|
|
Here are some of the coasters, and what
we think of them, at Knott's Berry Farm.
- GhostRider
-
We were lucky enough to try out this ride on its third day of operation, and
the paint was literally not yet dry on this fabulous wooden coaster. This
double out-and-back has a dogleg in the middle and a helix (with a drop in it)
just before the finish. Which means that this coaster has a lot of turns. But
despite that, it also has a surprising amount of speed. The official statistics
on this coaster state that it reaches speeds of up to 56 miles per hour. But an
employee told us a train had already been clocked at 60! It feels like the
train never slows down during the 2 minute ride. Yet it's smooth, especially
the transitions into the curves. While there's certainly a lot of force as you
go through a curve, you're not slammed into the side of the car at the
beginning of the curve. The pressure builds up just gradually enough so you
don't get bruised.
 Our favorite
parts of the ride come at the end of the first circuit. As the train returns to
a spot near the top of the first lift hill, the track curves 180 degrees to the
right. But it feels very much like the train is going to tip over to the
outside of the curve. Later, we learned that this effect was caused by the
curve being banked out of the curve. That is, while curving to the
right, the track is banked to the left. This Harry Traver-like feature makes it
feel like the whole train is about to tip over!
Then, just as the track straightens out, it falls into the first drop of the
second circuit. We have never experienced this much air time, nor been so far
out of our seats. We found that when riding the first row of the last car, we
ended up nearly standing up, since the floor of the car was so far away from
our bodies.
This is an amazing coaster, and it may very well have been our favorite woodie,
except for two things: we've heard that GhostRider has gotten rougher with age,
and Lake Compounce has unleashed Boulder
Dash.
|
- Jaguar!
-
A steel coaster for the junior set, there is not much in the way of drops or
curves on this ride, but the entire track is elevated well above ground. This
adds a bit to the fun, if you're under the age of 8.
|
- Boomerang
-
This is the standard Vekoma Boomerang. Fun
as always, especially once you learn how to hold your head so it doesn't get
banged around.
|
|
- Montezooma's Revenge
-
A flywheel launch zips you out of the
station with incredible force. In fact, we're pretty sure that the acceleration
on this ride is greater than the force on Chiller,
although it doesn't last as long. In about 3 seconds, or maybe even less, the
train zips from the platform out to about 60 miles per hour. From there, it
hurtles down a straight track and into a large vertical loop. It coasts up an
incline on the other side, than runs the same course backward. After going
backward past the loading platform, it backs up another incline, providing lots
of floating air time, especially in the back seat, and then comes back down to
the station.
While waiting for the launch during one
of our rides, we heard the person behind us say to her companion,
"When you go into the loop, turn your head and look out sideways."
So we tried it and were pleasantly surprised at the new set of sensations we
experienced. We'll keep doing that, although it does make us feel kind of
stupid having never thought of it ourselves.
|
There were other coasters at this park
that have since been removed. Some are described below.
- Windjammer
-
Ick! In GhostRider, Knott's has one of the best roller coasters in the world.
It's a shame that the very same park also had one of the worst. This was
certainly the worst roller coaster we've ever ridden, although it got stiff
competition in that category from Six Flags Magic Mountain's
Flashback. Windjammer was sort of like a Wild Mouse with a loop. It had
tight turns and spirals, and abrupt drops and dips, but mostly it just rattled
more than anything else. It was full of headbanging jolts and was not much fun.
It just bumped along slowly, with nothing to redeem it. Except that, maybe,
with its twin bright red and yellow tracks, it was kind of pretty.
Fortunately, Windjammer was torn down in 2001. Good riddance.
|
|
|
to Park Selection page
page