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The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

P. 651: Montezooma's Revenge project terminated?

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^ A metric buttload of electrical systems? There's way more to a ride like this than just a few projectors and screens.

 

The ride system has to always be talking to the show controller, which in turn is talking to a video server, projector, lighting controller, audio cues, physical FX controllers...and it has to do so repeatedly over and over.

 

Very good points. I guess I've just been so focused on the physical elements of the ride that I never stopped to think about all the challenges that come with the technical side of it.

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Hello. I came across some Knott's Berry Farm park brochures and am having a tough time identifying what years they are from. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

For many parks the year will be printed in very small type around somewhere in the border of the park brochure. Since it is a year round park, Knott's may even have a month/year. Such as 6/04. I needed to take this approach to identify many of the brochures and maps that were added to TPR's Park Index.

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Random Park Review!

 

So...... Knott's Berry Farm.

 

I really liked it. I liked it a lot. The park (not the rides) kind of has the feel and charm of a Disney park, but without having a third of the world population being there. I thought the scenery was good, I liked the cool little spots that specialized spots that did certain things, like the split-a-rock-in-half-thing, that making metal in a forge building, the real steam engine, it was cool.

 

So...Here are my reviews of the rides.

 

Silver Bullet: Some people on TPR don't seem to like this, they think it ruined the area it was in, or that it is boring. Well, it isn't boring for sure, but it isn't BTR intense. I liked how it was different from most B&M inverts, it kind of seemed tame. It looks and sounds nice, and it is fun. Though I don't know why it has nearly 20 cameras for the on-ride photo.

 

Xcelerator: "It goes like a bazillion miles an hour dudes!" I can definitely see why some people say it is the best ride at the park, and even best in California. I don't know what else to say that hasn't been said before about this awesome ride.

 

Boomerang: Didn't ride. You know why.

 

Coast Rider: Eh....One of the most boring wild mouse type coasters I have ever ridden. Why did they get rid of Perilous Plunge? But hey, it's funny because it sounds like GhostRider, right?

 

GhostRider: I am not going to say too much. Some people think this the roughest wooden coaster ever. Yeah, sure. However, I will admit that the turn after the mid-course brake run is really brutal, especially in back row. On a different note, I hung around in the ride photo area just to see other peoples pictures. And in nearly every group of riders, someone tried to snap a picture of their on-ride photo with their smartphone, even if they were told not to by the employees. However, the employees were always fast enough to put the lock on the screen before they could take the picture. Though at Disneyland, the employees didn't seem to care if people took pics of their on ride photo.

 

Sierra Sidewinder: It was a fun small spinning coaster, that could stand to be a bit longer. The stacking was pretty bad because the ride is so short.

 

Pony Express: Why are so many coasters at Knott's short? Other than that, it was fun riding a coaster with those weird sit down saddle things.

 

Montezooma's Revenge: Please save the Schwarzkopfs! Last of it's kind in the US? They are so much better than any other Arrow coasters from the same time period. It always blows my mind that something so old can be so fun, and more impressively, smooth

 

Jaguar: This is coaster is weird. It is one of the few roller coasters at the park that lasts for more than a minute. However, it kind of looks.....a bit old and pretty dirty. One perfect example is the seat i was sitting in, had a bunch of hair in it. And it also broke down a few times that day.

 

Timber Mountain Log Ride: Boy, was I in for a shock when I rode this. I had no idea how much was inside the mountain and that there would be so many animatronics. I really enjoyed it, it was just so fun.

 

Supreme Scream: I didn't ride this, but I want to talk about it. My two local parks have triple tower S&S rides. But this seems to be the other kind, with the different numbers of seats on different sides, but more importantly, the different operating mode. For this, it looked like one tower will launch riders up, then proceed to bounced up and down until it ends. The other tower goes all the way to the top, then drop, then bounce, then it would be over. However, the ones I live close to, seem to do what is like the two combined, on all the towers. Why is it like this? Why don't all the towers do the same thing? I would like it a lot more if all the towers did the launch AND the drop. I don't get it. Does anyone know why it is like this?

 

Anyway, sorry for this being so long. I really liked Knott's. It just seems better (as a park, not the coasters) than other Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks I have been to.

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Supreme Scream: I didn't ride this, but I want to talk about it. My two local parks have triple tower S&S rides. But this seems to be the other kind, with the different numbers of seats on different sides, but more importantly, the different operating mode. For this, it looked like one tower will launch riders up, then proceed to bounced up and down until it ends. The other tower goes all the way to the top, then drop, then bounce, then it would be over. However, the ones I live close to, seem to do what is like the two combined, on all the towers. Why is it like this? Why don't all the towers do the same thing? I would like it a lot more if all the towers did the launch AND the drop. I don't get it. Does anyone know why it is like this?

 

No idea what you saw, but Supreme Scream definitely operates the same on all three towers. A slow ascent to the top, followed by an accelerated drop, and a few bounces.

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Supreme Scream: I didn't ride this, but I want to talk about it. My two local parks have triple tower S&S rides. But this seems to be the other kind, with the different numbers of seats on different sides, but more importantly, the different operating mode. For this, it looked like one tower will launch riders up, then proceed to bounced up and down until it ends. The other tower goes all the way to the top, then drop, then bounce, then it would be over. However, the ones I live close to, seem to do what is like the two combined, on all the towers. Why is it like this? Why don't all the towers do the same thing? I would like it a lot more if all the towers did the launch AND the drop. I don't get it. Does anyone know why it is like this?

 

No idea what you saw, but Supreme Scream definitely operates the same on all three towers. A slow ascent to the top, followed by an accelerated drop, and a few bounces.

The towers can be installed with different modes and operate one, the other, or both based on what the park wants to do that day. The seats also go by what the park wants to build.

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Supreme Scream: I didn't ride this, but I want to talk about it. My two local parks have triple tower S&S rides. But this seems to be the other kind, with the different numbers of seats on different sides, but more importantly, the different operating mode. For this, it looked like one tower will launch riders up, then proceed to bounced up and down until it ends. The other tower goes all the way to the top, then drop, then bounce, then it would be over. However, the ones I live close to, seem to do what is like the two combined, on all the towers. Why is it like this? Why don't all the towers do the same thing? I would like it a lot more if all the towers did the launch AND the drop. I don't get it. Does anyone know why it is like this?

 

S&S makes four types of tower rides: Space Shots (launch from ground level), Turbo Drops (drop from the top of the tower), Double Shots (a Space Shot cycle with two launches...these are typically short towers) and Combo Towers (an abridged Space Shot cycle followed by a full Turbo Drop cycle). Supreme Scream is a collection of three Turbo Drop towers. No matter which tower you ride, the experience is identical: a slow climb to the top, a brief hold, a drop, and then bounces until the ride returns to ground level. There is no alternate operation mode on the ride, and due to Disney having Southern California exclusivity to the Space Shot attraction (despite Maliboomer having been gone for five years now) it is unlikely Supreme Scream will ever be modified. The towers you are thinking of are Combo Towers, which provide an overall better experience but weren't available in 1998 when Supreme Scream was installed.

 

As for the seats, S&S offers two options for a 12 seat carriage: 3 seats per side or 4 seats on 2 sides and 2 seats on the other 2 sides. I don't think the seating configuration is dependent on the ride model, but it does seem that the newer towers often have the same number of seats on each side.

 

Edit: Forgot about this question...

 

Why are so many coasters at Knott's short?

 

Despite being a major park, Knott's isn't all that big. While the often quoted figure is 160 acres, that is actually the size of the entire property. The theme park itself is about 60 acres, including all the backstage area. Putting ten coasters into that space limits the amount that can be used for each coaster, and while not the highest in the world Knott's probably has the highest coaster density of any major North American park. Fortunately, not everything at the park is short...GhostRider is a pretty long ride, Jaguar is long for a family coaster, and Silver Bullet is about average length for an invert. Plus, even though they're short, Xcelerator and Montezooma's Revenge are great rides. Sure, Sierra Sidewinder and especially Pony Express could use a bit more length, but nobody goes just to ride those two rides and they're actually among the more popular coasters at the park.

Edited by rcdude
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Why did they get rid of Perilous Plunge?

 

That ride had a number of issues over the years, and eventually ended up having an extremely low capacity. It also looked somewhat hideous compared to what it was replaced with. Since Ouimet came on board with Cedar Fair, there's been a greater effort to expand the family-oriented offerings at the park. Replacing Plunge with two flat rides and a family coaster made the area look much nicer and changed out a low-appeal attraction with an area most people can appreciate.

 

I enjoyed the two or three rides I had on Plunge, but the wait times were horrendous, and it just wasn't a great fit for the park.

 

Why are so many coasters at Knott's short?

 

I would guess lack of space/lack of desire to use more space.

 

Montezooma's Revenge: Please save the Schwarzkopfs! Last of it's kind in the US? They are so much better than any other Arrow coasters from the same time period. It always blows my mind that something so old can be so fun, and more impressively, smooth

 

Yes, it is the last one in the country. It's a great ride that I hope stays as long as possible!

