Screamscape has heard some disappointing rumors as of late regarding the status of Montezooma’s Revenge. Unfortunately the severity of these rumors go from bad to worse. On the lighter side, shortly after the confirmation from the park that the updated Montezooma’s Revenge would not be ready this summer, I had begun hearing that it probably wouldn’t be ready to reopen now until 2024. This did match up with the overall lack of any progress or new construction on the site and made sense. It also matched up with why Knott’s was suddenly talking to the press about their efforts to reopen Xcelerator next instead.
As for the “worse” news… things get oh-so-much worse…
NOW… don’t panic and keep in mind that this was just a single rumor sent my way, but the source claims that major issues have come up with the companies contracted to provide the new track and trains, and they may be unable to provide what they were contracted to do without a significant increase in funds above and beyond what was already agreed upon in the contracts. (Again...this is rumor only... nothing confirmed!)
Currently Montezooma is in pieces, with the trains and large sections of track and the flywheel launch system removed a long time ago to make way for the new parts. According to the story, this has put Knott’s in a bit of a hard spot… unable to restore the ride back to the way it was, and currently unable or unwilling to move forward with the original chosen partners in order to finish the job as intended.
You can see where I’m going with this… and it isn’t good. I’m hoping this rumor is wrong… or if true, that perhaps Cedar Fair could instead reach out to someone else instead to possibly finish the job. Cedar Fair and Knott’s management should be very aware of just how beloved and important Montezooma’s Revenge is to the Knott’s Berry Farm fans as well as the roller coaster enthusiast community out there. Any truth to the bad business dealings aside, I can only hope that they would make the right decision and take whatever steps are necessary to save Monty.
This would start with a call to Gerstlauer, as they are really the only company out there who have successfully completed a similar upgrade project on another Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop. Walibi Belgium worked with them to update their Psyke’ Underground coaster in 2013, replacing the train as well as updating that ride’s launch system with a modern magnetic launch and braking system. A year before, in 20112, Gerstlauer also provided Hersheypark with new trains for their Schwarzkopf made Soperdooperlooper coaster. Simply put, many enthusiasts who are aware of these facts have been wondering why Gerstaluer was not chosen for the Montezooma project in the first place, as the park had just worked with them to open HangTime for the 2018 season.
