Knott’s Berry Farm has been slowly ramping up the speed on the new Montezooma coaster to 55 mph and adjusting the magnetic launch system during on-track tests as the oft-delayed ride revamp prepares to reopen.
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Knott’s Berry Farm has begun full-speed launch testing of the new Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress roller coaster on the shuttle loop track, according to Screamscape.
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The Buena Park theme park has spent four years transforming the 1978 Montezooma’s Revenge into a multi-launch coaster with an Aztec treasure hunter theme and a train designed to look like a mythical stone creature.
“It’s nice to see everything in motion at last after all these years,” according to Screamscape. “I wonder how much longer we have to wait for an opening date announcement.”
The revamped ride will open this summer, according to Knott’s officials.
Knott’s has been steadily increasing the speed of the launches with the new Montezooma train now making it forward and backward through the loop, according to Screamscape.
Knott’s maintenance crews have been working on the linear synchronous motor launch system and installed additional electromagnetic propulsion fins on the track behind the station for the backward launch, according to Screamscape.
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The Montezooma makeover is being handled by Netherlands-based ride renovator Kumbak, which has previously teamed with European theme parks Efteling, Walibi and Bakken.
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Montezooma’s Revenge has sat partially disassembled since 2022 when Knott’s announced plans to update the historic flywheel launch coaster with a new randomized launch sequence.
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The new version of the coaster is expected to rotate through three randomized multi-launch sequences with a fourth launch profile taking place on every 100th ride, according to Screamscape.
The redesigned Montezooma coaster train will depart from a rethemed station that has been reimagined as an architectural cousin of the Mayan stone temple housing the Jaguar coaster next door. Montezooma riders will pass through a fanged-toothed portal with smoke and lighting effects, according to a teaser video.
A new station and queue experience will take riders through the exploration camp of Montezuma’s hidden Aztec fortress filled with boobytraps and the remains of treasure hunters.
Montezooma’s Revenge was originally built by Germany-based roller coaster manufacturer Anton Schwarzkopf based on plans developed by renowned coaster designer Werner Stengel.
The 1978 Schwarzkopf flywheel-launch shuttle loop coaster has been designated a historic landmark by American Coaster Enthusiasts as the last operating ride of its kind in the United States and the longest standing in its original location.