Knott's Berry Farm 2018 Ride Announcement

Holy crap guys... it's me, hi!  After sending my idiot intern to California's Great America to cover their RailBlazer announcement, I had to send my other lacky Dan to Knott's Berry Farm to attend the announcement for Hang Time... an all new, actual, honest to god, ride worth riding... 

Yes, Knott's has announced an actual roller coaster... a decent sized ride too!  First one since Silver Bullet opened in 2004.  Yes, 2004.  It's been 14 years (by the time Hang Time opens) since the park has added a new ride of this size!  Sure we've had some great additions over the years... like... um... well, I like Sierra Sidewinder, it's an actual fun ride!  Having focused on more family friendly additions like Pony Express and the Camp Snoopy renovations a few years ago, and the redo of Ghost Rider... the last truly new ride of any note was Silver Bullet over a decade ago.  But nobody's discounting the necessity of what's been done since... I mean, except for that one thing that shall not be named.  Not to mention literal tons of deep fried boysenberry stuff... but have you ever tried to ride a Fun Bun?  Exactly. 

Knott's Berry Farm has always had an impressive history when it comes to roller coasters too!  I mean, unless we're counting Windjammer (by the way, why not name Hang Time "Windjammer 2"?)... the first modern inverting coaster with Corkscrew, Montezooma's Revenge... one of the best damn launch coasters the world has ever seen, Ghost Rider, Silver Bullet, etc!  They even bought into the Boomerang craze when it was NEW!  Y'know, 27 years ago.  They've got a great history with big iron rides.  And after an all too long break, they're back at it and we're very excited!

HOLY BUTTS YOU GUYS!!! CHICKEN BOO IS BACK... and awkwardly tanned. 

The Hang Time site

The boardwalk path is a bit more narrow now... 

The new Boardwalk BBQ is now open and features (strangely) nothing but grilled tofu dishes and vegetarian food options... no meat at all.  

Oh hey, a band... 

Once 8PM rolled around, it was time to get on with the announcing of things. 

Park VP/GM John Storbeck was on hand... 

Here's Hang Time... the first not-dive coaster on the west coast... 

As was long-time friend of Westcoaster and all around good guy, Jeff Gahagan... he's the parks chief pigeon wrangler. 

It's like he knew what was gonna happen with this picture.

For those who don't know (or are too stupid to remember)... years ago, we were having a discussion with then VP Jack Falfas... he noted that all Cedar Fair parks (the big ones, not you Michigan's Adventure) had a few things in common.  A big drop tower, a world class invert and a hyper coaster.  At that point we were in line to get the B&M invert and we knew it was going to be called Silver Bullet.  But given the company's history of naming the inverts using bird themes (Raptor, Talon...) we started joking that the ride would need to be similarly named.  Being the idiots we are, we decided that it had to be the most feared creature on earth... a pigeon.  And thus, the pigeon was born and Jeff has not been allowed to forget it (and as long as he works for Cedar Fair, I will not allow him to forget it).  

At night time (zee right time)... the ride will have lights on it... y'know, like you do. 

A flock o' freakin' nerds... 

The site is being protected by the parks loyal dynamite monkey... 

More dirt because you nerds love pictures of dirt... 

Friends of Westcoaster... Rick and Johanna from Theme Park Adventure with David and Brittney! 

Empty parks are best parks... 

WHERE THE HELL IS MY CATAWAMPUS, YA'LL?!?!?

So there ya go!  A fantastic new addition for Knott's Berry Farm and I sincerely hope they keep up the investment in this park.  After a long run of parks like Canada's Wonderland, Kings Island, etc. all getting a disproportionate amount of love in the coaster realm, it's time to turn the attention out west... the competition out here is about to heat up a little.  Six Flags, Universal and of course Disney are all planning big expansions/additions.  I hope Knott's is ready to play... it's only about time, I'd say!  

Facts about Hang Time...

Height: Approximately 300 pigeons tall (150 feet)
Angle of first drop: 96 degrees (prepare for idiotic on-ride videos of people yelling this)
Length: At least 7 feet (2,198 feet long)
Inversions: Yes
How many? STOP ASKING ME MOM, IT'S A SECRET
Capacity: 3 trains departing from a station somewhere on the track, each carrying approximately 32 midgets... err, "little people." (16 normal sized people)
Maximum velocity: Equivalent to an unladen European Swallow shot out of a potato gun (57 MPH)
When will it open: After next Tuesday (sometime next Summer)
Cost: More than $50, less than Disney spent to redo Tower of Terror

And that's it... see you all out there somewhere... for whatever reason, I don't know... whatever... I guess.  

Goo bah!