GhostRider w/ Derick McDuff

Underrated movie podcast host Derick McDuff returns to discuss the longest, tallest, and fastest wooden roller coaster on the West Coast! Climb into your mine car and prepare to strike gold on Knott's Berry Farm's GhostRider!

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Episode Transcript

(00:20):
Greetings and welcome to anotherepisode of Wild Mouse.
Hi, I'm your host Taylor Bartle,and I am joined today by a
repeat guest. You may have heard him
previously on the Jurassic WorldThe Ride episode, or you may
have heard him over on his own his own podcast, underrated The
Underrated Movie Podcast, which recently put out an episode with

(00:40):
yours truly talking all about the awesome movie Paranorman.
Please welcome back Derek Macduff.
Hey, thank you to I'm, I'm happyto be back and you know, be on
the show 1 more time. Thank you for that great
introduction. Yeah, you were, you were very
eager to talk about Knott's Berry Farm.
So so today that's what we will be doing.

(01:02):
Specifically, we are talking about the self-proclaimed
longest, tallest, and fastest wooden roller coaster on the
West Coast, Ghost Rider. Yeah.
So have you guys had a Knotts episode before?
I I was looking through I didn'tsee anything on Knotts.
So I've recorded one but it has not come out.
Yet. OK, OK.
But I have I have one on MysteryLodge that will be coming.

(01:24):
Oh, OK. Yeah, yeah, that's fun.
That's fun. But yeah, I'm excited to hear if
you talk about Ghost Rider knotsbecause it is, as I mentioned on
that past episode, it's a, you know, place that is close to my
heart. And close to your home.
Yes, exactly, although about twice as far from my home as as
Disneyland is, which means that it's 20 minutes away from my

(01:44):
house. Oh, how do you ever live?
Well, you know, I don't go thereall the time because it is not
cheap. I would cheap much cheaper to go
to knots though, which is also reason to trust in my heart.
Yeah, so Ghost Rider, like I said, this is the official
description from Knott's Berry Farms website.
Ghost Rider is the longest, tallest and fastest wooden

(02:05):
roller coaster on the West Coast, looming 118 feet over
historic Ghost Town. Ghost Rider is the largest
attraction at Knott's Berry Farmand one of the longest and
tallest wooden roller coasters in the world.
Brave riders enter a mysterious mine and board gold, silver or
copper mining cars before being sent galloping along 4500 feet

(02:26):
of twisting timber. The massive roller coaster
includes 14 hills, providing tons of airtime throughout the
nearly three minute journey. For the ultimate rail, take a
ride at night when every twist and turn is hidden in darkness.
Ghost Rider has been routinely featured on the list of the best
wooden roller coasters in the entire world since opening in
1998. In late 2015 through spring

(02:47):
2016, a complete track refurbishment was performed on
the ride, creating an improved ride experience with a smoother
track and new trains. Yeah, that's that's all
accurate. So yeah, as they as they said,
this is located in the ghost town section, Knott's Berry
Farm. The whole park is kind of

(03:07):
Western themed, right? Am I remembering that correctly?
I mean, that is like the overalltheme for the park.
But they do have like different lands that are not really
western. Like there's a it's it's called
Fiesta Village and it's like basically themed after Mexico.
And then there's like a Roaring 20s area and then there's like a
boardwalk area. And that might be it.

(03:29):
But I think, yeah. So there's.
So the general theme of knots isWestern and this is like the
front like area of the park thatyou see when you get in.
But once you get deeper in, there are some other themed
areas. OK.
And so Ghost Town obviously is themed like, I assume, like a
spooky kind of area. Yeah, it's, it's basically,
well, it's, it's, it's sort of spooky.

(03:52):
It, it's less of a ghost town like an, oh, an actual spooky
Halloween ghost. Although Nazi is famous for its
scary farm, which it does like at Halloween time.
And it does get very spooky then.
And there are some elements of that, but it's mostly ghost
town, like an actual ghost town,like an old western town that
has now been abandoned, like theones you drive by on the side of

(04:12):
the road, you see, oh, what's that old like mining facility
there? And it's in fact based on an
actual ghost town that you can go to that's like about two
hours N maybe of Knotts, which is called Calico.
So a lot of stuff is like, called calico.
So, so it's like based on an actual town that was like a boom

(04:33):
town in like the California Goldrush.
And that's why it's all like goldmine themed and that has was
kind of recreated and, you know,we can get into it more in depth
later, but knots kind of slowly,organically grew out of just a
literal Berry farm, like this roadside stand that sold
berries. And they, the reason they made

(04:55):
that ghost town was so that people would have a place to
chill out while they waited hours for their, you know,
reservation or the further to get their table or whatever
this, you know, restaurant that kind of was sprung up there.
OK, real quick, just say the name of this park.
Oh, Knott's Berry Farm. OK, because I, I've noticed

(05:15):
people say it a couple differentways.
Like some people will say Knott's Berry Farm and they'll
kind of hit the Berry harder, OK?
Will almost say Knott's Berry like it's one word, like Knott's
Berry Farm. Interesting.
Curious to hear how you said it as someone who has it near and
dear to their heart. OK, yeah, yeah, I guess the
locals put a put a space there, you know, because it's Knott's

(05:35):
Berry. It's not like a boysenberry,
which is something that is also featured heavily at the park,
right? And it's not like someone's name
is Knott's Berry. Yeah.
The Knott's berries taste like Knott's berries.
Yeah. So in 1997, the Knott family
decided they wanted to add a wooden roller coaster.
At this point, their major attractions were the Calico Mine

(05:57):
ride, which you just talked about Calico and the inspiration
there, a prototype Corkscrew coaster, a looping shuttle
roller coaster called Montezuma's Revenge, and a water
ride named Bigfoot Rapids. I want to talk about Montezuma's
Revenge real quick because I remember this one.

(06:18):
I remember my cousin going on this when we were little kids
and it just like flocking him up.
Oh yeah, this is like one of those rides from the 70s where
they had just figured out loops and they're like, all right,
we're just going to put a long track, a loop and then just
going to go straight up in the back and it like, it's it like
breaks or it was like the 70s was like, fucking want to just
build it, you know? Yeah, they're like, what if the

(06:39):
loop is the ride? Which is the design I've
utilized in Roller Coaster Tycoon many times.
Yeah, I mean, for anybody who isnot familiar with Monozuma's
Avenge, you basically just like go take a loop and go up and
then you do the same thing backwards and you then you'll
get right back into the into thequeue.

