Silver Bullet is a

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

-theme

inverted roller coaster An inverted roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. Riders are seated in open cars, letting their feet swing freely. The inverted coaster wa ...

Bolliger & Mabillard Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by engineers Walter Bolliger and Cl ...

located at

Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a amusement park in Buena Park, California, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. In March 2015, it was ranked as the List of amusement park rankings#North America, twelfth-most-visited theme park in North Ameri ...

, an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

in Buena Park, California. The $16 million roller coaster was announced on December 1, 2003 and opened on December 7, 2004. A first rider auction was also held where people would bid on seats to be the first riders. The track is approximately long and the lift hill is about tall. The ride lasts two minutes and thirty seconds and features six inversions including a vertical loop, cobra roll, zero-g roll, and two corkscrews.

History

On May 28, 2003, a trademark for the name "Silver Bullet" was filed by Cedar Fair, the previous owners of Knott's Berry Farm. Construction for the new roller coaster began in September 2003 with the relocation of The Church of Reflections. As part of an $85 million investment in all Cedar Fair parks, Silver Bullet was announced to the public on December 1, 2003. The final piece of track was installed on September 30, 2004. On November 5, 2004, Knott's Berry Farm launched a "First Rider Auction" in which people from anywhere in the world would bid against each other in order to be one of the first public riders on Silver Bullet on December 7, 2004. Although sixty seats were made available, only 13 of these received bids. Out of those bids, the highest bid was $200 (US), and a total of $1643 was raised with all the money going to the Speech & Language Development Center of Buena Park. After construction and testing was completed, the roller coaster opened first to the media, then to the public on December 7, 2004 though the initial scheduled opening was on Christmas Eve of 2004. Silver Bullet was also one of four attractions that opened at Knott's Berry Farm in the same year and carries a western theme.

Ride experience

The ride entrance is located in the Ghost Town section of Knott's Berry Farm. Silver Bullet's layout passes through three of the park's themed areas: Ghost Town, Fiesta Village, and Indian Trails. After the

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

departs from the station, it makes a 90 degree right turn before beginning to climb the

lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from t ...

. Once at the top, the train goes through a pre-drop before entering the downward right drop. Once at the bottom, the train enters a

vertical loop The generic roller coaster vertical loop, also known as a Loop-the-loop, or a Loop-de-loop, where a section of track causes the riders to complete a 360 degree turn, is the most basic of roller coaster inversions. At the top of the loop, rid ...

. After exiting the loop, the train makes a banked left turn leading into a

cobra roll Roller coasters are widely known for their drops, inversions, airtime (rides), airtime, and other intense ride elements that contribute to the ride. They are also made up of a variety of features and components responsible for the mechanical opera ...

. Almost immediately after, the train goes through a zero-gravity roll followed by a downward left helix. Then, the train enters the first of two

corkscrew A corkscrew is a tool for drawing Cork (plug), corks from wine bottles and other household bottles that may be sealed with corks. In its traditional form, a corkscrew simply consists of a pointed metallic helix (often called the "worm") attach ...

s which are separated by a banked left turn. Next, the train enters an upward left helix (the beginning of the helix is close to water) before entering the

brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track that utilizes some form of brakes to slow or stop a roller coaster train. There are various types of braking methods employed on roller coasters, including friction brakes, skid brakes, a ...

. The train then makes a right turn into a second, shorter, brake run which leads straight back to the station. One cycle lasts approximately two minutes and thirty seconds.

Track

The steel track of Silver Bullet is approximately long, and the height of the lift is approximately high. Silver Bullet, along with all of

's other roller coasters, was manufactured by Clermont Steel Fabricators of Batavia, Ohio, and erected by Coan Construction Company. The track is filled with sand to reduce the noise made by the trains. Silver Bullet was also the first Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster to use magnetic brakes in the brake run. The track and supports of the second brake run to the lift hill are all red. The remaining track is yellow with red rails and the remaining supports are colored white.

Trains

Silver Bullet operates with two steel and fiberglass trains, with a third kept in reserve for maintenance. Each train has eight cars that can seat four riders in a single row, for a total of 32 riders per train. The seats are colored light blue, with orange over-the-shoulder restraints and tri-color wheel coverings (red, orange, and yellow).

Reception

Joel Taylor from ''Amusement Business'' praised the ride saying, "In all, it's an exhilarating 2 1/2 minutes from start to finish." He was also impressed with the ride's smoothness and overall excitement, stating that the ride is, "smooth and comfortable while delivering twisting, stomach-churning excitement."

Awards

Since Silver Bullet's debut in 2004, it has consistently been ranked in the top 140 positions in Mitch Hawker's Best Roller Steel Coaster Poll. It peaked at position 99 in 2010. The roller coaster has never placed on the Golden Ticket Awards. # No Steel Roller Coaster Poll was held in 2011.

References

External links

Official ''Silver Bullet'' page
{{KBF Coasters Roller coasters introduced in 2004 Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Roller coasters in California Western (genre) amusement rides Inverted roller coasters manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard