GhostRider reborn as Knott’s Berry Farm’s Ghost Town turns 75
By 1997, much history had already been made at Knott’s Berry Farm:
The Calico Mine Ride had been taking guests on a leisurely adventure through an Old West mine since 1960.
The world’s first 360-degree roller coaster — the Corkscrew — opened in 1975.
Propelling riders from 0 to 55 miles per hour in 5 seconds, Montezooma’s Revenge launched in 1978.
Bigfoot Rapids made a watery debut in 1988.
But there was still a piercing absence at the Buena Park theme park.
“The wooden roller coast is the one big thing that they were missing,” said Knott’s Berry Farm historian J. Eric Lynxwiler, co-author of “Knott’s Preserved: From boysenberry to theme park, a history of Knott’s Berry Farm.” “It made them more a destination for roller coaster aficionados and thrill-seekers.”
As Knott’s Berry Farm this year celebrates the 75th anniversary of Ghost Town — where the GhostRider wooden coaster opened Dec. 8, 1998 — it also celebrates the most extensive revamping of the ride.
“GhostRider was the last attraction commissioned by the Knott family, and it was built to fascinate the growing guest attendance,” said Knott’s Berry Farm spokeswoman Diana Bahena. “It was the family’s final gift to the park.”
Ohio-based Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. acquired the park in 1997 from the Knotts.
The improvements were noticeable during the ride’s reopening in June.
“It’s much smoother,” said Jenny Reed of San Bernardino, who was chaperoning a group of children as part of a summer camp program. “I was afraid to go on it because of how rickety it was … but it was much better.”
Nuts and Bolts
GhostRider is considered the fastest, tallest and longest wooden roller coaster on the West Coast — measuring 4,533 feet long and 118 feet high and clocking in at 56 miles per hour. And keeping a wooden coaster of that magnitude running for nearly 20 years has been no easy feat.
Indeed, the roller coaster has five mechanics assigned to it for regular maintenance. Every year each of the three trains is completely torn down for maintenance. Plus, because of the expansion and contraction experienced naturally by wooden coasters, every bolt on the coaster is tightened once a year.
“Wood actually moves … steel is very stiff,” said Jeff Gahagan, vice president of maintenance and construction at Knott’s, noting that a wooden coaster actually changes with the weather and season because of wood’s flexibility. “Because of that, you have a very different ride.”
For the nine-month renovation, most of the 4,533 feet of the track was replaced, the motor and chain on the coaster’s lift was replaced and a magnetic braking system was installed for a much smoother ride. Banking was added as well, giving riders more “hills” and more gradual turns, according to Gahagan.
The wood itself was also given a makeover — it was replaced with a much stronger Brazilian variety (so strong that steel blades are used to cut through it). And all three trains are completely new. In the trains, all the cars except the front one now have only a rear axle (the front car still has a front axle) instead of a rear and front, allowing the train to follow smoothly behind rather than in a whipping motion, said Gahagan.
Another significant improvement was the removal of the mid-ride brake, helping the coaster attain better speed. Also, most of the steel was removed from the ride, giving the coaster more flex and durability.
Though the renovations took nine months, it was really a two-year project carried out by Pennsylvania-based Great Coasters International. The ride underwent detailed review by Buena Park officials, with attention paid to making it compliant with earthquake standards.
The result is an upgraded traditional wooden coaster properly themed for the Old West vibe of Ghost Town, giving riders a smoother ride, more air time in the front and pure speed in the back, said Gahagan.
“It’s a completely different ride depending on where you sit,” he said.
Making History
Theme designer Robin Hall, who was Knott’s Berry Farm’s then-vice president of design and architecture and the designer of GhostRider, said it was the marketing department’s desire at the time to make the new GhostRider better than Colossus — which he helped design at Magic Mountain.
“So we increased the height from 112 feet to 118 feet to be taller than Colossus and we were longer,” Hall said. “Really this was a bit silly as they were very different projects, with Colossus being a racing roller coaster and Knott’s being a single track.”
The project took about two years, according to Hall. The first year involved clearing buildings and constructing spaces for offices and warehousing. The actual coaster construction took about 11 months, he said.
“I had two goals with GhostRider: the first being to reach out as a ‘billboard’ towards Beach Boulevard,” he said. “The second was to clear out expansion space by relocation of warehouse space away from the main entrance. Most of the $24 million of the project cost was used to accomplish the second.”
Public reaction to the ride was positive, Hall recalled.
“The coaster was named as one of the top five roller coasters in the world upon opening,” he said. “It was much more of a roller coaster thrill ride than I expected, being much faster. The sway of a wooden coaster is what gives it a different feel than a steel coaster, and that was a very good addition to the Knott’s menu of rides.”
It was a huge draw for the theme park, and it put in place a large missing piece of its historical puzzle, said Lynxwiler, though its construction was somewhat bittersweet because of what the ride replaced: Walter Knott’s beloved volcano structure with a tiny devil turning a crank that made it rumble.
“A lot of people were upset over the loss of Knott’s history … but it didn’t leave anybody with an empty heart,” he said. “It really is one of the best things to happen to Ghost Town … minus the missing volcano.”
And he’s happy for the renovation, considering the coaster had developed a reputation in its later years as a rough ride.
“It’s not just a physical step in maintenance, it’s a symbolic step,” Lynxwiler said. “That Knott’s is maintaining this piece of history.”
Peralta is a contributor to Times Community News.