Could Knott’s Be Going Giga in 2013
There have been a number of rumors about Knott’s Berry Farms adding a new roller coaster for 2013. The oldest rumor (via Scream Scape) is that the Los Angeles-area theme park could be adding a giga coaster.
The rumors all point to a Giga sized coaster, possibly in the range of 325-340 feet tall. Intamin is still the rumored designer, though I have heard B&M’s name dropped as well a couple of times.
-Scream Scape
I might be way off base here as I’ve been to Knott’s, but I don’t claim to be intimately familiar with the park. That rumor surprises me from a space standpoint. Unlike most theme parks that are found in the outskirts of a major city, Knott’s is in a pretty well developed area surrounded by city streets on all sides.
Obviously a giga roller coaster or otherwise, could sit on top of and fly over the park’s attractions, the parking lot, or find some other space (backstage or maintenance areas). You’d have to imagine that a ride that went over parts of the park would mean closing certain sections and rides during construction as Knott’s doesn’t close for winter months like other parks do. I’m not saying it can’t be done, it just sounds a little odd to me.
On second thought, Kings Dominion’s Intimidator 305 doesn’t really have a huge footprint. So again, I may be off-base on the space issue. What do you think?
A New, Smaller Rumored Roller Coaster
The giga rumor recently evolved to focus on a ride that just took up the space of the removed Perilous Plunge ride. That seems a lot more likely, but I haven’t seen any other hints or clues as to what the park would place there. Rumors can change from time-to-time, and it doesn’t always mean that the information is bad. Sometimes things change behind the scenes and the park’s decide to take a different direction.
Knotts is a popular park, but it hasn’t gotten a lot of coaster attention lately. It’s last new coasters were two compact “family” coasters in 2008′s Pony Express and 2007′s Sierra Sidewinder. I think that it could benefit from a B&M airtime machine, so a hyper coaster would be my pick for the park. Maybe they could crowbar one in like Hersheypark did with Skyrush.
What kind of roller coaster would you like to see added to Knott’s Berry Farm lineup in 2013?
September 6, 2012 at 13:25
I haven’t been to Knott’s Berry Farm but judging from their rollercoaster lineup, I’d like to see a hyper coaster thrown in there. The only other one in the area is Goliath at Magic Mountain, and that one is probably the least fun of all hyper coasters, so a Skyrush or Raging Bull-type ride crammed in would be awesome.
I bought a Cedar Fair Platinum Pass this year (hit up Carowinds, Kings Dominion, Kings Island, and Cedar Point all in August), so I probably will use it to go to Knott’s Berry Farm sometime this fall since I will be in California for work. There’s nothing in the park that really draws me as a “must-ride” though, so I agree that they need a new star attraction.
September 6, 2012 at 15:51
I'm rooting for a B&M giga, because I don't want to go all the way to Canada for Leviathan
September 6, 2012 at 23:52
Hershey was able to squeeze in Skyrush like Joel mentioned. They basically built it over a creek that runs adjacent to the park, wrapped some of the track around the Comet, and shoehorned the station into an area so narrow that riders board and exit the on the same side. Still, they managed to build a world class coaster, and I think it is a better and more intense ride than some of the giga coasters. We will see if Knott's Berry Farm can make good use of the space as well.
September 7, 2012 at 05:03
I'm rooting for an Intamin one. I find the B&M airtime to be too gentle on average, especially on their newest rides. They tend to stick to floater, and I prefer ejector.
September 7, 2012 at 11:37
Would be a great spot to see Intamin's follow-up to Skyrush, but I think Cedar Fair may finally be fed up with them.
September 7, 2012 at 13:13
It might be cool to start where the Perilous Plunge will soon vacate, go out behind the Coasters restaurant, wrap around Xcelerator and Supreme Scream before coming back up and over the midway. The OC Register was apparently told that they would reuse the splashdown pool and exit bridge from Plunge as well, making me think of Diamondback's splashdown at the end of the ride. Assuming that's the location the rumored coaster would be placed anyways.
September 7, 2012 at 21:11
Xcelerator is the only really excellent coaster there, although Montezooma's Revenge is a classic (best in the back seat going backwards through the loop). If they get a B&M, I hope it's not a relatively forceless one like Silver Bullet. Another site called Silver Bullet the "family mine train of inverted coasters."
If it was up to me, I'd recommend they spend their money on topper track for Ghostrider before buying another coaster.
September 7, 2012 at 21:43
If Knott's were to put in a hyper/giga they would most likely have the station in Perilous Plunge's spot and then have the coaster travel over Bigfoot Rapids and Pony Express towards the parking lot, take a left, turnaround near Ghostrider, and then come back.
September 14, 2012 at 04:57
I think there will be some clues that might help us out. Coaster Critic is right, Knott's is in the middle of a city and is land locked so there isn't a whole lot of expansion that can be done. We also know that B&M sells rides in pairs. So it'll almost certainly be some kind of B&M, BOO! (I'm not a big fan of B&M). We also know that Silver Bullet is built in a weird place in the middle of the park and flys over visitors. We also know that Periolus Plunge has closed. So could it be a large ride that runs all over the park. Yeah would imagine so. So I'd think it'll be some kind of Mega coaster maybe even a wing rider. What I'd like to see is two rides. I'd love for Boomerang to go away and be replaced by a Vekoma Giant inverted boomerang. I'd also like to see a S&S El Loco. I think the park is the right size for those and they provide tons of thrills in a small footprint.
September 18, 2012 at 22:07
I don't care what it is as long as it's B&M. What I was thinking is a dive coaster similar to Krake at Heide Park. It could dive down in to a splashdown and do an immelmann up and over the bridge. It could have a surf theme to fit the Boardwalk area. That would be neat.
October 4, 2012 at 22:12
I think your right, and dive machines don't take up much space. Or they can move the park outside of the city.
September 19, 2012 at 23:54
I would hope for a giga coaster that would drop 300-345ft tall. I would think the station would be built by perilous plunge would turn go up. It would drop down by solver bullet and go around through fiesta town and around supreme scream and xcelarator into a splash pool which leads to the station. That would be an awesome coaster!
September 24, 2012 at 08:33
There is also a rumor for a dive machine, which would also make a wonderful attraction.