Knott's Advice

With the Cedar Point season already over, and my finishing the season on John McCain: The Ride not helping him get elected, my season almost ended on a sour note.

BUT, I have one shot at extending my season.

I am flying to Orange County, California today, and may go to Knott's tomorrow. I have to be down in Irvine for work next week, so I figured I'd stay extra and check out Southern California, and use my pass at Knott's!

Any advice? Rides to try? Go tomorrow or next Saturday?

Thanks ahead of time,

Sam

If you are going to do Pony Express do it later on the line will die down considerably... plus its not all that exciting to wait a long time in line for.

Definitely do Sierra Sidewinder, that was the biggest surprise of my trip and the best spinning coaster i've been on. Don't let the fact that it's near the kiddy section turn you away, I had an absolute blast on this one.

Ride silver bullet as much as you can :)

Ghostrider is still an awesome (and what I would call "powerful" coaster) coaster to me... it's a bit rough, but the sheer sense of speed and power the ride gives makes it worth it IMO... others tend to disagree though. It's not your typical CCI/GCI and reminds me of the predator in a lot of ways except much more forceful and fun... but again, it WILL shake you up.

Not sure what the weather is like, but do perilous plunge since it's so unique. Yeah it's not nearly as good as it used to be (the splash has been dumbed down considerably), and the newer OSTR restraints can hurt a bit on the shoulders on the hill going down [I miss the x-flight style harnesses they had the first time I went on... didn't they just have lap bars before that?] but it's a nice little rush.

Xcelerator is by far my favorite steel in SoCal and Ghostie is by far my favorite wood, so...

Be sure to check out Mystery Lodge. It's the one hidden gem at Knott's that always gets overlooked.

How much you enjoy Knott's depends on how you visit the park. If you go to power ride coasters all day you will probably get bored pretty quickly as many before you already have. If you go to take in the park and all it has to offer, you will enjoy the park a lot more. Not only are there some great coasters there, but also some decent flat rides, some good shows, and there are attractions you won't find elsewhere.

Make sure to hit the mine ride and flume ride as both have some unique theming. The mine ride existed before Disneyland, so one wonders if that ride had some influence on the rides at the more popular Disney park. Also ride the train. There is a nice surprise on that. The ghost town area is also pretty interesting. I particularly liked the old school house.

Also, there are several hidden gems in the park. I won't give any away, but there are several little hidden things that many people don't notice. Finding one of those makes the visit that much better.

And to echo Krax's comment above, check out the Mystery Lodge.

Spend some time in ghost town as it is the nicest, most unique area in the park IMO. There is a great sit down place to eat back there, I forget the name, but the food was good and there is a nice little deck you can sit on and soak up the atmosphere and "charm" of ghost town. Like Kick the Sky mentions, your not going to get the full experience if you rush from ride to ride. Knott's charm is in the little details.

Oh, and how could I forget!?! Have the fried chicken dinner over at Mrs. Knotts, just outside the park in the Marketplace area. Good stuff. The biscuits they make there are to die for. Also, try the boysenberry punch. I actually order the concentrate from the park every six months or so for home use.

You know, I've had the chicken twice, and both times I wasn't terribly impressed. It's blasphemy, but give me KFC anytime.

Kick The Sky said:
Make sure to hit the mine ride and flume ride as both have some unique theming.

This. Absolutely, these two rides make the park for me.

^Yes, those are the two rides special to KBF - along with Mystery Lodge, and the Stagecoach, which still make Knotts unlike the other "cookie-cutter CF" stuff.

Dang it, forgot the stagecoach! It's the only one you can ride in this country!

All this talk of Knott's makes me want to book a trip out there for Solace now. Knott's is one of my favorite theme parks out there.

Ah yes! I forgot about mine ride (I forget the name)... do that! It's so brilliantly cheesy and a great change of pace, I rather enjoyed it.

Unfortunately most of the flats were closed when I visited, as was the mystery lodge [both times i've visted...] so I can't say anything about those. Flume line was too long for me at the time.

Timber Mountain is an absolute hoot. Riding it, you can tell it was part of the inspiration for Splash Mountain.

Not too much advice for a guy that's already left on his trip. Hopefully he went Sunday instead of next Saturday! And hopefully he'll post again with his impressions.

I went to Knotts years ago, pre-CF, and then again just last year. It's one of my favorite parks too, and the original atmosphere was ruined by CF only in a couple of places..

Accelerator is one of my fave steel coasters anywhere. I was surprised at how thrilling it was, having been on the "bigger and better" Intamin coasters built since. I rode it over and over.

Mystery Lodge is great, and I always recommend it to 1st time visitors. I always thought it would be a good attraction to move to CP if it should ever run out of time at KBF. Maybe on the Trail.

We loved the chicken, and the boysenberry pie. I had jam shipped home- I have a hard time finding it in Ohio- Cedar Point's KBF store is the most reliable place, but once they're closed and my stash runs out....

I went on Sunday. I need to go back Saturday though, as Ghost Rider was down for rehab, and Xcelerator was down because it is an Intamin!

Silver Bullet was only running one train, (2nd one wasn't fully assembled), and the park in general didn't seem that great. I am hoping that if I go back before I leave, that I will like the park better.

After visiting Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando in February and two visits to Holiday World in two years, it is hard for me to be impressed with an amusement/theme park. I'd love to go to Disneyland, but I don't have a spare $100. Knott's was free, so that is where I went.

I did find something from Geauga Lake when I went to Knott's. That brought back some memories!

-Sam

Yeah, right after Haunt, a lot of seasonal maintenance happens. That's too bad that you missed out on some of the big attractions. If you are able to hit KBF during the busy season, but on a not-so-busy day then you'd have a really good time.

When it gets nearer to Christmas, they make sure just about everything is back online.

What did you find from GL?

A box full of unused conspiracy theories.

the envelope said TOP SECRET on the outside, with the geauga lake logo in the corner :)

Sorry for taking so long to revive this thread.

I went back to Knott's before I left California to ride Ghost Rider. Nice Ride!

What I found from GL was a game that used to sit near Dominator. I am still trying to get to the bottom of the conspiracy. Last I heard, Cedar Fair bought GL from Six Flags for the sole purpose of obtaining the Vekoma Boomerang they had, so they could close down GL and move the Boomerang somewhere warmer! Also, word is President Elect Obama was the real mastermind behind the move. The reason they named the 2007 project at Cedar Point after John McCain was to cover up their ties to Obama*.

Given the price, Knott's was a good park. I did try some of the fried chicken, but I took it to go. Not bad. Why can't they bring that recipe down to Cedar Point? Maybe I would reconsider my "no buying food until Mike Mason is gone" pledge if they would do that!

One interesting thing is that Knott's has a zero tolerance policy for glasses on Pony Express. No glasses period, even with a strap. They claim that is a policy from the manufacturer (Zamperla, I think). Anyone know the policy at the similar ride at Darien Lake?

-Sam

*The whole Geauga Lake Conspiracy comment was a complete fabrication, in case anyone here is dumb enough to believe in the conspiracy.