Sierra Sidewinder is a steel spinning roller coaster located in the Camp Snoopy section of

Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...

. It was the first spinning roller coaster in the United States to feature trains with multiple spinning cars, rather than an individual spinning car, like those found on a

Reverchon Reverchon Industries was a developer, designer and manufacturer of amusement park attractions that were sold all over the world. The company went into liquidation in September 2008, filing for bankruptcy and closing down their manufacturing and ope ...

Zamperla Antonio Zamperla S.p.A. is an Italian design and manufacturing company founded in 1966. It is best known for creating family rides, thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The company also makes smaller coin-operated rides commonly found in ...

Twister Coaster. The ride was also one of the first roller coasters to feature on-ride video recordings, as opposed to the traditional still on-ride photograph.

History

At the ACE Halloween Haunt event for the Southern California Region of American Coaster Enthusiasts in 2006, Jack Falfas, CEO of

Cedar Fair Cedar Fair, L.P., formally Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, is a publicly traded master limited partnership headquartered at its Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The company owns and operates eleven amusement parks, nine included- ...

, hinted at something different in the coming year. Construction began shortly after the announcement with the removal of the Paddlewheel Boat Ride and relocation of Woodstock's Air Mail. On November 29, 2006, Knott's Berry Farm announced that they would be adding Sierra Sidewinder. It would be located right next to the entrance of

Camp Snoopy Camp Snoopy is a ''Peanuts''-themed area for children at several Cedar Fair amusement parks. History Camp Snoopy was first introduced at Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and op ...

. The ride would be the park's eighth roller coaster. Sierra Sidewinder officially opened on May 26, 2007.

Trains

Sierra Sidewinder features two trains with four cars with two rows each, seating two per row back-to-back. Each car is locked in position in the station for stability during loading and unloading. Once the train leaves the station the cars spin freely on their own axis. After the train returns to the station, the cars are rotated back to the home position and the rotation is locked. The coaster is the first free-spinning model from Mack Rides of

Waldkirch Waldkirch is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located 15 kilometers northeast of Freiburg im Breisgau. While the English translation of its name is ''Forest Church'', it is known as the "town of mechanical organs", where fairground organs ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Mack had previously built the spinning coaster,

Euro-Mir Euro-Mir is a Space Themed spinning roller coaster located at Europa-Park in Rust, Germany. Unlike most spinning coasters, however, the cars do not spin freely, but are rotated by motors at set points during the ride. It was designed by Franz ...

, at its home park in Rust, Germany, but the car's rotation on that ride is controlled by a motor. The rotation is also locked during certain portions of the ride. The Sierra Sidewinder ride structure and transfer track are unusual because the train storage is beneath the ride as opposed to being next to the ride. The on-ride video recording that was present on the trains when the ride opened was removed as of the 2011 season. Small holes on the fronts and rears of each car indicate where the video cameras were mounted.

References

External links

Official ''Sierra Sidewinder'' page
Roller coasters introduced in 2007 Roller coasters operated by Cedar Fair Roller coasters in California {{amusement-ride-stub