The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

[coasterride509]

The Intamin cable launch system is getting too unreliable. Time for a new launch system.

RESURGENCE of the LIM'S!!

[austinlee]

I don't think the Screamin' Swing is worth paying extra to ride, but if anyone is interested, I noticed a special price they are offering for Season Passholders. $3 for one rider or $5 for two riders. Normally it is $5 per rider.

[G-Force!]

I'm a bit surprised as I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but one of Xcel's supports have been painted to it's former original color (Seafoam Green). The best part is, it looks GREAT and you can clearly see just how much the colors have faded over the years. I think Xcel might finally be getting its long awaited paint job! I apologize but I don't have a picture of it but its a support near the bottom of the drop.

[haiderodes]

I don't think the Screamin' Swing is worth paying extra to ride, but if anyone is interested, I noticed a special price they are offering for Season Passholders. $3 for one rider or $5 for two riders. Normally it is $5 per rider.

 

They have been doing this for a while.

[austinlee]

^ I just wanted to give the info since I don't remember anyone posting this before. Do you know when it started? The sign with the special prices which I saw on Monday was not there when I went to the park in January.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

^They've just been a little more active in pushing it because it's losing what little appeal it has.

[gforce532]

^Mabey if they make it free then that appeal will come back. Just a thought.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

^Perhaps, but then it would cause massive complaints of long waits...

[CreditCrazy]

Why did Knott's even go for such a smaller model? Size couldn't have been the issue...if Demon Drop could fit in that area, I'm sure a slightly larger Screamin' Swing could.

[Jew]

Because they got a good deal (rumor is that this was compensation for the Vertigo failure).

[haiderodes]

^ I just wanted to give the info since I don't remember anyone posting this before. Do you know when it started? The sign with the special prices which I saw on Monday was not there when I went to the park in January.

 

I noticed it back in December and again in February. They have two specials: 1.) 2-for-1 rides before noon 2.) the aforementioned passholder special.

 

In reality it could have been there even earlier than that. Seems that so few people actually ride it, the specials probably went unnoticed. And I agree when it comes to charging for it, they are dammed if they do, dammed if they dont. Make it free and run the chance of having a crazy line, or charge for it and have minimal ridership.

 

I always thought it would have been better to place La Revolucion in that spot. Oh well.

[ZeroG001]

I remember the Screamin' Swing passholder deal being there last year. But I guess it wasn't being advertised until now, because all I'd see signs for is the deal for two-for-one rides before noon. I would just go up and either they'd ask me if I had a pass, or I would ask them if I could use my pass for a discount. The answer was always yes.

[SuperShawn]

So today was the big day for me, I put on my TPR Hoodie and headed off to finally ride Xcelerator for the first time. Sadly it was so windy, Xcel was just creeping over the top hat. For most the day the back two cars were not being loaded, and for a while in the afternoon Xcel actually had to shut down due to winds. I still had 6 great rides in the few hours I was at the park and can't wait to ride on a not so windy day. I aslo took very few pictures but thought I'd share some just to remind everyone what Xcel looks like when its actually doing something.

Such brave souls in the front seat.... Also Notice anyone familiar?

Creeping over so slow even my point and click camera could get a shot

[gforce532]

I was at the park also today for a few hours and I felt it was weird that they weren't running the back two cars. I see how having no additional weight in the back would help crest the hill. But wouldn't the weight of additional 7 or 8 riders give the train enough momentum to crest the hill anyway. I don't claim to be an expert on physics but thats what I think. Of course today was a school day so its not like there would be a full train all time. But anyway it sure felt great to feel that launch once again.

Edited April 30, 2010 by gforce532

[austinlee]

I noticed it back in December and again in February. They have two specials: 1.) 2-for-1 rides before noon 2.) the aforementioned passholder special.

 

In reality it could have been there even earlier than that. Seems that so few people actually ride it, the specials probably went unnoticed. And I agree when it comes to charging for it, they are dammed if they do, dammed if they dont. Make it free and run the chance of having a crazy line, or charge for it and have minimal ridership.

