Knott’s Plans New Roller Coaster : Entertainment: The Jaguar is scheduled to debut Memorial Day. A park spokesman says the ride will complement Disneyland’s new Indiana Jones attraction and boost O.C. tourism.

Hoping to lift its summer attendance to new heights, Knott’s Berry Farm unveiled plans Tuesday for a new thrill ride.

Called Jaguar, the new steel roller coaster will give passengers a four-minute ride--about a minute more than most similar roller coasters, Knott’s officials said. The coaster will cost more than $10 million to build and is projected to open by Memorial Day, the unofficial start of the summer tourism season.

The ride will open shortly after nearby Disneyland unveils its splashiest ride in years: an adventure ride based on the Indiana Jones film trilogy.

Knott’s said the parks will complement--not compete against--each other next summer.

“With both Orange County parks unveiling new attractions, it could be the year that tourists return to Southern California,” said Bob Ochsner, a Knott’s spokesman.

The ride will become the centerpiece of the Fiesta Village section of the theme park. At 2,600 feet, it will be long enough to travel over a sixth of the park’s area. It will zoom over a lake, thread through a 45-foot loop and then climb to the top of a tower.

Roller coasters are the most popular of theme park attractions, said Paul Ruben, Northern American editor of Park World, a theme park industry weekly based in England. Because they are such a draw, he said, they generally pay for themselves within two years of operation through increased attendance.

“It’s the No. 1 reason people visit theme parks,” Ruben said.

The Jaguar will be the second major new attraction at Knott’s within a year. Mystery Lodge opened this year as a theater in which Native Americans tell stories while images appear in simulated campfire smoke.

Ochsner said the new roller coaster has been planned for five years. Park President Terry E. Van Gorder said in interviews earlier this year that he had been hesitant to launch new rides earlier because California was deeply entrenched in recession.

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The Jaguar

Knott’s Berry Farm plans to have a new roller coaster completed in time for the park’s 75th anniversary celebration next summer. Facts about the ride:

* Name: Jaguar

* Opening date: May 30 (Memorial Day)

* Length: 2,700 feet

* Height: 60 feet

* Capacity: 24-passenger trains able to carry 1,500 guests an hour

* Location: Fiesta Village

* Cost: More than $10 million

* Builder: Zierer GmbH, Offenberg, Germany

Source: Knott’s Berry Farm; Researched by CHRIS WOODYARD / Los Angeles Times