NOTE: Some footage by BK Pictures is mislabled as being from PAPosseRacing. This was due to a mixup in my editing software where I saved over a subtitle and it didn't save to both copies. All footage labled PAPosseRacing is from BK Picutures.
I’m upset they had to close it down even though this UA-camr doesn’t go to theme parks on the west coast that much because he prefers like cedar point, kings island, or carowinds but I do believe that he’ll make up to go to six flags discovery kingdom in the future
Friend of mine loved, LOVED! The soap box racers. When they removed she literally said “I hope what ever they put there fails!” I never crossed her again. She also said she wanted The Jersey shore to just go away, talking about the show dominating MTV. One week later super storm sandy hit.
Honestly, the most impressive aspect about these videos is just how much old footage there is. Like that one clip of the Mexican (?) show. Someone HAD to record, scan and upload that. Insane.
The sad thing is Windjammers was a beautiful ride. Knott's themed the area beautifully and the ride looked awesome. Unfortunately it was extremely rough! The racing element was cool but even when both sides operated you couldn't really pay attention because the ride was such a ridiculous headbanger! But enough of that now I want some of Mrs. Knott's chicken and boysenberry pie yum!!!! Oh and can't forget the boysenberry punch! Road Trip :)
The best part of the ride was watching it race while waiting in line! I was there in april '97, unbeknownst of its future history. Must have waited close to 2 hours through several break downs. Did they say 10 trains on the track? Ha, I think there was 1 train running on each track when I was there. We all watched it awe as each crested the hill, every 10 minutes 😂
You gotta love that kid shouting with confidence that SFGAdv will never get a better coaster than Ultra Twister. 😂. And that footage in general is awesome.
Rolly Coaster especially since Ultra Twister sat on the same land El Toro does now, as Ultra Twister was replaced by Viper, which was in turn replaced by El Toro, even using Viper’s station.
@@tigerrocks503chase8 and yet i rode the batman side a ton. not as much as the robin side, and because the way you'd enter people would divide the inside area had more line area for the batman side when both were running. However, for all the problems even after "year 2" it seemed like it got way worse with the inversion removals and that time period, and I wasn't living in state at that time, sot hat's probably why it feels like I missed the whole "batman being more closed than open" time.
Windjammer was the first looping coaster I ever went on! I went for a friends birthday and didn’t want to look like a chicken, so I went on terrified. It started my love of roller coasters!
Oh that Windjammer... I remember the Soapbox Racers well and enjoyed them up until they tore them out... But the addition of Windjammer also made Knott's loose a car ride called Gasoline Alley. There was a lot of hype behind Windjammer and I remember the commercials saying that it would "blow you away." Windjammer was my first ever inversion on a coaster and man... While I enjoyed the ride cause I was so young - the whole ride was ROUGH! Knott's can be a crazy slow park, and when it first opened I went on a slow day so there was no line - probably not good for my brain. And yeah... the Soapbox racers are still remembered well for very good reason. They are basically the Knott's equivalent to the PeopleMover.
Quick corrections: Viper at SFGAd opened in 1995. Windjammer could operate with a total of 10 trains- 5 per side (not 10 per side). I doubt it ever did.
Windjammer was my first coaster to ride that went upside down on 11 Nov 97 (I could not do Montezooma's Revenge or Revolution yet as I was not ready for them). It may have failed, but to me it was a breakthrough--it got me over the phobia of coasters and going upside down! Plus, it was rather smooth (I was 13 at the time); it was so smooth that I rode it five times (three times on the yellow side, and twice on the red side). I am in the very small minority who actually miss Windjammer. The ride helped me to become the enthusiast I am today even though I learned so much about Windjammer in my adult years.
Poor Togo. It is truly unfortunate that their US branch collapsed, and that they had very little good reputation in the states. I've heard decent things about their Japanese coasters, but I don't get why they didn't send over some of their primary engineers to help.
It seems the only good Togo coaster that made it to America was the Ultra Twister, and if it wasn't for the clusterf**k that was the end of AstroWorld Togo might've been able to use it to rebuild their American reputation on.
