GhostRider is a wooden roller coaster

Wooden roller coaster

A wooden roller coaster is most often classified as a roller coaster with laminated steel running rails overlaid upon a wooden track. Occasionally, the structure may be made out of a steel lattice or truss, but the ride remains classified as a wooden roller coaster due to the track design...

 at Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park in Buena Park, California, now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, and a line of jams, jellies, preserves, and other specialty food, now part of The J. M. Smucker Company based in Placentia, California....

, a theme park in Buena Park, California

Buena Park, California

Buena Park is a city in northwestern Orange County, California. As of Census 2010 the population was 80,530. The city is adjacent to the city of Anaheim and is 12 miles northwest of downtown Santa Ana. The Current OMB metropolitan designation for Buena Park and the Orange County Area is "Santa...

. It is located in the Ghost Town section of the park, south of the main entrance. It is the longest wooden coaster on the West Coast

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

.

Ride experience

Riders must be 48 inches (1.2 m) tall to ride GhostRider.

Queue

Riders approach the ride near the entrance to Ghost Town. The queue begins by going through a mysterious mining tunnel and then going into the mine-themed queue house. After a wait in both levels of the queue, riders board one of the three PTC trains of the ride. The trains themselves are colored gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

, and copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

, similar to the precious mining metals.

The ride entrance, which is an eerie cave, was once part of the Pan for Gold attraction.

Layout

There is a small initial descent into a ravine, which is followed by a gradual sweep to the right. Trains then pass through the transfer track and climb the lift hill. At the top, riders descend a 108 feet (32.9 m) drop, turning left and rising up over an airtime hill before making a sweeping left hand turnaround. After the turnaround, riders descend another drop, and rise up a gradual right hand climb, before descending into the structure of the lift hill, and rising up into the ride's midway turnaround.

The turnaround starts the second half of the ride. Diving off the midcourse brakes, riders descend a steep drop, making a left hand turn, rising over an airtime hill, before making a right hand turnaround underneath the turnaround in the first half. After a few more airtime hills, the trains enter a 450 degree downward helix to the right, before rising over a final hill and hitting the final brake run.

The ride follows a double out and back

Out and Back roller coaster

Out and back refers to the layout of a roller coaster. An out and back coaster is one that climbs a lift hill, races out to the far end of the track, performs a 180 degree turn and then races its way back to the station....

pattern. Most of the attraction resides on the parking lot near the marketplace. Four times during the ride, two in the first half and two in the second half, the ride crosses over Grand Avenue, the road connecting southbound Beach Boulevard to the parking lots.

The initial drop was covered shortly after opening with a metal overhang after nearby residents complained of screams. At night, orange ropelights light up the handrails of the ride.

Trains

Over the 11 years of GhostRider's operation, the trains have gone through several different "generation" designs. As the PTC trains were originally delivered, Copper was a dark brown, Silver was a flat gray, and Gold was a light brown. All trains sported the standard "Knott's" logo on the front of the train. Later on, logos were added onto the trains and a metallic sheen added onto Gold and Copper trains. Lastly, the third generation added airbrush effects on the sides of the individual cars along with a customized "Knott's GhostRider" logo on the front, along with a repaint of Copper, which was repainted to a more metallic orange/copper.

Although the ride has three trains, only two are in use at any time. The third train will usually be in "rehab" and will be switched out with one of the other trains during the duration of the year. Each train is usually rehabbed during the year.

Construction, maintenance and incidents

Construction on the attraction proceeded so quickly that the coaster was completed and opened nearly six months ahead of schedule. In August 1999, an unsecured piece of wood from the track was lifted by a passing train and thrown into the queue. Five people sustained minor injuries and the attraction was temporarily closed for inspection and retrofitting of the track.

External links

• GhostRider page on Knott's Berry Farm official site
• GhostRider Story, Review and Photos at Ultimate Rollercoaster.com