Ghost Rider Testing at Knott’s Berry Farm Monday, 5/23/16

Happy (early) Woodie Wednesday.  Hi, Laurie here with some photos I got at Knott’s Berry Farm of Ghost Rider, including some of the cooper train testing.

My day started off with a planned trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain, but that was not meant to be.  So, since I was already in the car and determined to ride a coaster, I drove the extra 50 plus miles to Knott’s Berry Farm, and arrived shortly after 4p.m.  I parked right under Ghost Rider, in the Marketplace parking, and was greeted by these views of men hard at work on the track.

I went on into the park, and spent some time checking out the new venues for Ghost Town Live, which starts this weekend.  I will provide a full report after I expereince it.  I continued my walk around the park, checking out the pretty flowers they planted where Rip Tide was, (RIP) and the nice paint job Jaguar got.  About 7pm, I wandered back over by Ghost Rider, and was treated to get these shots of test runs.

After this test run, there was a little lull in the action, and then, when they launched it again, there were HUMANS in the front row!

It was explained to me by one of the ride operators who were basically guarding the enterances, that the lift hill still has to be manually operated, I was unclear on the reasoning.  The riders on the coaster were park and GCI officials.

These guys were working well into the evening, to get Ghost Rider ready for it’s June 11th opening date.  These photos don’t really do justice to how pretty Ghost Rider was in the early evening with it’s lights on.

Thanks to Knott’s Berry Farm and Great Coasters International staff for working late to get this beauty ready for us to all ride again!  Watch for my next post, on Ghost Town Live, this Memorial Day weekend!  Until then, Laurie