GhostRider at Knott's Berry Farm
Opened December 8, 1998built by Custom Coasters International Restraints give you roomto feel all that airtime

Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California

GhostRider

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4,533ftNo. 35 longest of 398 US coastersGhostRiderSilver Bullet 3,125 ftXcelerator 2,202 ft2:40ride time118fttall
POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
at night it's a complete sensory overload
feels twice as fast as it actually is
What riders love
  • Very strong floater in the first half and sustained ejector in the second. The drop off the midcourse is also a top-tier airtime moment.
  • That drop off the midcourse is absolutely top tier in the back and your basically out of your seat for the whole duration of the second half until that unbanked helix.
  • The restraints allow you to receive a ton of room, allowing you to feel the abundant, incredible airtime to its full potential.
  • Don't forget the length... this ride never ends!
  • The duration of the ride is amazing. It just keeps going!
  • There is not a single bad moment in this ride, you will pretty much guaranteed have a great time every second of the nearly three minutes you will be on this coaster.
  • The final helix is my favorite part as it pins you to the side of the train for what seems like forever.
  • That helix at the end tries to kill you as you get shoved to the left of the seat for about 8 straight seconds when it feels like you are going 1.5x too fast.
  • While the 1st half is more airtime focused, the 2nd half is more of the train traversing some very minimally banked turns while at speed for some witheringly intense lateral G forces.
GhostRider Watch Performance Should I ride it? Where to sit Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

GhostRider Front Seat POV 2023 FULL HD Knott’s Berry Farm

youtube.com › James C

GhostRider Roller Coaster Back Row 4K POV Knotts Berry Farm

youtube.com › Ryan ThemePark

Ghostrider At Knott's Berry Farm HD POV June 2025

youtube.com › Megacoasterman

Ghostrider Knott’s Berry Farm {Off-Ride} 4K Cinematic

youtube.com › CoasterHead

Ghostrider Review | Knott's Berry Farm's Signature Wooden Roller Coaster

youtube.com › Coaster Studios

Riding One of the Best Wooden Coasters Ever! Ghostrider On-Ride Reaction Knott's Berry Farm

youtube.com › Coaster Studios

GhostRider Review - Knott's Berry Farm Amazing Wooden Roller Coaster

youtube.com › Thrill Report

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Knott's Berry Farm

The first drop whips you and then it’s amazing floater on the large hills and ejector on the small with insane moments of laterals thrown in.

Jack Jack J.

The combination of airtime hills, laterals in the turns and close interactions as the trains pass through the ride structure create a brilliant experience.

Theme Park James

I will give it that it did have some decent airtime moments and the ride was overall pretty smooth.

HockeyNinja

Incredibly paced, strong laterals, excellent floatjector on the mid course break run drop, nice floater, just excellent in every way.

Nathan

Nowadays, it’s pretty hard to get great rides on Ghostrider because the Millennium Flyers, which can’t handle negative G’s, make the airtime really inconsistent...

Francisco Perez

Best woodie in my credit count, long, nonstop fun and a very strong mix of airtime pops and laterals in a very smooth (for the ride type) experience.

Jerry Lai

The Titan track done by GCI makes this have classic wooden jank while still being comfortable.

tate nortman

The layout is an out of control blitz of airtime and laterals, all while being the smoothest wooden coaster I’ve ridden so far.

Scott Quisenberry

There’s a little roughness, but nothing too extreme and certainly not unmanageably uncomfortable.

Theme Park James

This coaster is definitely not for light people, your head bangs everywhere and you don’t get to raise your hands in the air or whatever.

violet

It’s so intense and fun, my only complaint would be the terrible capacity and operations, this thing gets 2 hour lines on the least crowded days.

Logan O.

This ride threw me out of my seat, and with the night sky blinding my vision, I couldn’t see two feet ahead of me which made this ride INSANE FOR ME!

RMC Joey

At day this ride is amazing and intense, with the second half of the coaster being one of my favorite experiences on a coaster.

Brett Jet

The entire second half feels out of control and it is enhanced by the fact that you are in the structure of the ride.

idkwhatnametoput Osinaga

to sum it all up, this ride overall is a 118ft disappointment, its forceless and has a rattle, remember, this is MY opinion and yours...is likely very different from mine, so id like to ask you guys...

Alexander Galves

This ride has flawless pacing, some great airtime moments, a long duration, and a beautiful presence especially with its orange string lights.

GigaG11

Mind you this coaster absolutely HAULS through its layout, so you are going pretty fast and GAINING SPEED, and therefore force, throughout the helix.

Bradley D.

Floater airtime, great laterals, huge size and speed, fast pacing, an unpredictable layout, and a great final helix.

Eric Esty

This ride is astonishing to me because of how it can be so long and have so many large elements and hills but it never loses speed and every element is done to perfection.

Jack Jack J.

There’s a dead spot where the mid-course used to be, and it’s mostly just uncomfortable right there, but other than that, the ride is outstanding.

Nathan F

This ride alone is worth the park admission and a must ride when you visit Knott’s, no matter how long the wait is.

California Coaster Addict

Operations are pretty awful on it tho… but it’s worth it for the long ride duration.

