Knott's Berry Farm is a 57-acre (2,500,000 sq ft) theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Six Flags. In March 2015, it was ranked as the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America, while averaging approximately 4 million visitors per year. The park features over 40 rides, including roller coasters, family rides, dark rides, and water rides.
Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein, best-known for designing and constructing thrill rides and roller coasters at dozens of international theme parks, amusement parks and other establishments. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement installations". The company has corporate offices across the world, including three in Europe, three in Asia, and two in the United States.
The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains, or other mechanisms employing hydraulic or pneumatic power, along a launch track. This mode of acceleration powers many of the fastest roller coasters in the world.
A spinning roller coaster is a roller coaster with cars that rotate on a vertical axis.
GhostRider is a wooden roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. It is located in the Ghost Town section of the park, south of the main entrance. Manufactured by Custom Coasters International, GhostRider is the tallest and longest wooden coaster on the West Coast of the United States, measuring 4,533 feet (1,382 m) long and 118 feet (36 m) tall. The ride follows an L-shaped double out and back pattern, with a station themed to a mining building. There are three trains, each themed to a different precious metal, though only two are in use at any given time.
MonteZOOMa: The Forbidden Fortress, previously known as Montezooma’s Revenge, is a shuttle roller coaster located at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, United States. Designed by Anton Schwarzkopf, the ride opened on May 21, 1978, and is one of eight flywheel-launched units manufactured for theme parks around the world. It is also the oldest looping shuttle roller coaster still operating in its original location. The ride was closed in February 2022 for a major refurbishment and has been scheduled to re-open in 2025.
Xcelerator is a steel launched roller coaster located at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, United States. Manufactured by Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel, it opened in 2002 as the company's first hydraulically-launched coaster and cost $13 million to construct. Following the early demise of Windjammer Surf Racers, a dueling roller coaster that briefly operated from 1997 to 2000, Xcelerator was soon announced as its replacement. It launches to a maximum speed of 82 mph (132 km/h) in 2.3 seconds and reaches a height of 205 feet (62 m).
Antonio Zamperla S.p.A. is an Italian design and manufacturing company founded in 1966. It is best known for creating family rides, thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The company also makes smaller coin-operated rides commonly found inside shopping malls.
Jolly Rancher Remix is a steel shuttle roller coaster located at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. A Boomerang model manufactured by Vekoma and designed by Peter Clerx, the roller coaster originally opened as the Sidewinder on May 11, 1991. The roller coaster debuted in the Pioneer Frontier section of the park and cost $4.2 million. The Sidewinder was the first roller coaster installed in the park in 14 years since the SooperDooperLooper in 1977 and the fourth roller coaster in operation to be built. The roller coaster has a maximum height of 116.5 ft (35.5 m), with a maximum speed of 47 mph (76 km/h), and a track length of 935 ft (285 m).
This is a summary of notable incidents that have taken place at amusement parks, water parks, or theme parks that are currently owned or operated by Six Flags. This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every such event, but only those that had a significant impact on the parks or park operations, or are otherwise significantly newsworthy. The term incidents refers to major accidents, injuries, or deaths that occur at a park. These incidents were required to be reported to regulatory authorities due to where they occurred. They usually fall into one of the following categories:
- Negligence on the part of the guest, such as refusal to follow specific ride safety instructions.
- A guest deliberately breaking park rules.
- A guest's known, or unknown, health issues.
- Negligence on the part of the park, either by a ride operator or maintenance staff.
- Negligence on the part of the attraction's manufacturer
- An Act of God or a generic accident that is not a direct result of an action or inaction on anybody's part.
Windjammer Surf Racers was a steel racing roller coaster located at Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in Buena Park, California. It sat on the former spot of Wacky Soap Box Racers. The ride was plagued with mechanical issues and only operated sporadically from 1997 to 2000, leading to a lawsuit being filed against the manufacturer, TOGO.
The Dive Coaster is a steel roller coaster model developed and engineered by Bolliger & Mabillard. The design features one or more near-vertical drops that are approximately 90 degrees, which provide a moment of free-falling for passengers. The experience is enhanced by unique trains that seat up to ten riders per row, spanning only two or three rows total. Unlike traditional train design, this distinguishing aspect gives all passengers virtually the same experience throughout the course of the ride. Another defining characteristic of Dive Coasters is the holding brake at the top of the lift hill that holds the train momentarily right as it enters the first drop, suspending some passengers with a view looking straight down and releasing suddenly moments later.
A motorbike roller coaster or motorcycle roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster designed with motorcycle type cars. Booster Bike at Toverland was the world's first motorbike roller coaster. Vekoma was the first company to design such a ride, although Intamin and Zamperla have since created similar designs.
Silver Bullet is a western-themed steel inverted roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard located at Knott's Berry Farm, an amusement park in Buena Park, California. The $16 million roller coaster was announced on December 1, 2003 and opened on December 7, 2004. A first rider auction was also held where people would bid on seats to be the first riders. The track is approximately 3,125 feet (952 m) long and the lift hill is about 146 feet (45 m) tall. The ride lasts two minutes and thirty seconds and features six inversions including a vertical loop, cobra roll, zero-g roll, and two corkscrews.
Jaguar! is a steel family roller coaster located at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. Built by Zierer and designed by Werner Stengel, the coaster opened to the public in 1995.
Shuttle Loop is a type of steel launched shuttle roller coaster designed by Reinhold Spieldiener of Intamin and manufactured by Anton Schwarzkopf. A total of 12 installations were produced between 1977 and 1982. These 12 installations have been located in a total of 22 different amusement parks.
The MotoCoaster is a motorbike roller coaster at Six Flags Darien Lake in Darien, New York. It was the park's first launch coaster, and was the first MotoCoaster by Zamperla to be installed in the United States, though the Pony Express, a similar type of coaster with horse themed trains, was constructed around the same time and is currently operating at Knott's Berry Farm. The coaster installed at Darien Lake is actually the prototype coaster that was used for tuning and testing at Zamperla's factory in Italy.
A Steeplechase roller coaster is a type of roller coaster that has several side-by-side tracks in a dueling "racing" arrangement. Riders straddle horse-shaped single cars and launch simultaneously, as from a horse-race starting line.
The Timber Mountain Log Ride is a themed log flume water dark ride at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, United States. The ride is themed after the Knott's Calico Ghost Town. The ride is one of the oldest log flumes in the United States and is one of the most popular rides at the park. Moreover, the Timber Mountain Log Ride received a major refurbishment in 2013 and celebrated its 50th anniversary on July 11, 2019.
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is a multiple-launch steel roller coaster located in the Hogsmeade section of Universal Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando. Manufactured by Intamin, the $300-million attraction opened to the public on June 13, 2019. The partially-enclosed motorbike coaster operates both indoor and outdoor, and it is the sixth Harry Potter-themed attraction created for the resort. Universal marketed the ride as "a highly-themed roller coaster" that focuses on "a different corner of the wizarding world".
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