(07:01):
And yeah, it was when I'm not a huge loop person as it is.
And so I, I never went on it, but I remember my cousin going
on it and he was just like, Nope, never again.
He was. He was probably 12.
Yeah, and and that and it just, it really launches you like you
just get shot out of a rocket. And I think right now they're

(07:21):
it's been closed for a while because I think they're redoing
it. Like I remember last time I went
maybe about a year ago, like there was the loop was just gone
like it was. So it's I think it's getting
completely refit that ride, which you know something that
also happened to this ride as you mentioned.
Yeah, and also, isn't Montezuma's revenge?
Isn't that a phrase for when youdrink the water in Mexico and

(07:42):
shit yourself inside out? It is and I was like, I'm
actually, I, I should do some reach out to this because I'm
like, which came first because like I feel like was like, is
the the diarrhea that you get like from the water named after
this because it makes you feel that way.
Like, I don't know, it was a chicken and the egg thing.
I'm not sure. Like because if it was the the
the, you know, phrase was first,that would be very weird that

(08:05):
they named the ride that's. That's that's a curious choice.
Yeah. Yeah.
OK. So back to ghostwriter.
According to historian Eric Linksweil, I'm guessing who
wrote a book about Knott's BerryFarm.
Have have you read Have you readthis book?
I have not. I have seen the book many times

(08:26):
at my day job when I work in a bookstore.
If it is the one, if it is indeed the one I'm thinking of,
but it might not be. But I don't know how many books
on Knotts there are. Yeah, I imagine probably not a
lot. Yeah, But they said that a
wooden roller coaster was the only major attraction type that
was absent from the park. I think I could think of a few
others, but I guess at at the time, maybe that was right.

(08:48):
Yeah. The one big, the one big gaping
hole phrasing. The Knot family had begun
planning for a wooden coaster almost five years before Ghost
Rider was ultimately completed in 1998, and Knotts hope that
the construction of a wooden roller coaster would increase
the park's annual attendance over 4 million.
It's curious to me that a woodenroller coaster was the last

(09:10):
thing. Right, because it's so like, you
know, old school, like it feels like that was like an older
thing because you know, they hadsteel roller coasters and stuff
and wooden roller coasters are obviously a much older
technology. And like a lot of places now
like don't even have wooden roller coasters.
Like obviously Disneyland doesn't have one.
You know, one of the other than this, I think the biggest, you

(09:32):
know, most famous wooden coaster, you know, in Southern
California was Colossus. And that's not even a wooden
roller coaster anymore. And now it's like steel Colossus
or whatever the hell they're calling it.
So it's kind of like one of the last holdouts, you know, and
like, you know, you can go back to like ride the board of those
wooden roller coasters of the boardwalk that are like 100
years old or whatever. Yeah, I mean, I just did an

(09:55):
episode on the Beast in Kings Island in Ohio, which is the
largest wooden roller coaster inthe world actually.
And so but like every time I think of a wooden roller
coaster, I equate it with my local County Fair.
Like that's our big selling point is the big wooden roller
coaster, which is actually just called the coaster, I think.

(10:17):
But yeah, so it's it's weird to think that like, oh, we already
have this Corkscrew coaster and this looping coaster.
Now we need just an old school wooden roller coaster.
Right, which is, it's interesting because I think if
you look at the history of Knott's Berry Farm, like I said,
it is so organic where it startsas a Berry farm, then it comes a
chicken restaurant, then becomeslike a little themed area.
They start adding rides and eventually goes into a whole

(10:40):
theme park. And so they're like, oh, I guess
we do need this wooden roller coaster.
And it becomes, it's the last thing that is really done by the
Knot family. You know, both Walter and
Cordelia, not the the founders of the park had died at this
point. Their kids owned it and they
ended up selling it to Cedar Fair when the production of this

(11:01):
ride was already in process. So it's kind of that's another
reason why, besides the fact that I just love this ride, that
it's kind of this interesting handover from the when it
becomes a family owned park to this corporate entity that it is
now, But it still has those roots, you know, and this is so
much like the park itself, whichstarted to exist as this kind of
more homegrown thing and became this bigger corporate giant

(11:25):
ghost Rider itself was that and it it's almost like the the ride
itself because it crosses like the street as you like enter
knots and you can see it from everywhere.
It's almost like the Matterhorn when you can see like from
Anaheim everywhere. You can see the Ghost Rider from
everywhere. It's like almost that parks
icon. I'm trying to figure out if when
you say like when you talk aboutits roots and homegrown, if

(11:47):
you're trying to make Berry puns.
I mean, you could look at it that way.
But so the wooden roller coasterwas announced in August of 1997
as part of an expansion of Knott's Berry Farm.
By the way, where did they get Snoopy?
Do you know? Right.
I think it was like the 70s or something because there's that's

(12:07):
the other area. It's the kids land.
It's called Camp Snoopy. And I wonder if that's part of
the reason why I love Snoopy so much is because I always used to
see them at Knott's Berry Farm. Yeah.
I mean, probably, yeah, just like the, you know, intrinsic
thing in your brain that equatesthe two.
Right. Yeah, going to see him like cuz
there's like a Red Baron ride you can ride there.
That's like little flying plates, Yeah.

(12:30):
My grandma loves Snoopy. I don't know why but.
There was a lot of Snoopy representation at Comic Con,
which I just got back for. Really.
Yeah, There's like a lot of peanut stuff, and I almost
bought a shirt, but it was like sold out by the time I got
there. It was really cool.
It was like a 3D Snoopy shirt. Is there like a new are they
doing a new Peanuts movie or something or?
I don't think. I think they were just like,
hey, Peanuts is cool. People like peanuts.

(12:55):
That's so weird. So the expansion of the park was
going to cost an estimated 35 million, of which the coaster
would cost 24,000,000. So the coaster was the bulk of
the expansion. That would be the would be the
park's fifth roller coaster, as we said, and with the first
attraction built in Ghost Town since 1969.

(13:18):
Nice. You got a chatty Kitty over
there? Dude yeah I'm sorry.
She just, she gets really upset when I I have to log her out of
my room but she still will come to the door whenever I'm on a
podcast cuz she's like who are you paying attention to?
That isn't me. Yeah, my dog.
My dog is sitting on the other side of my computer so.
She's not chill and she's also probably upset that I was gone

(13:38):
for four days or whatever at a comic.
Yeah, so as you said, the ride crosses over Grand Ave. which
separates the main section of the park from the parking lot
and actually occupies a portion of the parking lot.
It replaced the Pan for Gold attraction.
I know nothing about pan for gold.
Like so, yeah, cuz I was 7 when this came in.

(14:01):
So like I kind of remember that where it's just basically what
it sounds like. It was just like there's like a
water thing that comes through and you put in your pan for gold
cuz and you just try to get somegold cuz, you know, that's the
thing. It's like, oh, mining calico,
whatever. Cuz that was a thing a bunch of
us kids did in California was wewould like learn about the gold
rush and then go to Sacramento and like pan for gold and the
actual river and freeze to death.

(14:23):
So they're like, let's let's puta little bit of that here.
But interestingly, you can spit still a pan for gold thing a
part of that is still in the line, which by the way, takes
forever. So you can entertain yourself
for a second and pan for some gold while you're waiting in
this colossal line. So it wasn't a ride of any kind.
It was literally just a a thing where you would.

