Arthur_Seaton

Oh, I didn't realize it had been pushed back to 2020! (The last estimate I saw was Summer 2019 ‚ so I figured it'd be June / July-ish) That is unfortunate! I wonder what caused the problems?

I've found that Fridays are hit or miss in terms of how busy the park gets (it's a day that I avoid), but hopefully it's not too packed. In terms of food, I didn't try any as I'm not a fan of theme-park food. I did see a few people wearing big neck tag things though — which I assume were the tasting cards? Anyhow, I hope it's a good day!

Yeah, it's definitely a common refrain in this thread. It seems like every year when SFMM announces something, a chorus of "Are we there yet?" fires up and doesn't stop until the new thing's built. It's just the nature of the thread it seems. If it wasn't this, it'd be an issue with the trash cans / restrooms / parking / paint / cement / sun / moon etc. I can't imagine this ride will take long to assemble. After all, it's a fairly small family-style coaster that stays low to the ground. Much of the land prep is probably close to completion, and I'd be surprised if the construction company took long to put it together once the factory delivers all the pieces.

I was there yesterday as well (first visit this year, and local schools / colleges are all back in session), but the longest wait I had was 10 mins for the log ride. Ghost Rider, Xcelerator, and Hang Time were all walk-ons for much of the afternoon/evening with the occasional one-or-two-train wait. Definitely a good time of year to visit! Also, Ghost Rider operations were great. They seem to have fixed that stupid brake run issue, and trains were rolling right back into the station just as the next one was leaving. It's also lost some of the retrack's initial smoothness but seems to be running as it should right now — aggressive and thrilling, but without the violence of the pre-retrack years.

I don't know if I'd give it any awards based on uniqueness or originality. The first half feels quite a bit like a B&M but with only a couple of elements (the drop out of the first turnaround is surprisingly fun, and the airtime hill is quite sustained). The second half is B&M smooth, but the g-force on the helix is something else. For me, it's just a fun re-ridable coaster that you can enjoy without having to worry about bruises or a concussion. I tend to favor rides that are easier to enjoy, and so it's in my top three at the park (Full Thröttle and Ninja would be my others). For originality and uniqueness, X2 would be the obvious choice (not a great ride though). Flashback was probably the park's most unusual installation, and I'm probably one of just three or so people who absolutely loved that thing (even though it bashed your ears). I think it depends on when you go. I generally stay away from the park on weekends and usually drive up there during the months when the kids are in school. As such, I don't remember the last time the ride wasn't a walk-on with multiple immediate re-rides. I've even been the only rider on the train more than once. Having said that, the line is literally long — it's a hike down to the building. It's also a line that, if you do go on a busier day, it's hard to gauge just how long your wait will be until you're well into the switchbacks.

I've loved Goliath since the year it opened and ride it over and over when I visit, yet I could only do Titan a couple of times. The reason for disliking Titan is the same as what others have mentioned here: the additional helix. Goliath's helix is already a bit much, but at least it's at the end of the ride. But also, when I rode it, Titan was notably rougher — especially at the bottom of the first drop. I've never known Goliath be anything other than glass-smooth at any time. I think it comes down to personal preference. If non-stop thigh-smashing twisty disorientation (RMC / Skyrush) is your thing, you'll most likely find Goliath boring. But if you dig big, protracted elements, a sense of speed, and less-aggressive airtime (think B&M hypers), you'll dig it. It's a great-looking coaster — especially from the parking lot, where the drop looks seriously intimidating. As others have mentioned, the drop rides more like a steep ramp, but combine it with the height and the smoothness, and you have an enjoyable ride rather than one that's preoccupied with being the most-intense bucking-bronco type thing ever. Fantastic ride that's easy to marathon (on a slow day, obviously). EDIT (playing catchup-in the thread): THRILLED to see that Green Lantern is leaving. It's by far the worst ride I've ever ridden anywhere.

Yeah, Screamscape actually posted about it a couple of months ago too. That's how I first heard about it at least. I drive past there now and again for work and haven't seen any of the rides running for a while. Then again, even when the place was open, there aren't many riders. Last time I visited, there was a single ride op who walked with us to each ride we wanted to get on and powered it up for us.

