SuperShawn Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I hadn't been to Knott's since I was 8, I am now 22, so much has changed and been added, I thought I had much to look forward to... Driving up listening to Highway to Hell, only seemend appropriate given other TR I have read and the blah kind of day I was about to have. I had watched the park website making sure Ghostrider was the only coaster listed for rehab. Which it was up until yesterday morning when Xcelerator was added to that list. First strike of the day. It's listed to be in rehab till the end of March for now. We arrived purchased our tickets and waited inline surrounded by masses of elementary and jr high students there on Physics day field trips... The gates opened and this is where the park gets strike 2. Camp Snoopy and Ghost town where the only area's open until 11am. Thats fine except Ghost rider was closed. And Pony Express wasn't going to open until 11am either. And to top it off Silver Bullet was blocked off for the filming of a commercial! Which was probably planned quite some time in advanced, and had I known I would have opted to wait a day to go to the park. So everyone was either waiting for Sierra Sidewinder *running only 1 train* or the Log Flume. I was instantly irritated I was there so early, the only accessible coaster had a long line and basically no other rides where reachable except kiddie ones that no one wanted to ride. How ever we went straight to and got right on Sierra Sidewinder before the line was overflowing. I ended up riding it 4 times through out the day, I liked the ride I only wish the cars had spun more, if at all on some of my ride. Screamin' Swing had a good deal of $5 dollars for 2 riders before noon, so we hoped on. I had never been on one of these rides and didn't know what to expect, it packed a bit more of a punch then I expected. A swing on super steroids now gets my approval any day of the week. We killed time until the rest of the park was open and road Jaguar which was a bit rough but enjoyable. As well as Montezuma's Revenge. Then over to my worst fear... Boomerang. I'd never been on one, and was scared of what damage it might do to me. I rode in the back, and surprisingly it wasn't bad at all. Later in the day I rode in the front, and that was the mistake that practically killed me. I had a headache the rest of the day. Lesson learned. Making our way back to Pony Express I was excited to try out this style of coaster. As I got on my pony, I kept thinking this is awkward feeling. I never really felt securely locked in, especially on the first turn around where my body would feel like it was sliding right off the seat and out the side. I; like so many others, wish they had made it a bit longer, seeing as its over just as it starts. None the less it was fun and we rode it 5 times during the day. Killing time became a bit of a drag but at 5pm, Silver Bullet finally opened to the general public. I really enjoyed this more then I expected. It was an extremely smooth ride. The over banked turn was more fun then I had thought it would be, a real good lift out of the seat before diving down into the cobra roll. We were able to ride it twice in the hour it was open due to 1 train running, and basically everyone in the park running in line as soon as it became open to the public. I have to say the Silver Bullet crew was the only efficient crew paying attention and not goofing of or taking their sweet time with each train. Kudos to them. Silver Bullet is not my favorite inverted coaster, but it's still a good ride. In the end I got my credits; minus 2, however I'm not running to go back to Knotts any time soon to get them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreditCrazy Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Boomerang was rough in the front and smooth in the back? Wow, I think the complete opposite of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPmaverick Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 ^ Surprisingly, I had the same experience on Sidewinder at Hersheypark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonjovimonkey Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Hubby and i started our day at Knott's but when we saw not only Ghostrider but Xcellerator and then Silver Bullet added to the list we left the park shorly after arriving in the morning. Hubby will be kinda bummed about Xcellerator not being open the whole month of March (his bday is March 8th) but glad Silver Bullet was only down for filming. We ended up at Disneyland and had a great day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 For me, the sad thing about Knott's is that even though they have nine coasters, few of them are really any fun. Xcelerator is fine, as is Silver Bullet (well, I think so). Jaguar and Montezooma's Revenge are pretty good. Boomerang...eh. Sierra Sidewinder is fun, but too short. Timberline Twister, I don't even bother with it. Pony Express is fun but way too short. GhostRider has gotten far too rough to enjoy anymore. I'll say it again for the eleventeenth time: Knott's was more fun 30 years ago. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreditCrazy Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 There's also lots of flats and great water rides, but I agree. Not many of Knott's coasters are too great. - Xcelerator is amazing and perfect. - Silver Bullet is pretty good. - Ghostrider is pretty good. - Montezooma is decent. And everything else is really unenjoyable to me and I don't really bother with them. I'd say Perilous Plunge, Big Timber Mountain Logride, and Bigfoot rapids all make up for it though. They are all extremely fun. Knott's just has to have everything open. If everything I just mentioned is open, Knott's can be great and possibly even come close to beating SFDK which comes close to beating SFMM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the ghost Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 ^ I used to love Bigfoot, but now that pony express ruined the awesome and peaceful woodland area it is completely ruined. They still have the trees and stuff, but I? consider rapids to be relaxing in a thrilling way if that makes sense. The setting makes the ride