Can anyone help me plan my trip to Magic Mountain?

Im wondering if its possible to visit Magic Mountain one day and visit Knottsberry the next.  Are they withen a reasonable drive of each other?  I would appreciate any ideas for my next grand coaster quest.
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Peace, Love, and Hapiness. Pray 4 short lines!

There are quite a few threads on this subject, do a search. You will find some great advise.

its about... i dunno... an hour and a half away?

I have done this trip EVERY time I go to Cali. Knotts is 45minutes south of SFMM. In short, YES, they are absolutely within reasonable driving distance and you SHOULD plan on visiting both parks.
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My other car is a Giovanola!

Yes...definitely visit both parks, especially after Xcelerator opens, they're not too far from each other.  Ohhhh....What a summer it will be.

Don't forget Adventure City just five minutes south on Beach Blvd. from Knott's, home of a proper Wild Mouse known as Tree Tops Racer.  The rest of the park is basically a Kiddieland and is surrounded by some nice Hobby shops.
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22 parks so far in 2001.
Tremors, my 100th coaster.
Ghostrider, stopped counting laps at 100.

On your way, you should definetly stop in Ohio to pick me up. ;)
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May 5th 2002-running of the bulls to catch the CP webcam spider and put him in a jar!

The best area to stay if you are planning to stay to visit both parks would be in the Southern end of the San Fernando Valley / North L.A., a few miles away from Universal Studios. You have 3 parks nearby and of course Universal Citywalk :)
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Bow Down to...The Sleeping Smiley!!
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(tm)

Magic mountain and Knottsberry in two days of rollercoaster madness?  Im there.  Im there in Augest, any of you tracky freaks wanna get up and show me around.   I gotta see viper, heard about it all my steel looping life!  E me at kaihfuller@hotmail.com    sf
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Peace, Love, and Hapiness. Pray 4 short lines!

Knott's is about 60-65 miles South of SFMM. If LoadedG made it in 45 minutes, he must have been driving at 2am. L.A. has this thing called traffic, and I am stuck in it every day. Plan on it taking about 2 hours, and if you make it in a shorter amount of time, consider yourself lucky.

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"X" marks the spot in 2001!

soggy, he's called LoadedG for a reason...read: high speeds and fast turns make for a heavy G-load...LOL!
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PoTP acolyte - remove fear to reply
Son of Drop Zone - PKI CoasterCamp I Champions!!!

You're skipping Disneyland?!?!  Its dark ride heaven!  *pout*
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Kicking screamin' Gucci little siggy.

Soggy, Knotts is 45 miles from SFMM. True, that traffic may slow you down, but average 60mph and you're there in 45minutes. I have usually started a day at SFMM and leave around 2:30. I head to Knotts in time to catch the "after 4:00" special. It has never taken me longer than about an hour to get there at this time of day. I wouldnt try making the drive during rush hours (6am-10am) (4pm-7pm). Traffic isnt nearly as bad on Sundays either.

Note: After 4pm, Knotts admits patrons at a discounted admission. If the park is not busy (Weekdays off-season) you can hit most everything in 2-4hrs.

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My other car is a Giovanola!

Disneyland and DCA IS heaven!
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So what is better? SFMM or CP? I don't care! They both have 29 coasters between them that they build so we can have a good time!

According to mapquest it is 56 miles, and an approximate time of 60 minutes. Chances are it would take longer than that on an average day. I was just saying that kaih should plan on it taking longer than your estimation. Also kaih was planning on doing 2 parks in 2 days, so he would probably not be driving during the middle of the day like you do.

Just trying to help.

*** This post was edited by Soggy on 12/21/2001. ***

It is 60 miles from SFMM to KBF, and both parks are located off Interstate 5.  In typical non-rush hour LA traffic plan on at least a 90 minute drive.  Better to plan ahead and leave time for the unexpected.  No harm in being early. 

There are two great AM radio news stations that showcase LA traffic about every 5 minutes:  980 and 1020.  The only problem is that they usually use the freeway names instead of their numbers, and many freeways have TWO names [for example, the I-5 is the Golden State north of downtown and the Santa Ana south of downtown] so listening to traffic reports might be a bit confusing.  The nice thing about LA is that with a TON of freeways there's always more than one way to get where you're going to invest in a good map and study it well !!!

If you planning on visiting LA before Spring Break SFMM is only open weekends but KBF is open 7 days a week.  However prepare for rides going through "off season" rehab.  Flat and water rides will close completely for rehab but some coasters will run with limited capacity [one train] instead of closing completely, unless of course we're talking about shuttles.  Most parks out here finish rehab in time for the large Spring Break crowds.

Weekday crowds at KBF tend to be pretty light but the trade of is shorter park hours and no night rides on GR.  No matter when you come to visit make sure you have phone numbers for all the parks you want to visit handy so you can check on ride closures or a change in park hours.

Have fun!

Two days?  You can probably squeeze in the Scandia Screamer as well, one of the best 'little' coasters around.  If you really want to push it you might make Giant Dipper San Diego also.  Contact me at my e-mail address on the info page if you want.

*** This post was edited by boblogone on 12/21/2001. ***

Knotts Berry Farm is about 1 1/2 to 2 hours away from sfmm.  Remember you have to go down one of the busiest freeways in the country!

From SFMM to Knotts : Interstate 5 south to Beach Boulevard.  That takes a while.

at least 1 1/2 hours, but easily do able!

If you drive to Knott's from SFMM or visa versa in them late evening, it's about 1 hour and 10 minutes at the most.  I've done it in 50 minutes.The traffic is not bad at all after about 8pm. Just go to dinner or hang out at Downtown Disney for a couple hours, then hit the road.
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"Time flies...Whether you're having fun or not". -Mary Engelbreit.

*** This post was edited by DWeaver on 12/22/2001. ***

Just to add to that thought. I suggest driving to the desired park the night before, rather than the day of.....if you can help it.
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"Time flies...Whether you're having fun or not". -Mary Engelbreit.