The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

[JonnyRCT3]

I don't get why people keep thinking that Knott's has the land to make a giga coaster. I may have never been there, but I have Google Earth and Bing Maps. Knott's is landlocked. And it's not a large park either. Just look at it on Bing Maps:

 

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=33.844124~-117.999913&style=h&lvl=17&sp=aN.33.844124_-117.999913_Knott's+Berry+Farm&encType=1

 

It is really freaking cramped for space. Hopefully some of you guys will be able to appreciate Silver Bullet more now because with that lack of land available for it, the designs that B&M could pull off have been extremely limited thanks to what land they can work with.

 

There are several glaring problems with building a giga coaster:

 

Theoretically, this could be built in the park, however, the ride would have to intertwine with virtually everything in the whole park, supports would have to be crazy in order to work, and the atmosphere of the whole park would be ruined (which looks like that they are finally trying to preserve it.) The only real way for a giga coaster to fit in the park would be if the supports were connected to the roofs of the buildings, but since these buildings aren't meant to support such crazy loads, that would mean that a very large portion of the buildings in the park would have to be heavily modified in order to withstand all that steel on top of them. And this would be hard and expensive enough in a place like the Northeast. But this is California, and it's only about an hour or so of a drive away from the San Andreas fault line, so the supports would have to be even beefier so it doesn't collapse during an earthquake (which if this thing collapsed during an earthquake, that would mean an absolute disaster for the park because not only would their largest and most expensive investment be destroyed, all those track pieces that would come crashing down would also destroy a crap ton in the park, because you're basically letting a semi trailer fall up to 300+ feet onto whatever is under it, and since so many of the supports would be attached to the buildings, then a lot of the buildings would be destroyed.

 

Face it: unless Knott's is willing to take out a large portion of their older buildings or rides or somehow is able to buy out the parking lot on the other side of Western Avenue (on the other side of the road that Coast Rider will border) I simply cannot see a giga (or even anything remotely close to that size) coming into the park. And even if that plot of land would be purchased, it would be a very difficult fit and you would still run into a lot of the same problems, added onto requiring land for a SFKK style pedestrian bridge.

 

Well if they were to go with a maintenance-hog intamin. Supports wouldn't be much of a problem. Intamin has been evolving with their structural designe. Notice how with I305/Skyrush there are less supports and more track. With their stronger track, there is less need for supports. So It would at-least look more clean that Silver Bullet, which is a mess if you ask me. A Giga could fit, but would need to be trimmed, severely, If its supposed to fit. I should quit typing now, I'm sure allot of people are tired of this topic by now.

 

~JonnyRCT

[gforce1994]

What a perfect fit! An actual boardwalk for a THEME PARK. What a great starting point!

[MrSum1_55]

If Knott's really wanted a giga coaster, they would figure it out.

 

End of story.

[azza29]

If Knott's really wanted a giga coaster, they would figure it out.

 

End of story.

 

Exactly. If RCT3 has taught me anything it's that when you run out of room in a park, just build that giga underground...

[Jew]

If Knott's really wanted a giga coaster, they would figure it out.

 

End of story.

 

And for all we know, these new additions might be part of that bigger plan. The area definitely looks like it will be more open now.

[JonnyRCT3]

If Knott's really wanted a giga coaster, they would figure it out.

 

End of story.

 

And for all we know, these new additions might be part of that bigger plan. The area definitely looks like it will be more open now.

 

Yep, watch Knott's open up that area only for it to be cluttered with supports and footers for the Giga.

 

Just look at silver bullet. Fits the theme, and blends in perfectly. I'm sure Knott's will use this perfect recipe for the supposed Giga.

However, it seems odd to build two of the Parks biggest coaster directly next to each other. But this is Cedar Fair. Canada's Wonderland just got a bigger and air-less version of Behemoth.