I remember windjammer. I rode it shortly before it’s close, and had both coasters running. I remember one of the people I went with, had his harness come open during the loop. He had to grab it and hold it down. He was bigger than most so he was braced in with his body. He let the harness go up as we pulled into the station too. They kept that train running, just didn’t allow anyone to sit in that seat next run (I don’t know for how long though)
Hey man I just wanna say, I recently discovered your channel, and it is such a calm, interesting, and fun side of UA-cam. Thank you for so many great videos :)
PointlessPickle2 in 1925, a disease was spreading throughout Nome, Alaska. A blizzard prevented planes and trains from bringing antitoxin, so sled dogs were used instead. While a Siberian Husky named Togo lead the furthest and most dangerous parts, another Husky named Balto who lead the final stretch, and was mostly celebrated. That was in real life, but in the 1995 animated movie Balto, he was outcast wolfdog who realized his potential after seeing a white wolf. Togo was nowhere to be seen, probably because Togo’s coasters outside Japan suck.
Good that you put the Ultra Twister segment, because people think that the ride was bad. The riders an hour was low for the “Large SF Park” and as a result was moved to Astroworld.
Ultra Twister seems to have been the only Togo coaster that actually lived up to the expectations placed on it... and then it became a casualty of the disaster of AstroWorld's abrupt closure. CURSE YOU, KIERAN BURKE, CURSE YOU! (shakefist)
I think Togo deserves another chance. They're perfectly capable of making smooth and reliable rides, with the ultra twister being on my bucket list. They certainly didn't do well in America, but viper and windjammer were still beyond what the original model was designed, and they weren't very fairly maintained
Maybe if Togo had stuck with the models that worked for them so well in Japan they wouldn't have had their reputation dragged through the mud with disasters like Windjammer and Viper. One of the many injustices perpetrated by the abrupt closure of AstroWorld was that Togo didn't have a functioning Ultra Twister in America to rebuild their reputation on when they needed it most.
I was at Knott's Berry Farm just a few weeks after the Windjammer Surf Racers opened. I couldn't understand why a brand-new ride had no line at all. It was a virtual walk-on. I asked a ride operator why this was, he asked if I had ridden the ride before, I said no, he said, "you'll see!". The head restraints beat my head fiercely! I rode it once and only once. Nobody was riding it more than once. That's why there was no line. Worst Knott's Coaster Ever!
You ought to go England and ride the rollercoasters there. There’s loads that are worth it (Revolution (Arrow Development shuttle loop), ICON (Mack double launch coaster), The big one (Arrow Dynamics hypercoaster), Smiler (Gerstlauer coaster with the most inversions in the world), Wickermann (GCI? woody), Odyssey (Custom Vekoma SLC), Millenium (Intamin) Avalanche (Mack bobsled), Grand National (Möbius loop racing coaster), Big Dipper (woody), Nickelodeon Streak (woody), SAW the ride (Gerstlauer eurofighter) and loads of others.
I rode both sides. One thing people dont mention is that each side was themed. The red side was more smooth and swooping, and the yellow was more sharp and abrupt. I think all the sharp turns on the yellow side caused a lot of mecanical problems, plus Togo's are rough even when they try to be "smooth" just think about a "rough" themed Togo! It was almost as brutal as Flashback at SFMM.
I was part of the opening Crew. It was plagued by problems ever since opening. The harnesses were hard, later some padding was added but still a rough ride. On yellow side, more than once, the train didn’t have momentum to come out of the dip especially if it was a windy day and so people got stuck. On another note, it was around the same time XK-1 was also on its way out to make room for Supreme Scream. And the Sky Jump parachutes were also being phased out due to the manufacturer no longer making the control cards for them. Fond memories working there. The last few years in the 90s Knotts was going through a transformation and when they sold to Cedar Fair, it was only then a coaster the size of ghost rider came to fruition.
I remember riding windjammer as a teenager (13-14). I loved this coaster. For months I would come to Knotts Berry Farm just to ride it and I would ride it for hours at a time. It was a blast when me and my friends would ride it over and over. It never seemed too harsh for a coaster. It was swift, fun, and exciting. It was fun to see who would win between red and yellow (although I'm sure yellow won more often than not). I returned years later to see it was replaced and I was severely depressed. Xcellerator is nice, but WingJammer was always a blast.
