The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

[thrillseeker4552]

The reason Supreme Scream has the cars at the top a little longer is because the park updated the system which makes the ride even more simple to operate. The control panel even has touch screens now. And just a heads up to anyone heading to the park this week, they are working on the train tracks where the pedestrian crossing is between fiesta village and boardwalk, so there are construction walls blocking off that pathway on both sides. If you want to get from Waveswinger to Supreme Scream, you have to walk all the way around Log Ride. In addition to that, Log Ride and Ghostrider will be closed for maintenance the remainder of this month.

 

Thanks for the update.

 

According to their website, GhostRider doesn't close for refurbishment until January 20. I'm heading to the park this Wednesday, and it'd be a bummer if the ride closed early. I'm going to get some photos while I'm there (specifically of the Voyage construction area) and hopefully post a photo trip report. I'm not expecting many crowds since most schools go back this week (except mine!) and Knott's has resumed to normal operating hours (10-6 on weekdays).

[Griffindor]

The reason Supreme Scream has the cars at the top a little longer is because the park updated the system which makes the ride even more simple to operate. The control panel even has touch screens now. And just a heads up to anyone heading to the park this week, they are working on the train tracks where the pedestrian crossing is between fiesta village and boardwalk, so there are construction walls blocking off that pathway on both sides. If you want to get from Waveswinger to Supreme Scream, you have to walk all the way around Log Ride. In addition to that, Log Ride and Ghostrider will be closed for maintenance the remainder of this month.

 

Thanks for the update.

 

According to their website, GhostRider doesn't close for refurbishment until January 20. I'm heading to the park this Wednesday, and it'd be a bummer if the ride closed early. I'm going to get some photos while I'm there (specifically of the Voyage construction area) and hopefully post a photo trip report. I'm not expecting many crowds since most schools go back this week (except mine!) and Knott's has resumed to normal operating hours (10-6 on weekdays).

 

Ghost will be open for the rest of the month, at least until the 20th or so. We've been getting different dates on when we go down for rehab but you should be good. Logride is already down though. Expect crowds to be minimal (maybe 4,000-5,000)

[DJeXeL]

Deleted by user

[thrillseeker4552]

We were originally going to visit the park on Wednesday (01/07) but plans changed, and we ended up visiting today (01/08). The park closed at 6:00, so I figured I'd have enough time tonight to post my trip report.

 

I didn't take a ton of photos, but I did take some worth posting. This trip report will mostly be in writing, though. Anyway, here it is.

 

Thursday, January 8th, 2015

 

Crowds: Since it was a weekday in January, after the holiday crowds have left, the lines for rides were very short. What made the day even better was that most major coasters were running two trains except Xcelerator, GhostRider, and obviously the shuttle coasters. Silver Bullet was a complete walk-on, and Sierra Sidewinder, Pony Express, Jaguar, and Coast Rider were 10 minutes at the most. Xcelerator was a station-wait early in the day but filled up to about 20 minutes later on. The longest wait in the park was GhostRider, but it was still only about 30 minutes. We took advantage of the crowds and rode every coaster (except the kiddie one) at least once, with re-rides on Silver Bullet and Xcelerator. The Log Ride, Calico Railroad, and Stagecoach were closed for maintenance.

 

Even though I have been on these rides 2397245 times, I'll post a brief review for those interested in my opinion.

 

Silver Bullet: It really bothers me when people say this ride is forceless. Does it have some of that "new B&M" stuff? Absolutely, but that does NOT make it forceless. The loop, cobra roll entrance/exit, and final helix are all very forceful. The ride also has a ridiculously-awesome overbanked curve, a "perfect" zero-g-roll, and two fairly snappy corkscrews to boot. It is also the smoothest B&M, maybe even the smoothest coaster, I have ever ridden. It's a great, solid ride, and NOT forceless in my opinion.

 

Sierra Sidewinder: This is the best family coaster at the park in my opinion. It's one of those rides that you just laugh the whole time.

 

Coast Rider: It's a wild mouse that runs pretty much trimless (except for a couple moments of magnetic braking). There's nothing else to really say.

 

Pony Express: Decent family coaster, but way too short to enjoy. While the restraints aren't very comfortable, a longer ride would have been nicer. Nonetheless, it's popular with families, and that's what matters to Knott's.

