Sky Cabin | |
---|---|
Knotts Berry Farm | |
Area | The Boardwalk |
Status | Operating |
Opening date | 1976 |
Closing date | 1999 (Sky Jump) |
Ride statistics | |
Attraction type | Gyro Tower |
Manufacturer | Intamin |
Model | Parachute Gyro 1200 |
Height | 180 ft (55 m) |
Vehicles | 1 |
Riders per vehicle | Cabin holds approximately 35-55 guests |
Duration | Around 4 mins |
Height restriction | 46 in (117 cm) |
Must transfer from wheelchair |
Sky Cabin is a 180-foot-tall gyro tower designed by Intamin, located at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, USA. It is a slowly revolving viewing cabin, offering a panoramic view of Knott's Berry Farm and the surrounding land outside the park. On a clear day, Downtown Los Angeles can be viewed directly from the tower. The skyline of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure can also be viewed. [1] Before the announcement of the park's former Windseeker ride, Sky Cabin was a possible location to become replaced by Windseeker. Windseeker later opened in Fiesta Village and was later relocated to Worlds of Fun. It is one of the many existing attractions at the park operating before Cedar Fair took ownership of the park. It opened to the general public in 1976 as part of the former roaring 20's expansion area. [2]
Sky Cabin opened in 1976 as part of the former Roaring 20s area. Originally, the ride was once the tallest structure in all of Orange County. [2] On December 30, 2016, Sky Cabin was involved in an incident. Sky Cabin became stuck mid way causing riders to become stranded in the air for 8 hours. After being closed for over a year and undergoing months of a detailed inspection, review and minor operating adjustments to the ride, Sky Cabin reopened Feb 10, 2018. [3] The ride received a new ride control system along with a hidden emergency toilet, new speakers, new air conditioning and window covers. [2] The tower is topped by a giant neon-lit "K" sign with an incandescent aircraft warning light, in the style of Knott's Berry Farm's logotype. The original 1970s-era neon sign was replaced with an identical LED sign in June 2020, during the park's extended closure due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. [4]
Originally painted in a red and white checkerboard scheme, the tower received a new paint-job in 1997 with a combination of aqua blue, red, blue, yellow and green. The tower was repainted once again with an American Flag paint scheme in 2002.
Originally sharing its space with the Sky Cabin's opening in 1976, Sky Jump was a Parachute drop ride combined with the Sky Cabin that operated from 1976 to 1999. This dual/combo attraction combined the Intamin Gyro 1200 model and the Intamin Parachute 1200 models onto a single tower. Sky Jump riders were given 12 individual stand-up cages equipped with parachutes each that would ascend up, and drop 150 feet below.
Sky Cabin riders were also able to ascend up in the slow-viewing cabin while also witnessing the Sky Jump parachutes ascending and dropping 150 feet in the air.
Sky Jump closed in 1999, and the parachute support structure was removed from the tower in spring 2002.
On October 30, 1983, an 18-year-old young man jumped to his death from the Sky Jump attraction. The death was ruled a suicide. [5]
Knott's Berry Farm is a 57-acre amusement park in Buena Park, California, United States, 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.
A gyro tower, or panoramic tower, is a revolving observation tower with a vertically moving platform. A gyro tower's observation deck is not simply raised to provide its passengers a spectacular view, it is also rotated around the supporting mast, either once in the raised position or while traveling up and down the center mast.
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.
The Great Gasp was a 225-foot-tall (69 m) Intamin Paratower, a "Parachute Drop" ride, that towered over Six Flags Over Georgia for almost 30 years. It became a beacon for the park during this time. The ride was dismantled and removed from the park in 2005.
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), and has a short twister section that leads into the Brake run.
Demon Drop is a drop tower amusement ride located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Designed by Intamin, it is a Freefall model that was originally located at Cedar Point that opened in 1983. It was relocated to Dorney Park following the 2009 season, where it reopened in 2010. It is one of the oldest rides of its kind still in operation.
The Freefall is an amusement ride developed by Giovanola and marketed throughout the world by Swiss company, Intamin.
Acrophobia is a free-fall tower ride located at Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell, Georgia. The attraction was designed by Intamin of Switzerland, and is marketed by Intamin's Liechtenstein-based subsidiary Ride Trade. When Acrophobia opened to the public on May 12, 2001, it became the first free-fall attraction of its kind in the world.
Log flumes are amusement rides consisting of a water flume and (artificial) hollow logs or boats. Passengers sit in the logs, which are propelled along the flume by the flow of water.
Drop Tower, formerly known as Drop Zone: Stunt Tower, is the name of four drop tower amusement rides located at Six Flags amusement parks in the United States and Canada. A fifth installation which operated at Carowinds closed after the 2024 season. Although each installation was manufactured by Intamin, they all vary in size and capacity.
Pony Express is a steel motorbike roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. It is the first motocoaster built by Zamperla in the United States, opening on May 22, 2008. The ride features motorbike-style seating and a flywheel launch system.
WindSeeker is a 301-foot-tall (92 m) swing ride at several Six Flags parks. The rides are Wind Seeker models manufactured by Mondial. They opened for the 2011 season at Canada's Wonderland in Ontario, Cedar Point and Kings Island in Ohio, and Knott's Berry Farm in California. Carowinds in North Carolina and Kings Dominion in Virginia opened their WindSeekers in 2012. The first four each cost US$5 million, while the remaining two each cost $6.5 million. Cedar Fair relocated the Knott's Berry Farm WindSeeker to Worlds of Fun in 2014, where it reopened as SteelHawk.
The Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in Orange County, California, originated from a berry farm owned by Walter Knott (1889–1981). In the 1920s, Knott and his wife, Cordelia, sold berries, berry preserves and pies from a roadside stand beside State Route 39, near the small town of Buena Park.
Texas Chute Out was a 200-foot-tall (61 m) Intamin "parachute drop" ride that operated at Six Flags Over Texas. It closed on September 3, 2012.
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Sol Spin is a swinging Top Scan ride at Knott's Berry Farm built by Mondial Rides. Riders spins in a circular rotation while swinging in an angle. The ride opened to the general public on April 21, 2017 in the Fiesta Village section of the park. Designed by Mondial, Sol Spin is a tipsy top turvy adventure taking places 6 stories high over Fiesta Village. As the ride lifts off the ground, riders begin spinning in a circular motion while guests are spun around. At its peak, Sol Spin rotates guests in circular motion at 60 feet in the air. Riders can experience up to 4gs at the peak of the ride. In addition, the ride is located on the former spot of Windseeker which was also built by Mondial. Sol Spin is unique as it is the largest Mondial Top Scan to this day. Knott's Sol Spin was customized to fit in the former location of Windseeker.
A parachute tower is a tower used for parachute training, often by members of a military paratroop unit. A mixture of tower heights are used at different stages of training. Trainees typically begin on towers around 35 feet (11 m) in height in fall-arrest harnesses before progressing onto parachute descents from towers that can be in excess of 250 feet (76 m). The use of towers allows trainees to practice their landing technique before jumping from an aircraft.
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