Nice to finally see WindJammer be reviewed here. From a concept that was dangerous then to the iconic SoapBox Racers to one of the worst coasters in the history that this video then finally being replaced by one of the Intamin Prototypes that is still good to this day. There is honestly a lot of history of the part of land in Knotts that occupied 3 (4 Counting Cycle Chase but not sure that would count) roller coasters in its lifetime. Im willing to see the next failed coaster. :)
I didn’t know Togo still existed, I knew they went bankrupt but I thought they went out of business as well. Imagine them actually coming back and being good.....😂😂😂😂
what a great documentary i rode this ride in 1997 the line was notorious with only the red track running and it only had 2 trains running it was one of the 10 roughest rides Ive ever road in my life i waited over 3 hours in line I was not happy at all i wasted almost half of my day at the park, it was too short of a ride
I loved Knott's Berry Farm. Corkscrew is still my favorite coaster and it resides at Silverwood in Idaho which conveniently is only a few hours from where I am now further cementing my love of the Corkscrew. Soapbox racers was another favorite when I was little.
I was there a month after opening! Must have waited close to 2 hours through several breakdowns and only 1 train per track running. We all watched in awe as each coaster created the first hill every 10 minutes 😂 But it looked amazing! I dont remember cries of excitement, in fact I recall a lot of silence. The experience itself was painful and jagged. The restraints made little sense with only one loop and were so invasive that you couldnt help but bang your ears. They were like headphones. When my dad and I got off, we both looked at eachother the same way...what the feck did we just ride? And I was 13...
LOVED the Wacky Soap Box Racers!!!! My first house was mere yards down the street from Knott’s Berry Farm. I used to think that the “K” of the Parachute ride was for my first name initial. What did I know, I was 4.
Pete, Nice video as usual. Any idea what your next "Failed Coasters" video will be? (I know Defunctland has done Son of Beast and Drachen Fire; but well another take on them would be cool). As for Ultra Twister; one time at Great Adventure while waiting in line for El Toro, I overheard a guy say that he waited in line for UT in 87 for 2 hours!
1920: Farm is established 1934: Chicken Dinner is established 1940s: Ghost Town created 1968: Fences built around park and starts charging attendance 1975: Corkscrew opens The same thing happened with Universal Studios Hollywood. Attractions were built around the Studio Tour and is officially established as Universal Studios Hollywood by the late 80s, and in the early 90s ET and Back to the Future opened.
This reminds me of a Knott's Berry Farm ride they have there now, Coast Rider. It's surf themed and other than the loop, it has lots of dips and sharp turns too.
I went to the grand opening of this coaster. Even day one Montezumas revenge and boomerang far out did Windjammer...the soap box ride was so much better
Do you know how parks determine the profitability of roller-coasters? Would love a video on that. I'd imagine it has to do with how many people ride it versus maintenance cost?
3:20 Did that guy just say that they'll never get a better coaster than Ultra Twister? Looks like El Toro has smashed the dislike button with a mallet.
I remember windjammer, friends and I called it "ketchup and mustard". I don't remember any headbanging but I was just a kid, maybe I was too short or something. I enjoyed it, but Xcelerator is faaarrrr superior.
Many people did not like Windjammer Surf Racers. It suffered lots of problems, as well as an intense rough ride experience. The ride's rough ride experience made you feel like you were beaten up in a wrestling match. You also had to remove your earrings as the rough ride caused you to have bloody ears. Windjammer Surf Racers was replaced by Xcelerator, one of the park's best coasters. Xcelerator has a smooth ride and is one of the greatest launched coasters.
If it wasn't for all its flaws, not only Windjammer could've been a worthy successor to Wacky Soap Box Racers, but it would've been a good coaster to introduce kids to inversions. I've never gone on a coaster with inversions, but a ride like Windjammer I would've made an exception.
I specifically remember my first and last time riding this coaster. After that one time I never wanted to ride it again. when they said headbanging galore they werent kidding. there was this pad on each side of your head and at various parts of the ride your head would pinball rapidly between the two pads. I got off the ride with a headache that lasted hours.
NOTE: Some footage by BK Pictures is mislabled as being from PAPosseRacing. This was due to a mixup in my editing software where I saved over a subtitle and it didn't save to both copies. All footage labled PAPosseRacing is from BK Picutures.
