They were previously testing the winch recovery system in case of a valleyed train, and successfully sent empty trains through the loop at various speeds... besides finishing touches on theming, what is there left to do before this ride can be opened?
Rope-drop time was definitely more crowded than last Father's Day weekend, but still nice and light in the early morning with the overcast weather... great appreciation for the post-merger cooperation in keeping rides like Silver Bullet running (with what looks like Batman parts from SFMM)... and still waiting for the sign for Crafty's Kitchen to go up...
I mean, really, like a 2-alarm fire which happened on this day on June 25, 2014 when a welder accidentally set fire to the place. This was not a good year for welders as something similar happened to Colossus at Magic Mountain.
America's Coaster Network posted video of Montezooma dropping a train with its winch recovery system after it had valleyed between the loop and spike. Honestly, this is one of those situations where I'd love to be stuck on a valleyed train.
On this day in 2002, Intamin officially opened its first hydraulically-launched coaster at Knott's Berry Farm in California. During testing, the trains were found to be capable of going over 110 mph (a proof of concept for Top Thrill Dragster), though the target speed was dialed back to 82 mph for maximum effect on Xcelerator's 205-foot top hat. In an ironic full circle, Xcelerator continues to operate with up to 2 trains today thanks to parts repurposed from the former Top Thrill Dragster.
Meanwhile... the maze at the former Grimoire location keeps going more vertical, and some interesting work visible within the truss structure on the east side of the former Mesmer site makes me wonder if they're trying to come up with some visual gimmick to outdo the swinging room of Mesmer.
I came by to check up on the testing and I could not see the train anywhere in the station and then I discovered that it had actually valleyed between the loop and the spike... I wonder if they're going to try out the winch system to get it back into the station...
...despite the cloudy early morning weather.
I took this pic earlier this week and I don't think I've ever recalled a 3rd train on the maintenance track while the other 2 were running... can the ride even support 3-train-ops, or are they just swapping them out?
Guessing this was a generic Cedar Parks email template gone wrong.
The Knott's maze designers dropped some interesting details last year expanding Sarah Marshall's backstory connecting her to the Mary maze in 2025. SPOILER ALERT if you decide to read further... >!the maze for Mary: The Haunting of Worth Home revealed a family tree diagram (lit up if you had one of the upcharge lanterns)... so Mary Marshall became "Mary Worth" after marrying into the Worth family and Sarah Marshall became "Sarah Morgan" after marrying into the Morgan family (identified on Wikipedia as "Sarah Rebecca Anne Morgan-Marshall")... however, there's a third sister whose name was blotted out (like Sirius Black in Prisoner of Azkaban), but it leads to the ominous "House of Creo", which dead-ends like Sarah (because she was presumably hanged)... so did the House of Creo meet a fate like the House of Usher? So I'm just gonna drop my prediction here that a new maze this year (or next) will be about the House of Creo.!< Photo by Jessica Peralta at Culture OC.
For folks that remember the past days of Camp Snoopy, the old propane-powered locomotive of the Grand Sierra Railroad (before the Beagle Express) is up for sale if you have $100K burning a hole in your pocket ($50K extra if you want the coal propane tender)... http://discoverlivesteam.com/discoverforsale/forsale/5_Daniels/index.htm#Crown
Seeing the panels going up again shows that this maze takes considerably more work and re-touching than a snap-together kit. (marked as spoiler in case anybody notices anything significantly different since last year)
Early crowds seem to be a little lighter than expected... I wonder if the backstage area next to GhostRider will be open for Ghost Town Alive or Summer Nights?
I had taken a break from Del Taco in Los Angeles when they took away the El Big Boxes and I know some folks have been dunking on their updated value menu, but I appreciate the return of the mini-shakes and the new Get A Lot pack...
I noticed the baby Catawampus had been tipped over onto its face and the mommy wasn't doing anything about it and I was afraid to reach in there and potentially make things worse… anybody know if this got fixed?
Some of the rooms in the post-Grimoire maze appear to be getting grand scope of about 2 stories, while the post-Mesmer maze appears to be getting some type of special room with trusses in it... curious what the gimmick will be as it's hard to see in from the train... they've even covered up the art deco window from lookie-loos...