The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

[VegasBaby]

Park is starting to get some spring break crowds. Lines on Thursday at 1 pm were 90 min for Ghostrider and 15 min to 60 min for pretty much everything else.

 

Does this mean I can expect it to be really crowded tomorrow? Was considering heading down there for the day to get my platinum pass and finally ride Ghost Rider in all its new glory (haven't been on it in 15+ years).

 

Yes, I would expect it to be very crowded tomorrow. However, Knott's is giving season passholders early entry at 9:30am from April 8-16. So I would go early and get your pass processed (I believe the season pass center opens at 9am) and then use the early entry to get a few rides on GhostRider before the GP gets let in at 10am.

[jonskinny12]

^ That's great to know. Thank you!

[scottiemon]

You don't need to go to the pass processing center if you buy online and upload your picture. I did this. You just go to the turnstile with your receipt. They scan it, and hand you a pass.

[jonskinny12]

I did buy online and upload my picture so I'll just take the receipt straight to the gate. That's pretty awesome.

[joelwee]

The park was great yesterday! I arrived inside the park at about 1:00 and stayed until closing. Everything had about a 20-30-minute wait, except Silver Bullet, Jaguar, and Monte, which were station waits when I rode them, and Ghost Rider, which was about 40-50 minutes when I rode it. I was able to ride everything I wanted to, and got a couple of repeats on Xcelerator and Boomerang (in between the several times it broke down).

 

That was my first Vekoma Boomerang, and I actually enjoyed it. I can see how some people wouldn't like how jerky it is, but I experienced less headbanging than on some of the B&Ms at SFMM.

 

I got a Boysenberry Festival tasting card and really enjoyed the food. The fry bread wasn't as good as it looked in the picture, but the pizza and the ravioli were outstanding.

[SoCalJasonland]

That was my first Vekoma Boomerang, and I actually enjoyed it. I can see how some people wouldn't like how jerky it is, but I experienced less headbanging than on some of the B&Ms at SFMM.

 

 

I am glad you had fun. Boomerang has a pretty wide horse collar restraints and I don't get much head banging on it either. None of the rides at Knott's beat you up anymore since they fixed Ghostrider.

[thrillseeker4552]

That was my first Vekoma Boomerang, and I actually enjoyed it. I can see how some people wouldn't like how jerky it is, but I experienced less headbanging than on some of the B&Ms at SFMM.

 

 

I am glad you had fun. Boomerang has a pretty wide horse collar restraints and I don't get much head banging on it either. None of the rides at Knott's beat you up anymore since they fixed Ghostrider.

 

I think those "horse collars" are the reason I hated Boomerang so much. It felt like an SLC's restraints rather than typical Arrow restraints.

 

I have no problems with most Arrow coasters (Viper and Ninja for example) because the restraint sits right on my shoulders, so my head is high up enough to not have head banging. But Boomerang had those stupid pads that made head banging inevitable unless you spend the whole ride trying to avoid it, which is no fun at all and shouldn't need to be done.

 

Has Boomerang always had those restraints since it opened? Or did they change them at some point?

[joelwee]

I actually found Boomerang's restraints more comfortable than Viper's, because they sit on my shoulders without smashing down on them. I'm 6'2", so my head sits up high enough that I don't experience any headbanging on Viper, but surprisingly, Boomerang didn't really smack my head around much, either. The only headbanging was on the sudden stops and starts (ie., when the chain lift engages on the second lift, and when the train hit the brakes inside the station).

[Gnome]

Always thought boomerang's restraints weren't terrible but weren't necessarily great either

 

Digressing from that, if the screamscape rumor is credible, I think we can rule out dive machine. They said it would be something worth visiting for

[thrillseeker4552]

Considering the park hasn't seen a large new thrilling coaster since Dec. 2004 (which, by 2018, will have been 13.5 years), I think a mid-size B&M Dive would absolutely draw crowds.

 

That being said, I would never take anything Screamscape says seriously.

[RollerManic]

Always thought boomerang's restraints weren't terrible but weren't necessarily great either

 

Digressing from that, if the screamscape rumor is credible, I think we can rule out dive machine. They said it would be something worth visiting for

Calling a dive machine not worth visiting for is entirely subjective.

[jonskinny12]

I got to ride Ghostrider a couple times this morning (thank you for tip on early entry!). I'm glad to see how smooth it's running now with the new track. It was a ton of fun! The park was pretty empty at first but started filling up a little by the time we left at noon. I had never been on Silver Bullet before, and it was surprisingly quite a bit of fun. This is a great park, the only reason we left is we have one day here in California and wanted to get a few rides on Twisted Colossus.

[JGuy]

Always thought boomerang's restraints weren't terrible but weren't necessarily great either

 

Digressing from that, if the screamscape rumor is credible, I think we can rule out dive machine. They said it would be something worth visiting for

Calling a dive machine not worth visiting for is entirely subjective.

 

True, but anything less than an Intamin Giga Aquatrax with a Non-Inverting Barrel Roll will be a disappointment.

[joelwee]

I certainly wouldn't complain if Knott's put in a dive machine. I think we have a better chance of seeing one there than at SFMM, given Six Flags' comment after installing Tatsu that they don't plan on spending that much money on a coaster again at SFMM.

[VegasBaby]

I got to ride Ghostrider a couple times this morning (thank you for tip on early entry!). I'm glad to see how smooth it's running now with the new track. It was a ton of fun! The park was pretty empty at first but started filling up a little by the time we left at noon. I had never been on Silver Bullet before, and it was surprisingly quite a bit of fun. This is a great park, the only reason we left is we have one day here in California and wanted to get a few rides on Twisted Colossus.