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I enjoyed Perilous Plunge several times. However, I thought it would have been more appropriate over in Soak City. Very low capacity and could soak a guest to the point of misery. Really wasn't the type of ride you could enjoy year round. Then after the accident, the restraint system they installed was insane. I was hoping when they decided to re-work the boardwalk area after the removal, they would deliver something special to the area. While I can appreciate the need for attractions that can appeal to a large cross section of guests, I am not of fan of the selections they made. On a positive note, some of the landscape and lighting design turned out well.

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I always thought Perilous Plunge was an eyesore. That whole side of the park looks much better now.

 

Totally agree, I love what they did with the Boardwalk area that replaced Perilous Plunge. Plunge was actually a decent ride as the drop was pretty much straight down and completely insane. However, the cycle time was terrible and the lines were always long and slow moving. I know a mouse like Coast Rider doesn't excite most of us but I think it has been a big hit for the Knott's target family demo. Plus, the height restriction is only 44 inches, so it gives the younger kids another coaster option besides Sierra Sidewinder and Timberline Twister. The gliders and the scrambler were also good uses of the other available space and have family-friendly height restrictions of 36 inches. The area looks especially good at night with all of the lighting that they added. Now they need to fix Riptide and get it re-opened or replace it with a thrilling flat. An even better solution would be to rip out Boomerang and Riptide and replace them with a launched coaster like Superman at SFDK.

Edited by VegasBaby
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Really, all they need to do is dial back the trims on Coast Rider and it'd be a fine attraction, imo.

 

Also sign me up for sprucing up Fiesta Village and fixing the boomerang/riptide area

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Now they need to fix Riptide and get it re-opened or replace it with a thrilling flat. An even better solution would be to rip out Boomerang and Riptide and replace them with a launched coaster like Superman at SFDK.

 

Both options are being considered. Option one is to just get Riptide back up and running. Option two is to remove Riptide and Boomerang and put something new in that space.

 

Right now, the more likely option seems to be waiting for Iron Reef to open and then working on getting Riptide back up.

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Now they need to fix Riptide and get it re-opened or replace it with a thrilling flat. An even better solution would be to rip out Boomerang and Riptide and replace them with a launched coaster like Superman at SFDK.

 

Both options are being considered. Option one is to just get Riptide back up and running. Option two is to remove Riptide and Boomerang and put something new in that space.

 

Right now, the more likely option seems to be waiting for Iron Reef to open and then working on getting Riptide back up.

 

God, I've been hoping for option 2 for years. Please let it happen, I wanna see a chance megalite right there!

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Anyone go to Knotts in the past couple weeks? I am planning on going on a weekday. But I noticed on their website knotts.com under roller coasters it said that

Xcelerator was closed until 4/24. Now it says May 9. Can anyone confirm that the ride is down. Is it a maintenance issue...scheduled or something went wrong? Is this normally the time they do it scheduled yearly?

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Random Park Review!

 

Silver Bullet....Though I don't know why it has nearly 20 cameras for the on-ride photo.

 

Each camera takes a photo of one row, and they're place don both sides of the track so that nobody gets their photo cut off by being on the wrong side.

 

Why are so many coasters at Knott's short?

 

The park is boxed in on all sides, and a significant portion of the land (Ghost Town) is kind of untouchable.

 

Jaguar: One perfect example is the seat i was sitting in, had a bunch of hair in it.

 

There is hair all over the park, and I don't understand it. Its like working in a barber shop when I come in for an opening shift and sweep up.

 

Anyway, sorry for this being so long. I really liked Knott's. It just seems better (as a park, not the coasters) than other Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks I have been to.

 

Glad you enjoyed your visit!

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Anyone go to Knotts in the past couple weeks? I am planning on going on a weekday. But I noticed on their website knotts.com under roller coasters it said that

Xcelerator was closed until 4/24. Now it says May 9. Can anyone confirm that the ride is down. Is it a maintenance issue...scheduled or something went wrong? Is this normally the time they do it scheduled yearly?

 

Yikes! It was supposed to come back up yesterday, but I figured they just kept it closed because of the weather. Ghost Rider was supposed to go down for this coming week, but it looks like they decided to wait on that until Xcel goes back up.

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Anyone go to Knotts in the past couple weeks? I am planning on going on a weekday. But I noticed on their website knotts.com under roller coasters it said that

Xcelerator was closed until 4/24. Now it says May 9. Can anyone confirm that the ride is down. Is it a maintenance issue...scheduled or something went wrong? Is this normally the time they do it scheduled yearly?

 

Yikes! It was supposed to come back up yesterday, but I figured they just kept it closed because of the weather. Ghost Rider was supposed to go down for this coming week, but it looks like they decided to wait on that until Xcel goes back up.

 

Was it down for scheduled maintenance in the first place or why?

And why now another 2 week delay. This is California, it barely rained. There is no storm coming lol.

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