Where did you find the video of Togo's new concept?
@@ryan_n05 www.tohgo.co.jp/
I’m upset they had to close it down even though this UA-camr doesn’t go to theme parks on the west coast that much because he prefers like cedar point, kings island, or carowinds but I do believe that he’ll make up to go to six flags discovery kingdom in the future
Theme Park Crazy I have an upper respiratory infection
xd_ItsManiiac and I have a busted nose 😂
Rider: *sneezes*
WindJammer: *stalls*
Togo: "we see nothing wrong here'."
Well a sneeze can temporarily create winds in excess of 100 mph
@@mikethewhizz5085 true that.
Boiler One temporarily
It's a fitting name, seeing how it jams up in any wind
Strawberryjammer Surf Racers.
Friend of mine loved, LOVED! The soap box racers. When they removed she literally said “I hope what ever they put there fails!”
I never crossed her again. She also said she wanted The Jersey shore to just go away, talking about the show dominating MTV. One week later super storm sandy hit.
I thought Windjammer was cursed because of exactly that.
Honestly, the most impressive aspect about these videos is just how much old footage there is. Like that one clip of the Mexican (?) show. Someone HAD to record, scan and upload that. Insane.
My favorite things about TPC:
-"I gotta say..."
-"Roller coasters are like a fine [food/drink]"
-Reuploads over minor mistakes
Never change, dude.
Thanks for the support as always!
I like to describe Maxx Force as a bag of gardettos. Small and simple with enough subtle variety that theres no dull or out of place moment
“You can never go wrong with a B&M Hyper!”
Always sees the best in every ride, even the ones he dislikes
Basically the whole theme song
The sad thing is Windjammers was a beautiful ride. Knott's themed the area beautifully and the ride looked awesome. Unfortunately it was extremely rough! The racing element was cool but even when both sides operated you couldn't really pay attention because the ride was such a ridiculous headbanger! But enough of that now I want some of Mrs. Knott's chicken and boysenberry pie yum!!!! Oh and can't forget the boysenberry punch! Road Trip :)
The best part of the ride was watching it race while waiting in line! I was there in april '97, unbeknownst of its future history. Must have waited close to 2 hours through several break downs. Did they say 10 trains on the track? Ha, I think there was 1 train running on each track when I was there. We all watched it awe as each crested the hill, every 10 minutes 😂
I was just a kid but I loved this ride! I'd always wondered about the other track thinking i was missing out on something haha
You gotta love that kid shouting with confidence that SFGAdv will never get a better coaster than Ultra Twister. 😂. And that footage in general is awesome.
We should find that kid now and put him on El Toro.
Rolly Coaster especially since Ultra Twister sat on the same land El Toro does now, as Ultra Twister was replaced by Viper, which was in turn replaced by El Toro, even using Viper’s station.
@@DoswarePictures exactly.
That kid has got to be in his mid 40s by now
Jason Maier or dead!
"Their search lead them to Japanese manufacturer TOGO"
Oh no
ogre the line I am from china plz subscribe my Chanel beo
Togo's non-Japanese works aren't that good, yeah, but their Japanese coasters are something to look for.
@@handanvibes3528 like begger
TOGO rhymes with “oh no”. Coincidence? I think not
It clearly was no the company togo to.
What's nuts is that Windjammer was my first ever inversion on a rollercoaster on THE YELLOW track.
Christian Lopez now that’s a rare credit, and this is coming from someone who once marathoned Magic Flyer.
I rode both sides, I think I did red first, and then night on the yellow track. Needless to say, I survived both sides :)
Same! First ever inversion!
The Batman side of Batman and Robin the Chiller was more closed than open just like Windjammers yellow side.
@@tigerrocks503chase8 and yet i rode the batman side a ton. not as much as the robin side, and because the way you'd enter people would divide the inside area had more line area for the batman side when both were running. However, for all the problems even after "year 2" it seemed like it got way worse with the inversion removals and that time period, and I wasn't living in state at that time, sot hat's probably why it feels like I missed the whole "batman being more closed than open" time.