Caleb Weaver

...2 or more hours in line to ride this coaster thanks to Knott’s absolutely awful operations, but it’s worth it: this ride features an absolutely amazing layout, combining a first half full of large...

Francisco Perez

Even if this is the only ride you get on at Knott’s, that wait is worth it.

Martin Sanders

I had to wait 2 hours, but in the end was fully worth the night ride.

Charles C.

Was the hour-long wait worth it? In a word, absolutely.

Brian Sheldon

Every one always complains about the operations but they were running 2 trains when I went and dispatching pretty quickly.

Finn V.

It does pull very long wait times, though, since it takes forever for each train to dispatch, and the express lane to standby ratio is awful.

Alexia Englund

but i HAVE seen its line at it gets LONG, like L O N G.

Alexander Galves
Motion sickness risk

I’m so dizzy lol I feel sick but I loved it ..

@joyjohnson4967

You can marathon this ride without any nausea.

CoasterHead

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Where to sit

Front of trainBack of train

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Car 12, the back: 5 of 5 riders who named a row

Specifications

118 ftHeight
205 Xcelerator 150 HangTime 148 MonteZOOMa:TheForbidden 146 SilverBullet 118 GhostRider 52 CoastRider
108 ftFirst drop
200 Xcelerator 122 HangTime 109 SilverBullet 108 GhostRider 50 CoastRider
56 mphTop speed
Xcelerator82 HangTime57 GhostRider56 Silver Bullet55 MonteZOOMa:The Forbidden…55 Pony Express38 082 mph
51°Drop angle
96°HangTime90°Xcelerator51°GhostRider40°SilverBulletdashed line: straight down, 90°
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

Rider favouriteStrong airtimeLong rideFeels fastGreat layoutWorth the wait

Criticised for

Long waits

Great ride with a little jackhammering at the valleys, terrible capacity and brutal unbanked turns, my number 7 right now, behind tatsu and millie to break top 5.

Evosioa, Captain Coaster review

This coaster is definitely not for light people, your head bangs everywhere and you don’t get to raise your hands in the air or whatever.

violet, Captain Coaster review

The wait was so long and the obnoxious guests in line soured my mood to such a degree I was just happy when it was over.

David, Captain Coaster review

GhostRider is a fantastic coaster, and one of the best rides on offer at the park.

Theme Park James, published review

I will give it that it did have some decent airtime moments and the ride was overall pretty smooth.

HockeyNinja, Captain Coaster review

If you get to the park 10 or more minutes before open, you can typically get a quick ride on this piece of history.

Sean Elkins, Captain Coaster review

Photos

GhostRider's current lap bars
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
GhostRider in 2025
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
GhostRider at Knott's Berry Farm
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
GhostRider's station
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
GhostRider at Knott's Berry Farm
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
GhostRider at night
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 4.0
GhostRider's underside at night
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
GhostRider at Knott's Berry Farm
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 4.0
GhostRider's entrance at night
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
GhostRider's exit out of the station
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
Ghostrider at Knott's Berry Farm
Bryan Gosline from Seattle, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0

11 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History and awards

December 8, 1998Opened

Built by Custom Coasters International, designed by Larry Bill.

$24 millionTo build
3.1 gStrongest force on riders

Past incidents

  1. 2007Between 2007 and 2012, guests filed two lawsuits against Knott's Berry Farm in relation to the ride.
  2. August 1999On August 24, 1999, an unsecured piece of wood from the track was lifted by a passing train and thrown into another car that was passing below.

Golden Ticket Awards, top wood coaster: ranked in 26 polls, 1999 to 2026

13th1999, its first poll
6th2001, its best placing
7th2026, most recent
1incident blamed on the ride

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Height requirement: Knott's Berry Farm. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, themeparkjames.co.uk, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Jeremy Thompson (CC BY 2.0), Bryan Gosline from Seattle, USA (CC BY-SA 2.0). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): tate nortman, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The airtime, especially the first drop and drop off…”; Benjamin Andrews, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Very strong floater in the first half and sustained…”; JarvisTheAllosaurus, rider review on Captain Coaster: “That drop off the midcourse is absolutely top tier…”; Matt Whaley, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The restraints allow you to receive a ton of…”; Nick Moseley, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The ride just never seems to end and holds…”; Francisco Perez, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Don't forget the length... this ride never ends!”; Stanley Worth, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The duration of the ride is amazing. It just…”; Wally P., rider review on Captain Coaster: “There is not a single bad moment in this…”; Scott Quisenberry, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The helix finale is spectacular, it'll fold you over…”; idkwhatnametoput Osinaga, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The final helix is my favorite part as it…”; California Coaster Addict, rider review on Captain Coaster: “That helix at the end tries to kill you…”; Evangelion Martini, rider review on Captain Coaster: “While the 1st half is more airtime focused, the…”; Zach Payne, rider review on Captain Coaster: “GhostRider during the day is awesome, but at night…”; Alex Overton, rider review on Captain Coaster: “This ride flies through the supports and feels twice…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: Ryan ThemePark's back row POV, GhostRider Roller Coaster Back Row 4K POV Knotts Berry Farm (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.