Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

Knott's Ghost Rider


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 72
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

I went on it in February of 2008 and was really surprised at how great it was. I had pretty low expectations, but my two rides (front seat and 7:1) were both fantastic. It wasn't smooth in any way, but it wasn't jackhammery rough, either. I may have kind of a high tolerance for roughness in a wood coaster, though.

 

I think Villain kind of set the standard for what I think an awful wood coaster is like.

 

Ghostrider, to me, was like playful roughhousing. Villain was like a punch in the kidneys with brass knuckles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"I agree that Ghostrider needs to be retracked" (WFChris)

 

You can retrack a coaster all you like, but it'll return to its former self fairly soon. Colossus at SFMM has replaced most of its under layers with steel I-beams with a layer or two of wood on top. Still a bit rough, but tolerable (I just rode that on Super Bowl Sunday).

 

I think the problem is that today's wood isn't as hardy as older wood. In GhostRider's case, as well as SOB, Mean Streak, and other taller woodies, that translates into rougher rides a lot sooner. It'll be interesting to see how the Intamin woodies (El Toro, Balder, etc.) hold up over time.

 

Eric

 

I believe Colossus only has I-beams in the first drop, which actually has a small pop of airtime now because of that!

 

CCI also used southern yellow pine because it was cheaper, but it also turned out to be of inferior quality.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ My first ride on it was at 7am on media day. When the ride was over, it really blew me away.

 

Hah! I've got you beat!

 

The GhostRider of that opening year is/would-still-be my favorite coaster. And while Wes has a point in regards to the general fall in Mitch's poll of CCI's, I am going to lay some blame at Cedar Fair's feet. Their Achilles heel as a company seems to be engaging in self-fulling prophesies. They don't don't focus on theming because their theming doesn't come out well. And they don't like wooden coasters because they get too rough.

 

Rumor has it that they wanted to kill GhostRider when they first came in and build a hypercoaster instead. Seems like it would have been a good idea now, doesn't it?

 

It's funny how "smart" they are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"I believe Colossus only has I-beams in the first drop" (Jew)

 

Actually, the last bunny hops have some I-beams in them (I noticed that on the parallel track during my ride last Sunday). Next time I ride, I'll check out where else they are.

 

Also, of note, there was some retracking going on in the first turnaround. Some wood was piled on the track (it was closed anyway). I didn't get pictures because we're not supposed to take on-ride photos.

 

Eric

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I rode Ghostrider about 3 months after it opened when I was eight. I remember it being GLASS smooth. All you felt was the wind against your face and the massive airtime the ride is filled with attempting to throw you out of the train, it felt like the train was gliding through thin air, it was that smooth.

 

Last time I rode it a couple of months ago, it was probably the worst wooden coaster experience I'd ever had.

 

I marathoned on Mean Streak just this past summer, AND it's trims were barely on so that it was running at almost full speed and the pain I felt afterwards wasn't a 10th of what I felt after riding Ghostrider 1 TIME!

 

Ghostrider was my top woodie for years and now it's probably dead last.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

 

I thought you were going to say the seat on that train was covered in poop. OMG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My last ride on GhostRider was in the back seat on New Year's Eve, and it was the smoothest ride I've ever had on GhostRider. That said, I never did ride it back in its first few years, but on that night it felt smoother than Colossus. It was a LOT of fun.

 

Of course, I've had a mixed bag of rides on it, but typically it's more fun than painful for me. Maybe I just have a high tolerance for roughness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ghostrider has perhaps the coolest layout of the CCI era (and woodies in general.) The "slow mid-course turn" is seldom seen, and it builds into the insane second half beautifully. I think it was the pacing that I loved so much about the ride, and of course, "the drop" (yep, one of the first Alvey videos had the views of the different people experiencing "the drop.") I think that "the drop" introduced me to ejector air. And God...that second half, so fast and unrelenting.

 

Does anyone remember the helix BEFORE they modded it?

 

So anyway, yeah, Ghostrider is worse than Mean Streak, or even Psyclone. It is painful and just downright upsetting. I have actually apologized to friends after riding it (scariest part of the haunt...that damn turn after the first drop. Freaking OWWW!!!)

 

-Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe they should have B&M redesign the trains? That worked once, didn't it? On that one smooth-as-glass wooden coaster up the 5?

 

All joking aside, remember when Psyclone was good? I stood in a line that started at Roaring Rapids' exit. Ouch!

 

I do miss the good Ghostrider, and of course, 'the drop.' That one night at the first solace, I think it was foggy, and they turned the lights off and it was pretty much a highlight in my roller coaster dork history.

 

chris.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ My first ride on it was at 7am on media day. When the ride was over, it really blew me away.

 

Hah! I've got you beat!

 

The GhostRider of that opening year is/would-still-be my favorite coaster. And while Wes has a point in regards to the general fall in Mitch's poll of CCI's, I am going to lay some blame at Cedar Fair's feet. Their Achilles heel as a company seems to be engaging in self-fulling prophesies. They don't don't focus on theming because their theming doesn't come out well. And they don't like wooden coasters because they get too rough.

 

Rumor has it that they wanted to kill GhostRider when they first came in and build a hypercoaster instead. Seems like it would have been a good idea now, doesn't it?

 

It's funny how "smart" they are.

 

It would not have happened, GhostRider was built a little more than a year after the Knotts family sold the park. A roller coaster takes a lot of planning, so they must have been working on it for at least a good year, cause I'm sure they began working on the layout and stuff. Ghostrider may be tall, but it has a storyline(kind of) it has a little theming, nothing major, but not a complete lack of charm. The Knott's family would never have allowed a hyper at knotts, same as I'm 90% sure if they were still in charge there would be no Accelerator. Also, remember, the buyout was pretty clear, because Knotts used to be an awesome family park with an awesome atmosphere, now its a credit stop, nothing more, nothing less.

 

 

In my opinion that's Cedar Fair's downfall(from a theming enthusiasts opinion) they think every park is a Cedar Point and that a lot of coasters will fix everything. That may work in some places, but in So Cal why would people go to Knotts as a family when we have Disneyland and DCA, two of the finest parks in the country(yes, DCA fits in that category in my opinion) and you have SFMM, the park with the second highest number of roller coasters in the world. They should never have touched Knott's, it provided a charming experience(who remembers the awesome old days of Scary Farm before the buyout)

 

That's my rant/two cents about CF in general. Just have Herschend, Disney, Universal, Busch/Inbev buy them all.

 

The In a Perfect World Ghost

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ Let me clarify just a bit.

 

The Knott's family had wanted to put a wooden roller coaster into Ghost Town for years, and were in the process when Cedar Fair came in. Cedar Fair hated the idea and wanted to cancel the project, since construction had not yet begun. But since the contracts were already signed, they were going to have to pay CCI whether they built the ride or not.

 

On the plus side, CF did pour more money into the project to get it done more quickly.

 

Of course, there was supposed to be streams and water and (more) landscaping all around the queue area and approach to the lift, too. But CF never quite got around to finishing that.

 

In any case, CF never really loved the project. And now that the ride isn't very worthwhile, it sort of backs up their initial opinion. Which would be fine, if they weren't the ones responsible for it no longer being worthwhile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Most of the original Knott's family's rides were nicely themed, or a least felt like they belonged their. Now, we have pony express killing the charm of WWW. Bigfoot used to be some awesome looking and so separated. Now when you ride, all you see is red track everywhere.

 

 

1000th post

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/