I have a request for Failed Roller Coasters: my last relationship
Pyrogore that’s not a coaster lmao 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Haley Northpie its like a coaster with lots of ups and downs, and tight turns
Hello darkness my old friend
I come to talk with you
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Roller coaster of emotions
3:16 "number 1 ride in the park, we'll never get a better one" *laughs in El Toro*
That was my point...
I want to go on something more thrilling than Looping Roller Coaster 1.
Togo Coaster 1 looks too intense for me
@@FredericEllsworth104 I'm not going on Togo Coaster 1 - It isn't safe!
“Rage 1 looks to intense for me!”
Are you sure you want to completely demolish Looping Roller Coaster 1?
Railfan Andrew I want to get off of Looping Roller Coaster 1
Windjammer was the first looping coaster I ever went on! I went for a friends birthday and didn’t want to look like a chicken, so I went on terrified. It started my love of roller coasters!
Great Adventure will never get a better coaster than Ultratwister. El Torro and Jersey Devil: hold our extra large sodas.
😂
The ultra twister interviews were pure gold.
Windjammer is similar to Batman and Robin: the Chiller. Both were plagued with mechanical problems, and one side was rarely open.
So knotts got rid of a maintenance nightmare for another one😂
The tradeoff is that Xcelerator is actually good.
“Wonderful! It did exactly the same thing it did the first time!” Well I would hope so!!
Also the Windjammer apparel company sued KBF because of the coaster name; in 1999 the coaster name was changed to 'Jammer'.
Forgot about that!
My dad rode corkscrew, windjammer, soap box racers, and now xcelrator. He rode everything in that spot.
It's not a real TPC video until there's a reupload
Oh that Windjammer... I remember the Soapbox Racers well and enjoyed them up until they tore them out... But the addition of Windjammer also made Knott's loose a car ride called Gasoline Alley. There was a lot of hype behind Windjammer and I remember the commercials saying that it would "blow you away." Windjammer was my first ever inversion on a coaster and man... While I enjoyed the ride cause I was so young - the whole ride was ROUGH! Knott's can be a crazy slow park, and when it first opened I went on a slow day so there was no line - probably not good for my brain.
And yeah... the Soapbox racers are still remembered well for very good reason. They are basically the Knott's equivalent to the PeopleMover.
Windjammer would've been a good coaster to introduce kids to inversions. Idk how WSBR is similar to PeopleMover.
@@pizzaplanettruck9761 The PeopleMover/WSBR comment was comparing them culturally/nostalgically - not in regard to ride design.
Those people from the 80's we're awesome
LOVED the OverDose of “JOI-SEY “ accents and attitude in the footage of Ultra-Twister!
Quick corrections:
Viper at SFGAd opened in 1995.
Windjammer could operate with a total of 10 trains- 5 per side (not 10 per side). I doubt it ever did.
Windjammer was my first coaster to ride that went upside down on 11 Nov 97 (I could not do Montezooma's Revenge or Revolution yet as I was not ready for them). It may have failed, but to me it was a breakthrough--it got me over the phobia of coasters and going upside down! Plus, it was rather smooth (I was 13 at the time); it was so smooth that I rode it five times (three times on the yellow side, and twice on the red side). I am in the very small minority who actually miss Windjammer. The ride helped me to become the enthusiast I am today even though I learned so much about Windjammer in my adult years.
I have a request for failed coasters: Son Of Beast.
Same
Same track
Yes.
I was going to say! I lived in Ohio and we got season passes a lot growing up but I never had the chance to ride it. Just the other two.
I loved Son Of Beast 😭🖤 rip
Knott’s: finally got this coaster running
Someone farts or burps and Windjammer breaks down again
Knott’s: I give up that’s it Now I have to sue Togo
WindJAMMER
it jams you into the hard metal restraints.
Poor Togo. It is truly unfortunate that their US branch collapsed, and that they had very little good reputation in the states. I've heard decent things about their Japanese coasters, but I don't get why they didn't send over some of their primary engineers to help.
It seems the only good Togo coaster that made it to America was the Ultra Twister, and if it wasn't for the clusterf**k that was the end of AstroWorld Togo might've been able to use it to rebuild their American reputation on.
I can't watch a video of a Togo coaster without cringing from the thought of the pain. Even in their own adverts.