Hopefully the Screamer will end up somewhere soon. It really is a fun little compact, despite how aggressive the airtime is. In the image above that points out the most violent moment (I think there are a couple of violent moments), you can see the pain coming. It's as if the track's parabola is off — like an extra dip in the drop itself. Anyhow, it's not a real surprise that the park's closing up. It certainly not a surprise that the place will be turned into a warehouse as that's really all that's in that area to begin with.

Ghost Rider's worth it. It's a fantastic ride, but brace yourself for painful operations (the ride's fault — not the ops).

You'll be pleased to hear that that's exactly what they're doing! The area where the new ride is going is one of last dumpiest spots of the park, and it's getting a full cleanup and retheme with a new ride. I'm not sure it was that nice-looking eons ago though! Agreed. I know that moaning about SFMM is de rigeur because reasons, but I can't imagine it'll take long to put this one together. This isn't a particularly big ride; it's really just a single oval structure with two low-to-the-ground tracks. I assume both tracks will take advantage of the same support structure, and the most knotted section (the helix over the go-karts) looks like it'll be one clump of track. One concern I have about the go-kart section, though, is if coaster will linger amidst petrol fumes. The go-karts stink, and the renders make it look like the new ride is going to meander over the go-kart track for a good few seconds. Maybe the trains will be moving too fast? Maybe fume inhalation will be considered part of the "racing experience"?

I visited a couple of years ago when I had some time to kill before a flight. There was barely anyone there, and it does feel like a carnival, but I could tell that it'd be a good host for events. There's a fantastic old-school pretzel there that I hope can be salvaged. There was an old man running it who, apparently, had been running it for many years. He talked my ear off for a solid hour. The pirate ship is weird in that it's less of a swing and more of a rocking movement. Also, they have a chair swing ride (a "yo-yo" I believe) that's way more intense than it should be.

Weird, right? I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was about the night but something was amiss. I've been to haunt events that have felt lame because there just weren't enough people there to generate energy, but that wasn't the case here I don't think. I've never found Knotts to be particularly extreme, but something about it just did feel very — for lack of a better word — seasonal.