(14:43):
Literally. Yeah, just.
Put a little tray in water and. Just swish it around and be
like, here's some dust that we put in here like this gold
flake, you know? Ghost Rider sounds much more
exciting, yes? Yeah, accurate.
Let's see, it also replaced a decorative volcano, which was
built by the founder, Walter Knott.
Do you remember the volcano at all?

(15:06):
No, not really. I think it was just like a piece
of like it was that. That's once again the part
talking about how like just, youknow, fly by and see their
pants. A lot of this early stuff was it
was just like they had to like hide some like I think support
beams or something. So like, and here's the famous
calico volcano. Of course.

(15:28):
So Knights Knot, Knotts Vice president for maintenance and
Construction Robin Hall wanted to wanted the Ghost Writer
project to serve as a billboard for the park on Beach Blvd.
So like you said, basically a beacon that you can see from
anywhere outside the park. And the project also allowed
Knotts to relocate some warehouses in the attractions

(15:50):
path. Which is apparently one of the
most expensive things was getting rid of the warehouses or
moving. Really.
Yeah, Like that was for some reason that was like really,
really expensive because I guessthey probably have a bunch of
infrastructure and stuff over there because, you know, much
like Disneyland, you know, on inAnaheim and unlike Disneyland
and or Disney World in Florida, they just don't have that much

(16:13):
room to expand because they're in the middle of a city.
So they have to like reorganize everything and build out onto
the street and stuff. Yeah, or if you're Disney, you
just got to like knock over parking lots or Yeah, exactly,
replace existing rides. Yep, and or replace volcanoes in
this case. Or or replace the the world's

(16:35):
famous volcano. So Custom Coasters International
was hired to manufacture the coaster.
Let's see, what else have they done?
A list of roller coasters? Kingdom Coaster?
Outlaw, Hoosier Hurricane. I've never heard of any of
these. Cannonball Run.

(16:58):
That's OK. I thought that was just a Burt
Reynolds movie, but apparently it's a roller coaster, too.
Yeah. I was going to say the same
thing, Timber Terror in Silverwood, which I've heard of
even though I've never been to Silverwood, but it's the closest
theme park to me. OK.
I just have no desire to go to Idaho so.
See, I'm so spoiled. I have like 2 with two of the

(17:18):
world's most famous theme parks within 20 minutes of my house,
and then like another two like an hour, an hour and a half
away. And like, so I'm just like,
yeah, at theme parks, whatever, they're everywhere.
Must be nice. I have AI have a water park
about half hour away. That's the closest thing I can.
Yeah. I don't know any of these rides.

(17:40):
Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain.
Sounds like a 90s Disney Channelmovie.
That's exactly what it sounds like.
Or the The Cornball Express. No, I see.
There's a reason I think that maybe these guys were not called
back to do refit, which I'm jumping ahead here, was done by
confusingly great Coasters International, which is a

(18:03):
different company with a very similar name.
If anyone out there has been to the Indiana Beach theme park,
hit me up because I think we need to talk about Lost Coaster
of Superstition Mountain and or Cornball Express because they're
both in this Indiana beach. OK, nice.

(18:24):
So the trains were provided by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters,
which is a pretty awesome name for a roller coaster company.
Let's see, what are they? What are they in charge of?
Fig. Oh, all their rides have
toboggan in the name. Except for Ghost Rider, yes.

(18:45):
Except for Ghost Rider, yeah, there's Figure 8.
Toboggan, toboggan. Figure 8.
Forest toboggan. Figure 8.
Figure 8. Toboggan Toboggan Slide Figure
8. Seems like there's a theme.
They're like 8. Rides named Figure 8.
No, this is a figure. 8 tobacco,This is tobacco and Figure 8,

(19:05):
you're going to want to go to that park.
Oh, big roller coaster. That's a great name.
Now I kind of want to ride it just because of that.
And then about 16 Wildcats. OK, this is different than the
wild mouse I guess. Oh yeah, yeah.

(19:28):
I don't know how but it is so. The construction lasted 2 years
with the first phase involved clearing land and relocating the
warehouses which took about a year and like you said
compromised much of the rides budget.
Don't know why but the ride would be the Knotts family's.

(19:48):
Again, like you said, the Knottsfamily's last investment in the
park after or before Cedar Fair acquired the park in 1997.
At the time, land was still being cleared for Ghost Rider,
and Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel considered cancelling the ride
because it was costing so much. But Cedar Fair, Cedar Fair

(20:09):
Ultimately, Cedar Fair ultimately pushed through, and
in March of 1998, the ride was officially declared Ghost Rider.
It's very nice, very nice. Construction of the ride itself
took eleven months, and park officials wanted the ride to be
taller than Colossus at Magic Mountain, which was also

(20:30):
designed by Hall. Which I don't think we said.
Who's Hall? Is it somebody's last name?
I don't. Know Robin Hall?
Yes, we did mention Robin Hall. OK.
Yeah, Robin Hall also designed Colossus, and so he wanted this
to be just a little bit bigger. Yeah, which is interesting cuz
like I said, those are the 2 wooden roller coasters in my

(20:53):
life. I was kind of thinking about all
the wooden roller coasters I've gone on.
I think I've only got on four orfive, but the ones that are just
very, very memorable are Colossus and Ghostwriter.
So it's interesting they're designed by the same person.
Yeah. And so they revised the height
from 112 feet to 118 feet just so it'd be taller than Colossus.

(21:16):
It's, yeah, that was such a thing in the 90s of like the
Coaster Wars. It's like, oh, we've got to be
taller than the other guy, you know?
By 4 feet or 6 feet. It was like, it was like the
buildings in New York City, Likethere's that story about like, I
think it was like the Empire State Building in the Chrysler
Building or something. And they were like, surprise,
this is an antenna. It makes it 10 feet taller.
Suck it. It's weird Dick measuring

(21:41):
contests. So there was actually a strike
outside of Knott's Berry Farm over Ghost Rider because they
did not hire union labor and so the park actually had to file a
lawsuit to stop the protests. So.
Which I was like, how? OK.
I mean, I would still like you can't protest anymore because

(22:03):
like the lawsuit, I don't know, but whatever.
Yeah, I I don't think I've ever heard of someone filing a
lawsuit to stop a a protest. Like how does that work?
Right. I don't know, Like it's like,
oh, go home. No processing today.
You guys lost the suit? And yeah, and what was the, what
was the lawsuit? Because like there's a whole,
you know, right to free assemblything.

(22:24):
Yeah, well, for now, who knows? Who knows?
How much longer that's going to be?
Yeah, OK. Anyway, on a lighter note, so
Ghost Rider was originally scheduled to open in early 1999,
but actually opened December 8th, 1998, ahead of schedule.
Jack Falfus. That's a fun name.