Random great adventure guy: “they’ll never get a better ride”
Great adventure in 2006: *are you sure about that*
I would love to see an episode on the original bat
I remember windjammer. I rode it shortly before it’s close, and had both coasters running. I remember one of the people I went with, had his harness come open during the loop. He had to grab it and hold it down. He was bigger than most so he was braced in with his body. He let the harness go up as we pulled into the station too. They kept that train running, just didn’t allow anyone to sit in that seat next run (I don’t know for how long though)
Hey man I just wanna say, I recently discovered your channel, and it is such a calm, interesting, and fun side of UA-cam. Thank you for so many great videos :)
As you remember, Togo's first attraction was a mechanical walking elephant!
No!
Fake news
Knott’s should’ve built a coaster from Togo’s rival.
Balto.
Dosware Pictures I dont get it
PointlessPickle2 in 1925, a disease was spreading throughout Nome, Alaska. A blizzard prevented planes and trains from bringing antitoxin, so sled dogs were used instead. While a Siberian Husky named Togo lead the furthest and most dangerous parts, another Husky named Balto who lead the final stretch, and was mostly celebrated.
That was in real life, but in the 1995 animated movie Balto, he was outcast wolfdog who realized his potential after seeing a white wolf. Togo was nowhere to be seen, probably because Togo’s coasters outside Japan suck.
Dosware Pictures ok boomer
Dosware Pictures too long didn’t read
That's a pretty clever comment
Good that you put the Ultra Twister segment, because people think that the ride was bad. The riders an hour was low for the “Large SF Park” and as a result was moved to Astroworld.
Ultra Twister was one of favorite rides when I was a child.
Too bad it ended up going to Six Flags America but never was assembled as it was damaged during the moving process.
Ultra Twister seems to have been the only Togo coaster that actually lived up to the expectations placed on it... and then it became a casualty of the disaster of AstroWorld's abrupt closure. CURSE YOU, KIERAN BURKE, CURSE YOU! (shakefist)
I love how thoroughly researched your videos are. This is wonderful.
I think Togo deserves another chance. They're perfectly capable of making smooth and reliable rides, with the ultra twister being on my bucket list. They certainly didn't do well in America, but viper and windjammer were still beyond what the original model was designed, and they weren't very fairly maintained
Maybe if Togo had stuck with the models that worked for them so well in Japan they wouldn't have had their reputation dragged through the mud with disasters like Windjammer and Viper. One of the many injustices perpetrated by the abrupt closure of AstroWorld was that Togo didn't have a functioning Ultra Twister in America to rebuild their reputation on when they needed it most.
I was at Knott's Berry Farm just a few weeks after the Windjammer Surf Racers opened. I couldn't understand why a brand-new ride had no line at all. It was a virtual walk-on. I asked a ride operator why this was, he asked if I had ridden the ride before, I said no, he said, "you'll see!". The head restraints beat my head fiercely! I rode it once and only once. Nobody was riding it more than once. That's why there was no line. Worst Knott's Coaster Ever!
You ought to go England and ride the rollercoasters there. There’s loads that are worth it (Revolution (Arrow Development shuttle loop), ICON (Mack double launch coaster), The big one (Arrow Dynamics hypercoaster), Smiler (Gerstlauer coaster with the most inversions in the world), Wickermann (GCI? woody), Odyssey (Custom Vekoma SLC), Millenium (Intamin) Avalanche (Mack bobsled), Grand National (Möbius loop racing coaster), Big Dipper (woody), Nickelodeon Streak (woody), SAW the ride (Gerstlauer eurofighter) and loads of others.
So TWO manufacturers met their end in California? Coincidence? I THINK NOT!!
Coaster Labs except X2 is way better than Windjammer. Also, Arrow is American, even originally Californian, while Togo was Japanese.
Arrow went down as hero.
@@tigerrocks503chase8 and Togo went down as a zero.
Lol
I rode both sides. One thing people dont mention is that each side was themed. The red side was more smooth and swooping, and the yellow was more sharp and abrupt. I think all the sharp turns on the yellow side caused a lot of mecanical problems, plus Togo's are rough even when they try to be "smooth" just think about a "rough" themed Togo! It was almost as brutal as Flashback at SFMM.
