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Knott's Ghost Rider


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I went to Knott's this past weekend with a few friends to have a nice empty day (on account that it was Super Bowl Sunday) at the park. We hit all the rides and went to Ghost Rider for our last ride of the day. As we were waiting in line a train pulled into the station and a woman kind of took her time getting out of the car. She turned with her front to us and kinda moved to the side and went down the stairs backwards.

 

Hummmm. One of the operators went over to inspect the seat where she was sitting. Suddenly a few more ride assistants came over and a huddle formed with a lot of whispering and head turning. One girl reached down to the seat and pulled her arm away very fast and exclaimed," I got some on my hand!" She quickly removed herself and went to wash up. I asked what happened to the female rider and no one would give me a straight answer.

 

Hummmm? After a few minutes the train left the station empty and parked itself on the beginning of the lift. Over the PA, "Ghost Rider is having technical difficulties." Another female operator walked by and I heard her say to a waiting rider,"We had to do a little cleanup on the train."

 

The ride restarted and we hopped in the waiting second train. I've been on Ghost Rider a bunch of time and all of them have been enjoyable to where a second ride always happened. I remember it being a bit jerky but it was fun.

 

After this ride I don't think I will ever ride it again. The coaster was so rough that the woman had lost control of her bladder and urinated all over the seat. Now I was sitting in the middle of the train more towards the front so I thought it might be a bit more bumpy that the front. Holy Crap was I wrong!! I walked off the ride thinking my limbs were going to fall off. My ass felt like a bear had taking a bite out of it and my ears were ringing! OMFG!!!

 

What happened to this great coaster? Does anyone know if something is going to be done about the roughness of this ride? I don't know if urinating riders is a daily event for the operators and they just clean it up and go on with their day? I'm just hoping a re-track of something to reduce the roughness and vibration is in the future.

 

If anyone knows what might be in the future for Ghost Rider please let me know. I'm a big fan of this coaster and don't want to stop riding it on the account of a puddle of pee in my seat!

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It's gotten rougher and rougher over the years. When I did the "Top Ten Coaster" show in 2002 I wasn't kidding when GhostRider was my favorite wood coaster. Now, it doesn't even come close to breaking into my top 20.

 

I think I've had one "good" ride on in the past 3 years and I'm at the point now where I don't even bother to ride it when I go to the park because I prefer to remember my good rides on it.

 

--Robb

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Some of the best coaster rides I've ever had were on Ghostrider at the first Solace. Anyone that was there and remembers those night rides in the rain would probably agree.

 

I have not been on the ride since 2004 or so, but even then it was nothing like it used to be. I put the blame squarely on Cedar Fair and their refusal to spend money to properly maintain this ride. It is in dire need of a total re-tracking. I highly doubt this will happen, though, as it's something that has needed to be addressed for years and CF doesn't seem interested in doing anything other than the bare minimum to keep the ride running. Sad, really.

 

dt

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Usually when I ride GhostRider I get a non wheel seat, and I love the ride.

 

3 weeks ago I had an exit pass from Pony Express and I used it on GhostRider and was assigned to a wheel seat. Man, it felt like someone was taking a jackhammer to my ribs on every valley on the ride. Absolutely terrible.

 

I really hope Knotts dose something to fix this ride.

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My new name for Ghostrider is "kinda pissed off Streak" or "baby Streak". Only problem now is, Mean Streak is less painful.

 

What a shame. I really have no desire to go back to Knotts ever again. Ghostrider was the featured attraction for me. Without it, Knotts is filled with mediocre coasters.

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When I rode it in 2005 in September after it's annual rehab it was fine, a bit jerky but in a fun way.

 

Then I rode it again in August 2007 and it was so bad and rough I couldn't wait to get off. I put it down being just before it's annual rehab but it sounds like it sucks all the time now.

 

I'm also sad to see such a good ride go so far downhill (no pun intended).

 

Knott's are more than welcome to replace Ghostrider with a Maverick clone or a Megalite. But better still just fix it, maybe the GCI guys can work their rehab magic on it on another coaster they didn't build.

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Everytime I go to Knott's I usually will ride Ghostrider at least once. Due to the roughness, I usually won't ride it more than that but occasionally I do.

 

On my most recent visit to the park (Nov. 2008) I ended up riding Ghostrider three times. The first ride was right when the park opened and it wasn't actually too rough at that time. When I went on it in the afternoon it was rougher but still tolerable. I then rode it right before leaving at the end of the day and it was horrible. The ride almost felt like it was jumping along the tracks instead of rolling. I guess Ghostrider is one coaster its better to ride early before it has warmed up.

 

I still think Mean Streak is rougher than Ghostrider but only by a little bit. Unlike Ghostrider, however, I would never consider doing Mean Streak twice in one day. Of course, Cedar Point has many coasters better than Mean Streak but Knott's doesn't really have anything better than Ghostrider except maybe Xcelerator.

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I was a little worried for Ghostrider before I rode it because I'd heard it's extremely rough, and yeah it was rough, but also awesome. I mean it had everything. Speed, air-time, great pacing, headchoppers, a great/long layout, along with roughness, but I'm willing to deal with the roughness for the awesome ride that it is. But I am taking no chances and never riding it in the back

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^I think Wes meant travel out of California and you will find that California is very poor when it comes to wood coasters relatively speaking, and on that front I agree totally.

 

I wish California had El Toro, Phoenix, and Boulder Dash for starters, that would mean a less travel for me.

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^^I am not getting out of California. No way. I'm sorry but California has some of the best parks out there & I love living in the same state as Disneyland & SFMM.

 

Hey I love Cali and the parks too (well, maybe I don't love SFMM) but I think a roadtrip to the midwest or back east would change your opinion on Colossus. Just sayin.

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Okay, when I first saw this thread I figured it was about Ghostrider and if it was rough or not. And yes I definately agree that California sucks when it comes to woodies. You gotta go to Kemah, Cliff's, or Silverwood to get on a good one. Ghostrider is very good to me, but it probably seems that way because I don't have other good ones to compare it too. Same with Giant Dipper (SCBB) and Roar (SFDK).

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For pretty much me entire childhood-tween life I had only experienced the wooden coasters in So Cal. Like everyone from out here, I thought Colossus was incredible. I went to visit a friend from Pennsylvania and rode Phoenix, and I had one of those HOLY S**T moments where everything you thought you knew was wrong. It was like finding out Santa Clause wasn't real.

 

^ Its a great ride, its just not getting the attention that it needs.

 

Hopefully the upcoming rehab will smooth the ride out.

 

People have been saying this for like 5 years now. It's not getting any better.

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