(22:47):
The general manager of Knotts advocated for accelerating the
opening date and during a preview event of or on the
opening day, 100 members of the nonprofit group American Coaster
Enthusiasts, also known as ACE Road Ghost Rider.
At the time of the opening, Ghost Rider was advertised as
the longest wooden roller coaster on the West Coast, and

(23:08):
as of January 2023, it remains the longest wooden roller
coaster on the American West Coast as well as the Pacific
Coast of the Americas. Isn't that the same thing?
Well, that's, that's, I think including like Mexico and Canada
and Argentina and Chile and all that stuff.
So sorry Chile, you got to get a, you got to get a longer
coaster than Ghost Rider. Step up your coaster game,

(23:31):
Chili. You've got such a long coast
too. Yeah, right.
You could just just make one giant roller coaster all along
the and there's could be such good names with chili, you know?
Right, Yeah, the options are are, you know, plenty.
Red Hot Chili Coaster. Exactly and they could do what

(23:54):
Disney did with space ground where they just put on like
Chili Peppers music for some reason onto it just.
Just roller coaster of love on aloop.
Yeah, sorry if anyone out there listening in Chile would be very
disrespectful of your country. Yes, I have a lot of listeners
in Chile. There's one dude who's just

(24:14):
like, I'll never listen again. Actually my my second highest
country of listenership is Colombia.
Well, OK, I guess. Hey, shout out to South America.
So let's see. Park officials claimed the Ghost
Rider was the fastest wooden roller coaster on the West
Coast. However, Colossus traveled at a

(24:36):
maximum speed of 62 mph comparedto Ghost Riders 56 mph.
I'm surprised they didn't tweak it just.
Right. Just like get it a little bit
faster. Well, but they did win
ultimately because now Colossus isn't a wooden coaster anymore,
so they got the title back. That's true, yeah, As the
official synopsis said, longest,tallest and fastest.

(24:59):
Yeah, there you go. Yeah, so like we said, 118 feet
tall, maximum speed of 56 mph, 4533 feet in length and a
duration of two minutes and 40 seconds, which is about half of
the beast, which is insane. That's wild.
Yeah, well, because the because the faster it goes, you know,

(25:21):
obviously then the, you know, the shorter the ride will be
too. True.
So after it opened, this immediately became one of the
most popular rides and Knotts officials predicted that the
ride would increase the park's annual attendance from 3.4 to
that coveted 4 million during the second quarter of 1999.
Attendance at Knotts increased more than 10% quarter over

(25:43):
quarter when other amusement parks in Southern California
were actually experiencing decreased attendance.
So cool. Bully the ride for knots.
Yeah. The ride was temporarily closed
for repairs in August of 1999 after an incident that injured 5
people. Did you what?

(26:04):
Did you know anything about thisincident?
I yeah, I cuz so I watched like a like a, you know, problematic
roller coaster video on about itand apparently like a board fell
off, hit some guy in the head, he needed stitches.
So they, you know, tightened a bunch of bolts and redid a bunch
of things, I guess. But yeah, I guess you know which
I they were. It was one of the things that

(26:25):
like, we walk the the track every morning and we make sure
everything's secure. We don't really know how this
happened. So I guess it remains a mystery.
They always say that. Right.
Yeah. It's like what it is like, how
did you really walk it? Did you like How closely were
you looking at these wooden boards?
Yeah, you can walk the track andthat doesn't mean anything.

(26:48):
Yeah. An unsecured piece of wood was
lifted by a passing train and thrown into another car that was
passing below. Like I said, five people were
injured, and there was a touristwho was hit in the head and
required stitches, as Derek said.
Yep. And CCI, that, you know, the
company that built it said, yeah, you should probably secure
those boards. And they went OK.
And then they actually installedmetal safety devices to make

(27:11):
sure that that doesn't happen again.
And then the ride reopened on August 30th.
By 2015, Ghost Rider had gained A reputation as a rough ride,
which most wooden coasters are to some degree, a pretty rough
ride. Yeah, I will say because I I
have written it in like all three of its forms, I guess you

(27:32):
would call it when it first opened and then when it was in
its rough state and then its current state.
And it was, it was like, like I said, a lot of wooden coasters
get very rough. But I had ridden, you know, the
Great Dipper, which is like 100 something years old.
That was a smoother ride than this.
This was just like back breakingwhen it was like like it was

(27:52):
nuts. Yeah, I mean, you know, I talked
about the wooden roller coaster at my local fair and like, the
climb on that is it was like junk, junk like the the whole
way up this first hill. And I've told the story of the
podcast before. My dad's favorite thing to do.
My dad was one of those people that would always wait for the
front car. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So every, every time we would sit in the front car and as

(28:15):
we're going up that hill, he would turn around with the
people behind us and be like, we're not going to make it.
We're not going to make. It that's so funny, Oh my God.
And one time there was these twoprobably like middle school,
maybe early high school age girls behind us and they, they
just started losing their minds.They were like, what?
Oh my God, really? That's so good.

(28:38):
It's so perfect. It's like, well, you can't leave
at that point. You don't get scared.
All you're like, yeah. Well, yeah, like what's gonna
happen? You're gonna roll backwards and
then just roll right, right backinto the station and that's it.
That's that's worst case scenario.
Right, Yeah, I mean, I don't know.
I I did see, was it Final Destination 3?
So you know, you could die in a terrible crazy accident where

(28:59):
nail falls and derails you or something like that.
I mean, anything can happen. Yeah, yeah.
I mean Final Destination has taught me many many insane
things can lead to your your dying in a calamity.
Yeah, I still won't drive behinda a logging truck.
Oh yeah, me the same. Same.
You see one of those on the I I don't think any millennial will.
That's true. So the ride temporarily closed

(29:23):
in September of 2015 and as you said, Great Coasters
International refurbished the attraction.
The project lasted for two years, but the renovation itself
only took nine months to complete.
So it was planned for two years.OK, but only took nine months.
Yeah. Buena Park officials had to

(29:43):
ensure that the renovation planscomplied with building codes and
that the ride was resistant to earthquakes.
That's kind of a big deal in Southern California.
It is indeed a very big deal to the point where like 1 happens
and you just like, oh, did you feel that one?
No, I slept through it. Yeah, I got a buddy who lives
out in like Thousand Oaks area. Yeah, yeah.
And I'll see, you know, something will pop up and it'll

(30:03):
be like 05.8 earthquake in this area.
And I'll text him. I'll be like, did you feel this?
And he was like, feel what? That's how it is, though.
That's exactly how it is He'd. Be like, no, I was making
dinner. Yeah, like the little lamps will
sway overhead and be like, oh, there we go.
OK. I guess we had an earthquake.
Yeah, that's it. That was, I mean, up here in the

(30:24):
Seattle area when we had like our big one in 2001, I remember
I was in high school and I was in video productions class and I
was outside filming something orwhatever and I came back into
the classroom and everyone was under the table and I was just
like, what is going on? Well, there I guess, since I was
outside, I don't. Realize how quick they are.

