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September 8, 2004

Day Three: Knott's Berry Farm

The coasterin' started in earnest today with a visit to Knott's Berry Farm.

I haven't been to Knott's for nearly twenty years. My parents brought my sister and me here in '85 as part of a Disneyland vacation. At the time, I was absolutely terrified of the coasters - Montezooma's Revenge (which is still here), and the Corkscrew (which moved out to Silverwood a few years ago. Funny sidebar: I finally conquered my fear of the Corkscrew in 2002 when Dad and I took a motorcycle trip out to Idaho. Took me 17 years to work up my nerve, I guess...).

Tastes change, of course, Today was all about the coasters.

Flat out, the best thing on the property is Xcelerator. It's the younger brother of Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster (Cedar Fair, LLP owns both Knott's and Cedar Point). You are catapult-launched from a flat surface out to a huge, vertical horseshoe. The apex of the horseshoe is better than 200 feet up. From there, it's free fall (smile for the cameras!) and a few banking turns, and that's it.

An UNBELIEVABLE rush.

The park was deserted. Asking around, it turns out that LA schools started on Tuesday, so all the kids are gone for the summer. I literally walked from the ticket booth to the Xcelerator and sat down in the car - no waiting, no lines. No kidding.

(I also rode it three times today - very front, very back, and in the middle).

Knott's coaster selection isn't as strong as I'd hoped. The big wooden coaster, Ghost Rider, was offline; the others were either very tame (Jaguar!) or very lame (Boomerang, which is a clone of a ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas).

Making it worse is that Knott's is clearly building a new, inverted monster called Silver Bullet. It opens next year. There were guys working on it - moving earth, welding, painting, etc. You can see the tracks from almost everywhere in the park. It's going to be a long, fast, kick-butt signature coaster. I may have to make a quick detour back here when Mary and I come down for Disneyland's 50th next year.

Tomorrow: Magic Mountain! At last!

Posted by Gavin Shearer at September 8, 2004 3:12 PM. Posted to Travel.

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