I was part of the opening Crew. It was plagued by problems ever since opening. The harnesses were hard, later some padding was added but still a rough ride. On yellow side, more than once, the train didn’t have momentum to come out of the dip especially if it was a windy day and so people got stuck. On another note, it was around the same time XK-1 was also on its way out to make room for Supreme Scream. And the Sky Jump parachutes were also being phased out due to the manufacturer no longer making the control cards for them. Fond memories working there. The last few years in the 90s Knotts was going through a transformation and when they sold to Cedar Fair, it was only then a coaster the size of ghost rider came to fruition.
I remember riding windjammer as a teenager (13-14). I loved this coaster. For months I would come to Knotts Berry Farm just to ride it and I would ride it for hours at a time. It was a blast when me and my friends would ride it over and over. It never seemed too harsh for a coaster. It was swift, fun, and exciting. It was fun to see who would win between red and yellow (although I'm sure yellow won more often than not). I returned years later to see it was replaced and I was severely depressed. Xcellerator is nice, but WingJammer was always a blast.
Never rode it, but remember seeing it a bunch of times as a kid growing up in Southern California.
Nice to finally see WindJammer be reviewed here. From a concept that was dangerous then to the iconic SoapBox Racers to one of the worst coasters in the history that this video then finally being replaced by one of the Intamin Prototypes that is still good to this day. There is honestly a lot of history of the part of land in Knotts that occupied 3 (4 Counting Cycle Chase but not sure that would count) roller coasters in its lifetime. Im willing to see the next failed coaster. :)
3:08 is what us coaster enthusiasts said on a vekoma boomerang sarcastically...
I didn’t know Togo still existed, I knew they went bankrupt but I thought they went out of business as well. Imagine them actually coming back and being good.....😂😂😂😂
Knott’s Berry Farm is my home park & this is a great video. I’ve always been fascinated with the failure of Wind Jammer’s failure.
That Crazy Mouse model takes me back to RCT3
These videos are so fucking fascinating. Thank you for keeping them coming
Love the intro, keep up the good work my dude
what a great documentary i rode this ride in 1997 the line was notorious with only the red track running and it only had 2 trains running it was one of the 10 roughest rides Ive ever road in my life i waited over 3 hours in line I was not happy at all i wasted almost half of my day at the park, it was too short of a ride
Very interesting episode!
Sounds like a typical Togo-headache ride! :D
I loved Knott's Berry Farm. Corkscrew is still my favorite coaster and it resides at Silverwood in Idaho which conveniently is only a few hours from where I am now further cementing my love of the Corkscrew. Soapbox racers was another favorite when I was little.
I've been waiting for this one!
I've seen WindJammer but never got on it. I do recall only witnessing the red line was only in use all day.
I was there a month after opening! Must have waited close to 2 hours through several breakdowns and only 1 train per track running. We all watched in awe as each coaster created the first hill every 10 minutes 😂 But it looked amazing! I dont remember cries of excitement, in fact I recall a lot of silence. The experience itself was painful and jagged. The restraints made little sense with only one loop and were so invasive that you couldnt help but bang your ears. They were like headphones. When my dad and I got off, we both looked at eachother the same way...what the feck did we just ride? And I was 13...
I lived 15 minutes away from Knotts. Windjammer was one of my favorites growing up but knowing all the drama now I understand why it didn’t survive.
The ultra twister interviews are amazing !!!
It was time for that ride Togo
It’s not theme park crazy if it’s not a reupload
did perilous plunge replace this roller coaster, which was soon replaced by coast rider?
We have been blessed by theme park crazy and eltororyan and coaster studious
Crazycoasterfan 123 and Airtime Thrills, who unlike those three, has ridden Windjammer.
Dosware Pictures cool
10 trains on each track simultaneously? That is more than Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket can do! (I think)
LOVED the Wacky Soap Box Racers!!!!
My first house was mere yards down the street from Knott’s Berry Farm. I used to think that the “K” of the Parachute ride was for my first name initial. What did I know, I was 4.
Pete,
Nice video as usual.
Any idea what your next "Failed Coasters" video will be? (I know Defunctland has done Son of Beast and Drachen Fire; but well another take on them would be cool).
