VegasBaby

This is the best news I've heard all day! We're headed to DW in 3 weeks and I'm really hoping to get at least one ride on LR.

Yea, this ride looks super lame, it's definitely aimed at younger children. I don't really mind since they are getting a Sky Rocket II for older kids and adults, but I can't see myself ever riding this thing. I just don't know what SW was thinking because this looks really disappointing.

I know it's Six Flags and all, but it's really pathetic that this wasn't open by Memorial Day. They've had since the announcement in September to work on it and it's not like they have weather delays in LA. Plus it's not a prototype either, so it just baffles me that it's taken so long to build. Crazy to think that Twisted Colossus opened on time but a JL clone is so behind schedule.

Looks like Knott's has added a ride closure schedule to the bottom of the hours of operation page. The nice thing is that they are now listing future ride closures, which is great for trip planning. Here's the current listing of ride closures: Sky Cabin Now - TBD Calico Mine Ride Now - 6/2 Sierra Sidewinder 8/28 - 9/1 GhostRider 9/5 - 9/21

The Gold Pass does include parking, so you probably have a gold pass. I would just get to the park at least 30 minutes early and they will scan your pass before letting you into the Gold Pass early entry line. If they scan your pass and let you in the line, then you're good. If for some weird reason you don't have a Gold Pass, then at least you should be in the front of the regular entrance line.

There is a Discover entrance at SFMM, but I've never used it, so I don't know if it gets you in early. SFMM does have early entry for Gold season pass holders. It is located on the far right of the entrance gate and usually gets you into the park 10-15 min early. Using the early entry, I head straight for Fu11 Throttle and can usually get 3-4 rides in before the GP gets in. The Platinum Flash Pass does give you 1 ride on Revolution VR and 1 ride on Superman. If you don't want to pay for the flash pass, then you should hit Revolution ASAP as that line is typically 60-90 minutes due to the terrible load times. You can choose to ride it with or without the VR.

An Intamin mega-lite or blitz coaster (Maverick 2.0?) would be a great addition to the park. It's very possible that Intamin is the company that Ouimet was referring to when he spoke about a renewed relationship on the CF conference call. I would love to see another Intamin at Knott's, Xcelerator needs a little or big brother!

An Infinity Coaster or Eurofighter wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but it certainly doesn't have the wow factor that a dive or a hyper would. And yes, I've heard all the naysayers talk about how Knott's doesn't have room for a dive or a hyper, but they could fit one in if they wanted to (just look at Silver Bullet). I think that Boom's replacement has to be pretty large in scale due to them getting such an early start on construction. Also, they will need a shiny new ride to syphon off some of the masses that will descend on Star Wars land in 2019. If they build something that really stands out, it may convince some of the Disney-ites to spend a day at Knott's during their trip.

There's almost never a difference in the wait time. The difference is that Platinum gives you access to some coasters that Gold does not, and allows rerides on some coasters. I always say wait until you get to the park to decide whether you want to buy a Flash Pass, especially on Fridays, they can sometimes be unpredictable. It sucks to buy a Flash Pass and then get to the park and find it completely dead. I would go with the Gold FP as well. The only rides on Platinum that aren't on Gold are The New Revolution VR (which sucks, don't waste your time) and Superman (which is typically a walk-on early in the day and in the last hour). There are no double rides anymore on Platinum, that was done away with company wide. You will wait a little longer with the Gold FP, but if you make your next reservation as soon as you get checked in for your current ride, your wait time in between rides will be minimal. Note that X2 is only available on Gold or Platinum with a $15 upcharge, so you may want to hit that as soon as the park opens and then come back down to get your FP. I've also noticed lately that there have been FP representatives in the entry plaza, so you may be able to buy the FP before going into the park.

We've got a trip planned to USO in August, so hopefully the kinks will all be worked out by then. I will say that the water coaster POV looks awesome and I can't wait to ride it. We are staying at Cabana Bay and I read that there's a dedicated entry to Volcano Bay from Cabana Bay. Plus we get in an hour early staying there, so I'm hoping to knock out the water coaster a few times before it opens to the GP.

So I've been poking around the Knott's website redesign, but I can't seem to find where it lists ride closures. On the old site, there was a section listing ride closures on the far left of the park hours page, but there's no such listing on the new hours page. Now that we're into the summer season, there shouldn't be any ride closures (except for the Sky Cabin), but I visit a lot during the offseason and it's nice to know the ride closure schedule. If anyone knows where the ride closures are listed on the new site, please respond to this post. You may now continue with your regularly scheduled posts detailing the Boomerang demo and new coaster speculation.

