The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 316

All Aboard The new Knott's GhostRider wooden roller coaster clicketyclacks to a 118-foot precipice before rambling over 14 hills at speeds topping 50 ML 1 1-1: Ff'Hi-ivi vHitiK 1 L- I- JWi mph along a nearly mile-long circuitous route that makes four passes over Grand Avenue. Come take a ride: I ajii ii7', t-v 1 1 1 1 1 i i i 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 ft 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ltmtH 1 1 iirrrfrrrrm i Legend of the GhostRider The theme of the new coaster! at Knott's blends seamlessly with Its Ghost Town surroundlngvA Union soldier! Billed as the tallest and longest wooden roller coaster in the West, GhostRider opens Tuesday at as legend has It, heads west One guaranteed winner in the coaster wars: riders. GhostRider, like its Magic Mountain brethren, attempts to adhere to a strict classic after the CMI War to seek his; fortune in California. One he rides his wild mustang lnttf a mine, never to be seen agall To this day, his spirit haunts tit Ghost Rider mine shaft. r.

mstuaaaeBae is, pi H' I Parking I i Entrwet pi RtftwtiM i n. fi 3 mM ghost A i Kk TOWN SJi YZT Knott Berry Farm. The 12-story coaster is the biggest addition to the Buena Park amusement park since Walter Knott opened his berry farm 79 years ago. The mega-structure promises to raise the profile of Knott's in the ongoing Southern California coaster contest-challenging Magic Mountain for the wooden coaster crown. While Six Flags'.

Colossus claims a seven-foot-higher drop, the Knott's ride is 208 feet longer. coaster code. The classic "woody" features lap bars that allow riders to float during negative Gs and bench seats that promote side-to-side sliding. It eschews headrests, which block the view of rear riders. Even the time of day can affect the experience, according to purists.

Wooden coaster enthusiasts prefer to ride in the midafternoon, when the timber has expanded, the ride is looser and the giant structure seems to shift and sway. 311 -tot KARI RENE HALL Los Angeles Times Walk the line: Workers walk the track of Knott's Berry Farm's new GhostRider wooden roller coaster, a throwback to classic coasters that flourished during the 1920s. in Bt4 250 25 SMS 475 miles laid end-to-end 1,000 1,410 1,600 per hour Fntrp tons tons tons cubic yards i I it GhostRider minimum IT, height 48" 1 It i 1 v. i "THURSDAY, DECEMBERl ''MM 94 II CALENDAR WEEKEND DECEMBER.