[thestripedtaco]

^ I really, really doubt they would spend money on making an area look nice to only make it look like crap the next year or two. I mean at least with Silver Bullet the lake was just there and then they ruined it. This would be spending money on something to make it look good and then only ruining it later which seems completely pointless but sadly seems within the realm of possibility...

[Jew]

...Or this is already part of a bigger plan to make sure the new coaster fits in with the area.

[JonnyRCT3]

^ I really, really doubt they would spend money on making an area look nice to only make it look like crap the next year or two. I mean at least with Silver Bullet the lake was just there and then they ruined it. This would be spending money on something to make it look good and then only ruining it later which seems completely pointless but sadly seems within the realm of possibility...

 

With the support work of I305, I don't think it would look to bad.

 

 

Going out on a limb here, and awaiting hard criticism. This is just a very ROUGH calculation.

Honestly, increase the curvature of the crests of Xcelerator by about 10-15%. Launch the train from 0-90 in 2.2, make the top hat 95' taller. And you might still be able to pull of the giga-status with only about .5 more G's

[A.J.]

But what if Xcelerator already pulls 5 Gs at the bottom? Oooh, a twist!

[Jew]

^^That's a limb that surely broke when you stepped out on it. Not even worth discussing any further.

[thestripedtaco]

Was wondering if anyone has any pictures on how PP's site currently looks and if any new progress has been made on preparing the site for the 2013 additions.

[SharkTums]

^I'll ask some of our SoCal peeps to make a trip over and check it out soon.

[sixflagsgreatadven]

I bet the most cars that Knotts is gonna run is 4.

[XYZ]

Was wondering if anyone has any pictures on how PP's site currently looks and if any new progress has been made on preparing the site for the 2013 additions.

 

I went to Knott's yesterday and the splashdown and bridge are intact. The area other than the splashdown area is dirt. PP's station is removed with a big hole for where it was. Sorry, no pictures. My Knott's review will be posted soon.

 

I bet the most cars that Knotts is gonna run is 4.

 

From seeing Knott's operations, they'll probably have 6 - 8 cars running throughout the year. (8 on the busy days, 6 in the off-season)

[thestripedtaco]

^I'll ask some of our SoCal peeps to make a trip over and check it out soon.

 

Thank you. And thanks for the report XYZ. How many cars does a wild mouse usually run? I've been on a few but I really never payed attention to how many cars were running at the time.

[XYZ]

So, my review of Knott's. I think it's a very good park and my opinion is it's better than SFMM. I was there for 12 hours yesterday and I enjoyed every minute of it. Here are my reviews:

 

GhostRider: I expected a little more from GhostRider as I sat in the front seat, but it isn't as wild as Apocalypse, front seat. It's a solid woodie and the roughness is tolerable and it is my 2nd favorite wooden coaster after Apocalypse.

 

Jaguar: It's a nice family coaster, but I don't remember from a few years ago of how bad it beats your back up. I wish there was a little more padding as for that reason, it ranks the lowest of the 3 family coasters at Knott's.

 

Montezooma's Revenge: I really enjoyed Monte and it's sad of how it is currently the only shuttle loop in operation in the US. Monte's loop is more forceful than I thought as I expected the same forces as Revolution's loop. Of all the thrilling coasters of Knott's, I feel this is the most re-rideable.

 

Pony Express: This is a really good family coaster and I think it doesn't deserve all of this negativity. I was surprised on how forceful the launch is and the first hill has good laterals. I expected this to be like Survivor (CGA) in terms of the back restraint pain, but I felt no pain on Pony Express.

 

Sierra Sidewinder: I believe this is the best family coaster in Knott's as this is such a great family coaster. I have never been on such a smooth coaster ever before and I'm surprised how it kept this smootness after 5 years. Many complain about the lack of spinning, but I rode it twice and both times I had pretty good spinning. Many complain about how it is not for tall people, I'm 6' 2" and I had no problems. Sierra Sidewinder is very comfortable and I really like how comfortable Mack makes their coasters.