(30:45):
Yeah, yeah. But I mean, I guess since I was
outside I just didn't feel it. Yeah, there you go.
You could be a Californian. Yeah, I guess.
Fit right in. So during this renovation most
of the track was replaced and reprofiled with banks, turns and
airtime hills being added. So it wasn't just like a
refitting or re like retrack, they actually did add some

(31:06):
stuff. Yeah, and I think they took out
like a a brake section or something too.
Yeah, the mid course brake run was removed and the trains were
replaced with Millennium Flyer, which sounds.
Good. Yeah, I guess it's better than a
flyer, is better than a toboggan, everybody says.
Millennium flyer sounds like AI mean.
I'm just thinking Millennium Falcon.

(31:27):
I'm right, so it just makes me think of a spaceship.
Yeah, or Radio Flyer the wagon. Oh yeah, yes, it's a spaceship
wagon. Yeah, let's see Great Coasters
International. Some of their famous coasters
roar. OK all.
Right Thunderhead, Dollywood. Oh, I mean, hey, Dollywood, you

(31:51):
know? American Thunder, formerly known
as Evel Knievel. OK.
I wonder if they got like Sue though, Like that was a guy.
Like you can't name it that. You should just use his name,
White Lightning. OK, which is that's.
What they called me in high school, Texas Stingray at

(32:14):
SeaWorld San Antonio. Zambezi Zinger Wait, there's a
Real Madrid world? That's wild.
OK. Is that kind?
Of like Dubai or some something like that.
I don't, that's wild. It is in the UAE, yeah.
Yeah, see, there you go. Those those ones are, there's

(32:34):
like a Ferrari world and there'slike all these like crazy brand
like worlds over there. I need to find someone who's
been to Ferrari World because I'm never going over there, but
Ferrari World looks fucking insane.
Yeah, it looks absolutely wild. They have coasters that go over
100 miles an hour. Wow.
OK, OK. It's ridiculous.

(32:56):
Yeah, I I want to go there, but not go to Saudi Arabia.
Right. That that's fair.
That's very valuable. But it's thoughts on Disneyland
Abu Dhabi. You know, I think that's like
it's it's one of those things that just felt inevitable.
You know, it's like because there's so many theme parks that
are there and like Disneyland doesn't really like have

(33:20):
anything near that part of the world.
Like, the closest would be, I guess Euro Disney, you know, and
then you have like a bunch of parks in Asia, but there's
nothing at all in the Middle East.
So, you know, of course Disney'sgoing to do it.
And of course, because there's of course just a ton of money
there in Dubai for a few people.And then everyone else is like,
you know, living in poverty, so.Yeah, I like how they shot down.

(33:42):
I think it was Riyadh. They were like, but Abu Dhabi,
that's fine. Yeah, they're like, that's much
better. So let's see, GCI also replaced
the chain lift, added magnetic brakes, and removed steel in the
ride structure as part of the project.
Ghost Rider was originally planned to reopen on May 27th,

(34:03):
2016, but it was delayed until June 11th, 2016.
Had to make up that early opening last time.
That's right. So let's talk about the ride
itself. You talked about the ride queue.
You said it's extremely fucking long.
Yes, it's ridiculous. It's like like a two or three
hour wait, like at least every time it's it's wild.

(34:26):
I mean maybe if you go on like early on a weekday or something,
but like it's always so bad. Yeah, and it actually so it says
it begins in a mining tunnel. Yeah, you go in through this
like little archway, and for like a second you're like, oh,
this is really cool. And you just immediately come
back out and you see like the gold panning thing.
And then you're in a warehouse. You think like, oh, I'm cool,
I'm close to the end. And then there's like, no,

(34:48):
there's like 18 switchbacks in this warehouse downstairs.
And then you go upstairs and there's like 18 more.
And at that point, you're just like, all right, let me just get
on this fucking ride. Yeah, you go through this tunnel
and you go to the lower level ofthe fictitious Ghost Rider
mining company, and then the queue ascends to the upper level
because the ride station is 3 stories high.

(35:08):
Yeah, it's wild. And, and this is it's funny.
Yeah. You bring up like the the
theming of the queue. It's because this this is one of
those rides where it's like kindof themed sort of, you know,
like, because there's rides where it's like like the line we
talked about last time where it's like Jurassic Park the
ride. You're like, oh, cool, I'm in
Jurassic Park right now and there's ones that are just like,
hey, like you know, the one you talked about with Mike a couple,

(35:30):
you know, episodes ago where it's like revolution.
This is just a roller coaster. We named it something cool, go
on it. And this one's like lightly
themed. There's like, oh, it's a mine.
We're in calico. And but like once you're on the
ride, there's like not like the incredibles running around like
it's the incredibles or something.
You're just on a wooden roller coaster.
But like in all the queues, likeall the pre ride views are like,

(35:51):
don't like line jumpers will be dealt with worse than claim
jumpers. Like it's all these those old
timey guys and stuff like that. And the thieving around is, but
it's very minimal. It's very like, you know, we
don't have a Disney budget, but but you know, it's what it's
still like, Hey, this is kind oflike a spooky ghost on a, a
train in a, in a, you know, in amine or whatever.

(36:12):
Have you ever seen the like fakesafety video with with Patrick
Warburton? Yes, it's so good and see what's
funny is I was listening to the podcast The Rise.
Yeah, one of those guys like directed it right.
Yeah, one of those guys directedit and I guess he was like
talking to him and he's like, you know, I was in a real one of
these ones. And they're like, yeah, we know.
We've been on Soaring 8,000,000 times.

(36:36):
Yeah, there's something he talksabout like halfway through
you're going to have to get out and have a picnic lunch.
It's really good. It's so funny.
Is there's no kind of like safety video for this, right?
There is, it's just like plays above you and it's just like,
it's basically like just make sure you sit down, strap in and
take your hat off. Like there's like a guy dressed

(36:56):
like a prospector and he's like,oh, I guess I got to take my hat
off. Here you go there Knots
employee. OK.
So yeah, and the something gets kind of interesting is the you
board the train on the third level of the station.
Yeah, which is interesting because the way that this ride
kind of starts, which I, I love,is it kind of like like you just

(37:20):
kind of like drop down to like the ground pretty quick.
So it's kind of like this littletiny like little loop before you
get on the chain left, which I think is a cool kind of
interesting way to start the ride.
It's like, all right, here we go.
Yeah, that is interesting. Yeah, it's like you said, the
the train is propelled out of the station using drive tires
and there's a small left turn and then a descent into a

(37:43):
ravine. Let me pull up my video here.
Yeah, yeah, I got mine up too, which is nice that Knots
actually has like a ride like video provided by them, which is
I think is interesting because Ithink I've gone to Knots and
they will always be loud speakers like put your phones
away, do not record the ride. I guess they are like we have to
have it out officially from our our point of view.

(38:04):
So I don't know that's I thoughtthat was something to note.
Yeah, like Disney just released a bunch of Povs on Disney Plus,
which is interesting. That's interesting.
Yeah. I watched the Indiana Jones 1
and I was just like this feels edited.
I'm going to check that out. I don't know if it is, but I was
just like, this feels really like quick.