for me(Grizzly, even SFMM's rapids are nice) but bigfoot+ pony express= epic fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreditCrazy Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Nah I'm not complaining about that. It's not like Pony Express is some big giant coaster completely ruining the atmosphere. It's just a nice little ride in the area. I'd still call the area peaceful - but Pony Express's colors could be a bit more "forest-ish" to go with the area. Oh and you can't forget those awesome Pony Express shots you can get in Bigfoot's line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UberBeavis Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Fail Day At Knott's - Didn't even bother to go in the gate when we saw this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Thrill Dragster Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 ^Ouch. I bet there were a lot of unhappy people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itnotfair Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 ^^Totally understandable why you turned right around. What a let down! But while I'm here, can I get a little Schwarzie love? Montezooma was a great ride 20 years ago, and it still is. I'm so glad we have a Schwarzkopf on the west coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperShawn Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 ^ Amen to the Schwarzkopf love! At one point in the day the brakes failed to catch the train and it almost got stuck in the loop. What a ride that would have been! Fail Day At Knott's - Didn't even bother to go in the gate when we saw this At least you guys caught that sign... the only one I saw didn't have Silver Bullet listed. When we took the train ride round the park, the oh-so-happy lady said that as part of this Rehab on Xcellerator it would be getting a paint job. Not sure if there's truth behind that. Any one know anything beyond that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Force! Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I wouldn't take that information too seriously. I doubt we will see a full paint job happen but they are fixing up some smaller things right now so thats at least a start. If they do start painting the track again, I'll be amazed and shocked but at this time I haven't heard anything yet. So, we shall see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 A paint job for Xcelerator would be nice, being that the current one is the original one, now seven years old. But there are more important things for Cedar Fair to fix first. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkman25 Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Why were that many rides closed? Winter rehab before spring break perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Force! Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Xcel is down for "unknown" reasons. Ghostrider is down for a short rehab into March and I believe Silver Bullet was down briefly for a commercial shoot but its back up and running again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Looks like Solace is down one coaster for ERT. Too bad---Xcelerator is a favorite. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreditCrazy Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Xcelerator would have been the only reason for me to go to Solace. Screw that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themeparkman25 Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Weak! I just read over on screamscape that xcelerator will be down until at least April?! There goes my spring break plans! Does anyone have any idea why? What was wrong when it closed last time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpxtreme Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 If it weren't for Xcelerator, I would have not gone to Knott's this past summer. There coasters are mediocre and Silver Bullet is the worst coaster in the park IMO. There are absolutely no forces on that ride what-so-ever. Unless I get in the park free, paying to go there with Xcelerator running is not worth it to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 ^ I have to disagree with you about Silver Bullet. Sure, there are better coasters, but for me, Silver Bullet packs a good punch on the last helix, and I actually get some air around the overbanked turn and in between the two corkscrews. My only gripe about it is the weak first drop. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy4Coasters! Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 ^ I completly agree with you, the first drop is really tame but other than that it's a pretty smooth that's fun and enjoyable... but for sure it ain't no Batman. ^^Sure I would love to feel those head squeezing G's from Batman but I think Snoopy wasn't looking for a ride to bust your brains out. So please don't chew out Silver Bullet, it could be much much worse. And about your point of view that Silver Bullet is the worst ride at knott's, I bet you after Xcelerator, Silver Bullet probably is the 2nd favorite ride for the general public in the whole park... and remember am speaking for the G.P. because for me I think Monte is my 2nd favorite in the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 I think the worst coaster at Knott's (for me) is Timberline Twister. Thanks to those lap bars, I get a good crease across my thighs that lasts for days. To me, there are no bad coasters at Knott's; just a few mediocre ones and an extremely painful wooden one. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy4Coasters! Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Hehe... But again I completely agree with you my Pumba loving friend. But in a distant second from Ghostrider the whacked out Green and Purple "I want to be just like Deja Vu" colored boomerang is also a little on the ruff side. So people just give Snoopy some extra love, he always comes out and ice skates for you in the winter... Can't someone throw this beagle a bone??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 "Can't someone throw this beagle a chunk of wood from GhostRider???" Fixed. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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