UPDATE November 8 – The news we have all been waiting for finally came at 5PM yesterday (November 7) when Xcelerator at Knott’s Berry Farm reopened to fans!
Knott’s Berry Farm posted a video of Xcelerator on their official Instagram page saying “Christmas came early, Xcelerator has reopened”.
It has certainly been a very long road for Xcelerator since it closed back in March 2022. The recent issue discovered with the roller coaster’s brake unit further put back its reopening. We were expecting a Thanksgiving weekend reopening but Knott’s Berry Farm has been true to their word and has reopened Xcelerator as soon as they possibly could.
The reopening of Xcelerator at 5PM last night (November 7) was captured by a fan and has been posted to YouTube which can be seen embedded below. These are certainly exciting scenes at Knott’s Berry Farm and they should thrill Xcelerator fans especially as many I am sure may have thought after the roller coaster closed in March 2022 and little progress was then made for months that the sight of Xcelerator’s iconic hydraulic launch and the train cruising around the track would be something that would never be seen again.
Some are labeling this as a soft opening so prepare for there to be possible downtime in the next few days but we really hope that with the new part for the launch in place and brake unit now fixed that Xcelerator will run as smoothly as possible over the coming weeks and months giving fans the chance to ride and enjoy it once again.
November 5 – According to the Twitter post embedded below which was added on November 2, Xcelerator has been seen testing again at Knott’s Berry Farm. This has given fans hope for a rumored Thanksgiving weekend reopening. As of yet, an official reopening date has not been confirmed and we will keep you updated over the coming days and weeks regarding this.
Testing Xcceleratot @knotts
Hoping there’s a reopening date soon pic.twitter.com/ywq9uTtTAt
— LMG Vids (@LMGVids) November 2, 2023
October 9 – It feels like it has been an endless road to get to the reopening of Xcelerator which closed back in March 2022 and just when we were expecting the reopening to happen and day there is now news of a major set back.
According to Screamscape, during testing which has been taking place now for a number of weeks, an issue arose with one of the coaster’s brake units. Initially this was thought to be a fairly simple issue to fix but it now turns out that although work continues on site to fix it, that the whole process including further necessary testing could take up to three months to complete.
This is a major set back for Knott’s Berry Farm and Xcelerator fans who had expected to see it back in action for the very popular Knott’s Scary Farm event which is currently taking place at Knott’s Berry Farm until October 31, 2023. The question now on our minds is, will Xcelerator reopen before the end of the year? We definitely hope so but with the current issue with the brake unit possibly taking up to three months to fix this is now uncertain.
We will continue to keep you posted on updates of when we are likely going to see Xcelerator reopening at Knott’s Berry Farm as soon as they are announced.
August 13 – We have all been eagerly awaiting news of the reopening of Xcelerator at Knott’s Berry Farm which closed in March 2022 having had a repaint in October 2021 to the colors, red, gray, orange and yellow.
Knott’s Berry Farm has now confirmed in a video on their official social media pages that Xcelerator is almost ready to open, “Fire up your engines, Xcelerator is revvin’ up on the Boardwalk, Races begin soon!” We will keep you posted on the official reopening date as soon as it is announced.
Fire up your engines! ?
Experience the thrill of Xcelerator and all of Knott’s Berry Farm with a 2024 Season Pass. Grab yours now! – https://t.co/r9lf4zjGyr pic.twitter.com/vhGcQ7hU1Q
— Knott’s Berry Farm (@knotts) August 11, 2023
We now know that Xcelerator began testing yesterday morning (August 12), thanks to a video posted to YouTube by America’s Coaster Network which is embedded below.
According to an article posted to the OCRegister on August 9, commissioning tests was expected to begin on Xcelerator in mid to late August and a Knott’s official has said that the park hopes to reopen the roller coaster in mid to late September. However, with the latest video posted by the park and testing video seen above we have hope that we may see this long shuttered roller coaster opening sooner than that.
We saw, thanks to photos posted to Twitter by RyanTheme Park posted at the end of July, that work is taking place on Xcelerator to install the broken part which is believed to be a cable spool and drum. This is excellent news and gives us hope for a reopening soon.
There is life at Xcelerator! pic.twitter.com/m6vA8lvzSp
— RyanTheme Park (@Ryanthemepark) July 27, 2023
We knew that once the part is successfully installed, Xcelerator would need a lot of testing before it is given the green light to operate again. This testing is now confirmed to be starting very soon and we will await an official reopening date for this hydraulic launch coaster. At least we now know that Xcelerator will definitely be reopening at Knott’s Berry Farm and it looks like we don’t have many weeks left to wait…
We have continually heard rumor after rumor in the last few months about when we are likely to see this headlining attraction finally reopening at Knott’s Berry Farm. We saw a post on Reddit at the end of July which was posted and then taken down which appeared to be a photo of the cable spool and drum that Knott’s Berry Farm had been waiting for, being craned onto the Xcelerator site.