(38:25):
I don't know, I wonder. If it's one of those things
where it just feels quicker because like you're not immersed
in it as much, so you're like, that's shorter than I realized.
That's what I was wondering, too.
Yeah. So, yeah, you bank around this
corner and then you get to the first climb, which is you go
under a little trellis kind of thing.

(38:45):
And I mean from the video it looks like a pretty smooth
climb. Yeah, it's nice.
It's a pretty just smooth sailing up there.
This let's see this video's from9 years ago.
So this this is pre refurbishment.
This would be post because there's the little, I don't know
what you'd call like not awning,but the little, you know, thing

(39:07):
that's over the drop, which I guess they added in the
refurbishment because people were screaming too loud and
residents were upset about it. So this kind of like blocks that
the sound, I guess, but it actually works for a ride.
It kind of like, you know, givesyou that like, you know, you're
like cuz you're like, I might get hit my head, you know, like
head chopper thing, I guess theycall it.

(39:27):
Yeah, and I mean, it's, you know, it's all wood.
So it adds to the kind of the the whole aesthetic.
Yeah, it's very mind themed right there.
So I guess, yeah, nine years ago, I guess that would be 2016,
that would be. So this must have done like
right after it. Reopened.
They must have been showing off their the new refurbishment.
There is a sign here that says please remain seated.

(39:50):
And this is kind of one of thosethings where it's like they only
put that kind of sign there if it's needed.
So it's like, what were people doing?
Yeah, were people trying to climb out of the ride right
here? I'm just going to stand up.
That's that seems like a great idea.
Yeah. But so it's a pretty long like
not doesn't look super steep, but it's a pretty long climb.

(40:11):
Yeah. And it is like I will say like
when you are like going down, like just watching the video,
I'm surprised how quick it is cuz like you are imagine very
high up and it goes very quicklyand you get a lot of 0 GS just
like that is one of my favorite drops, first drops of any roller
coaster ever. It's that first drop that
happens right here high. Praise.

(40:34):
So you get to the top and there's another sign that says
please remain seated, as well asplease keep arms and hands
inside car at all times. I assume that's because you're
going under another one of theselittle trellis things and there
are boards hanging down. And so I could see people, you
know, if you're really tall or got long arms or something, you
could whack your knuckles on that.

(40:56):
Right. And I guess they're just doing
their due diligence. Yeah, No, everybody always puts
their hands up. Like, you know, there's, there's
you always do. But you, it does kind of feel
like you're going to hit your hands on the top.
And I'm sure there's like 3 feetof clearance there or whatever
every time, even for tall people.
But it does feel that way. Like you're like, can I do this?
Like is it going to chop my hands off right now?
Well, like, you know, Thunder Mountain at Disneyland, they

(41:18):
have it. So it's like it looks like
you're about to hit your hands, but then that's when the drop is
right. So you actually, you drop under
it, but you still find yourself just going.
Yeah, yeah. It's it's the same kind of
effect here, I think, you know, although you know, it is
actually above you. Yeah, I mean, it's you, but you
can tell even in this video, there's a good amount of

(41:39):
clearance there. Yeah, Yeah, this is a pretty
good drop. And then it real quick like
banks you to the left and then another little kind of Bunny
hop, which I imagine that probably gets you some pretty
good air time. Right there, absolutely.
You are really whipping around it and you're just kind of like
you just if you're not strapped in, you would.
That's why I think there's so many signs you will fly to your

(42:00):
seat if you're not really in there.
What is the safety bar situation?
We got like 1 bar across the whole thing.
Or is like everybody gets their own individual one.
Everybody gets their own individual bar, I think.
OK. Yeah, I feel like that kind of
keeps you in a little better. Yeah, because it's two by two,
you know, So, yeah. So it's just like you and your

(42:22):
buddy next to you or whatever. OK.
And the right vehicle? I assume it's supposed to look
like a mine car. Yeah, it's kind of like, you
know, it's, it's, it's got that theme on it, but it's more of
just like coloring and like aesthetics than anything.
It doesn't like, it's not shaped, I think particularly
like a mine car. No, it just kind of looks like

(42:44):
rustic. Right, yeah, Rustic's a good way
to put anything. Like you said, there's the three
colors, you know, So it's, it's the gold, the silver, the
copper. Yeah, and I mean, it just looks
like old sheet metal or something.
And then like and the big Ghost Rider logo on the front.
Right. Yeah, yeah.
And I think it's like vaguely sparkly, you know, like it's
supposed to kind of look like a like, you know, like a gem you

(43:06):
would see in the Earth. But it's like, you know, that
kind of like effect when like the sun is shining on, you can
see it a little, you know, the the sparkles come up a little
bit. Oh, OK, a little flecked.
Yeah, yeah. OK, so after this little Bunny
hill, you go up another hill andyou kind of bank to the left and
there's, I mean, you know, you're going really fast, but

(43:28):
there's a pretty nice view there.
Yeah, you get to see. Exactly.
You get to see like it's cool because you can see like all of
Buena Park and you can see, you know, the equivalent of their
it's like their Downtown Disney,which is called like the, I
don't know, the Nostris strict or something.
But they also have, and you can see it in the video there.
Independence, an exact replica of Independence Hall in
Philadelphia, because the Knottswere like like very like old

(43:52):
school, like the actual Knot family was like very old school
conservative. And they were like, Ah, yes,
we'll build an exact replica of Independence Hall.
That was so accurate by the way,that they use it in the mood of
a national treasure when they were shooting in that scene.
Really, yes, like we don't need to fly to Philadelphia.
We could just go down the road and our knots.

(44:13):
That's hilarious. Yeah.
Didn't they have like an exhibitabout like, American politics of
some kind? I would.
I don't. I don't know for sure, but that
would not be surprised like thatwould check out.
I feel like I remember hearing something about that, like when
it first opened it was some kindof walkthrough exhibit.
OK, Yeah, that would not surprise me.

(44:37):
Let's see how you get a pretty good turn here.
You do like almost 180° looks like and then you kind of bank
back and then there's another pretty decent hill, obviously
not you know, the size of the ofthe first hill, but a pretty
good drop. And then you kind of you
crisscross with the original hill.
Yeah, which is cool. You kind of like go underneath

(44:59):
it. Do you ever see people going
down as you're going by? Yeah.
Yeah. And it's interesting because
like the we talked about how this like, so you see people
going down and you also like seepeople like walking under you
because the entrance to the parkis you have to walk under Ghost
Rider to get there from the parking lot.

(45:20):
Yeah, because a big selling point for the Beast is that the,
you know, you can actually like,watch people go in the opposite
direction as you. I don't think there's anything.
I don't think you really see that as much as more than you'll
like see someone going up the hill, but from a distance, kind
of. Oh, OK, next.
I mean, theoretically you could right here at this part in the
ride. You can see.

