GhostRider is a wooden roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. It is located in the Ghost Town section of the park, south of the main entrance. Manufactured by Custom Coasters International, GhostRider is the longest wooden coaster on the West Coast of the United States, measuring long and tall. The ride follows an L-shaped double out and back pattern, with a station themed to a mining building. There are three trains, each themed to a different precious metal, though only two are in use at any given time.

GhostRider was announced in August 1997 as part of an expansion of Knott's Berry Farm. The coaster cost $24 million and opened on December 8, 1998, earlier than originally scheduled. After it opened, GhostRider became one of Knott's most popular rides. Between 2015 and 2016, Great Coasters International conducted a major renovation of the ride, replacing the track and the trains. Amusement Today annual Golden Ticket Awards has consistently ranked GhostRider among the world's top wooden roller coasters.

History

By 1997, the Knott family, which operated Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in Buena Park, California, planned to add a wooden roller coaster to the park. Knott's already had several major attractions, including the Calico Mine Ride, a prototype Corkscrew coaster, a looping shuttle roller coaster named Montezooma's Revenge, and a water ride named Bigfoot Rapids. According to historian Eric Lynxwiler, who wrote a book about Knott's Berry Farm, a wooden roller coaster was the only major attraction type that was absent from the park. The Knott family had begun planning for a wooden coaster almost five years before GhostRider was ultimately completed in 1998. Knott's officials hoped that the construction of a wooden coaster would increase the park's annual attendance to 4 million.

Development

A new wooden coaster was announced in August 1997 as part of an expansion of Knott's Berry Farm. The expansion project would cost an estimated $35 million, The ride would be the park's fifth roller coaster, It would replace the Pan for Gold attraction and a decorative volcano built by the park's founder, Walter Knott. while Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) provided the trains. The project lasted two years. The first phase of the project involved clearing land and relocating the warehouses, which took about a year and comprised much of the ride's budget. Cedar Fair's CEO Dick Kinzel briefly considered canceling the ride because of its high cost,

Operation

GhostRider was originally scheduled to open in early 1999, Jack Falfas, the general manager of Knott's, had advocated for an accelerated opening date. During a preview event on the roller coaster's opening day, one hundred members of nonprofit group American Coaster Enthusiasts rode GhostRider. At the time of its opening, GhostRider was advertised as the longest wooden roller coaster on the West Coast of the United States. , it remains the longest wooden roller coaster on the American West Coast as well as the Pacific Coast of the Americas. Park officials also claimed that GhostRider was the fastest wooden coaster on the West Coast; however, Colossus traveled at a maximum speed of , compared to GhostRider's . and Knott's officials predicted that the ride would increase the park's annual attendance from 3.4 million to 4 million. The ride was temporarily closed for repairs in August 1999 after an incident that injured five people.

By 2015, GhostRider had gained a reputation as a rough ride. That August, Knott's officials announced that they would refurbish GhostRider for Ghost Town's 75th anniversary. The ride temporarily closed in September 2015 so Great Coasters International (GCI) could refurbish the attraction. Including the planning process, the project lasted for two years; the renovation itself only took nine months to complete. Buena Park officials had to ensure that the renovation plans complied with building codes and that the ride was resistant to earthquakes. with banked turns and airtime hills being added. GCI also replaced the chain lift, added magnetic brakes, and removed steel in the ride's structure as part of the project. but the ride ultimately reopened on June 11, 2016.

Ride experience

The ride is located in the Ghost Town section of Knott's Berry Farm, near the main entrance and the California Marketplace section of the park. The ride's official backstory involves a former Union Army soldier who moved to a California mining town in pursuit of gold during a gold rush. According to this backstory, the soldier rode his horse into the mine one day and was never seen again; local residents sometimes reported seeing a ghost riding a horse, hence the ride's name. Riders descend The ride rises above ground, and its 51-degree first drop is tall. The ride lasts for about two minutes and forty seconds. The ride crosses over Grand Avenue (which connects southbound Beach Boulevard to the parking lots) four times. The trains each contain 12 cars; every car seats two guests in a single row. Knott's officials said that GhostRider was inspected every morning before the park opened, including the day of the accident; during these inspections, workers secured loose bolts and replaced weakening wood.

Awards

References

  • It’s long. It’s fast. The very fun Ghostrider at Knott’s, Los Angeles Times