WINDJAMMER SURF RACERS

Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA

If you have been to Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, then nine times out of ten you have ridden Xcelerator manufactured by Intamin.  This was the coaster that would lay the groundwork for Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point, Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure, Rita at Alton Towers, among others.  It is still a popular coaster and is praised by enthusiasts around the world.  But prior to Xcelerator, there was ANOTHER coaster that ran in its place.  It was a racing looping wild mouse by TOGO called Windjammer Surf Racers.  And it operated for a very short time from March 1997 to March 2000.  It was a mechanical nightmare for the park.  But why was this a disaster and a Roller Coaster Blunder?  Let's take a look.

ORIGINS

Now before I talk about Windjammer, let's talk about its predecessor.  Yes, before both Windjammer AND Xcelerator, there was another roller coaster that ran in that very same spot.  In 1976, one year after opening the world first modern looping coaster Corkscrew from Arrow (that coaster is now in  Idaho at Silverwood Park) Knott's opened up another Arrow coaster called Cycle Chase.  This was a single-rail racing coaster with four tracks on single-rail tracks.  The cars were shaped like motorcycles.  This was Arrows attempt to resurrect the classic Steeplechase style coaster first made popular at Coney Island.

Photos courtesy of Theme Park Review

Arrow would later open the still-operating Steeplechase at England's Blackpool Pleasure Beach the following year, which the cars was shaped like racing horses.  But back at Knott's they had issues with folks not being able to balance on the cars, so in 1980, the motorcycles were converted into Soapbox Cars and renamed Wacky Soapbox Racers.

This gave rides a more balanced seat to sit on.  And the Soapbox Racers were very popular with riders for years.  Even as Knott's added more thrilling rides to their park.  But as we know, the winds of change soon blow and around 1996, before Cedar Fair would buy the park, Knott's was looking for a replacement for Soapbox Racers, and soon they were looking to Japan for their next coaster.

A WILD MOUSE THAT LOOPS!

1997 was the year Cedar Fair bought Knott's Berry Farm.  It was this acquisition that gave the chain the rights to the PEANUTS characters.  And it was also the year that Wacky Soapbox Racers' replacement had opened.  Windjammer Surf Racers was a TOGO racing wild mouse.  While TOGO had looping wild mouse coaster in its native Japan, Windjammer would be the only one of its kind in North America.

An example of TOGO's Looping Wild Mouse model

Windjammer Surf Racers was the first and only one of these models to actually race each other.  The ride started off with a left turn out of the station towards the lift hill.  After reaching the top the ride would turn right and descend the first drop which on each side lef into the vertical loops.  After that, both tracks would criss-cross each other while racing and dueling one another.  Although classified as a looping wild mouse, unlike TOGO's other models, it didn't follow a typical wild mouse layout.

The messed up layout of Windjammer Surf Racers

The coaster would run for only three years, eventually taking away Windjammer's sponsorship and eventually being just named Jammer.  But what happened next would eventually break TOGO and ruin their reputation forever.

A TALE OF TWO TOGOS

Before we go into the demise of Windjammer Surf Racers, let's look at TOGO, the company itself.  TOGO was founded by Teiichi Yamada under the name Toyo Gorakuki Company in 1935.  Its first attraction was a mechanical five-foot walking elephant.  In 1949, the company was reorganized as TOGO, and then building its first roller coaster in 1953.

The biggest complaint about the TOGO coasters that ran in the US and North America in general was that they were too rough and uncomfortable, while their Japanese counterparts were excellent and superior to the coasters in the west.  One example of this is the only TOGO coaster still running in the US, Big Apple Coaster (formerly Manhattan Express) at New York, New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.  This hyper looping coaster is considered to be one of the worst steel-tracked roller coasters in the world, if not THE worst.  It has been known for its jackhammering, odd transitions, and painful over-the-shoulder restraints (it should be noted that the original trains were replaced with trains by Premier Rides).  But roughness was the least of Windjammer's problems.

THE LAWSUIT

Windjammer Surf Racers was a mechanical nightmare for Knott's.  While many coaster can be affected by high winds and even moderate winds, low winds could even shut down Jammer.  Plus many mechanical parts had to be replaced often on the coaster, including just weeks into first operating.  Knott's spent over $2 million just for repairs alone.  It all culminated in a $17 million lawsuit Knott's filed against TOGO.  They sited poor ride design, multiple repairs, among other complaints as the reason for the lawsuit.  The court eventually dropped the case.  Even though Knott's was unsuccessful in winning the suit, TOGO's reputation was damaged as a result.

CLOSURE

During the lawsuit, Knott's closed Windjammer, but in 2001, they tried to sell it.  But unable to find a buyer, they eventually tore down the ride, replacing it with the aforementioned Xcelerator by Intamin.

Xcelerator

As a result of the lawsuit, TOGO would later file for bankruptcy.  In the years since, many TOGO coasters had closed in North America.  In addition to Windjammers, King Kobra (Kings Island), Shockwave (Kings Dominion), Ultra Twister (Six Flags Great Adventure AND Six Flags Astroworld), and Viper (Six Flags Great Adventure) all was torn down, the latter coaster replaced with the much-lauded wooden coaster El Toro.  One coaster, SkyRider at Canada's Wonderland, was spared demolition and instead was moved to Cavallino Matto in Italy where it now runs as Freestyle.  As it stands now, only the aforementioned Big Apple Coaster in Las Vegas remains as far as TOGO coasters in North America.

LEGACY

Windjammer Surf Racers was an interesting concept.  A racing wild mouse that wasn't your typical wild mouse layout, AND with inversions, looked like it could have been a great ride.  Even today, some of the Japanese TOGO looping wild mouses are still running.  And if Windjammer was more reliable, it probably would have stayed longer than it had been, and we'd probably would not had gotten Xcelerator, at least not at Knott's.  But coaster fans love Xcelerator and think of it as a more superior coaster and a better successor to Wacky Soap Box Racers than Windjammer was, which many consider a big-time Roller Coaster Blunder