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The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

P. 651: Montezooma's Revenge project terminated?

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Well I work at Knotts and road it both saturday and sunday before work. The ride is nice and smooth for the most part. Not as smooth as silverbullet was when it first opened but this one isnt bad. For somereason I boath times I got a car that does not want to spin (I road car 1 the first time and 3 the second) and had alot of fun.

 

Worth going to if you are in the area but dont come from out of state JUST to ride this one its not that big of a deal!

 

 

can anyone else say Kidtums first coaster?

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I think that the reason that some of the cars spin more than other is that in some cars the weight distribution is unequal. If there is the same amount of weight on both sides of the car, they spin less. However, if there is an unequal distribution of wieght in the car, it could spin more. If the cars were really free spinning, it wouldn't take them time to work. If you watched the video, you could tell that the last car was definitely unbalenced in weight or something of the sort.

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Rode Sidewinder on Monday. Here's a little Ride Report for ya'll.

 

Queue: Waited an hour. With a one-train operation, the line moved very slowly. Not that I hold this against anyone in particular. It's a new ride with a new crew on Memorial Day weekend. So, what can you expect? The queue had some nice theming (miner's equipment, country-esque lighting fixtures, raw lumber queue rails). There are two concrete footers without anything on them yet, but wires have sprouted from them. I'm guessing they'll install video monitors so that you can see how the on-board cameras work (and try to sell you on the idea). However, it needs more shade! Desperately!

 

Loading/unloading: Sometimes the dispatch times were good and sometimes bad. Again, to be expected on its third day with a very rushed opening/training timeframe. Two problems in the station.

 

The biggest problem in the loading station was the actual design of the trains and lapbars. A small boy, who just made the minimum height requirement, got into the train with his dad. Dad helped him secure his belt. Once all the belts are secured, the ops call for the locking of the lapbars. They lock, and then the ops push all of them down. (Think Excelerator.) Anyway, one of the ops, who shall remain nameless, wasn't even watching what she was doing. She was just pushing down the lapbars while talking to the the op opposite her. Well, the little boy had his hand on the outside of the lapbar. She pushed it down and wedged his hand between the bar and the fiberglass body. She didn't even notice until people started pointing out the problem. She tried to release the bar manually (there's a pull tab that releases them), but it wasn't working. By this time the whole crew was trying to help. They finally called for the booth operator to release the bars. With a little finesse, the bar released and the little guy was free. He didn't seem to be injured, but he was definitely shaken up.

 

The second problem was the booth operator. We will call her Miss Thing. She was so busy listening to the guy responsible for entertaining the crowd with statistics and jokes (we'll call him Lame Joke Dude) that she wasn't even paying attention to the loading and unloading. There are times when the train was ready for dispatch, but Miss Thing was in La-La-Land listening to Lame Joke Dude. Miss Thing didn't even realize what was happening with the little boy, even though every op in the station was surrounding one train.

 

The Ride: Fun. Twirly. Once you come off the lift and your vehicle starts spinning, there's a real sense of surprise. While standing in line, you forget that if the track is curved and train is facing the ground during a turn that you'll be facing the ground. It's a weird and exhilarating experience. Reminds me a little of X at Magic Mountain in the fact that you become so disoriented that you don't even know what's happening. The helix rocked! We were through the whole thing! Wicked! The S-curse from the helix was very, very cool. A fun ride.

 

My advice to Knotts: Institute new loading procedures. First, make it a policy that Lame Joke Dude (or Dudette) should not 'perform' during loading and unloading. Loading a train is a serious business, in my opnion, and shouldn't be taken lightly. These people are responsible for keeping guests safe. As adults, we can take care of ourselves, but kids cannot. No more joking. Jokes and dialogue should only be used when the train is moving through the course. Second, after the belts are checked, then Lame Joke Dude should call for 'hands up.' Everyone in the train should raise their hands in the air and the ops then come by and push down the lapbars. This would keep small children from having body parts lodged between the bar and the car. A bad design, IMO.

 

Anyway. Fun ride. Nice queue. A good addition.

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I think that the reason that some of the cars spin more than other is that in some cars the weight distribution is unequal. If there is the same amount of weight on both sides of the car, they spin less. However, if there is an unequal distribution of wieght in the car, it could spin more. If the cars were really free spinning, it wouldn't take them time to work. If you watched the video, you could tell that the last car was definitely unbalenced in weight or something of the sort.

 

I agree!!! This makes since!

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The second problem was the booth operator. We will call her Miss Thing. She was so busy listening to the guy responsible for entertaining the crowd with statistics and jokes (we'll call him Lame Joke Dude) that she wasn't even paying attention to the loading and unloading. There are times when the train was ready for dispatch, but Miss Thing was in La-La-Land listening to Lame Joke Dude. Miss Thing didn't even realize what was happening with the little boy, even though every op in the station was surrounding one train.

