Hang Time Now Open at Knott's Berry Farm

© Knott's Berry Farm

Billed as the West Coast's first Dive Coaster, Hang Time at Knott's Berry Farm is now open to the public.  Created by Gerstlauer Amusement Rides, Hang Time is a custom designed "Infinity Coaster" that utilizes the space that Boomerang, and Corkscrew before that, once called home.

Riders sit four across in four rows and head up a vertical lift hill to 150 feet above Knott's Berry Farm's Boardwalk themed section.  Seen at the top, the cars then briefly come to a stop angled toward the ground, then are released to fall down a beyond-vertical 96 degree drop.

Now that Hang Time is open, Knott's Berry Farm has released this really nice promo video for the ride.  Many of the coaster's elements are designed to give a feeling of, well, hang time during them, such as the negative-g stall and the 4 additional inversions.  Hang Time stretches 2,198 feet long and has a maximum speed of 57 miles per hour.

As expected, Hang Time looks phenomenal at night, with a custom light design crafted by KCL Engineering.  The coaster looks to have a near endless amount of color possibilities, but as promised the lights are chasing the coaster as it heads through the track - see the above video from Theme Park Insider.

Here is a video, created by KCL Engineering, showing off some of what the system is capable of:

Only a few rides have had lights like this installed on them so far, but I sure hope that the trend continues on future - or existing - installations!

After several years of hard work, it appears as though Knott's Berry Farm has really finished their revitalization of The Boardwalk area with the opening of Hang Time.  Congratulations to the park on their success!