From the Berry Farm to the Movie World

Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA
&
Warner Bros. Movie World, Queensland, Australia

We've got a quick update for you folks today, but it will be a bit different than usual, because we're actually going to combine two small updates into one... slightly larger update.  First, we stop by Knott's Berry Farm to see the latest construction with HangTime and some happenings around the park (and we'll be back later this week with a look at this year's Knott's Merry Farm).  Then we'll jet off to the land down under, where our buddy, Ian Clark of The Human Passport fame, sent us a few photos of the new DC Rivals Hypercoaster that recently opened at Warner Bros. Movie World in the Gold Coast.  Ready for a quick whirl? Here we go!

HangTime

It didn't take long after Haunt wrapped up for next year's new hotness to start moving full speed ahead.  Actually, the foundations for HangTime were already coming out of the ground before Halloween, but over the past few weeks, supports and track have soared out of the former grounds of Boomerang to tower high in the air!

Walking by HangTime, I was struck by just how tall it is.  Granted, the stats will tell you that the roller coaster will be a 150 feet high, but it feels even taller within the constricted area of the Boardwalk, across from smaller scale structures.  When it's all done, this will definitely be a big boy coaster--even if it's not necessarily super intense!

Dayam, there's a pretty tall erection coming out of the Boardwalk at Knott's!

The vertical lift hill and much of beyond 90° first drop have already gone up, and the support structure has already reached its maximum height!

It's quickly becoming apparently that HangTime will be another prominent member of Knott's skyline!

Peeking through the walls, the columns for the track at the station are up too.

Formwork for foundations for the station itself are also being set up.

The steel has a bunch of attach-y parts for connections to the track.

They still have a fair amount to go, or else this would be the worst roller coaster ever.

It's kind of interesting to see the roller coaster in this incomplete state, though.

Bottoming out of the first drop.

Check out that sexy curve!

The palm trees provide scale for how towering this ride will be!

Compared to Boomerang, HangTime will make much more of a presence.

Just a "J" for now, but the track installation should go pretty quickly.

Supports for parts of the circut further down have already gone up too. 

The ride will be visible from pretty much any angle in the park.

It does look awkward creeping out over the Calico Mine Ride.

Such is the lot of a limited-land park, I suppose.

Knott's Notes

I noticed a few miscellaneous things walking around the park this past Sunday, during our Knott's Merry Farm media day visit.  For example...

The Boardwalk Ballroom is back to normal now and showing a significant lack of haunted carnival ride themed scary maze.

Over in the Silver Bullet Mining Town, there's a new Dippin' Dots stand, for those who didn't want to go to other parts of the park to get their latest park rumors.

Knott's has Catawampus merchandise out and about now!

I guess they finally realized the popularity their beloved woodimal has, and the park is now pumping out shirts, kettle corn, chocolate bars, candy, mugs, and other souvenirs.

Side note: this slowly moving animatronic horse (and accompanying bull) at the back of Virginia's Gift Shop (in the California Marketplace) is exceptionally creepy.  Like creepier than anything at Knott's Scary Farm.

DC Rivals HyperCoaster

Switching gears to something completely geographically different... a couple of months ago, Warner Bros. Movie World Australia opened their newest thrill ride to the public.  The DC Rivals HyperCoaster--towering 202 feet in the air, stretching nearly 4600 feet, and reaching speeds of up to 72 mph--is part of Movie World's current and aggressive strategy to greatly expand its resort property and attractions.

Although it looks like an Intamin, this hypercoaster is actually manufactured by Mack and stands as the longest and tallest continuous circuit roller coaster in Australia (Tower of Terror II is a shuttle coaster and nearly twice as tall).  It is also unique in that its 11th and last car faces backwards, allowing thrill seekers the unique opportunity of being able to ride this roller coaster both forwards or backwards!  Those seeking the last car will need to pay a $10 upcharge for the time being, though Ian attested that it was well worth the charge for the exciting experience!

DC Rivals HyperCoaster continues the DC expansion at Movie World.  Practically half the park is themed to the comic franchise now, and the resort is continuing to expand with more hotel properties and improvements to its Wet 'n' Wild water park as well.  Pretty exciting stuff for Australia's biggest theme park!

The Joker sports a menacing grin at the top of DC Rivals HyperCoaster.

The speedy ride has a ton of twists and turns.

No inversions, but plenty of overbanked turns and twisty bits.

Some pretty great airtime too!

The roller coaster also features an non-inverted loop.

Just what is that, you ask?  Well, it's a loop with an inline twist that actually prevents the train from ever actually being upside down.

If you're in Australia, you should stop by for a visit! (Cuz it's totally convenient to get from any one place in the country to any other, right?  I'm a dumb, geographically-ignorant American.  I assume you just hop in a kangaroo and mosey from one place to another.  Maybe use a Kangaroober.)

Again, thanks to our buddy Ian for sending in some photos.  If you like these, go check out his site, The Human Passport, for some fantastic photos from all around the world--including all seven continents!  Ian's been able to capture some truly breathtaking scenes from all over this Earth, which is pretty neat.

We'll be back to more normal updates from our local parks, and as we roll into the holiday season, you'll be seeing some Christmas-related content too.  I suppose it's only fair, after we flooded your eyeballs with all our spoopy Halloween content.  Just don't let Jim know.  He's a Grinch!