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Park News - (11/5/09) Knott’s has confirmed that the 2010 Winter Coaster Solace will take place at the same time as the National ACE Preservation Conference on April 24th, 2010. No word on if this is just for 2010 or forever.
    (11/4/09) A Screamscape source tells us that Knott’s may be planning to stick a fork in the annual Winter Coaster Solace event, due to falling attendance. If the rumors are true then look for the 2010 Coaster Solace to be moved to April and merged with the ACE Spring Convention event instead. Which is kind of a shame, as one of the great things about the Coaster Solace event was that it had become open to everyone and not just ACE members, who don’t have a very strong following on the west coast anyway. Lets hope they change their mind on this one, as I’d have to place the blame on faltering attendance at the Solace on Knott’s themselves, since the events over the past few years seem to have been more of an afterthought by the local PR / Marketing crew and not presented as a premier enthusiast event as was done when they first kicked it off in the late ‘90s.
    (10/30/09) A great review of Knott’s Scary Farm has been posted by Rex & The Beast, who have also posted a nice video to go along with it.
    (10/19/09) Good coverage of Knott’s Scary Farm can be seen at Coaster Realm this week.
    (10/13/09) I’ve been told that the bent and broken brake fins on Xcelerator were actually removed by the end of the week that the accident took place. The issue is still under heavy investigation and it will likely be several months before the ride is reopened, so I wouldn’t look for it to be ready until Summer 2010 at this point. It seems Cedar Fair may have stepped up and is giving the ride’s launch system a serious look and is said to be looking into what can be done to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. According to numerous sources, the launch cable on Xcelerator was replaced during a large rehab on the ride last winter (Nov/Dec 2008), which was followed by a fairly lengthy bit of downtime due to launch system problems, which kept it closed for most of Spring 2009. So its kind of shocking that what was essentially still a fairly new cable could have fallen apart so quickly.
    (10/12/09) It looks like the work may have started on Xcelerator as a section of brake fins along the launch track, likely the section previously damaged, have been removed entirely as seen in the new photo added below.
    (10/8/09) A park guests has let us know that GhostRider is back up and running once again.
    (10/7/09) According to the LA Times, Xcelerator could likely remain closed for the next several months as the investigation into the snapping launch cable continues.
    (9/30/09) A Screamscape reader just happened to be nearby when the incident on Xcelerator took place two weeks ago, and managed to get some pictures of the ‘aftermath’ of the event that they thought we would like to see. They included a picture showing off the broken cable bits and torn and bent brake fins piled up on top of the launch track as well as a couple of pictures showing off the extensive damage to the front of the Xcelerator train body.  As you can see, it looks like someone took a giant axe to the front of car, trying to split it in half, but this was all done by the snapping steel launch cable. If it tore up the train itself like that, just imagine what could have happened if came into contact with a human body.
    (9/21/09) Xcelerator suffered from a dramatic malfunction on Wednesday which seems to have involved a broken launch cable that snapped up ahead of the train during the launch, exploding a cloud of shrapnel in front of the train. Most people have heard the stories about how this has happened before back in 2004 on Top Thrill Dragster, the bigger brother of Xcelerator at Cedar Point, but never before has an incident like this been captured on video.
    No ordinary video either… as an insider in the park apparently smuggled out footage from the ride’s onboard video system and had it uploaded to YouTube so the world could see the dramatic footage. The footage shows a father and his son in the front row of the coaster, and everything is fine for a couple of seconds before you see them hit the cloud of debris, quickly followed by confusion, pain and fear. The train never made it to the top, so it rolls backwards into the station, rolling over the remains of the launch cable. Keep an eye on the son’s seat just before they stop and something strike the car, causing the back of his seat to jerk forward out of place, which seemed to cause some kind of foot or leg injury just out of the camera shot. It’s just horrifying to watch and wonder how much worse it would be if that were you in the front row, with your own child in pain beside you. I’ve added a link to the video here, but be warned that what you are about to see may make you think twice about riding an Intamin coaster ever again. I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again. I do wonder just why so many parks around the world continue to buy Intamin products, when year after year we stand witness to stories about accidents on Intamin machines and countless tales of technical problems with many of their rides. I’m not saying that they are all bad… but I think someone really needs to take a look at the quality level of their designs if we are going to continue to allow them to build rides.
    Lets take a brief recap of some highlights from Intamin’s Decade of Destruction:
1999 – Rider killed when Intamin Rapid’s boat flips at Six Flags over Texas
1999 – Rider thrown from Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags Darien Lake
1999 – 12 year old killed when he fell out of Drop Zone at Paramount’s Great America
2001 – Woman killed when thrown from Perilous Plunge
2001 – Brakes fail on Superman at S.F. New England, trains collide in station
2004 – Girl killed when thrown from Hydro
2004 – Launch Cable breaks, sprays riders with shrapnel on Top Thrill Dragster
2004 – A man died when thrown from Superman: Ride of Steel at S.F. New England
2005 – Trains collide on Disney’s California Screamin’ coaster when brakes fail
2005 – KingdaKa’s launch systems suffers extreme damage during test launch at S.F. Great Adventure.
2007 – A girl’s feet are severed on the Superman: Tower of Power at S.F. Kentucky Kingdom
2009 – Xcelerator’s Launch Cable Breaks

2010 - Demon Drop - Confirmed - (11/2/09) Screamscape has heard a weird rumor claiming that Demon Drop may get a very interesting technical upgrade when it reopens at Knott’s next year. If it works out, look for the new Demon Drop to feature a brand new magnetic braking system that will go a long way to cutting down on the noise factor from the 1st Gen ride system.
    (10/30/09) According to my latest source, at the very least they tell us we can expect to see Demon Drop repainted, as the large blue metal tower would look quite out of place in Ghost Town. Just a guess on my part, but I’d expect to see it given a “rusty” looking color myself.
    (10/22/09) In the LA Times article about Demon Drop, they confirm that Knott’s will be keeping the Demon Drop name, color and even the “theme”.  Ummm… Demon Drop had no theme… so you can pretty much count on this ride sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of Knott’s rustic Ghost town area. I had kind of hoped that, given the age and fact that Magic Mountain had the exact same ride running for decades, Knott’s would take the extra step to try and theme it and maybe even semi-enclose it. I had been imagining something that would look like Dollywood’s popular Mystery Mine building on the outside, but with the old Demon Drop hardware on the inside. Maybe even name after the old removed Haunted Shack that used to fit on that same spot. Unfortunately I guess this really is just a quick hand-me-down addition. The scary thing is that Knott’s is going to end up paying way more to move and install this used ride than it cost to build it brand new back in 1983. They are aiming to open it my Memorial Day weekend, 2010.
    (10/19/09) Coming in as a complete shock to me was a confirmed report from the city of Buena Park at the top of Page 2, claiming that Demon Drop from Cedar Point, will be coming to Knott’s Berry Farm for 2010. The old Intamin first generation freefall tower, identical the one removed from Six Flags Magic Mountain last year, will replace the Screamin’ Swing ride and begin construction on Jan. 4th, 2010.