S8 E9: Knoebels Amusement Park with Stacy Yutko

Today we have a special guest for you! We have Stacy Yutko from Knoebels Amusement Park. Don't forget we love to hear from our listeners! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. We look forward to receiving your questions on our Google Phone (407) 900- 9305, Facebook (Practical Access), Twitter (@AccessPractical), or Instagram (@Practical_Access).

Transcript

Lisa Dieker: 0:07

Welcome to Practical Access. I'm Lisa Dieker.

Rebecca Hines: 0:10

And I'm Rebecca Hines. And Lisa, finally, in a rare event, we're featuring someone who is is not from Orlando, and also not one of our close friends that we like to interview. And this is an exciting episode. Who do we have?

Lisa Dieker: 0:28

Yes. So we have with us today, Stacy Yutco. And she is the public relations director for Knoebels Park that is accessible for all. So Stacy, welcome. We're so excited to have you.

Stacy Yutko: 0:42

So happy to be here. And we will become one of your very good friends now after

Lisa Dieker: 0:46

Yeah, exactly. I know, I was just in Pennsylvania this past week. So I'm gonna have to be heading that direction. So. So tell us a little bit about where you're located and a little bit about your park to get us started.

Stacy Yutko: 0:56

Sure. So we are in the heart of Pennsylvania. And we are America's largest free admission amusement park, we opened in 1926 with a steam powered carousel, a 900,000 gallon pool and a few food stands. And we have grown today to have nearly 60 rides over two dozen food stands. We have shops games, a campground attached to the amusement park and eighteen hole golf course down the road.

Rebecca Hines: 1:33

Wow. Well, I hate to ask the obvious, but how do you offer all of this for free?

Stacy Yutko: 1:40

Sure. So a lot of parks back in the day around the time that Knoebels had its had it start, follow this free admission model. So you would pay per ride. And really select what you want to do while you're you're visiting. So we've stuck with that model, a lot of parks have gone to a gate or admission base model. But it was really important for us to maintain that that free admission

Rebecca Hines: 2:17

That's great. So if I'm a parent, or if I have a child who doesn't want to go on rides at all, I'm not I don't have to pay, I can just pay for my child as he or she pleases. Great. Exactly,

Stacy Yutko: 2:30

exactly. You also bring your own picnic lunch, we offer free picnic facilities and free entertainment within the park. So say you have a picky eater within the family. You know, you can pack your own lunch for exactly what the kiddo might want to snack on throughout the day.

Rebecca Hines: 2:48

And that really works perfectly with a lot of the kids that we that we work with, and that we see.

Stacy Yutko: 2:53

Exactly. And by nature, Knoebels has always been this this sort of inclusive environment with our free admission model, and the ability to bring your own food and, and really come and go as you please, with our campground attached to the amusement park. A lot of families will come down into the park for short periods of time and then go back and relax and cool down at their campsite

Lisa Dieker: 3:25

So I love that open, choose your own adventure. We're really big on that option of choice for everyone, but especially for people with unique abilities. And so one of my questions for you is you know, I see lots of great things about you know, service animals, all those things that we would expect all theme parks to celebrate, but other unique things that your park that as I enter as a

Stacy Yutko: 3:52

Sure. So something really fun. And you mentioned the the service animals, but we are one of the few parks that we're aware of that actually, all pets are allowed within the park, all well behaved pets. But to take that a step further, there are several rides that you can actually bring your pet on with you. So our Pioneer train, our motor boats, our carousels. They've chariots on

Lisa Dieker: 5:09

And is there any, like sensory areas or anything unique and that in the park as I wander through, like, I'm really wanting to drive there right now so I can get to choose my own adventure? Yeah.

Stacy Yutko: 5:21

So we, one of the economical family members actually has a daughter, who has autism. And so, you know, we we started several years ago in autism day here at the park. And it, it really started off that we had maybe a handful of vendors that offered services for individuals who have autism, when they would come and set up and provide information to our guests. And on that day, we

Rebecca Hines: 6:52

For your guests with physical disabilities are, you know, do you have rides that are accessible for someone who may not have trunk support? Maybe, you know, in a wheelchair, really difficult to physically manage? You know, especially as kids get older, do you do you have some things that are suitable for that type of population.

Stacy Yutko: 7:14

So we are always looking for new ways to have have opportunities like this for our guests. At this time. There are a few, you know, a few rides that that may be able to depend on it really, it really depends on on the specific but it you know, we don't necessarily have anything specifically devoted to, to that. We do have you mentioned as as the children get older, or maybe even

Rebecca Hines: 8:04

I love it.

Lisa Dieker: 8:05

And so one of the things I noticed is just you know, lots of ways to stay and play and waterslides and I mean, you know, it looks like the fun is endless. And that's great. What would be an average cost for a family if I just wanted to come to the park versus maybe I want to stay a couple of days do you have kind of a standard range for families who might want to travel in that area

Stacy Yutko: 8:32

Sure. So it really depends is as we mentioned before, you do have the option if you want to visit during the week we do have a ride pass that you can pay one price to ride unlimited rides. But we also have the ability to pay per ride so if someone just wants to ride the the Pioneer train, you know it's just a few dollars to ride the Pioneer train. Really, it's a big help we have

Lisa Dieker: 10:19

can imagine a couple of my friends riding the train all day long so it was it once I pay Can I just stay on forever?

Stacy Yutko: 10:26

Unfortunately not but it got a weekday that's that's something else we actually had a guest reach out recently and say, you know, I have a child who has autism and we're thinking about visiting for the first time we've we've heard about, you know, your your program accessibility program at the park. You know, when when do you recommend that we visit and definitely Tuesday through

Rebecca Hines: 11:12

And what what is your season? Are you closed down in the winter? I know you're

Lisa Dieker: 11:18

they have snow skiing Dr Hines.

Stacy Yutko: 11:20

So we typically open the last weekend in April and it's weekends only until Memorial Day. And then we are open daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day. And then weekends in September and October. And something else that's new for the park is the amusement park itself is not open. But we now have a drive thru Christmas light display. Oh, yes, that starts the day after Thanksgiving, and

Rebecca Hines: 11:58

That's awesome. Yeah.

Lisa Dieker: 12:00

Well, my last question for you is, of all the things you see people come with kids with a range of diverse abilities and disabilities. What's the one like don't forget to go to blank like what is it you've seen? The those the heart and the soul in the center? For people in the park. I'm sure there's lots of great opportunities. But I'm already thinking about all the rides in 2000 food

Stacy Yutko: 12:27

for so I recommend that you stop at our guest service locations, when you arrive, our team Guest Services. Just like the rest of our team, actually, they have have taken part in some training that will help better understand the needs of our guests. And they can definitely help pinpoint where to go, what to see. And really base that on in individual guests.

Rebecca Hines: 12:57

Love it. Well, we appreciate your attention to making sure that everybody is accommodated. And I hope that I hope that more places take that universal design approach. So that so that everybody can can enjoy the park.

Stacy Yutko: 13:14

It's it's something that, like I mentioned before, it was within the nature of the park just by how we operate, but with the becoming a certified Autism Center. Just having that ability based on our nature wasn't enough. We wanted to do more.

Lisa Dieker: 13:35

Well, we thank you not only for doing more, but we encourage families friends, it sounds like young and old to come out and have a great time and to choose your own adventure. So we appreciate you taking the time Stacy and we appreciate the Knoebels creating a world that is an example for the rest of the world. So thank you so much for joining us. And you're having us. Yeah, and

Rebecca Hines: 14:13

thanks Stacey.

Stacy Yutko: 14:14

Thank you