(45:40):
People going down the other. Perfectly.
Yeah, if if they, you know, release the other cars at the
right time. Right, Yeah, and they only
really run 2 cars at a time, so probably the time it would never
really match up. Yeah, but so then you drop down
into another little covered area.
You're, I mean, what do we say 56 mph was the top speed?
Yeah, yeah. You're you're booking it.

(46:02):
You really are at this point, you're like really feeling that
like energy right there. And then you you come up this
hill and you get to the top and you go around the corner.
This part's pretty flat. So this is kind of like the
catch your breath moment. Yeah, this is exactly.
I think this is where the brake area used to be.
OK, that makes sense. And now they're just like you'll

(46:26):
get there. Yeah, there's like, all right,
here's a couple little little drops for you.
Yeah, just just coast, yeah. But you're still like, you're
still moving pretty quickly. So it's just kind of like one of
those things. It's like, like I said, you, you
catch your breath and then it's just kind of like you going
down. But I'd like this like last part
because you are now kind of likeunderneath where you started

(46:47):
because it's basically just the right is layout is just like an
L. So now you've crossed back into,
you know, where you were before and you're just going underneath
it. So you have the rest of like
the, the, the lift tail and everything above you.
So you're going through all thislike this wooden area.
So it's doing that same thing you did in the drop where your
head is covered, but to a much greater degree.
OK, Yeah. Then you another pretty decent

(47:13):
drop and you are really kind of flying at this point.
I don't know where the top speedis, but this part looks really
fast. Yeah, it is.
It is very quick. Especially now I guess since you
don't have that brake there. Right.
Yeah. So you don't have like anything
to slow you down. You're just still going on
momentum from that huge drop. Yeah.

(47:33):
And then you hit this and you again, you're going undercover
and you, there's a little Bunny hill and then you're like a hard
bank to the left where you kind of, you know, get that sideways
lean going. Yeah, you're still getting like
good air time even at this pointon the right and and you, like I
said, yeah, you're getting some good leans and stuff like that.
Yeah, a couple little Bunny hills and then a big, big turn

(47:55):
to the right, almost maybe 180°.Yeah, yeah, maybe.
And then another couple little Bunny hops and it looks like
you're coasting into the stationhere.
Another big turn and yeah. And then you you'd go, I guess
the. Nope, Another little Bunny hill

(48:16):
first and then yeah, yeah, there's the brakes and you coast
back into the station. So I gotta say, even like this,
you know, this video is 235. We said the duration is 240.
That video went by really quick.Right.
It's and it's like what we were talking about before.

(48:36):
It's like, I always feel like this ride is a long ride, you
know, which is impressive because like the line takes
forever and I feel like wheneveryou're waiting in line forever,
like the thing goes by quickly. But this does feel like a very
long ride even though it is overin 2 1/2 minutes like you said.
Yeah, I mean, well, for a rollercoaster, I feel like 2 1/2 is a
pretty good ride. You know, that's a good point

(48:57):
and it's a good point. And I feel like, I mean you, you
correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like wood in the roller
coasters are generally going to be longer than like a steel one.
True. I guess in credit coaster is 3
minutes, in credit coaster doesn't feel that long.
OK, Huh. I guess there is all that you do
a lot of Bunny heels at the end of that, right?
If you like. Yeah, in credit Coaster has a

(49:18):
lot going on. Yeah, but I mean, this I it, I
haven't been to Knott's since I was a little, little kid.
And so I'm guessing I probably didn't go on this.
Fair. But I I mean after watching this
video and talking to you, I wantto.
Yeah, it's like one of the all time, you know, it's

(49:40):
consistently like named as like in like the top ten or five like
wooden roller coasters in the USIt's a it's a legitimately great
ride. And I think it dropped down for
a couple years there when it gotreally rough.
But ever since the refurb, it's like right back up there.
It's just a great wooden roller coaster, honestly.
And there's not too many of those left.
Unfortunately. Like I said, it is a there is a

(50:04):
real long wait there. You're going to have to like,
unless you go like on a we Wednesday morning or something,
you're going to have to wait. But it is another coaster that
is really good at night. Like it is one of those ones
like some coasters are a little better at night.
This one is a lot better at night.
So what? What makes it so good at night?
I mean, it's it's one of the things it's it's because it's

(50:25):
like all lit up. You can't you can see like out
in the distance, you know, you can see the city all lit up and
you can see the tracks have likethe little, you know, LE DS or
whatever on them. So you're just kind of like on
this. And it's just, I feel the same
way about Matterhorn, where likethe Matterhorn is another really
great night ride. And but like everything just
seems so much more distant and dark and kind of like it's, it's

(50:48):
a lot like I love space mountainand because that ride is dark
and you know, you're just makingall these twists and turns and
can't see the track in front of you as well.
You know, and even with the LE DS kind of your know the general
direction you're going, but you're just going to you're like
there's you're going so fast through the darkness that it is
much more intense, I think. Yeah, I'm a Big Thunder Mountain

(51:09):
Night Ride person. Yeah, that's.
Another one of that's one of my favorites, and I think part of
it stems from when I went to Disney World last year and I
rode it was, we just went on it last ride of the night just
because it was there. Yeah.
And as we were getting on the ride, people were like,
cheering. And we're just like, oh, OK,

(51:32):
this is the party train. Yeah, there you go.
And as we start going up the first hill, there's these guys
in the front car and they start going, hey, hey, hey, hey, like
the whole way up the hill. And so every subsequent hill,
the whole train would start going hey, hey, hey.
They understood the assignment. That's so good.

(51:53):
Yeah, it's and that is just likea a core memory for me now.
Like I every time I ride ThunderMountain Railroad, I just, I
want to do it. But right.
I know I'm I'm going to look like an asshole if I do.
It right, you got to, you got toget a good group of people to
get get it going, yeah. Yeah, you try to do it by
yourself and people are like, shut.

(52:14):
Up who invited this guy? Yeah, so I do love a good night
ride and this especially with like the covered areas and stuff
seems like it would be a really cool night ride.
Oh yeah, absolutely. I, I highly recommend it.
You know, I, I think I lasted isa night ride, you know, a few

(52:34):
years back, like not too long after refurbishment for scary
Farm, we did all the, you know, the mazes and stuff.
They were like, all right. And ended up being like, I think
it was like a 3 1/2 hour wait. But like at the end of it I was
like this. Yeah.
Cuz it like scary Farm is when it gets really packed.
Like people love scary Farm and rightly so.
It rules, but like, you know, I usually just try to focus on the
mazes because I was like I can go on the rides whenever, but

(52:57):
that was a really good night ride.
Does Knott's Scary Farm have limited capacity or is it just
whatever the regular park capacity is?
I think it's the same as the regular capacity.
It's just because like they willlike open the park during the
day and then they'll close it and like you know, so everyone
has to leave at like 6 or something and then everyone can