It's very disappointing that they cannot get this coaster to operate consistently. I know that it's a prototype and all, but they've had 5-6 months since they shut it down for the season last year and they still haven't figured it out. I don't know if that's more of an indictment on the Dollywood maintenance staff or RMC or if they both share the blame equally. I will say that they look pretty dumb when Pete Owens comes out and says "The ride is operating at a much more consistent level than it did at this time last year." While that might be technically true, saying that it is operating at a consistent level is laughable. We're going to be visiting DW at the end of June and I'm just hoping to get one ride in. Hopefully we'll see better operations once the summer season is in full swing, but I'm not holding my breath.

If that is the case, then you may want to hit up Laff Track later in the evening as families are leaving the park. If you ride it mid-day, then you are probably looking at least an hour wait. Hersheypark has a good app that lists ride wait times, so I would use that as a resource while you're there.

Easily over an hour on a busy day. I haven't made it over to the park yet this season but last year we went there first thing and even at park opening the line was a half hour. It's a good strategy to hit Laff Track first thing and then make your way forward from that end of the park. After Laff Track, you can pretty much walk onto Lightning Racer, Wildcat, and the Mouse since most people haven't made their way into that area of the park yet.

If you buy your tickets online, you can get into the park 1 hour early. During the early entry, hit up all of the Harry Potter attractions then head to the lower lot. The lower lot is usually dead during the first hour or two, so you should have very short waits for Mummy, Transformers, and Jurassic Park. Then come back to the upper lot and hit the Studio Tour. If the Studio Tour has a long wait, then take a lunch break as the Tour line tends to die down in the afternoon. As far as the shows go, the only must see is Waterworld, but they are all entertaining if you have the time. I would recommend getting to the shows 15-20 min early to get a good seat. There are boards around the park showing wait times and I've found them to be fairly accurate. The park is open from 8am (early entry) to 8pm that day, so you shouldn't have any trouble doing everything in the park. For food, I would recommend Three Broomsticks in Potterland or Krusty Burger in Springfield (Simpsons Land).

The Knott's Hotel is running a 15% off special if you book by 6/30/17 and stay by 8/17/17 using the promo code IMBACK. The Knott's hotel is right next to the park (less than a 5 min walk to the front gate). It's not a luxury hotel by any means, but it's a decent property (used to be a Radisson) and you can't beat the location.

Agreed, MiA makes the most sense if they keep the ride in the CF family. There's also a possibility that it gets sold to a park in Asia or Europe, although I feel that is much less likely.

As much as I love Intamin, an Impulse coaster would be an odd choice for CGA's first coaster addition since Goldstriker. The park's primary competition, SFDK, has had an Intamin Impulse for years, so I don't see the GP getting that excited about a new one. I know the space marked out for this coaster isn't huge (and it shows Wicked Twister in the expansion plan), but I'd be really surprised if they end up with an Impulse.

I don't think there are any height restrictions given that you've got Xcelerator (205 ft), Supreme Scream (325 ft), and the Sky Cabin (250 ft) in that corner of the park. I doubt that there are any noise restrictions either considering that they run all the rides until 2am during Haunt. I've heard many times that the rides aren't allowed to cross over Beach Blvd or Western Ave, but I don't know for certain if that's true.

I would also recommend going to SFMM on the 26th and Knott's on the 27th. SFMM just has a lot more rides and if you aren't doing a flash pass, then I would suggest going on the less busier day. Plus GhostRider is down for maintenance through the 26th and you definitely don't want to miss it. Lastly, Knott's will be open to 11pm on the 27th, so even if the park is really crowded, you should have time to hit all the rides.

I couldn't agree more with this statement. Knott's needs another people eater and if they aren't going with B&M, then I hope whatever coaster they get has 20 person trains at a minimum. Knott's need to make a big statement with Star Wars land coming in 2019, and the Raptor concept just doesn't do that. However, if they go with a T-Rex coaster with the standard 24 person RMC trains, then I could see that being a huge statement coaster for the park. The Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster would be another interesting choice as long as they got 24 or 32 person trains.

Knott's already has a Mack spinning coaster, so I highly doubt that they get another one. As far as Mack coasters go, I'd love to see a Blue Fire clone as Boomerang's replacement. I'm not sure if that would fit in the footprint, but it would be a great addition to the park and the first of its kind in North America.

I got a Platinum FP when I visited SFGAm last summer and Goliath reservations were unlimited. JL:BFM was limited to two reservations on the Platinum FP, but that was the only ride that was limited. So if your goal is to marathon Goliath, Raging Bull, X-Flight, and Batman, you should be good to go.

Looks like SF is already implementing their new waterpark strategy. They just signed a deal to operate Waterworld California near SFDK, which was once owned by SF. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170427006844/en/

With Cedar Fair lately, the ride will be half built before we ever get an announcement!