 

Silver Bullet: Many complain how bad it is and how forceless it is. I feel that is incorrect, it is not as intense at Batman or Top Gun, but it has pretty good forces especially on the final helix. I really don't see how good the overbank is on SB as I expected very minor weightlessness for a very short amount of time. The front seat is the best as it has the best visuals as SB has no nets underneath it.

 

Xcelerator: This has become my favorite coaster as I was blown away by the launch and there was good airtime on the top hat. It doesn't have very big forces, but I feel like it is has the perfect amount. The overbanks are really no big deal.

 

Supreme Scream: Many say how forceless it is, I don't believe that. The freefall sensation is just as good as Drop Zone (CGA) and it has a good amount of forces at the bottom of the drop.

 

Mine Ride: A very nice classic ride. I especially enjoy the final part when it is more like a runaway mine train. I must say it has very good capacity as they really cram people into the cars (though I wish they did a little less cramming).

 

Railroad: I really enjoy the railroad and it has the best view of the 2013 construction site (far superior to Sky Cabin's view). The "surprise" is always a fun part of the trip. I'm sure those who have been on the railroad before knows what the surprise is (don't spoil it!).

 

Log Ride: Of all the classic Knott's rides, this one is my favorite. I really like the logging and wilderness theme to it. I'm surprised how good operations are as they are sending logs out very quickly. It doesn't get you too wet which I enjoy. This is also the most well maintained log flume I have ever been on.

 

Sky Cabin: I was very dissapointed by this. I expected it to be a nice observation tower like Star Tower (CGA), but the cabin is just terrible. The glass is very dirty and it feels like Knott's doesn't do a good job maintaining it. I believe that Sky Cabin needs to get a new cabin.

[Sir Clinksalot]

Really? We've come full circle back to the <> has no room?

 

And by somebody who's never been to <>

 

In the interest of not just repeating what has been said here, I'll just say I agree with some of the posts on the last few pages.

[coasterfreak101]

I actually don't understand the complaints about Silver Bullet being forceless, either - the drop blows, sure, but the rest of the ride is pretty good, and I even really loved the overbank.

[thestripedtaco]

^^^ I have to agree with just about everything you said. I also like Silver Bullet a lot despite it's flaws. I might just have to make a trip of my own in a little while to see how the construction is going.

[skydye]

^I'll ask some of our SoCal peeps to make a trip over and check it out soon.

Knott's network just posted these.

Go to next page for more.

[thestripedtaco]

^ Those are great photos. I really like the two that show the current progress versus the ride before demolition. Thanks for linking those.

[Someotherguyuser]

I actually don't understand the complaints about Silver Bullet being forceless, either - the drop blows, sure, but the rest of the ride is pretty good, and I even really loved the overbank.

I also prefer Silver Bullet as a somewhat "foreceless" coaster. I love the fact that it feels so smooth and free-flying throughout the entire ride up until the helix. Feeling those tight forces like on Batman can be fun, but I find the smooth feeling to be more enjoyable that being "forced" around all over the place.

[JonnyRCT3]

I actually don't understand the complaints about Silver Bullet being forceless, either - the drop blows, sure, but the rest of the ride is pretty good, and I even really loved the overbank.

I also prefer Silver Bullet as a somewhat "foreceless" coaster. I love the fact that it feels so smooth and free-flying throughout the entire ride up until the helix. Feeling those tight forces like on Batman can be fun, but I find the smooth feeling to be more enjoyable that being "forced" around all over the place.

 

I have to agree with you on that one. I like a coaster with smoothness, and delivers on what it promises (the feeling of flight). I do like forces though, but I think the reason why SB gets so much negativity is because it's a B&M. People, since when has B&M been forcefull? I bet if it was made by any-other manufacturer it wouldn't recieve all this negativity.

Which is why I don't understand all the over-hype of I305. Greying out is "fun"? I guess this is the world I live in

[simaticable]

B&M was forceful until the mid-2000's.