 

Thanks for the response. When I was there on Monday that was the first I've heard of any deals. I went to the park in December but I was there from 1pm-6pm, so if they were advertising any deals, it is possible that a sign could have been taken down before I saw it. I have almost never seen anyone ride it, even on a crowded day. The ride does seem like a waste to me. An upcharge ride which is not good enough to justify paying extra and has too low of capacity to make free all the time. They probably wouldn't have a capacity problem if they made it free on school days when the park is deserted though. I don't like the ride very much but I'd ride it occasionally if I didn't have to pay.

 

I'm going to have to go back and ride Xcelerator soon. I still can't believe it reopened right after I left on Monday. If I would have thought there was any chance that it would open I would have stayed for that last hour.

[Top Thrill Dragster]

I was at the park yesterday too. I'm surprised that Xcelerator was even open because I have never seen it go over the top hat as slow as it did yesterday.

 

 

GhostRider opened late because of winds too.

 

 

Here is a couple of photos of the newly painted support, hopefully the ride receives a long over due paint job.

 

 

The photos were taken with my iPhone so please excuse the quality.

Its amazing how much this ride has faded. I forgot how vibrant this ride use to be.

[DJeXeL]

Looks great!......Let's hope the entire thing can get painted next year.

[socalMAN123]

Great to see Xcelerator back up and running again! It has really been way too long. I hope they at least wait until the winter off-season to paint it (if they do in fact paint it) because honestly, the ride has been closed much too long and more time down will only make the general public more upset. But I do agree, it badly BADLY needs a paint job.

---Brent

[jedimaster1227]

Themeparkadventure.com has posted a great recap of the "Knott's Preserved" event that just recently took place.

 

Visit http://www.themeparkadventure.com/Knotts.htm for a fantastic text and photo report covering the event from start to finish!

[PAL]

Got reacquainted with Xcel today. It had been too long. So long, it was like a new ride. (Hmm, wonder if that works for significant others? Never mind!)

 

For me, this is a front seat coaster. Air over the top hat - I didn't feel any past car two. Also somehow, its a more enjoyable experience than Kingda Ka's quick up and down. Heresy?

 

Silver Bullet was in single train ops - so slow. The other train is half taken apart, with seats and seat supports on the floor of the maintenance bay. Anyone know when that work should finish?

[CreditCrazy]

^ I agree, the front is my favorite seat on Xcelerator...snapping cables or not. I also prefer Xcelerator to the straight up-and-down ride that is TTD.

 

I was at the park for about an hour tonight to get my pass and get a ride on Xcelerator. Luckily, the pass processing line was only about 5 minutes! The rest of the park however was the busiest I've seen in a long time (but that doesn't really say much). Xcelerator had about a 35 minute line, and then I went over to Ghostrider to see the downstairs switchbacks filling up.

 

Anyway, it was so nice to get back on Xcelerator. KBF's ride collection is now complete again.

[austinlee]

I prefer the front on Xcelerator too but I have always got very good airtime on the tophat in car 5 too.

[black sabbath]

It's so nice to see that Xcelerator is finally back in operation, Im planning on riding it tommorow! It's too bad they didn't take the oportunity to paint it while it was closed for so long, I would hate to see it close again even for a paint job even though it badly needs it! Im curious though, can anyone tell me what kind of crowds I should expect for tomorrow? Me and my girlfriend are planning on going tomorrow and Im hoping to get as many rides in as possible! Since the schools are still in and it's a week day im not planning on it being busy at all, but I have never gone on a weekday before as I usually work during the week.

[Dietcokevan]

I went yesterday, it was so-so crowded. One train operations on a lot of rides. But there was some cheerleading thing that caused to be more crowded than it should have been for a weekend in May.

 

^It shouldn't be too bad, but Montezooma will be closed. You should get a lot of rides in, even with one train operations.

 

On the other hand I got a GOOD ride on Ghostrider, well good for Ghostrider, it was so good for Ghostrider's standards I actually rode it again! Got 3 rides on Xcelerator yesterday, felt so good to feel the launch, and the airtime over the tophat!

[themeparkman25]

Deleted by author

Edited January 20, 2011 by themeparkman25