I went to Scary Farm last night, figuring that it’d probably be less-crowded. For the most part, it was. The only rides I rode were Supreme Scream (no line plus view of the park) and the log ride (10-minute wait). Ghost Rider, Xcelerator, and Hang Time all had fairly long lines, so I skipped all three as I ride them enough on slow days. Overall, it was a good night, but a number of changes at the event do seem to have impacted the overall feel, even though it’s hard to put my finger on exactly what that is. Scare zones were solid, yet seemed tamer; and although I didn’t watch any shows (I find most of them insufferable), Elvira’s absence was felt. Wait times were way off all night, and most of the “45-minute” advertised times were actually 15 minutes. Several of the mazes had no line at all. Only Infected and Trick or Treat sustained long waits with Paranormal Inc. following behind — and that’s largely due to the way these mazes are operated. I hit Trick or Treat first, so I only had to wait about 10 minutes, and did Infected toward the end of the night, so that was only about 20. A few thoughts on the mazes, ranked in order of personal preference: Paranormal Inc.: Kind of the park’s classic at this point, even though it’s only been around for a few years. The narrative’s great, and the maze is surprisingly frightening. It’s not as effective as when it first opened as some of the more elaborate effects no longer work, but that doesn’t really detract too much. The ending has changed quite a bit, and the weird “other side” type scene from previous years has gone (I think those sets ended up in The Depths), but they retooled some of the original’s final scenes in a creative way. Moving through squishy-black inflatables only to pop out into a well-lit and functioning asylum from the past was very effective, and the new hallway that lights up to reveal the old monster cavern from the last version worked well, too. Despite its changes, Paranormal remains one of Knotts’ best. (2X) Pumpkin Eater: Understaffed and underfogged, but also underrated I think. I think this one of the better mazes at the park, but it did fall a bit flat tonight as it was so quiet. Effective theming throughout, but also lacking some of last year’s effects (one room was clearly designed to hold props or a scene, yet there was nothing in there). The set is elaborate, and, while the narrative is as elementary as half the others at the park, the set maintains a kind of narrative consistency throughout. There are some decent scares, but this one works through atmospherics. I know my opinion is not shared by most, but I think it’s one of the best at the event. (2X) Trick or Treat: Same as other years, only the failing-flashlight sections weren’t dark at all. The witch was buried further inside the maze this time, complete with a Universal-style scare noise (I saw several of these throughout the park). It’s a great maze with fantastic sets, but the throughput is kind of miserable. It feels like it could use a refresh or perhaps some new scenes / effects, but the concept and execution are top notch. It’s the line that’s the most scary (1X) Special Ops: Infected: The queue for this one is mind-numbing and kind of a turn-off, but it moved very fast last night. The maze remains the same, only I suspect it’s been shortened and scaled back from when it first opened (although I may be misremembering). It’s always been fast-paced, but jogging was in order tonight it seems, obviously to move through the crowds faster. It’s very effective overall, as running through a maze is kind of the opposite of what most feel compelled to do, especially when you stand a good chance of running straight into a nest of zombies. It works well and continues to be popular, plus the original version through Camp Snoopy was just unsustainable. (1X) Red Barn: Different this time, and not quite as good. I’m not sure why they changed this one as it was pretty solid before. For the most part, it just seems like they cut the route short and took out the cage / crawl sections. Having said that, even though this one doesn’t seem that popular, I’ve always thought it was one the strongest at the park. It’s really just farmers and pigs and whatnot jumping out at you. It’d benefit from more chainsaws, given that that’s part of the concept. There was one at the end on my first walk-through, but my the time I went through again, most of the actors had left, taking the chainsaw with them. (2X) Dark Ride: Same, but decent. Last year, it seemed like a big deal, even though it was totally understaffed when I went through it. This time, it didn’t feel quite as innovative but was better staffed. The concept is great, and it’s one of the more developed narratives at the park. Having said that, I wonder if more could be done to signpost to the average GP what’s happening in the storyline? I think it’s clear to theme park nerds, but I suspect most other folks just see it as a few randomly connected scenes with a kind of cheesy carnival feel and miss the “broken down dark ride” aspect completely (2X) The Depths: There’s a great lighthouse facade with a loud crashing-ocean soundtrack that’s surprisingly effective. Inside, there were some cool effects, but not that many scares. The narrative was beyond muddled (a mine followed by a boat?), and I’m not quite sure the character interaction worked that well (most just stand there looking creepy). Of course, everyone loved the laser swamp scene (Dark Harbor had a less-crowded version of this last year), but I personally found the rocking-boat section to be the best. It really did feel like being on a boat on the waves. I went through this one three times and came to appreciate it a bit more, but it does feel a tad incoherent to me. (3X) Shadow Lands: This also seems to have been fiddled with since last year. It seems like they changed the path a bit, but much of the maze content remained the same. It’s pretty decent overall, but also somehow feels past its sell-by date. The final scene — what was once an elaborate throat-cutting effect — remains intact, only without the throat cutting, and a samurai floating around on a cable. It’s a decent maze, but does seem like it’s been simplified since the opening year, and I distinctly remember the original had a pulley-based effect similar to the ghost at the opening of Paranormal. (2X) Dark Entities: Perhaps due to placement (or lack of popularity), this had no line all night. As such, I went through it four times. It replaces the Tooth Fairy maze — a maze I’ve always loved, largely based on just how over-the-top and gross it is. I don’t think this one was much of an improvement, though. It’s mostly competent but relatively simplistic — nothing but space ship sets that mostly look the same (pipes, grates, electronic panels, glass pods), some (very bad) mannequins, and a few giant prop monsters that look borrowed from other mazes (I noticed that some of the monsters at the end of Infected are gone, so maybe this is their new home?). There’s potential here, and there are at least two Universal-style scares (strobe / noise / monster attack), but it just didn’t quite come together for me and I much preferred Tooth Fairy. The narrative seems to be “Uh oh! There are creatures on a space ship.” (4X) So, overall, a good night to attend. Crowds were average, but wait times weren’t bad. I think that if you go on a weekend, fast past is inevitable. And if you do want to ride the rides at all, the same is true. The mazes are all solid, but there was a distinct feel of something missing or lost this year that was hard to pinpoint. Also, having just returned from Six Flags’ Fright Fest, I’d say that their new maze, Condemned, is getting closer to Knotts’ efforts these days. Facade of The Depths. Entering the mine / boat. Hang Time sure looks great at night. The clowns congregated by the ride's exit and were scaring folks in hilarious ways. Dark Ride remains the same, and is a major improvement on that mediocre ice-forest maze that preceded it. Some of the Camp Snoopy decor. I took several second to get a well-focused and close-up shot of what I thought was a prop, only to find out it was indeed a scare actor. They held still for the picture, only to give me a near heart attack soon after. Camp Snoopy s worth walking through as it's one of the most atmospheric areas of the park. The new scare zone by Silver Bullet wasn't up to much, but the costumes there were excellent. Good old Paranormal. Gives you a sense of how quiet some areas were.

