front of this ride (so most people miss it) if you don’t understand why the airtime gets so mixed reviews.

TheClassicRemake Man

The ride op gave me lots of room for air so every hill was crazy ejector.

Jack Jack J.

Specifically, I didn’t feel any airtime besides some mild floater.

Samuel Stone

The furst two drops are among my favorite wooden coaster drops ever, and the rise after the first drop gives huge airtime.

Eric Esty

Don’t expect a whole lot there, but again, this ride is not about airtime.

Coaster Studios

An absolutely relentless coaster that was also very smooth and just an absolute blast.

Cooper Zimmerman

And, like Dick Knoebel said at its opening, it is fast, and it is smooth.

Coaster101

It is pretty rough and could be longer, but overall it is a pretty good coaster and has great laterals.

Alexander Marko

The layout has a lot of fun elements, but a persistent rattle kept me from enjoying many of them.

Coaster Nut

The giant double helix was forceful, but not painful, and the crossovers and twisted turns gave a great disorienting experience.

Coaster101

The double rose bowl helix is the highlight; Enormous positive forces on a wooden coaster, with laterals between the two dives?

Eric Esty

The positives you feel going through the double helix are insane the few airtime pops throughout the ride are ridiculous.

Keystone Coasters

The laterals are some of the strongest I’ve felt and they are even strong in random sections like in between the 2 lifts.

Carter Eckhart

Enjoyable ride with a unique layout, a modest degree of intensity, a high degree of fun, and an apt name.

Sean Reardon

The pacing on this ride is also very good especially in the 2nd half where it feels like its just gonna rip the track off it feels way too fast.

Carter Eckhart

The first drop was surprisingly strong in the back row, and the rest of the layout kept its speed beautifully well while having some powerful laterals and nice positive Gs.

MapleFlakes

From the drop to the brake run you are constantly barraged with very strong ejector and sustained laterals as you fly around some really fast turnarounds and that huge main helix.

Cooper Zimmerman

It’s a smooth, fast, lengthy ride with hold-onto-your-ass laterals, an absolutely beautiful location in those mountains, a killer night ride (especially during Hallo-Fun), and solid airtime pops...

R S

It’s essentially all fast-paced, slightly banked turns.

Coaster Studios

...out as an above average woodie- despite some noticeably heavier shaking in some areas, it’s a fast, unique, lateral-based layout that sprinkles in some sweet airtime in places you wouldn’t expect.

Anthony DeNight Jr.

Also not to mention every ride was a walk on.

Jacob Heller

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Specifications

102 ftHeight
102 Twister 98 Impulse 78 Phoenix 50 FlyingTurns
90 ftFirst drop
92 Impulse 90 Twister 72 Phoenix
52 mphTop speed
Impulse55 Twister52 Phoenix45 Flying Turns24 055 mph
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

FunIntenseFeels fastGreat layoutLong ride

Criticised for

Little airtime

The positives you feel going through the double helix are insane the few airtime pops throughout the ride are ridiculous.

Keystone Coasters, Captain Coaster review

The layout has a lot of fun elements, but a persistent rattle kept me from enjoying many of them.

Coaster Nut, Captain Coaster review

Not much in the way of airtime, but its layout is fun and disorienting, and the Rose Bowl element has aura; all of the above is enhanced by a ride in the dark.

Ethan S., Captain Coaster review

I rode Twister for the [first time in 2018](https://www.coaster101.com/2018/08/28/6-reasons-to-visit-knoebels-from-a-first-timer/), and I became a fan just like all those riders back in ’99.

Coaster101, published review

What Phoenix is to airtime, Twister is to laterals...really nice surprise.

Sean Reardon, Captain Coaster review

While Phoenix is the superior wooden coaster, Twister still provides a great experience filled with laterals.

Bubble Gaming, Captain Coaster review

Planning your ride

History and awards

July 24, 1999Opened

, designed by John Fetterman.

$3 millionTo build

Golden Ticket Awards, top wood coaster: ranked in 22 polls, 2003 to 2026

21st2003, its first poll
17th2026, its best placing

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, youtube.com, coaster101.com, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Ruhrfisch (talk) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Carter Eckhart, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The laterals are some of the strongest I've felt…”; Isaac Beauchamp, rider review on Captain Coaster: “You just get tossed around like a ragdoll.”; Jeff Kahn, rider review on Captain Coaster: “If Phoenix is the king of airtime, Twister is…”; Matt McIrvin, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Twister isn't an exact duplicate of Mr. Twister but…”; MapleFlakes, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It has an incredibly unique and bizarre layout, featuring…”; David, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It's so unique with the zig-zag split stacked lift…”; Eric Esty, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The double rose bowl helix is the highlight; Enormous…”; Jake The coaster dude, rider review on Captain Coaster: “First drop is awesome, and the double helix is…”; Kw6sTheater, rider review on Captain Coaster: “In place of the literal standing airtime and graceful…”; Vinnie T, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It's non-stop turning, hills, and twists keep throwing you…”; Cooper Zimmerman, rider review on Captain Coaster: “An absolutely relentless coaster that was also very smooth…”; Brendan Keller, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The pacing is great and the laterals are some…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: Front Seat Media's back row POV, Twister POV 4K On-Ride Knoebels Wooden Roller Coaster Back Seat (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.