We were back at Knott’s Berry Farm to celebrate some more Merry Farm! Of course the Ghost Town and GhostRider construction is moving along rapidly. In this update you’ll find a lot of GhostRider construction, some general changes around the park, and we’re taking a look at the current changes that are being made around Ghost Town for the 75th Anniversary make-over!

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Please note it was raining for a great part of the day, and the clouds made it hard to get decent pictures. When the sun finally came through a little bit in the late afternoon is when I shot most of the images you’ll find below.

Let’s start at the entrance where every guest is checked with a metal-detecting wand before entering the park. This is part of the sharpened security at Knott’s Berry Farm. Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland Resort and SeaWorld San Diego are all sharpening security in similar ways. A while back the park installed these shade structures for the lines of Sierra Sidewinder and Xcelerator, we didn’t post clear images of it before. So here they are. Speaking of Xcelerator, the purple train is still dismantled and located next to the ride’s storage track. The parts seem all placed in an order for easy resemblance. In addition, a new piece of the front car’s chassis seems to have arrived, which is all pink. The same red train has been running for almost 2 years straight now. After the very extensive refurbishment of the other train, there’s not a single doubt that once the purple train returns, we can expect the red one to be out of service for an extended period. Boomerang is the only coaster that Knott’s runs in the rain, so of course we rode it. And even though the park was empty, the line was a healthy 60 minutes long. I happened to notice some support colors on the track, as well as the original blue color from when the ride opened come through the yellow/green. 😀

Let’s move on to some Ghost Town construction! The Screamin’ Swing has been long gone, and the area behind the wall is now cleared. The area is marked up for the placement of the new stage. The stage, themed after an old abandoned mine, will feature an all-new show for summer 2016. The standing viewing area for the new stage is nearly twice as large as the current viewing area, ensuring even more guests can enjoy seasonal live entertainment. The new venue is scheduled to open in Spring of 2016. Then there’s the construction of the return of the large scale panning for gold next to GhostRider. The construction wall extend all the way to the station area of GhostRider. Behind the wall, destruction and construction continue to make room and create the panning for gold attraction that will be located in that former area of GhostRider’s line.

Let’s focus on the GhostRider transformation now! Let’s start with the newly constructed drop out of the station. Everything besides the supporting structure here is new. Including rails, handrails and catwalks. The turn following the drop looks very interesting as the track and catwalks are new but the supporting structure and the wood keeping up the handrails is not. Very cool looking contrast. The turn around above the ride’s station has been retracked already. Looking at the other side of the turn that approaches the lift-hill, you can clearly see how much wood they’re replacing this time, and that in most cases only the supporting wood below remains. There’s also some work going on in the storage area of the ride, below the station. In addition, just to the right of which the lift-hill track is heavily marked. In the middle of the turn approaching the lift, a lot of old wood is stored on piles, to soon be removed and dumped. By this time the clouds were gone, but so was the sun almost, so bare with me as I hope the pictures are still clearly showing what I’m talking about. – Below you’ll see the old Mid-Course Break Run, which has received new track, and no brakes. The trains will be flying through that straight section of track soon! The turn that approaches the turn-around and the old MCBR was always a rough transition, and it seems as if it will be receiving more of an alteration than other parts of the ride are. The first turn-around, the one furthest away from the park has been entirely reprofiled and updated. There seems to be a bit more banking in the element than before. All hills in the mid-section of the ride, crossing the street that runs below it, have been reprofiled. All received new catwalks and track, some also received new handrails. The hills and drop near the ride’s first-drop/lift-hill have yet to be reprofilded. Here’s a good look at where the reprofiled-half of the structure begins. The other side has yet to be constructed. The large hill in the image below is the hill following the first-drop. Here’s a good look at the far-end turn around and all of the wonderful new track, catwalks, and handrails that have been placed. When taking a closer look, you may notice the mechanical items used for the construction of the track. Here’s the drop below! Last but not least, the GhostRider’s first drop has yet to be reconstructed, but rumor has it that the huge alterations of the structure below may indicate a steeper drop. We’ll have to wait and see. One thing is almost entirely certain, the noise-reducing drop cover will remain. Here’s a look at the renderings of the ride’s new Great Coaster International – Millennium Flyer trains! Here’s a quick few evening shots at Knott’s Berry Farm to finish up the update!

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