KBF - a quick visit today pre-Super Bowl

My good friend Tony "Schnapps" Milano needed to renew his season pass so I decided to meet him at the park and get a few rides in before the game started. Yes, some gay men do watch sports!

Ghostrider is down for annual maintenance but that didn't put a damper on our day. What did, however, was seeing the construction walls around Tumbler and Gran Slammer in Fiesta Village. We rode the Supreme Scream and Sky Cabin to get a better look at the surrounding area. Tumber is almost completely disassembled and parts are neatly placed in the park maintenance area across La Palma Ave.

A quick recap of rides ridden:

Xcelerator - one train operation due to annual maintenance, about a 15 minutes wait. Rode twice, once in 1:2, once in 5:2. The launch...what can I say, it continues to blow me away. I've developed a little trick that really accentuates the feeling of any launch: I time my exhale to the length of the launch, with the goal to be completely exhaled as the train is released. Try it.

One more note about Xcelerator: the crew. Absolutely the best crew I've ever seen at Knotts. Fast, friendly and efficient. No painful stapling. Ride ops talked to waiting riders as the train ran the course. And the lead op, sitting in the control booth, had to have been trained at Cedar Point. She was constantly on the PA system talking about the ride, getting riders exciting about what they were going to experience, even giving cute 1-liners as the train was launched like "You're outta here!" and "To infinity and beyond!" Let's hope this is a sign of things to come when Ghostrider reopens.

Supreme Scream - still my favorite S&S tower.

Montezooma - despite the more extreme launch of Xcelerator I still prefer the classic Monty when it comes to fun factor.

Timber Mountain Log Flume - still my favorite flume, with Splash Mtn a close second. Could be a little darker in the catacombs, tho.

That's all we had time for. No sign of any parts for the new adult flat [the new kiddie flat still sits in the backlot]. The towers for VertiGo are still in the lot across Western Ave.That's all we had time for. No sign of any parts for the new adult flat [the new kiddie flat still sits in the backlot]. The towers for VertiGo are still in the lot across Western Ave. With the exception of the crew at Monty, which could have used some caffeine to wake up, we found all the ride ops to be very friendly and talkative. Moosh PS - did I mention it was HOT...over 90*? What happened to winter?

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Welcome to the New & Improved Coasterbuzz...mor with 25% more tomfoolery!

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Mamoosh said:

She was constantly on the PA system talking about the ride, getting riders exciting about what they were going to experience, even giving cute 1-liners as the train was launched like "You're outta here!" and "To infinity and beyond!" Let's hope this is a sign of things to come when Ghostrider reopens.

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It is. I'm a Knott's ride op, and we have all been encouraged- no TOLD to do this stuff. And I couldn't be more happy about that. I *love* to interact with the guests in that kind of way, and by your report I can tell I'm not the only one! When you get into it, so do the guests, and thats a lot of fun for everyone.

I've often said I wish every ride op at KBF could take a trip to CP to see the very best in action. It appears we may be channeling a little bit of that spirit on our own, which is awesome!

Did you notice that the ride ops on Xcelerator clap when the train returns to the station. If that isn't CP, I don't know what is.

Anyway, glad you had a nice day at the park- it was busier than I expected though!

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Xcelerator- Put the Pedal to the Metal!

*** This post was edited by CoasterFanMatt on 1/27/2003. ***

Nice TR Moosh, good to hear them whn I have cabin fever.

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Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

*** This post was edited by MagnumForce on 1/27/2003. ***

CFMatt - there was no clapping be the Xcelerator ops, at least not that I noticed.

MagF - my pleasure. Did I mention how hot its been here? ;)

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Welcome to the New & Improved Coasterbuzz...now with 25% more tomfoolery!

Glad to hear about the new ride op interactivity. During my September trip, I was astouned by the fact that each ride op said exactly the same thing, every time. It was like having Joe Friday at each mic station: just the facts. Giving them a bit more flexibility to be creative is a great thing.

LOL, no clapping? I take back all that nice stuff I said about their crew. ;) Well anyway, I have seen them do this on several occasions. I guess it just depends on the ride ops that are working that day.

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Xcelerator- Put the Pedal to the Metal!

Timber Mountain is back open, huh? Good! I was just there on the 23rd and it was still on rehab.

I have always wondered why KBF had such a different vibe about the ride ops than CP. I hope KBF does more along the lines of CP in terms of what to allow ride ops to do.

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Nothing... NOTHING... can prepare you for... the Fourth Dimension!

To provide some contrast Moosh, here is my hometown weather

http://www.aws.com/wilx/wx.asp?id=PTTSF

An hour and a half from CP.

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Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!