Add one to the opening day crew. While I'm doubtful HangTime will be the best ride ever, it does look like it has a solid shot at being at least the second best coaster at Knott's, and with the park only 45 minutes away I can't wait to ride. Rumors are saying this may be ready by mid-March.
Coaster Count: 535 (114 wood, 444 steel); Park Count: 110 Top 5 Wood: El Toro, Voyage, Thunderhead, Outlaw Run, Boulder Dash Top 5 Steel: Superman the Ride, Fury 325, Millennium Force, X2, Intimidator 305
What I'm curious about is if they'll start dumping larger versions of this at other parks, or if they're using this as a quasi-prototype of sorts. Xcelerator was pretty much a proof of concept for TTD.
Rode it twice on Saturday night for the passholder preview. While I did enjoy it, I have to amend my previous statement about Hangtime giving off Karacho vibes during early test runs. It doesn't take the initial inversions fast at all and even the one it does (cobra roll), it still just isn't an intense ride. But it looks great from the queue and the midway and is a lot of fun to ride, especially at night.
For those of us on the Germany tour that rode a bunch of great Gerstlauers last August, I'm sorry to say that Hangtime is not quite in the same league as Schwur des Karnan, Fluch Von Novgorod, or Karacho. It's still a good ride, just not the headliner steel coaster that I've always thought Knott's needed. The only other one I can closely compare it to is Dare Devil Dive at SFOG, which Hangtime easily beats.
I got to ride HangTime four times today during season pass previews, with about a 30 minute wait for each ride. Overall, I'd say it's easily my favorite Gerstlauer and in the top three at the park, but probably not something worth traveling a long distance for on its own. The ride is a whole lot of fun and is really smooth, but isn't particularly forceful and is a little on the short side. I'm also worried about how long the lines will be on this once its officially opened...even with three trains, actual capacity is probably the lowest of the park's major coasters (assuming Xcelerator returns to two train ops).
Coaster Count: 535 (114 wood, 444 steel); Park Count: 110 Top 5 Wood: El Toro, Voyage, Thunderhead, Outlaw Run, Boulder Dash Top 5 Steel: Superman the Ride, Fury 325, Millennium Force, X2, Intimidator 305
Here's a complete construction time lapse video I created of HangTime's construction, starting with the removal of Boomerang back in April of last year and ending with HangTime's opening today.
It's neat watching them trace around to install the lights. Did they ever replace the supports with dents in them we saw previously or are they still there?