LongLiveTheSmurfRide

Now as I walk toward the station I get the odd feeling that I'm in need of a shave.

Looks like they aren't going to do any special CP/GL combo. Last year they were selling those passes for $130. Now they're offering the Maxx pass for $125 (which they still advertise GL with on the CP website) so it's a no brainer.

I doubt IJST crossed their minds for this ride. For one, the ride isn't "focused" on theming. They have theming, but that's mainly because it's in the western part of the park so they made the wise decision not to just throw a steel coaster in there that would be an eyesore to the already established theming. It's not like taking the rocky bits out of the ride would make it horrible, they just add to the fun. And yeah, for once they didn't go for height, but this ride is still about speed. Compared to a 120 mph TTD, yeah this isn't that fast, but how many rides at PKI hit 70 mph? That's still fast. I'm sure the seats per train decision was a physics-based conclusion as to how many seats per train would be the best fit, weight-wise, on the layout for a more balanced ride through the loops and hills. The launch in the middle of the ride? Yeah, they totally took that from IJST, lol.

I would attribute that to the fact that it's 4,450 feet of track compared to Millie's 6,595. And then there's all of the theming they'll be installing, plus 6 trains and a launch system and I'm sure the prices of construction and steel have raised a little in 6 years. So with all that adding up I can see it being pretty costly. They probably got to save a little by using the old station. The only thing I'm disappointed in is the cookie-cutter Intamin trains. Looks just like MF and TTD's trains. I was hoping that with a western themed ride they'd maybe try a themed train to give it some kind of western style. At least the train colors won't be just Red, Blue and Yellow.

Holiday World opened as Santa Claus Land on August 3, 1946. It's hard to tell exactly when Knotts became a "theme park" according to their historical info on their page. It started out as a farm for growing produce then it says here: "The success of the chicken dinners was immediate and by 1940 the restaurant was serving as many as 4,000 dinners on Sunday evenings. To give waiting customers something to do and to pay homage to the pioneering spirit of his grandparents and his love of the Old West, Walter developed Ghost Town, eventually the first of Knott's Berry Farm's six themed areas. In the 1960s, the Calico Mine Ride and Timber Mountain Log Ride were added and Knott's built its second themed area: Fiesta Village, a tribute to California's early Spanish heritage. The third themed area opened in 1975 - Roaring 20s (rethemed in 1996 into The Boardwalk) - featuring the Corkscrew, the world's first looping coaster." So did it become a theme park in the 1940's because it had a Ghost Town and a restaurant, or in the 1960's when it had more than one themed area and some rides? And if it was in the 1940's, when exactly? It says by 1940 they had a lot of dinners in a restaurant, but then doesn't tell when the Ghost Town was built. I wonder who has the deciding answer.

I don't know, Holiday World says the same thing. We'll need more proof.

Holiday World is a theme park, America's first, which means they have themed areas, doesn't mean the rides have to be. You won't find much theming throughout Raven, Legend or Voyage; just great rides. KI can be a theme park without each coaster actually being themed.

It conflicted with offseason rehab. Winterfest or LeeAnn Rimes? Somebody told me she needed an offseason rehab! You guys are killing me.

Make sure you hold on at the end or your arms will get chopped off. Blood is yucky.

I guess I should have said it's what happens when a woodie tries to be a large steel hypercoaster, and fails. Yeah, the lack of airtime and the fact that it's made of wood are about the only things that give it any resemblance to The Beast.

So did you get any new details about the event as a whole or just your part in it all?

LOL. I think they already have. And they can use SOB's cool mill scenery for the attrac....oh wait...no....they can use SOB's cool generic metal station scenery for an eerie generic atmosphere.

I don't think people have gotten away from thinking what a wooden coaster is supposed to do. I think what they're supposed to do is let you have fun. SOB, for a lot of people, just doesn't do that. If you want to see the epitome of what a woodie is supposed to do, you ride the Legend at Holiday World. That's like a woodie designed by woodie enthusiasts. It has about everything a great woodie should have; great lateral G's, airtime, helixes, tunnels, head-choppers, and it's not silky smooth (but not hurt-you-rough either). It's about the most out of control-in your face woodie out there (and no, I haven't ridden the Voyage yet.) SOB is what happens to a woodie that tries to be a large steel hyper coaster. It has virtually no airtime and the layout is just boring. There's no out of control feeling at all. In fact, it's a little too in-control for my taste. The roughness isn't due to trying to make it "old-school" or something. It's due to poor design, which is what has gotten it into the state it's in now.

Yeah, it's pretty scary when you look at all of that and how really empty certain places are in the park. The place is packed with people but then there aren't a lot of high capacity areas for them to hit. Hopefully CF can do what they're best at with CP and boost their staff and boost capacity.

Oh snap! I hardly remember the original Enchanted Voyage (was in diapers) but the smurf ride was perfect. Even had a little hill and drop-splash. There's something more, dare I say, enchanting about slowly floating in boats through a ride than on a mechanical mover.

One nice thing about Phanton Theatre, I have to admit, was the darkness which made it ideal for getting a little close (or too close) to significant others during the ride. There are quite a few stories about the hanky panky that went on in there.

That's one of the things I always hated about SOB was its annoyingly generic queue and station. If it's supposed to be the son of The Beast, it should all be wood, not the same as the other Action Zone cheapos.

They didn't have the pre-show when I was there earlier in the month.

That only becomes a factor when there is actually a long line for SOB, which hasn't been the most popular ride to begin with and may never be full again. But yeah, when the SOB queue was full, it was a horribly hot line.

I think Delirium could use them. That shaded screen ceiling is okay, but it's not enough when the sun is just beating down on you in that line during the early to late afternoons.

It's like an infinite loop. I'll just keep going back and forth between each topic....forever!

I had a huge diatribe on this topic back when it was first started; stating my distaste for SOB, but then half of the topic disappeared like it hadn't happened. I'd post that again, but it took enough effort the first time and I don't want to visit that dark place again.

They'll probably just do that lame Friday the 13th show again in celebration of that date.

I normally see the top of peoples' heads, which I don't get to see from the ground.

You should go during their Halloweekends this fall. It's crowded as well, but it blows away going during the summer. I know I'll be there at some point then.