In 1940 – probably just after berry season – Knott set his construction crew to work building a ghost town out of buildings and materials salvaged from all over the western United States. But why just one building? Why not a whole Western town? And so Ghost Town Village was born. And to house the show, he would build a replica of an old time Western building. He decided to build a “cyclorama” – a curved painting with set pieces in front of it that would use sound and lighting effects to tell the tale. He wanted to celebrate the story of the pioneers crossing the desert by covered wagon, just as his own family had done back in 1868. By 1940, there was a lake, a rock garden, an old stage coach, and even a rumbling volcano.īut Walter Knott wanted more. Knott’s Berry Place was becoming a roadside attraction. It proved to be a winning combination, and as the crowds grew, the Knotts began beautifying the area and adding little displays out back. But the Depression was still dragging on, so that same summer Cordelia Knott added chicken dinners to the menu of her little tea room, just to help make ends meet. That was the year he introduced the Boysenberry to the world. It was a huge draw for the theme park, and it put in place a large missing piece of its historical puzzle, said Lynxwiler, though its construction was somewhat bittersweet because of what the ride replaced: Walter Knott's beloved volcano structure with a tiny devil turning a crank that made it rumble.1934 was a big year for Walter Knott – even if it didn’t seem like it at the time. The sway of a wooden coaster is what gives it a different feel than a steel coaster, and that was a very good addition to the Knott's menu of rides." "It was much more of a roller coaster thrill ride than I expected, being much faster. "The coaster was named as one of the top five roller coasters in the world upon opening," he said. Public reaction to the ride was positive, Hall recalled. Most of the $24 million of the project cost was used to accomplish the second." "The second was to clear out expansion space by relocation of warehouse space away from the main entrance. "I had two goals with GhostRider: the first being to reach out as a 'billboard' towards Beach Boulevard," he said. The actual coaster construction took about 11 months, he said. The first year involved clearing buildings and constructing spaces for offices and warehousing. The project took about two years, according to Hall. "Really this was a bit silly as they were very different projects, with Colossus being a racing roller coaster and Knott's being a single track." "So we increased the height from 112 feet to 118 feet to be taller than Colossus and we were longer," Hall said. In the trains, all the cars except the front one now have only a rear axle (the front car still has a front axle) instead of a rear and front, allowing the train to follow smoothly behind rather than in a whipping motion, said Gahagan. The wood itself was also given a makeover - it was replaced with a much stronger Brazilian variety (so strong that steel blades are used to cut through it). Banking was added as well, giving riders more "hills" and more gradual turns, according to Gahagan. "Because of that, you have a very different ride."įor the nine-month renovation, most of the 4,533 feet of the track was replaced, the motor and chain on the coaster's lift was replaced and a magnetic braking system was installed for a much smoother ride. "Wood actually moves … steel is very stiff," said Jeff Gahagan, vice president of maintenance and construction at Knott's, noting that a wooden coaster actually changes with the weather and season because of wood's flexibility. Plus, because of the expansion and contraction experienced naturally by wooden coasters, every bolt on the coaster is tightened once a year. Every year each of the three trains is completely torn down for maintenance. Indeed, the roller coaster has five mechanics assigned to it for regular maintenance. And keeping a wooden coaster of that magnitude running for nearly 20 years has been no easy feat. GhostRider is considered the fastest, tallest and longest wooden roller coaster on the West Coast - measuring 4,533 feet long and 118 feet high and clocking in at 56 miles per hour. Visitors raise their arms as they take a ride on the newly renovated GhostRider at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park on Thursday, June 9.