Knott’s HangTime to Become First Dive Coaster on West Coast in 2018

Aug 17, 2017 Joe Kleiman News, North America, Theme Parks, World markets 0

Knott’s Berry Farm will welcome HangTime, a brand new steel roller coaster – and the only dive coaster on the West Coast – to the theme park in the 2018 summer season. HangTime will tower 150 feet over the Boardwalk area, showcasing gravity-defying inversions, mid-air suspensions and twisting dive tracks.

HangTime will send riders up a vertical lift hill into a raised 96-degree drop – the steepest drop in California. The coaster’s train will come to a halt once the highest peak is reached, and will leave riders suspended at the crest for several seconds at a 60-degree angle, giving the illusion of a disappearing track. Then the train will suddenly descend in a beyond-vertical drop, through 2,198 feet of steel track and five gravity-defying inversions. HangTime will be only the second rollercoaster in the Western Hemisphere to feature a negative-g stall loop, which gives riders the sensation of floating.

“HangTime’s disappearing track creates a memorable illusion of the unknown as riders feel like they are hanging over a cliff, staring at the ground in nervous anticipation,” said Jon Storbeck, vice president and general manager, Knott’s Berry Farm. “People who crave that adrenaline rush will want to ride this coaster again and again. Introducing a coaster like HangTime firmly positions Knott’s Berry Farm as a must see attraction among Southern California theme parks, and we look forward to welcoming our guests to this new experience.”

HangTime’s ride structure itself will come to life and illuminate the Boardwalk area with colorful nighttime track chase lighting that will accompany the coaster train’s travels across the smooth steel track. The coaster continues Knott’s legacy in roller coaster innovation and industry firsts; the park introduced the very first corkscrew inversion rollercoaster with Corkscrew, and the first flywheel launch coaster with Montezuma’s Revenge.

HangTime is manufactured by Gerstlauer Amusement Rides, GmbH, and is the company’s next-generation “infinity coaster” model.