Well Thorpe and the PB have enough late openings to warrant this, and Adventure Island too for that matter! Retrofit Rage, tbh!@BigAl I feel like you're baiting a conversation about how parks in the UK never open at night!
Yh i heard the B&M hyper rumours as well and it's more likely to be pony express despite Coast Rider being out of place or slightly unnecessary imo and it's not great from what i've heard the restraints aren't great! But yh it'll be a while before they get their next coaster i'm saying probably 2024!I can't see coast rider going anytime soon, its not that old and doesn't take up too much space. Having been a few times now to Knotts I really like the park, its a much nicer park than Magic Mountain. I like the fact the park has a good mix of rides for all ages. They certainly have been focusing on the family market for the last 15 years, with the odd exception like HangTime. I also like how they have also focused money on reforming and plusing older rides (rapids, logflume and mine ride)
There has been rumours that the park where looking at moving some of the back of house areas/buildings behind the rapids and somehow expanding in that area. So pony express could potentially go if they wanted a coaster to start in the existing park and then extend over the rapids into the current back of house area. Previously there had been rumours the park had looked at a B&M hyper/giga starting in the existing park and then extending into the back of house area and carpark. With the current situation, I can't see the park adding annoying major for a while yet.
Here's a link to the KBF page on Screamscape, if you're interested: https://www.screamscape.com/html/knott-s_berry_farm.htmScreamscape said:2023?? - New Roller Coaster - RUMOR - (11/7/21) According to a Screamscape source, the rumored Giga Coaster plans for Knott’s may have been given approval to move forward with an intended timeline of opening the coaster in 2023. Keep an eye on the Mystery Lodge area for possible signs of prep work, as this is where the entrance / station is expected to go, with the rest of the coaster expected to be contained mostly in the southern parking lot area, towards the Hotel. If the rumor holds true, early work to prep the site may begin sometime between Q1 and Q2 of 2022.
(8/8/21) Easily one of the longest rumors for Knott’s Berry Farm has been the persistent rumor that the park has been looking to add a Giga-Coaster of some kind over the past 10-15 years. According to the rumors, the park has looked at different manufacturers over the years and more designs, layouts and locations than you can shake a stick at.
So with all that in mind, please take this latest rumor with more than a grain of salt. Not that it doesn’t stand a chance of being true, but because Knott’s and Cedar Fair have gone over this time and time again and in the end, they have failed to pull the trigger every time. The need is there, but space is always limited, and this is Knott’s we are talking about, and the park is deserving of adding something truly spectacular.
Now… according to this latest rumor sent my way, the park may have been looking at another B&M design, and just maybe… they might have even decided to go ahead with it. If true, this could be a new Giga that just might take the height record from Fury 325 at Carowinds. A coaster that size will take up a lot of space, and if the rumor is right, the plan would put the station somewhere on the South side of the park (personally, I’m eyeballing the closed Mystery Lodge site) with the majority of the coaster to head south, outside of the park and take up space around the southern parking lot and hotel area, with the goal of keeping it high enough so that they only need to put supports where needed in the lot to cause minimal loss of space out there.
Of course, the other benefit of sticking the coaster mostly outside the traditional park borderline would allow for it to cause a minimal disruption to the theming on the south side of the park for guests in Ghost Town and Wildwater Wilderness. While hardly scientific, a quick measurement of the distance from Fury 325’s station, lift hill, drop and rise to the next hill does match up very closely with the distance Knott’s has available to go from the area behind Mystery Lodge and move straight south to Crescent Ave. Again, not saying this is the location, but if I were looking to put something in, this is where my mind starts to look. Another location idea may be to put the lift right next to GhostRider’s lift, but I think the Mystery Lodge site would be preferable.
So had Knott’s time finally come? 2023 might be Knott’s year to shine and add a world-record breaking new coaster.
Sorry to bump, but the giga rumour now has a touch more weight behind it, as a set of rather official-looking blueprints for a hyper or giga coaster at Knott's have now appeared online: https://coasterforce.com/forums/threads/knotts-berry-farm-2023.45172/post-1125026
The layout shown looks very much in the out and back style of Orion or Leviathan as opposed to a Fury-type twister.
In terms of where these were found, they were apparently circulating on Discord.
In fairness, I’m not sure Merlin would have been able to pull off a ride like this. As much as their net income is higher than Cedar Fair’s, they have a far larger number of attractions, so the income per attraction is lower. Therefore, they’re a lot more cash-strapped than the likes of Cedar Fair, so I’m not sure we should expect the same things from them.I think these plans, although not fully confirmed yet, show why there's a general apathy towards Thorpe's new coaster.
This is what we wanted Merlin.
In fairness, I’m not sure Merlin would have been able to pull off a ride like this. As much as their net income is higher than Cedar Fair’s, they have a far larger number of attractions, so the income per attraction is lower. Therefore, they’re a lot more cash-strapped than the likes of Cedar Fair, so I’m not sure we should expect the same things from them.
And besides, I’m not sure planning would have liked a 325ft coaster, sadly. It might have gotten through (Thorpe’s height limit is 500ft), but I can sense the Chertsey and Thorpe locals would have had something to say about a 325ft coaster…