 

GhostRider: This ride is slowly getting better and better every time I ride it. We decided to ride near the back, and the first drop and MCBR drop are filled with great airtime. I can only imagine what the MCBR drop was like in the back car back when the trims were off. It's still rough, but it has really just come down to tolerance level. It's definitely not a coaster I could re-ride over and over again, but it's too good to pass up during a visit in my opinion. It could be smoother, but it could also be much worse.

 

Xcelerator: This is the best ride in the park. After riding Top Thrill Dragster last summer and this today, I proudly state that I very much prefer Xcelerator to TTD. The launch is much more intense, and I like how there is more than just brakes after the top hat. Oh yeah, and the top hat has a lot of airtime. It's just a really good coaster. Enough said.

 

Montezooma's Revenge: It's a classic Schwarzkopf shuttle loop; what is there not to like? And after seeing videos of other shuttle loops around the world, MR definitely goes the highest up the front and back spikes. Knott's better hold on to this one for quite a while longer. The ride has so much history and charm.

 

Jaguar: And on the opposite side of where Sierra Sidewinder sits on the "good family coaster" spectrum is Jaguar. It's really not that good. It's quite rough and uncomfortable, but still retains some decency if you like a long "relaxing" ride. It's still quite popular, so I expect Knott's to keep it a while longer, but let's say if it was removed, I wouldn't be all that disappointed.

 

Boomerang: I didn't ride this today nor did I have any desire too. I hate to say it, but Boomerang is a piece of crap, which is quite the shame considering how good it looks! Take any stereotype about a Vekoma Boomerang and it applies perfectly to the one at Knott's.

 

Now on to some photos. These were all taken with an iPhone 6+.

And we're here! The SoCal Cedar Fair park that I am proud to call my home park.

The crowds were VERY light today.

There sure are a lot of these running around the park/parking lot.

We arrived around noon, so we decided to eat lunch here. These burgers are HUGE! It was very good for theme park food.

Our first ride of the day was Pony Express. It was a 5-minute station-wait. Two trains running.

Nothing major is being done yet on the outside of the building that will soon house Voyage. I'm sure there is a lot going on inside, though.

We then headed to Coast Rider. About a 7-8 minute wait.

Xcelerator was up next. And that is totally NOT my finger at the top of the photo.

Station wait for the best ride in the park. Does it get any better than that?

I'm sure you have NEVER seen this shot before.

Supreme Scream was a short wait, too.

Unless you want the front row, Silver Bullet was a walk-on. And it was running two trains!

I'm starting to like Silver Bullet's color scheme more and more every day. Maybe it's just the fresh paint that's making it stand out more.

Next was Sierra Sidewinder--also running two trains and rocking a fresh coat of paint.

Twistyyyy.

Mmm. Some classic Schwarzkopf yumminess. Also a walk-on.

We then took a small break from coasters and relaxed a little.

Silver Bullet is trying to tell you that it DOES have a snappy corkscrew (it's quick and forceful, yet still smooth enough to not knock my head into the harness (*cough* Batman *cough*)).

GhostRider's queue line was past the bottom of the stairs about two switchback lengths.. I timed it at about 30 minutes, even with only one train running.

I think I found my new desktop picture. If anyone else thinks it's good, feel free to use it.

And I'll end with this night photo of the Mine Ride lit up pink for the Susan G. Komen event going on. Thanks for reading!

[Wes]

Good photos! Weekdays during the winter are always dead days at the park.

[Jew]

Knott's announced on facebook there will be a Boysenberry BBQ sauce coming this summer...

[JeromyL]

^^^OMG. I'll be there tomorrow. Why not now!

[JeromyL]

At Knotts today. Started off with light rain and drizzle before the park opened now it's nice, cool, and park is empty:)

[JeromyL]

 

Some iron reef construction photos

[thrillseeker4552]

By the way, I take back my comment about Boomerang on my trip report. We went to Knott's again today, and it is actually quite decent with the new chassis! It's still nothing special, but I was actually willing to ride it more than once.

[JeromyL]

^^^. I had a pretty good ride on boomerang this past Saturday. AND. Drum roll... A relatively great ride on ghost rider. No pain. YAY!!!!