 

Glad you enjoyed Knott's, the GhostRider retracking really made it into an amazing coaster again. It's just so fast, smooth, and relentless from start to finish. And I don't know why people hate on Silver Bullet, I think it's an underrated Invert and I prefer it to the Batman clones.

 

I really think Knott's is going to get something big to replace Boomerang and a dive coaster would be at the top of my list. There's only 3 of them in the whole country and none in the Western US. It would give the park something unique that it could really promote to capitalize on all the tourists that will come to SoCal for Star Wars land in 2019. Plus it's been 13 years since the last major coaster, so it really is time for them to make a major addition to the park.

Edited April 9, 2017 by VegasBaby

[TheCoasterKid211]

Non-Inverting Barrel Roll

... how in God's name would that work?

[JGuy]

Non-Inverting Barrel Roll

... how in God's name would that work?

 

It's like a normal barrel roll, only it doesn't invert.

Here's an example:

 

 

[Nrthwnd]

^ Excellent example.

 

My take on this, is I'm not going to be back at Knott's till 2019,

which is a good year for both it and Disney. Universal, maybe.

Magic Mountain? Not even thinking about that place, right now.

 

So "the new project" should have a good year's running, by then....whatever it is.

[MrSum1_55]

^^I love non-inverting barrel rolls! The Ride of Steel clones have the best ones!

Edited April 10, 2017 by MrSum1_55

[DILinator]

Always thought boomerang's restraints weren't terrible but weren't necessarily great either

 

Digressing from that, if the screamscape rumor is credible, I think we can rule out dive machine. They said it would be something worth visiting for

Calling a dive machine not worth visiting for is entirely subjective.

 

Not to mention completely ignoring the reality of what Valravn did for CP last year in the eyes of the GP! They ate that thing up! Everybody I went with who was a non-enthusiast, was completely mesmerized by it! The first one on the West coast will no doubt draw crowds, and BIG ones! I thought SFMM might be the first to go there with removing Viper, but it looks like maybe it'll be Knott's who strikes first, and reap the benefits!

[JordyC]

^^I love on-inverting barrel rolls! The Ride of Steel clones have the best ones!

 

[ZeroG001]

Do you have any insight as to why it was such a crowd pleaser, drew big crowds, and hyped up the GP? I've never been on one of the dive machines before, but am interested to know what some of the GP thought of it compared to some of CP's other awesome coasters.

 

I, for one, would not be upset at all if the ride is a dive machine. I live 30 minutes away yet haven't been to Knott's (outside of Haunt) in 6 years, and one of those would definitely give me a reason to go back. I could say the same for many of my GP friends.

[The Alex]

I wonder if taking out Boomerang makes enough room for an Intamin Mega-Lite/Chance Hyper GT-X.

[brneff99]

Do you have any insight as to why it was such a crowd pleaser, drew big crowds, and hyped up the GP? I've never been on one of the dive machines before, but am interested to know what some of the GP thought of it compared to some of CP's other awesome coasters.

 

I, for one, would not be upset at all if the ride is a dive machine. I live 30 minutes away yet haven't been to Knott's (outside of Haunt) in 6 years, and one of those would definitely give me a reason to go back. I could say the same for many of my GP friends.

 

My son and I made our 1st trip to CP last Fall...I can tell you that we loved Valravn and the GP on the West Coast would eat it up...the ride in the outside seats of the front row were ridiculous fun and the length and elements were perfect...my fear would be the KBF version would be much shorter and less intense...perhaps I'm underestimating the space available...its also a crowd eating machine so would help somewhat with crowd control at busier times...I would love to see my home park get one of these...

[thrillseeker4552]

Do you have any insight as to why it was such a crowd pleaser, drew big crowds, and hyped up the GP? I've never been on one of the dive machines before, but am interested to know what some of the GP thought of it compared to some of CP's other awesome coasters.

 

I, for one, would not be upset at all if the ride is a dive machine. I live 30 minutes away yet haven't been to Knott's (outside of Haunt) in 6 years, and one of those would definitely give me a reason to go back. I could say the same for many of my GP friends.

 

My son and I made our 1st trip to CP last Fall...I can tell you that we loved Valravn and the GP on the West Coast would eat it up...the ride in the outside seats of the front row were ridiculous fun and the length and elements were perfect...my fear would be the KBF version would be much shorter and less intense...perhaps I'm underestimating the space available...its also a crowd eating machine so would help somewhat with crowd control at busier times...I would love to see my home park get one of these...

 

I agree. Knott's really needs another capacity monster, and I think they realize that. The only current people-eaters are Silver Bullet, the Mine Ride, Jaguar, and Monte (short cycle + 28-passenger trains is actually quite good... better than Xcel and Boomerang).

 

Xcelerator, the various family coasters, and even GhostRider to some extent are pretty low-capacity rides. The park gets crazy crowded in the summer and could REALLY use another B&M people-eating machine... regardless of what type of B&M that may be. I just can't see the park going with a hyper/mega lite from Chance, Intamin, or Mack, because while it may fit the space better, Cedar Fair is really into installing high-capacity B&M machines.

 

On another note, Sol Spin is doing full-speed test runs with water dummies. The video was on Instagram from Knott's Network if anyone's interested. Crossing my fingers for it to open by the 18th!