The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

[coasterbill]

I'm not formally participating in the timeshare but if you guys let us crash on the couch occasionally I promise to keep the beer fridge fully-stocked.

[coasternut]

Well it wasn't a bluff. Monty is closed as per the Knotts website today.

[grsupercity]

I am guessing a new train with a new LIM launch system done by Gerstlauer

[JJLehto]

7 hours ago, KBrylczyk said:

 

Hold up a minute.  I'm all for a TPR Timeshare in SoCal and I'm pretty darn sure a bunch of you other maniacs are, as well.

 

I value the knowledge and tips/advice of the enthusiast community but I won't lie, I could never live with yall XD
 

Though hilariously I have been applying to jobs all over, including CA, so watch me end up living by KBF anyway. If so anyone is always free to crash on my couch and beer is absolutely acceptable payment. 

[joelwee]

Psych!..... Knott's announced on IG today that Zoom is back open "for a limited time", starting today. They didn't say how long it'll be open before its actual closing.

[swfan1988]

Great, how is this park supposed to build a giga coaster if they can't even figure out when they are gonna close a ride for "refurbishment" (now) major renovations? Thanks a lot Cedar Fair...

Also, they randomly announced that they are adding a new Italian restaurant this summer...replacing Hollywood Hits...on some place called "Memory Lane" (Where's that? It says on the park map that Hollywood Hits is part of the boardwalk)...

So we got a reopened ride...a random pizza place...and a new area (maybe, I'm not sure? Is "Memory Lane" really a thing?)...all announced at once! I'm just saying...the PR guy must be drunk...or something else weird is going on here...maybe those giga plans were real after all...

[ryder]

I"d imagine that reopening Montezuma again is mostly because not only did they only give a three day notice, but one of those three days (the last Saturday!) the ride went down all day, so it turned out to be only a two day notice. 

[thrillseeker4552]

I love the look of the new eatery. That area of the park did need some TLC. And I am all about more easily accessible and higher capacity drink refill stations.

Glad they reopened Monte for the time being. I was a little surprised they gave such short notice initially. Who knows why they did that (aside from the downtime this weekend) but it's not a bad thing, get your "last" rides in everybody!

[Rusty Nail]

Maybe they decided to keep Montezooma open longer to help with ride capacity

https://www.knotts.com/scheduled-ride-closures

Closed Rides:

High Sierra Ferris Wheel

Pig Pen's Mud Buggies

Wipeout

Supreme Scream

Timber Mountain Log Ride

Xcelerator The Ride®

[Animal]

I was able to hit the park today for a little bit. Got some good pictures of the new eatery/brewery. I think it looks great!! They must be tearing down this old building completely to put this up. 

In addition I was able to marathon Montezumas Revenge for one last time. Still a great ride!!! I hope the launch stays intense!!!

[thrillseeker4552]

Xcelerator down again? Hmm, interesting. Maybe the closure back in Nov-Dec was for repaint only and not regular maintenance? Or maybe (hopefully) they're painting over the ugly gray sections? Lol.

Also, throughout my entire lifetime of going to Knott's as far back as I can remember, I've never seen Supreme Scream down (obviously not 100% true but it has incredible uptime)! They always have it least *one* tower open. Supreme Scream and Silver Bullet are the ol' reliable for the park.

Also, the concept^ looks great! Excited for all these changes coming to the park.

[firebird81]

Why would  it take a year and a half to change over to LIMs and add new trains. That seems like a 90 day refurb at most. But they specifically used the word renovation. That leads me to believe they are doing something much more involved and Monty may have seen it's last days as a simple shuttle loop....I still think they should just turn Jaguar into an Intamin Blitz. Keep the station and theming. You can even use pretty much the same foot print for the most part.

[boldikus]

28 minutes ago, thrillseeker4552 said:

Or maybe (hopefully) they're painting over the ugly gray sections? Lol.

[joelwee]

13 hours ago, firebird81 said:

Why would  it take a year and a half to change over to LIMs and add new trains. That seems like a 90 day refurb at most. But they specifically used the word renovation. That leads me to believe they are doing something much more involved and Monty may have seen it's last days as a simple shuttle loop....I still think they should just turn Jaguar into an Intamin Blitz. Keep the station and theming. You can even use pretty much the same foot print for the most part.

Or maybe the new giga will actually be Monte raised 300 ft. in the air. 

[kbfbest]

14 hours ago, firebird81 said:

Why would  it take a year and a half to change over to LIMs and add new trains. That seems like a 90 day refurb at most. But they specifically used the word renovation. That leads me to believe they are doing something much more involved and Monty may have seen it's last days as a simple shuttle loop....I still think they should just turn Jaguar into an Intamin Blitz. Keep the station and theming. You can even use pretty much the same foot print for the most part.

I think Zoom is going to get more done to it then just a new launch and trains. Other shuttle loops needed track work done to them and they didnt have the cycles on them zoom has. 

any work at Knotts take time so no its not as you say 90 day refeb.... Zoom interacts with a lot of other rides that would need to get shut down for some of the work and you cant move/get construction stuff around if the park is open so a lot of the work is going to be done when the park isnt open.   

[KBrylczyk]

1 hour ago, joelwee said:

Or maybe the new giga will actually be Monte raised 300 ft. in the air. 