This was flat out hilarious. Not the boy getting trapped, of course, but the description of the events sounded perfect! I think we can all relate to something like this at just about every park out there from time to time (unfortunately).

Nice quick, concise report of the ride.

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A little late, but I was on the first train of Sierra Sidewinder as well. It was great waiting outside the entrance seeing more coaster enthusiasts than families

 

I posted some pictures over at coasterdom but it seems you guys have seen your fair share haha... I talked with at least Brent in the morning, cool guy. Anyway great ride blah blah...

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Two other quick things now that I'm thinking about it...

 

Since the cars are round, there are huge gaps between the trains where you could fall into the track below. The cars weren't spinning too much yet, but if they really start to spin, Knotts is going to have some very dizzy people unsure of their footing. A little worried, I am...

 

Second, when the train comes to a stop, it stops a few feet ahead of the air gates. So when the air gates are open, the gates point at the middle of the train (not good when the cars are round), making the third row look like it's supposed to load into the forward-facing fourth (and last) car rather than both sides of the third car. Weird and confusing.

 

All of these problems (and the ones from above) really are design flaws (in my opinion). Short of closing it and redoing parts of it (which isn't going to happen), I think Knotts needs to create new procedures for loading and unloading this new coaster to ensure guest safety, especially kids.

 

(Oh no, I sound like that chick from The Simpsons: "THINK OF THE CHILDREN! )

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Went to Knott's yesterday and got on SS with my bros and nephew and everyone loved it! Such a cool ride. The wait was like an hour with one train going and the loading/unloading time did leave something to be desired, but it's still a new ride so you got to give them a break. Now I know that the spinning probably does have something to do with the weight distribution and various other factors. But as I was watching it while in line the last car just seemed to be spinning like crazy compared to the others, so I made sure to get in that one. I don't know why but that last car just spins the most. That drop from the lift hill just caught everyone by surprise. I think this is a great addition to the park!

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Rode Sierra Sidewinder on Wednesday May 30th, and had the pleasure of experiencing a downtime! I was sitting in the last row of the train, staring down the lift for 20 minutes! I must admit it was a bit scary. A Knott's Employee came to talk to us on the lift...he told us that this was the first Downtime they have had involving guests...we then asked if they were going to try and evacuate us...which BTW...was kinda of freaking me out! The angle combined with the direction we were facing would make an evac difficult and in my opinion dangerous. Needless to say we finally made it over the lift hill and experienced the ride...it was a fun ride. I would totally do it again!

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i rode the sierra sidewinder yesterday

i underestimated it it goes pretty fast for a camp snoopy ride and the spinning on the cars makes it super fun

 

but yeah at the top of the lift hill the whole train jerks a little before going down

other than that i think knott's made a good decision in adding this because its intense but family friendly

 

another thing:

i noticed the cameras on the car

i think they wont be able to take very good onride pictures because of the awkward angle the camera is at

i guess we'll have to wait and see

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i rode the sierra sidewinder yesterday

i underestimated it it goes pretty fast for a camp snoopy ride and the spinning on the cars makes it super fun

 

but yeah at the top of the lift hill the whole train jerks a little before going down

other than that i think knott's made a good decision in adding this because its intense but family friendly

 

another thing:

i noticed the cameras on the car

i think they wont be able to take very good onride pictures because of the awkward angle the camera is at

i guess we'll have to wait and see

Hi, just curious. Does your keyboard not have a "Shift" key on it? Please read our "posting rules" in regards to using correct spelling, grammar, and...um...oh yeah CAPITALIZATION!!!!

 

Thank you!

 

--Robb

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Rode this on Thursday, while I do realize it's a new ride and all, the queue was full and with two trains, it was still a half hour wait. It's a fun little ride but I feel it's one of those rides you ride only at night and with a 20 minute wait or less.

 

I opted to wait for the last row since I knew it was going to be my only ride for the day (literally, I drove home right after) and the lift is pretty steep. The jerk at the end of the lift can be quite painful for taller people. I'm 5'9" and still managed to hit my knee, and it hurt. The car spun a few times in the beginning, but I ended up facing backward for most of the ride. It would be a much better ride if they added a little bit more. It would have also help pad the ride time to avoid keeping the second train stacked for so long. The cool thing is the trains readjust themselves free of the station, so you don't even have to wait to be in the station to get back into (un)load position. I'm sure that cuts down the wait time dramatically.

 

Overall it's a great ride for families with little ones and a perfect fit for Camp Snoopy. Good job Knott's.

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^^ I got to be honest, no capitalization really doesn't bother me, so I just found it funny that you picked it up because it didn't really register till you said something. Because then I looked back and I was like, omg, he's right. Heh, imagine that.

 

Anyways, we're going to have to call Sierra Sidewinder something other then SS because it could also be Supreme Scream. I suggest we shall now forever refer to Supreme Scream as just Supreme, or call Sierra Sidewinder "Sierra"

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