[singforfood]

**Double post**

Edited January 21, 2015 by singforfood

[singforfood]

Rumor around the park is that they're going to be announcing an opening date for Iron Reef in the next 2-3 weeks, and that it will be late March / early April (the goal is to have it operational by Spring Break, though it may be just a soft opening).

 

One of my friends from work is in the hiring office, and she said that Ride Op training for it is most likely going to start in mid-late February.

[gisco]

Seems pretty quick to me. We will see in 2 or 3 weeks what happens. I'm sure they are waiting until they are sure they can complete and test the ride in time.

[Wingwright]

Rumor around the park is that they're going to be announcing an opening date for Iron Reef in the next 2-3 weeks, and that it will be late March / early April (the goal is to have it operational by Spring Break, though it may be just a soft opening).

 

One of my friends from work is in the hiring office, and she said that Ride Op training for it is most likely going to start in mid-late February.

 

That seems awfully optimistic, no?

[thrillseeker4552]

^Considering that we haven't seen any track pieces and/or cars, it seems a little optimistic that it will open in only 2-2 1/2 months. But nonetheless, Knott's is fairly reliable with their opening dates. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

While this isn't the most exciting ride coming to SoCal in 2015, I'm really looking forward to how Knott's will improve the whole area back there.

[Jew]

Spring break for most schools is the last week of March/early April this year anyways....

[rcdude]

Rumor around the park is that they're going to be announcing an opening date for Iron Reef in the next 2-3 weeks, and that it will be late March / early April (the goal is to have it operational by Spring Break, though it may be just a soft opening).

 

One of my friends from work is in the hiring office, and she said that Ride Op training for it is most likely going to start in mid-late February.

 

That seems awfully optimistic, no?

 

I would be slightly surprised if Knott's is able to open the ride by spring break. However, it's difficult to tell how much construction has actually occurred as it is a dark ride inside an already existing building, so it's possible most of the hardware is already present and/or installed. Although I'm not all that excited for the ride, if it opens earlier I'll be able to try it out before the summer crowds arrive. Who knows, the ride could be better than I expect it to be.

[SafariRob]

Does anyone know what the ride time will be? 4-5 minutes? I'm assuming it will be similar to Knott's Berry Tales and Kingdom of the Dinosaurs, but who knows. Did Knott's say if there will be actual animatronics inside the ride or will it be 100% 3-D projection screens?

[VegasBaby]

I'd love for Voyage to be open by Spring Break. I'm planning on going to the park the first weekend in April, so it would be great if it was open by then. As for the ride time, I read there was going to be 600 feet of track, so a 4-5 minute ride time would be a reasonable estimate.

[zachclarke2]

I posted this in the game thread, but I recreated Silver Bullet using Coasterdynamix and to some extent I think I did a pretty good job. Definitely better than my Patriot model.

 

If anyone is interested:

 

[rcdude]

^Other than the station area, that's pretty good.

 

Does anyone know what the ride time will be? 4-5 minutes? I'm assuming it will be similar to Knott's Berry Tales and Kingdom of the Dinosaurs, but who knows. Did Knott's say if there will be actual animatronics inside the ride or will it be 100% 3-D projection screens?

 

From what I've heard, it will be a 4 minute ride. There won't be any animatronics, but there may be physical sets to house and connect the screens (different sources say different things). The ride sounds very similar to Toy Story Midway Mania, so I would expect the experience to be more like that than like Kingdom of the Dinosaurs.

[singforfood]

Just to clarify... It's still speculation at this point, but it makes sense to me that the park would be aiming for a Spring Break opening. They're trying to make Spring another unique season with the Berry Festival, and a new ride would help bring more guests in.

[DoubleDown]

^Funny, because Silver Bullet seems like such a long, drawn out ride...but when you put it in that form, it really seems like a pretty simple, boring layout!

 

Probably why I still like Batman better.

[Gnome]

The layout is fine and pulls some decent g's. What the ride really lacks is a good drop and some snap into some of the transitions like in the cobra roll. I think if SB had a great bear style drop and that snap it would be ranked significantly better. But it complements the park well and it's a solid inverted coaster.