Worth it, but only if they install an elevator.

[Jew]

On 1/11/2022 at 7:38 PM, firebird81 said:

Why would  it take a year and a half to change over to LIMs and add new trains. That seems like a 90 day refurb at most. But they specifically used the word renovation. That leads me to believe they are doing something much more involved and Monty may have seen it's last days as a simple shuttle loop....I still think they should just turn Jaguar into an Intamin Blitz. Keep the station and theming. You can even use pretty much the same foot print for the most part.

I don’t think you have any idea how complex converting the ride to a different launch system really would be. 6 months would be considered a fast turnaround…

you need a new train, new electrical system, new control system, structural modifications, training the crew again, getting state certification…

 

[firebird81]

1 hour ago, Jew said:

I don’t think you have any idea how complex converting the ride to a different launch system really would be. 6 months would be considered a fast turnaround…

you need a new train, new electrical system, new control system, structural modifications, training the crew again, getting state certification…

 

You're right, I don't, which is why I asked. But they build entire coasters in that amount of time. They're not building a train onsite, so that wouldn't require shutting it down. I mean, Xcelerator was announced in December of 2001 and opened at the end of June in 2002....7 months later. Why would it take twice as long to just upgrade a shuttle coaster?

[KBrylczyk]

14 minutes ago, firebird81 said:

Why would it take twice as long to just upgrade a shuttle coaster?

Just spitballin' here, but so many reasons, man.  So many.  One major thing might be the pandemic taking an extraordinary bite out of expected income. They might be spreading the project out so they don't have to worry about schedule conflicts, there's more than likely massive shipping delays for literally everything, labor issues with third-party companies, yadda yadda yadda. 

Xcelerator was built in a time where amusement parks were exploding in popularity and in constant competition with each other for a "World's First" title, of course they're gonna get it built as quickly as possible before anyone else can steal their thunder.  Giving a 44-year-old shuttle coaster a refurb isn't nearly on that level of giving a shit.

Basically, they're gonna do what they feel is the most financially-beneficial route for the park to succeed. If that means I can't go "whee" on a ride I've been on a thousand times already, well, I feel like that's not the end of the world.

[firebird81]

2 hours ago, KBrylczyk said:

Just spitballin' here, but so many reasons, man.  So many.  One major thing might be the pandemic taking an extraordinary bite out of expected income. They might be spreading the project out so they don't have to worry about schedule conflicts, there's more than likely massive shipping delays for literally everything, labor issues with third-party companies, yadda yadda yadda. 

Xcelerator was built in a time where amusement parks were exploding in popularity and in constant competition with each other for a "World's First" title, of course they're gonna get it built as quickly as possible before anyone else can steal their thunder.  Giving a 44-year-old shuttle coaster a refurb isn't nearly on that level of giving a shit.

Basically, they're gonna do what they feel is the most financially-beneficial route for the park to succeed. If that means I can't go "whee" on a ride I've been on a thousand times already, well, I feel like that's not the end of the world.

After I posted, I started thinking the same thing. It took forever to get that part for Hang Time last year. 

[southpuddle]

Same reason it takes a lot longer to refurbish a classic car instead of just building a brand new car at a factory. When you’re (presumably) keeping many of the original components extra care needs to be taken. 

[Jew]

1 hour ago, southpuddle said:

Same reason it takes a lot longer to refurbish a classic car instead of just building a brand new car at a factory. When you’re (presumably) keeping many of the original components extra care needs to be taken. 

Great analogy.  The engineering and re-building process is completely different.  It’s not “plug and play” like a new coaster.

As others have mentioned as well, supply chains are still messed up right now. Sourcing the components could be another factor for why the project is expected to take so long (remember, they’re not just buying the parts to open the ride, they have to buy spares too).

Or, hypothetically, if they are going to keep the flywheel launch but need a brand new one since the old one isn’t able to be repaired any longer, you’d be asking a manufacturer to build a one off of something that tooling has long since disappeared. 

Ultimately, there are lots of reasons why it could be scheduled for such a long downtime, but it’s certainly not unusual.
 

[JT325]

Here's to hoping they keep the original style train as much as possible: nice flat-ish seat pad and straight-back chair posture, like Schwarzkopf and Intamin intended.  Not the atrocity train design Mind Bender got (and Revolution while I'm at it; but those are so much better than the previous messes). 

The ride and trains are essentially perfect - a rarity in the coaster world.  Knott's probably know how special that is.

[Vital808]

Hey guys.... I moved to San Diego last year from Philly and thinking of hitting up Knott's for the first time this Sunday 1/30. Been checking the website and it has listed Xcelerator as closed for the last week+ but I thought it just opened back up after the repaint? Does anyone know if it has been open? Also, is MR still open or did they close it down again for the refurb?

Thank you!

[Rusty Nail]

11 hours ago, Vital808 said:

Hey guys.... I moved to San Diego last year from Philly and thinking of hitting up Knott's for the first time this Sunday 1/30. Been checking the website and it has listed Xcelerator as closed for the last week+ but I thought it just opened back up after the repaint? Does anyone know if it has been open? Also, is MR still open or did they close it down again for the refurb?

Thank you!

Xcelerator is operating weekends only until a new part arrives,  supposedly this is to prevent another Hangtime situation.