I was there the night of the SpaceX launch and took a few pics of it as well. Very trippy to see, and, at first, it was hard to wrap your head around what you were looking at. SpaceX over SFMM SFMM really upped their game this year over last year's haunt. I took a ton of pics and will try to post them soon, but Condemned was a notable step up in quality.

Those are great images, though! I suppose the old Arrow Steeplechase-style rides would fall under that category as well. I'm looking forward to seeing what the park has in mind, but I'm personally hoping it's neither an RMC or a Raptor. Dueling launches could be fun, but I'd guess that cramming two coasters into one space would restrict the overall ride length significantly. I'm guessing that whatever it is will be big on gimmicks, but hopefully still a decent ride.

What's a "mack comet"? Did the RMC Raptors copy it?

Returned to the park today and everything was back to awesome! I was there from about 3:30pm to 7pm and all rides were a walk-on with the option to stay on and ride again. Ghost Rider, of course, was the exception, but the longest wait for that was four trains (I even got one walk-on). I basically rode all my favorites about three times each (Xcelerator, Montezooma, Hang Time, Silver Bullet, Ghost Rider, Sierra Sidewinder, Supreme Scream, and La Revolucion). I also rode Jaguar and Sol Spin once each because why not? So, a great little visit! Ghost Rider seems ready for its maintenance. It's hardly rough, but you can tell that track / structure takes a beating every year and it's starting to show in quite a few spots. I rode Hang Time in the second car (far right) and found it surprisingly jolty through the inversions, but the back car (same seat) seemed super smooth. I'm not sure what caused that discrepancy, though. I'm warming to the ride a bit more (not that I didn't like it, per se, but I wasn't as enamored with it as other rides at the park), and the station was empty which made riding it even more appealing. I still think the lift is totally unnerving, the drop is pitched perfectly, and the innocuous-looking drop over the entrance is a perfect example of comfortable ejector air (it doesn't throw you into the restraint; instead, it's like having the floor pulled out from under you). I rarely ride Sierra Sidewinder because it's usually swamped with kids, but I got to ride it a couple of times today and was reminded of how forceful it is. It packs some intense positive gs into that tiny layout. I haven't ridden La Revolucion since Crazanity opened, but I got to return to it today. I dig Crazanity but still kind of prefer La Revolucion. Crazanity, to me, is a legitimately intense ride (maybe even a bit too intense), whereas La Revolucion is pure fun — especially being able to see folks opposite you fly out of their seat. Still, I think Crazanity was the perfect fit for Six Flags and La Revolucion is the perfect fit for Knotts. So, for anyone looking for a quiet day at the park with easy access to all the rides, the time is now (if you can get there on a weekday, at least). Some serious ejection on this top hat! Hang Time line. Xcelerator line. Ghost Rider line.

Wow, that tunnel clearance looks unnervingly tight! I'm a big fan of Valravn, so I'm happy to see more of these rides emerging. I'm not a fan of some of B&M's past gimmicks (flyers and standups, mainly), but love their megas or gigas or whatever they're called. These dive coasters offer smooth rides that do a fine job of balancing thrills with fun, and their visual spectacle seems like it would make them even more appealing a park. Nice choice, Canada's Wonderland, and thanks for the coverage, Doppel Looping (good name!)

Still a couple of more weeks to go then, by the sounds of it. I'm with you on Ghost Rider; I haven't ridden been on it much at all this year due to the crowds.

