From the Los Angeles Times…
No new ride for Knott’s Berry Farm in 2010
Knott’s Berry Farm won’t be getting a “new” ride in 2010 after all.
The plan back in October was to relocate the 26-year-old Demon Drop thrill ride from sister park Cedar Point in Ohio to the Buena Park theme park. But parent company Cedar Fair has decided to ship the used drop tower to another theme park in the chain: Dorney Park in Allentown, Pa.
Dorney Park officials confirmed that the relocated Demon Drop would open during summer 2010, not by opening day (May 1) but probably by the Fourth of July. Theme park fan site NewsPlusNotes recently published photos of the disassembled ride in the Dorney Park parking lot.
Dorney Park will retain the Demon Drop name and logo, but may change the color scheme, according to park officials. The ride will be located in the northeast corner of the park near Thunder Creek Speedway go-carts. The existing Krazy Kars ride may have to be removed to make room for Demon Drop, officials said.
Knott’s officials acknowledged the 131-foot-tall drop tower would not have been a good fit physically or aesthetically next to the park’s iconic Ghost Town, where the ride was going to be installed.
Demon Drop features a four-passenger vehicle that rises up an elevator shaft, slides forward and falls down a curved track at 55 mph. Riders experience 2.5 seconds of weightlessness during the 99-foot drop.
Popular through the 1990s, the Intamin Freefall ride was replaced in many parks by newer, compressed-air tower rides, such as Knott’s own Supreme Scream (which debuted in 1998) and Dorney Park’s 200-foot-tall Dominator (installed in 2000).
The re-relocation of Demon Drop means Knott’s won’t be getting a new ride in 2010, but officials said the park might receive a new attraction. The ride reshuffling also halts plans to relocate Knott’s Screamin’ Swing to California’s Great America in Santa Clara. The 60-foot-tall swing ride will remain at Knott’s.