Briefly posted on r/rollercoasters yesterday before taken down, but progress on Xcelerator!!
by u/evz3000 in KnottsBerryFarm
There has been no further confirmation regarding this delivery from Knott’s Berry Farm but it certainly appears to be a step in the right direction for the reopening of Xcelerator and we expect to bring more news that work is being carried out on site in the coming days and weeks.
We had expected work to really ramp up over the last few weeks on Xcelerator as it had been confirmed that the necessary part needed for the launch system had indeed finally arrived at Knott’s Berry Farm. However, according to the latest video update posted to YouTube on July 18, by Knott’s Network it disappointingly appears that little progress has been made in the last month on Xcelerator.
Now, it could be the case that work has been done on the launch and we just can’t see it but it appears that when looking at Xcelerator in the video (timestamp 6:56), little work seems to have been done. The tools have moved around a little bit, a number of bodies are still off on the purple train as well as some of the lap bars and the red train is still in pieces.
We know extensive testing will be needed on Xcelerator before it can reopen, after closing in March 2022, so we are very eager to see work ramping up on site and news that testing will begin soon. After seeing the apparent lack of progress in the last month it does make us question whether the world’s first hydraulic launch coaster will actually reopen at the end of the summer?
All we do know is that Knott’s Berry Farm needs to get moving as quickly as possible. We will keep you posted on developments to Xcelerator when they occur here at Theme Park Tourist.
In the video embedded below by CoasterEVolution on June 18, it explained that a manager at the park said they were hoping to get Xcelerator open in June but this has unfortunately not come to fruition. There has been a lot of talk surrounding the replacement part and apparently when this part finally arrived at the park it was discovered that it had been manufactured wrong meaning Knott’s Berry Farm had to order another one and get it shipped leading to even further delays.
In our update in mid-May, there were rumors that the replacement part which is believed to be a cable Wench Drum for the hydraulic launch had arrived. In the latest update from Knott’s Network on June 19 if you go to timestamp 1:25, it is clear that there are contractors on site and work is being done on the hydraulic launch which is a very positive sight to see.
All eyes will be on Xcelerator in the next few weeks when we expect testing to begin and we will bring you confirmation of the official reopening date for Xcelerator as soon as it is announced.
From a video update (June 11) by Knott’s Network, we get to see Xcelerator at timestamp beginning 6:19. Work had been done sporadically on this launch roller coaster. From the footage there doesn’t appear to be any major developments but the catch car has now been lifted back up which is definitely a step in the right direction.
Although rumors still swirl online about a permanent closure for Xcelerator we definitely think this will not happen as work is clearly being done on the hydraulic launch system and the popular roller coaster remains listed on the official Knott’s Berry Farm website.
In a video posted by the KI Coaster Guy in March we got to hear an update on Xcelerator and its potential reopening timeline. There has been a lot of speculation but the most likely scenario still seems to be that for the short term, Cedar Fair will look to reopen this popular Intamin Hydraulic launch coaster as soon as they have replaced the necessary part needed for its successful running.
This theory is backed up by an article on the OC Register where a Knott’s official says, “Knott’s Berry Farm is in communication with Liechtenstein-based Intamin Amusement Rides about replacement parts for Xceletor.”
In April there was talk from roller coaster enthusiasts online that there seemed to be work going on with the launch system. However, Knott’s Berry Farm has continued to keep everything very quiet regarding the work that is being done. Workers have been onsite at times since Xcelerator closed in March 2022 to carry out necessary routine maintenance on the coaster which is needed whilst it is closed.
With the opening of MooteZooma delayed and now expected either later in the year or in 2024, we are assuming that Knott’s Berry Farm will be doing everything it can to get Xcelerator opened as soon as possible.
Whilst researching Xcelerator’s fate online, the possibility that in time this iconic attraction will see an overhaul appears to be the most realistic option with the replacement of the existing hydraulic launch with a LSM launch the most likely route to go to secure its future. The hydraulic launch has been a notorious issue financially, with maintenance and causing frequent downtime since Xcelerator opened in June 2002.
We certainly hope any chance of this iconic and extremely popular roller coaster at Knott’s Berry Farm from being dismantled is quashed and we are guessing Cedar Fair will see how well the Top Thrill 2 reopening goes in 2024 and will then plan Xcelerator’s fate accordingly. We will continue to update you on the reopening of Xcelerator when further details are announced.
