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Knott's Berry Farm

The Boardwalk

The seaside-pier section where HangTime's beyond-vertical drop and Xcelerator's launch carry the park's modern thrill load.

  • Attractions4
  • Places to eat0
  • HeadlinerHangTime

The Boardwalk is Knott's thrill waterfront: HangTime, the Gerstlauer infinity coaster with a 96-degree beyond-vertical first drop, and Xcelerator, the 1950s-themed launch coaster that hits 82 mph in 2.3 seconds. The section's midway games and pier architecture give it the carnival energy the name promises.

The two headliners here define the modern park: HangTime's inversions with pier theming, Xcelerator's raw acceleration. Both sit within a hundred yards of each other, making the Boardwalk the concentrated-thrills zone.

The section also holds the swings and family spinner rides. For the 48-inch crowd this is the main event.

Do not miss

  • HangTime's 96-degree drop
  • Xcelerator's 2.3-second launch
  • Classic pier midway

The Boardwalk tips

  • Xcelerator first at open; its queue outgrows HangTime's by mid-morning.
  • The games row is the crowd's midday parking lot — the coasters thin at lunch.

Attractions in The Boardwalk

HangTime

48"122cm

Roller coaster · 2 min · Line-skip

California's only infinity coaster — a 96-degree beyond-vertical drop that hangs you over the crest before dropping into five inversions.

HangTime is a Gerstlauer infinity coaster, the type known for its beyond-vertical first drops, and its 96-degree opening remains among the steepest in the country. The train crests the lift, tips past vertical, and pauses — a deliberate hold that makes the drop a genuine freefall beat — before releasing into a compact, inversion-heavy layout over the Boardwalk.

Tips for HangTime
  • Front row for the crest hold — the pause before the drop is the signature and reads best from the lead car.
  • Ride after Xcelerator in the morning Boardwalk window; their queues grow together.
  • The inversion count is high for the ride's length — motion-sensitive riders take note.

Full guide to HangTime →

Xcelerator The Ride

48"122cm

Roller coaster · 1 min · Line-skip

The 1950s-themed launch coaster — 0 to 82 mph in 2.3 seconds into a 205-foot top hat, the park's fastest minute.

Xcelerator is the Boardwalk's hot-rod: an Intamin accelerator coaster themed to 1950s dragsters, launching to 82 miles per hour in 2.3 seconds up a 205-foot twisting top hat and down into two airtime hills. When it opened in 2002 it was among the fastest launches anywhere, and the launch still out-accelerates nearly everything on the West Coast.

Tips for Xcelerator The Ride
  • Ride first in the Boardwalk order — its queue grows fastest of the three.
  • Front row for the launch; the acceleration reads best where nothing is ahead of you.
  • The over-the-shoulder straps are minimal; glasses wearers need a strap.

Silver Bullet

Any height

Roller coaster · 2 min · Line-skip

The full-size B&M invert looping over the Boardwalk's reflection lake — the park's smoothest thrill ride.

Silver Bullet is Knott's B&M inverted coaster, wrapping the Boardwalk's lake in a layout of loop, zero-g roll, corkscrews and helixes. It is the smoothest big ride at the park — B&M's engineering reads as comfort even at full inversion count — and its queue skirts the water for the park's best ride-adjacent views.

Tips for Silver Bullet
  • The mid-afternoon slot is right — after the morning Boardwalk rush, before the evening re-rides.
  • Front row over the lake at golden hour is the park's best coaster photo op.
  • Ride between GhostRider laps: its smoothness resets the spine.

Voyage to the Iron Reef

Any height

Interactive game · 4 min

The interactive 3D dark ride under the Boardwalk — laser blasters, steampunk sea creatures, and the family crowd-pleaser.

Voyage to the Iron Reef is the Boardwalk's interactive dark ride: riders board vehicles with mounted blasters and shoot at animated sea creatures through a 3D-projection course. It is the park's best bad-weather and heat-refuge ride, and the competitive scoring makes it repeatable in a way flat dark rides are not.

Tips for Voyage to the Iron Reef
  • The midday heat hour is its natural slot — indoors and cool.
  • Aim for the gold-highlighted targets; the scoring rewards streaks.
  • Compare scores at unload; the leaderboard resets each cycle and the rematch sells itself.

Nearby

Knott's Berry Farm map See where this land sits All attractions Every ride in Knott's Berry Farm Ghost Town The original 1880s ghost town — real relocated buildings, working artisans, and GhostRider's wooden structure towering over Main Street. Fiesta Village The reimagined Mexican-heritage section, home to classic coasters and the long-running Montezooma's redevelopment.