The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

[XYZ]

I love the direction Knott's management is going. I mean, look at these 2013 improvements:

 

-New 2013 Boardwalk rides

-Knott's classic scrambler returning

-Log Ride refurbishment

-New Boomerang color scheme

[Voxelmatic]

I love the direction Knott's management is going. I mean, look at these 2013 improvements:

 

-New 2013 Boardwalk rides

-Knott's classic scrambler returning

-Log Ride refurbishment

-New Boomerang color scheme

It makes me all giddy inside to think that Cedar Fair is done with their OMG THRILLZ stage at this park. It's nice to see them finally targeting the right audience.

[silentabomb]

^knock on wood

[Randomman295]

Wow, I guess I just now realized how much Xcelerator and Boomerang desperately need a couple weeks of rehab.

And I was worried about SFMM.

[cfc]

Wow, I guess I just now realized how much Xcelerator needs a rehab and Boomerang desperately to be demolished.

 

Fixed.

[GayCoasterGuy]

Sorry to hear about Boomerang's new paint, they must be planning on keeping it for a while.

 

Hilarious I nearly spit out my pop when I read that. Thanks for the good laugh. In all reality, if Knott's Boomerang is like others I've been to recently (haven't been to Knott's since 1999!) then it's probably very popular with kids and families. Boomerangs are still fun to watch.

 

I was hoping an El Loco would soon be in that spot.

 

I would love to see more El Locos. The one at Indiana Beach (Steel Hawg) is a great/fun ride, even with the shoulder clamp things. I'm sure the newer models are even better with the lap bar only restraints:

 

 

Similar to Dare Devil Dive at SFOG, the ride could be a little longer (pre-lift section, anyone?) but does some great stunts comfortably.

[DougMJr]

Off topic, the 8 seat el loco cars look HUGE compared to the track in that picture!

 

On topic. I don't really have a problem with boomerangs. I like the ones I have been on. Yeah, Boom's colors are pretty Butt Ugly and hopefully this will fix that. And a new train couldn't hurt (as much). Has there been any KumbaK train installations on Boomerangs yet?

[GayCoasterGuy]

Off topic, the 8 seat el loco cars look HUGE compared to the track in that picture!

 

I though I read somewhere that S&S offers the original 4 seat cars (2 rows of 2) with the lap bars as well. Or was it Gerstlauer offering the original 8 seat cars (2 rows of 4) with lap bars? Or both? Either/or, kudos to them as lap bars rock. Shoulder anythings suck.

[Myself]

^Both, actually. Iron Shark debuted Gerstlauer's 8-seater cars with lapbars only, and S&S will debut 4-seater lapbar cars on the Angry Birds El Loco opening at Happy Valley. They had a car from it displayed at IAAPA.

[Rocket Rodder]

Wow, boomerang WON'T be the barny ride anymore! o_O

 

 

The public seem to like it enough, and if they did add the newer trains like someone else mentioned, that could be huge...

 

or, if it's even possible, reverse the train so it starts out backwards?

[GayCoasterGuy]

or, if it's even possible, reverse the train so it starts out backwards?

 

Did you mean forwards?

[XYZ]

or, if it's even possible, reverse the train so it starts out backwards?

 

Honestly, if they turn the train backwards on Boomerang, it really won't change the ride at all...

[jray21]

Has there been any visible work on the log ride been done? Really can't wait to see it all nice and refreshed!

[XYZ]

Has there been any visible work on the log ride been done? Really can't wait to see it all nice and refreshed!

 

I saw some workers on the flume that looked like they are re-painting it. The lift belt has been removed for replacement. All of the Log Ride's logs are being stored next to Xcelerator.

 

Also, I forgot to mention that one of Silver Bullet's trains is all ripped apart for re-hab. So, Silver Bullet will have one train operation for some time.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Wow, boomerang WON'T be the barny ride anymore! o_O

 

 

The public seem to like it enough, and if they did add the newer trains like someone else mentioned, that could be huge...

 

or, if it's even possible, reverse the train so it starts out backwards?

 

LOL, YES, This is a great idea!

 

The only improvement they can make to the ride is adding the new train and restraints, or just remove it all together.

[robbalvey]

Remember when GhostRider used to run freakin' AWESOME like this?

[Wingwright]

^I miss the speed going into the drop at 1:45!

[DJeXeL]

^^I was just looking at this video the other day and reminiscing on how great this coaster once was.....

Haunt of '98 I waited 2 hours for it and it was worth every minute. Now I don't even give it a courtesy ride.

Such a shame.

[historyfreak92]

Nice cool update! I'm sure that Xcelerator will look like apple red! Also it looks better as it's getting!

[Xmeister]

I was 8 when I rode GhostRider for the first time. It was around two weeks after it opened, and even then, as an 8 year old I knew the ride was special. I'd say back then it was probably the best rollercoaster in the world, or at the very least in the top 3.

 

My gut feeling says that I don't think we'll ever see the coaster run as good as it did when it opened. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

 

The way it just hurtled to "the drop" was definitely an OMFG moment.

[rcdude]

I remember when I first rode GhostRider, as it was my first big coaster. Back then, I thought the ride was awesome and terrifying at the same time. By the point that I really started to get into coasters, the ride had begun to deteriorate, but up until about five years ago I still thought it was decent. The ride today isn't bad, but it's not great either.

 

More recently, I rode the ride a couple weeks ago in the front seat and had the best ride I've had on it in 5-6 years. It made me realize that if this ride got some topper track and new trains, even without all the fancy layout changes Rocky Mountain tends to do it would probably be one of the top ten wooden coasters in the United States again.

[robbalvey]

^ The front seat is the only place I'll ride Ghostrider anymore, and you know, it's not that bad in the front, but man, you can really FEEL that it wants to give you more airtime and wants to give you more speed.

 

Someone just posted on the YouTube comments that they compared this video to a recent Ghostrider video and there is a 15 second difference between the two! And when the actual ride time in this video is only 80 seconds, that's a huge difference, and not a good one.

[chickenbowl]

Not to sound like a parrot, but this coaster is in desperate need of a decent refurbishment... like BAD!

 

At WCB Q&A in 2010, I asked if we could be seeing any refurb coming to GhostRider in the future, they just said "GhostRider just had a refurb, have you not ridden it today?" I was just sad. The attempts they make a track maintenance unfortunately are not the answer to restoring this monster.

[Xmeister]

Hopefully Matt Ouimet will see what a gem the coaster could be and bring it up to par. The park is wowing us already, so maybe it's not that impossible?

 

What would they do though? A complete rebuild, an ordinary retracking (which I don't see working too well), Rocky Mountain treatment or maybe even a Rocky Mountain rebuild but it stays a true wooden coaster?

 

We can hope. When I was on it a few weeks ago, even the prelift kicked my ass and I was in row three.

[_IntaMAN_]

WOW! GhostRider looked awesome back then, definitely a ride I would go back in time to ride. I really hope KBF can at least refurbish the ride with some topper track because it would be mad insane! I remember riding it when I was younger, and I was pretty scared, but it sure was a hell of a ride! I haven't ridden it in about 5-6 years (it's been closed every time I went back, or had an incredibly long line). I hope to make it to WCB this year and ride it in the front row were at least it can qualify as "good".