I didn’t roll in until 2pm, so I’m not sure.

Yes! Come on back out! Much of September, October, and November is great. It gets busy around holiday events, though.

Arguably, SoCal coaster season really kicks off (for coaster dweebs, at least) when the kids go back to school and parks offer non-stop ERT (on weekdays, at least). Since schools started back this week (inexplicably early, it seems), I went to Knotts to take in a few empty stations and a hopefully empty park. However, either tons of kids are playing hooky, or I was a bit early as the park was still filled with shrieking teens glued to cell phones and each others’ necks. IsItPacked suggested the place would be a ghost town, and, once inside the park, the Knotts app seemed to agree with “5-minute waits” for everything. However, the app was clearly not working as Ghost Rider’s line reached the first-floor switch backs, which is usually about an hour given how poorly it’s run these days. I’m kind of spoiled with a season pass in that anything more than a three-train wait is “too long” for me, so that was out, as were a few other rides. Xcelerator and Montezooma were both broken, and a few other rides crapped out in the time I was there (both Jaguar and Silver Bullet). Still, I got to ride some of my favorites: Supreme Scream, Silver Bullet (before it crapped out), and Sol Spin (not a favorite, but the line for La Revolucion — a true favorite — was too long). I got stapled so hard on Sol Spin that my legs lost circulation and, despite trying to get the ops’ attention before the ride started, they ignored me. I was able to adjust enough to mitigate discomfort, but the op was clearly not paying attention. Others on the same arm had the same problem, and one young woman was audibly distressed. Poor show, ops. I haven’t ridden Hang Time since it opened because a) I’d rather wait until the park is in full ERT mode and b) I really wasn’t that into it when I first rode it as back-to-back inversions do nothing for me. The line was down to the first switchback right by the entrance, which, when it first opened, meant the wait was somewhere around 45 minutes. This time, however, it only took 20. And, as the line seemed to shrink while I waited, I jumped back in the queue following my first ride to find the wait only 10-15 mins. The ops seem to have got the system down well. As such, I rode four times and did feel it was a bit more intense than when I first rode it. The first drop’s still better than it looks like it should be, the lift hill is genuinely unnerving, and the dip over the entrance offers surprisingly powerful air. The ride still rattles and jolts through that corkscrew thing, but the restraint design keeps it from being a problem. Overall, I appreciated it more this time around, even though it’s still not quite in my top-5 rides at the park. I also made the mistake of riding Wipeout — a ride that I recall riding as a young kid at carnivals and finding tame / boring. Spinning rides are a mixed bag for me; I’ll give them all a shot, but dizziness isn’t my thing. This one was pretty awful — fast and totally disorienting, with some pops of air that were more intense than I expected. I lost track of what it was doing, but it did seem to spend a disproportionate amount of time spinning too fast while flat. Lesson learned on that one, and I won’t bother with it again any time soon. So, for any locals waiting for the place to clear out, it’s not quite there yet. In the coming weeks, though, I’m sure there’ll be some great dead weekdays. I’ll probably head back next week or the week after to try again (and hopefully get back on Ghost Rider), as long as the weather doesn’t take another gross triple-digit turn for the worst.

I think I moved away before it went to American Adventure but I'm not entirely sure. I do recall it was tucked away in a forest clearing at Lightwater, though. The loops were the big event as there weren't many other looping coasters in the UK at the time, but the rest of it was just meandering nonsense. Still, we'd marathon it and The Rat as there wasn't much else to do there!

Thanks for the report, and to echo others: Lech looks impressive. It looks a bit like a mashup of Intamin's megalite and RMC's raptor. Fantastic to see Vekoma head in this direction, and hopefully we'll see more like this. The park's flats look great as well. Many of those spinning rides would make me sick too, but I'd ride them anyway (at least once). If it's the one that used to be at Lightwater Valley, then I've ridden that Soquet coaster many times. I lived in the area when it opened (double loops was a big deal back then), and we used to marathon it as there wasn't much else in the park at the time (it was before The Ultimate arrived). It's an odd ride — almost as if someone made it in their backyard — and I seem to recall the lift hill being drawn out and noisy.

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