Boomerang
Specific Type: Boomerang
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In the early 1940s, Walter Knott opened Knott's Berry Farm with the first of six themed areas, Ghost Town. Just a few years later, Calico Square was added, which later became part of Ghost Town. Eventually, other themed areas like Fiesta Village were developed, which led to the opening of the Gypsy Camp area. Gypsy Camp was redeveloped into Roaring Twenties with the addition of the famed Corkscrew in 1975, which was the first coaster to flip riders upside down since the turn of the century.Roaring Twenties became Knott's Airfield soon after, and after nearly fifteen years,Corkscrew was ultimately replaced with Boomerang in 1990. Boomerang was a coaster which was created by Vekoma, and was one of their famed Boomerang models which took the coaster industry by storm in 1984. It graced Knott's Airfield with its striking blue paint scheme, and proved to be just as nice a fit as Corkscrew was. Boomerangfeatured a white and blue train, which sported black shoulder harnesses. And the train and the rest of the coaster would remain the same with few changes occuring around them, until a major redevelopment came about in 1996 with Knott's Airfield officially changing into the Boardwalk. The change ousted Knott's former Soap Box Derby ride, and it was replaced with the notoriousWindjammer Surf Racers. Boomerang held onto its blue paint scheme for seven more years before finally recieving a makeover in 2003 with purple track and green supports, with its train painted to match the new scheme. It was right at the same time another major change occured around Boomerang, the replacement of Windjammer Surf Racers with Xcelerator, as well as three years after the opening of the famous Perilous Plunge, a high performance shoot the chutes ride.
Boomerang, as previously stated, is situated in a narrow spot located in the center of Knott's extensive Boardwalk section. The coaster is surrounded by Perilous Plunge to its right; Riptide, a Top Spin, directly in front of it; Calico Mine Ride and Timber Mountain Log Ride, a log flume, to its left; and finally, Sky Cabin, an observational tower ride, Supreme Scream, an S&S Turbo Drop, and Xcelerator, all three of which are located behind it. Boomerang sports a white and blue striped station, which is larger than most Boomerang stations due to the fact that it contains much of the ride's queue. The park places a 48" height restriction on the ride, which is considerably similar to many of Knott's other coasters with the exception of Xcelerator and that of Silver Bullet, both of which are above 50". A few features common among Vekoma Boomerangs are included on Knott's Boomerang, such as a spiral stairs and catwalk section placed next to the ride's cobra roll in the event that a train were to stall in the center of it, as well as a catwalk and emergency brake section immediately following the rides loop, which prevents the train from rolling back completely in the event that the second lift hill fails. After riders have boarded the green and purple train and pulled down the black shoulder restraints, the train begins its backwards climb up the first of the ride's two 116 foot lift hills, both of which are placed diagonally towards each other. The train continues to slowly rise for thirty seconds before plunging at forty seven miles per hour right through the station and through the coaster's first inversion, a cobra roll, exerting as many as 5.2 g's on riders throughout the two instances. Exiting the cobra roll, the train encounters a quick loop before ending up on the second lift section, leaving riders pondering what is to happen next. The second lift slowly pulls riders upwards for a few seconds, then suddenly releases, sending hopeless riders backwards at this point. In the opposite direction the train encounters the loop first this time, only to then go through the cobra roll once again which leads riders back through the station and partially up the first lift section again. The train slowly being lowered back into the station again concludes the one minute and forty-eight second ride, having sent riders through 935 feet of three inversions in total both forwards and backwards... one inversion more than the coaster Boomerang replaced. Corkscrew may have been ousted by Knott's favoring of a new coaster, but Boomerang proves time and time again to be a worthy replacement, just as it has done for the last two decades. |
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