Knott's Berry Farm announced that it will close its Boomerang coaster on April 23.
The Vekoma boomerang opened in April 1990, replacing the Roaring 20’s Corkscrew. Knott's hasn't said anything official about a replacement, but whispers are saying another shuttle-type coaster might replace Boomerang. There's not a lot of footprint to work with here in the Boardwalk area, so a multi-train circuit coaster would be a tough fit unless it were a wild mouse or something small such as that.
April 23 also will be the final day for this year's Knott's Boysenberry Festival, which starts April 1.
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As a show of solidarity, all amusement parks should remove their Vekoma Boomerangs. Anything is better - even barren ground.
In compleatly unrelated news... Michigans Adventure is getting a boomarang in 2018!
I feel bad for Douglas Hindley. Boomerang was his favorite coaster at Knott's.
Michigan's Adventure is like purgatory for unwanted coasters in the chain.
Here's hoping they shoe-horn something decent in there. Might be some more hiding spaces for the Carnevil clowns come haunt season.
I was never a fan of Boomerang, but does anyone else feel like that it's just going to end up being replaced by flower beds or something like that?
While Boomerang wasn't the worst coaster ever, it's not a ride I'm going to miss. I'll go get a final ride on it between now and April 23rd, but then I'll look slightly more forward to riding them while traveling and very much forward to enjoying the Farm's new coaster while at home.
Speaking of Boomerang's replacement, while I don't know what they're getting for sure, I spoke to a friend with connections this weekend and he said it will essentially be the west coast equivalent of Maverick. Based on that, I suspect some type of LSM launch coaster (probably Mack, though I wouldn't dismiss Intamin or Vekoma completely) that is at least 3,000 ft long, at least 100 ft tall, and reaches speeds of around 70 mph. Could this be way off? Of course, and it is not what I personally would have guessed (my bet was a B&M hyper or dive coaster), but there are three things I know with ~98% confidence: 1. It is a coaster, 2. A European manufacturer is involved, and 3. There's a reason they are starting in April for a spring 2018 debut.
AJ, do you know if KBF would have to remove a current coaster or ride in order to fit in a coaster?
Yes, it would definitely be possible for Knott's to add a new coaster without removing anything else. Between the space cleared by the removal of Boomerang, Riptide, and Wipeout, along with whatever else is not used by the new restaurant and other underutilized parts of the boardwalk, a sizable coaster could theoretically be installed if Knott's gets a bit creative.
The area inside the black lines is everything that will be a construction site on April 24th. The section in the upper right is currently dug up for construction of the new Boardwalk Barbeque, but it is my suspicion that if the coaster is to travel through this area, groundwork has already begun for the project. Also note that a coaster could potentially wrap around the Sky Cabin, increasing the project site. Lastly, a ride could go outside of these boundaries as long as it was built above the pathway. Now let's look at a few ideas.
This is Storm, a Mack Mega Coaster. The ride is 2,624 ft. long and 105 ft. tall. While the real coaster is fairly close to the ground, by raising it up 10-15 ft. it could be built in this area. If I were in charge, this is exactly what I would have selected to fill the space, as it fits nicely and interacts with the area without requiring the removal of anything significant.
This time, we've got a B&M wing coaster, Swarm. While small by B&M standards (2,543 ft. long and 127 ft. tall), it is not too difficult to imagine something like this fitting with a little layout tweaking. But I did mention that I have reason to believe the new ride will be a LSM launch coaster similar to Maverick.
Well, looks like Maverick is a bit too big to simply be cloned here. But what about iSpeed, Intamin's more compact Blitz coaster model?
Okay, this definitely bends the rules, but it is not too difficult to see a coaster of this size fitting in the Boardwalk if a custom layout was created. For reference, iSpeed is 3,280 ft. long and 180 ft. tall. Until more information comes along, my guess is that this is somewhat close to what the park will end up getting, though without a Top Hat (as Xcelerator already has one) and probably built by Mack rather than Intamin. If I get some free time, I'll make a NoLimits 2 mock-up of my idea and share it here for fun.
Of course, Knott's could always disappoint everyone and go with what one of my friends suggested...
Ah OK. I guess I just underestimated the space.
BTW thanks a lot for spending your time making these pics!
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Haunt attraction!!! Alternatively, why not demolish the pony express and construct a coaster that goes from one side of the park to the other.