(53:17):
come back at like 8 or whatever or like you can because it's
like 2 different. 2 Interesting.Things, yeah.
OK. But so if you buy a ticket to
that, can you go to the park earlier or is you have to buy 2?
Tickets. You have to buy 2 tickets.
Yeah, OK. And if you're like a season pass
holder, I think you can get likea discount on it, I want to say,

(53:39):
because it is like a very like whole other thing, you know?
Yeah. Like, I don't think you can go
on the mazes or anything during the day.
In fact, that's right. Yeah.
A. Buddy of mine, I think it was
2019, went to down to Californiafor Halloween and we did like
the Oogie Boogie Bash we did. Dark Harbor, We did Horror

(54:03):
Nights, so we basically did everything but scary.
Farm. Wow.
Because like Scary Farm was kindof like the originator of a lot
of that, you know? And it was just had its 50th
anniversary like a year or two ago, which I went to, which was
really cool 'cause they did all these kind of like old tribute
things, like old mazes and stuff.
I like the Universal one a lot too.
But much like, you know, the reason I like this crime more

(54:25):
than knots in general, more thanUniversal is like it's feels so
much, I mean, it is corporate, but it feels so much more
organic. Whereas like the Universal mazes
are like, come and see the family from us.
They're going to chase you with scissors.
This is like we made-up a story about a ghost witch that's going
to cook you alive and has nothing to do with anything.
You know, it's just weird, whatever nonsense they want to

(54:46):
make up. Yeah, that that's pretty cool.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, it wasn't like a conscious thing.
It's not like we were like we have fuck not scary farm.
I think it was just kind of likea budget and time.
That's fair, That's fair. And it it just apparent
unfortunately was like the one thing that didn't didn't make
it. Right.
Just, you know, you had to cut something.

(55:08):
But so, I mean, next time I comedown for Halloween, I'm I'm
definitely planning on doing that.
That's going to be probably second on the list because I
always I got to do Oogie Boogie Bash.
Yeah, I don't actually, I don't think I've ever done the Oogie
Boogie Bash. I'm not sure because like I, I,
I like Halloween at Disneyland, but like, it's, it's, yeah, I
don't know. It's not I I'm kind of much more

(55:29):
drawn to like, even though I like Disney in general better or
best the Universal and the the knots mazes, you know, because I
think they're just kind of spookier and scarier.
Oh yeah, definitely. I mean, they're obviously more
kind of adult. Yeah.
Focused. I should go that was why.
That was why I asked if dot Scary Farm was a separate or if

(55:49):
they had limited capacity because at Disney it's you have
to buy a ticket for Oogie BoogieBash.
And so it's only a set amount ofof people and so it's actually a
lower capacity. All right.
And that's I think another reason why I never did Oogie
Boogie Bash, because I think it is much more expensive.
Oh yeah, I mean you basically are paying at least a full day's

(56:10):
park cost for like 6 hours. Yeah, but I'll tell you this,
when all the kids go do the trick or treat trails or go and
meet the characters, there are no lines.
That's nice. That's a nice perk.
I'm like, I don't have kids. I have no plans of having kids,
but it's like, Oh yeah, kids go with your parents, go do the

(56:34):
trick or treat trail and I'm gonna go do Tower of Terror.
Yep, it's it is that is one advantage of being of like, you
know, not having kids and going to the parks is you can just do
your own thing and not have to worry about like what all the
like, be like, cool, the families are over here.
I'm gonna go over here. And it's not like, oh, who's
gonna watch the kid while I go on the roller coaster?

(56:54):
Right, exactly none of that. Just to have fun.
Yeah, but I mean, I, I definitely want to hit knots
next time I go down, whether that's for October or just some
other time. But it it is the the one park I
have not been to in a recent time.
So I have a lot of catching up to do.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, and I think this, this

(57:14):
one should be the top of your list for stuff you see there
because there's there's I think so.
But this is this is, I think, the peak.
I'm like my thrill ride capacityis only so high.
I don't do a lot of twists, I don't do a lot of loops.
I don't like a lot of corkscrews.
I don't like to spin a lot. So there's a few of the like the

(57:36):
big thrill rides that I am like,you know, I I'm going to pass on
this one, but this one sounds like it's right up my alley.
Yeah, this this one's right. And they because they did put a
lot of that stuff in once to like, you know, got that
corporate ownership. They kind of tried to I think
compete with Six Flags a lot because I knew I don't think
they knew they knew what they weren't going to compete with
Disney, which is interesting because now they're they've
merged with Six Flags, their parent company.

(57:56):
But there was like, we're going to have like the silver bullet
and we're going to have, you know, all like all these like
big intense, like accelerator, like all these big intense
roller coasters that we'll have light theming once again.
But they're not going to be a space mountain or something like
that. But they can maybe compete with
like the big roller coasters at Six Flags.
Right. Yeah, give me just an old

(58:19):
fashioned, old school wooden roller coaster that goes really
fast and has some awesome drops.I'm in heaven.
Yeah, yeah, There you go. I mean, so perfect.
Yeah, this is definitely top of the list next time I go so.
Nice. All right, well, you got any
final thoughts on Ghost Rider? I guess yeah, like, like I was
saying, you know, I think it's so cool that this ride cropped

(58:41):
up and was able, you know, to they basically came up because
the knots were like, hey, like this is probably our last hurrah
here before we sell off this park.
And it embodies that early kind of just like weird spirit of
like spookiness. But it was a point where they're
like finally we're going to likereally put some money in before
like it started, you know, getting all these different like

(59:02):
steel roller coasters and stuff.So I think that for anyone who
is a wooden like fan or just a roller coaster fan like this is
definitely one to check off the list.
Right on. All right, Why don't you go
ahead and tell people where theycan follow you and listen to
your podcast? Yeah, yeah.
Thank you. So yeah, you can follow me
Underrated Movie podcast everywhere.

(59:23):
We'll go to underratedmoviepodcast.com to
find the links to all of that stuff.
Same on social media, Underratedmovie podcast on, you know,
TikTok and Instagram and not on Twitter anymore.
It still exists, but I'll never go on it anymore.
But yeah, just follow me there. As you mentioned at the top, you
and I just did an episode together.

(59:44):
Paranorman, you came on, talked about that.
I'm in the middle of my like of retrospective.
So as of the day we recorded that episode came out.
So this probably got a little bit later than that, but
obviously that'll still be up. And I was just at Comic Con, as
I mentioned, and I had a panel about the value of a director's
cut. So by the time this episode is
out, that should be up as like abonus episode and the panel be

(01:00:05):
on YouTube and and on all the podcasts app too.
Right on. All right.
Well, thank you. This was a lot of fun.
Thank you. Go and check out go and check
out Derek's podcast and thank you for listening and we will
see you next time. Bye.
Bye. Your attention, please.

(01:00:26):
This episode of Wild Mouse has concluded.
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(01:00:47):
Mouse Podcast We hope you enjoyed your time and will visit
us again soon. Thank you and good night.
I'm so sorry about my daddy. She's a big losing her.
Mind. She's so mad at me right now.