Ghostrider - Knott's Berry Farm

Date Ridden: July of 1999 (twice), July of 2006 (twice), and July of 2007 (6 times in every car imaginable) Total Rides : 10

Ghostrider has been an interesting ride for me. I rode it way back when it was first built before I got into roller coaster riding on an obsessive basis. I picked it back up twice in 2006 and got in 6 good rides in 2007 so I feel that I know this coaster very well. What do i think? Ghostrider is without a doubt the best woodie I have ridden west of Branson, Missouri.

Some have called Ghostrider nothing but a rough and mis-treated piece of typical Cedar Fair wood. I don't really like to use the term rough....I think intense fits better. There is no doubt that you will take a beating. You will be thrown side to side...you will be thrown into the lap bar....and you'll be thrown virtually all over the city of Buena Park as you weave through the structure. However, you do have to remember that you are not on a state of the art pre-fab woodie like El Toro or some super-smooth steel hyper coaster.

Ghostrider is fast, intense, and includes a feature element which I think is necessary for a coaster to obtain a high score. The Voyage at Holiday World has the triple down, El Toro at Great Adventure has the first drop, Thunderhead at Dollywood has the fly-through station and Raven (once again at Holiday World)has the surprise 60 foot drop in the middle of the woods. Ghostrider has the drop following the MCBR that absolutely tosses you all over the place, particularly when you are alone in the car because your girlfriend/riding partner has said that she has had enough after two rides.

This is as good as it gets out west for woodies.

As a footnote, Knotts has supposedly done some retracking on Ghostrider over the past few years to help smooth it out a little. I noticed a difference from 06 to 07 as the ride seemed a little easier on the back this past year. I still love and always will love this ride. Ride up front or in the middle for a slower and less intense ride, ride toward the back at night for the most intense and in my opinion best ride. It's my favorite ride at Knotts.

Overall Score - 9 (Outstanding)

Take a ride on Ghostrider below.