As for Ultra Twister; one time at Great Adventure while waiting in line for El Toro, I overheard a guy say that he waited in line for UT in 87 for 2 hours!
Jason Maier it’s nice that someone other than me is acknowledging the existence of Defunctland.
Looking back, I think we can all agree that Togo were actually manufacturing torture devices all along.
Windjammer, Windseeker, starting to look like an omen for failure.
Please do more of these and coaster remains/ abandoned rides. It's really interesting
Or how about Geauga Lake
Finally made another failed coaster video
Windjammer literally got jammed by the wind
That nostalgic footage, and the horn at 3:12 gotta be Freefall 😯
How can you swiftly turn into a theme park over time? 😂 silly billy, great vid though, you’ve never done a bad one 👍
1920: Farm is established
1934: Chicken Dinner is established
1940s: Ghost Town created
1968: Fences built around park and starts charging attendance
1975: Corkscrew opens
The same thing happened with Universal Studios Hollywood. Attractions were built around the Studio Tour and is officially established as Universal Studios Hollywood by the late 80s, and in the early 90s ET and Back to the Future opened.
i remember this ride as a kid! We would call the coasters ketchup or mustard :|
Togo: *Exists*
Wind jammers: Im bout to end this company.... literally
I remember Windjammer, and it was PAINFUL.
Which side?
Red or (if you were lucky) yellow?
I vaguely remember seeing this coaster as a kid and thought it was kind of cool looking, but I also remember it being down alot
This reminds me of a Knott's Berry Farm ride they have there now, Coast Rider.
It's surf themed and other than the loop, it has lots of dips and sharp turns too.
Noah Ketchum it is a Wild Mouse.
I went to the grand opening of this coaster. Even day one Montezumas revenge and boomerang far out did Windjammer...the soap box ride was so much better
Lol short wait times! When I rode it, I stood in line for 3 hours because the ride kept breaking down
I got to ride this just one time and remember loving it but I do recall that the yellow track was not running
Interesting that there is still very little info about the vortex/whirlpool effect they built but never worked in the middle of the final helix.
Corkscrew reminds me of the Wabash Cannonball at Opryland.
I remember riding this ride. It wasnt that bad. The most painful ride I've ridden was flashback at magic mountain.
Togo: This is clearly Knott's fault
Me: *clears throat, looks at Viper*
Do you know how parks determine the profitability of roller-coasters? Would love a video on that. I'd imagine it has to do with how many people ride it versus maintenance cost?
3:20 Did that guy just say that they'll never get a better coaster than Ultra Twister?
Looks like El Toro has smashed the dislike button with a mallet.
I'm still mad they got rid of the Soap Box Racers for this trash of a ride. Racers was a classic!
It wasn't Knotts's fault Windjammer failed. I think it could've been a worthy successor had it not been for all the flaws.
We rode crazy mouse at the Georgia fair. It was pretty fun
I like how you deleted the vid but then reupload didn’t because your a perfectionist 👌
i saw that too
Some advice for Knott's, Don't name any of your new rides with "wind" in it. Remember Windseeker?
I remember windjammer, friends and I called it "ketchup and mustard". I don't remember any headbanging but I was just a kid, maybe I was too short or something. I enjoyed it, but Xcelerator is faaarrrr superior.
I have a soft spot for Windjammer, it was my first loop.
Many people did not like Windjammer Surf Racers. It suffered lots of problems, as well as an intense rough ride experience. The ride's rough ride experience made you feel like you were beaten up in a wrestling match. You also had to remove your earrings as the rough ride caused you to have bloody ears. Windjammer Surf Racers was replaced by Xcelerator, one of the park's best coasters. Xcelerator has a smooth ride and is one of the greatest launched coasters.
If it wasn't for all its flaws, not only Windjammer could've been a worthy successor to Wacky Soap Box Racers, but it would've been a good coaster to introduce kids to inversions. I've never gone on a coaster with inversions, but a ride like Windjammer I would've made an exception.
I specifically remember my first and last time riding this coaster. After that one time I never wanted to ride it again. when they said headbanging galore they werent kidding. there was this pad on each side of your head and at various parts of the ride your head would pinball rapidly between the two pads. I got off the ride with a headache that lasted hours.