Knotts "Boring" Farm Trip Report 2/4/05

Finally back from a long trip out west to Southern California, where myself along with Chitown, have completed the worldwind tour of Knotts Berry Farm, Magic Mountain and an unscheduled stop at Universal Studios Hollywood!

Friday Feb 4th 2005:

We arrived at O'hare Airport just before 5 am today and proceeded to our American Airlines flight 2099 to LAX. The 4 hour 20 minute flight aboard one of American Airlines 737-800 jets.

Landing in Los Angeles, we where greeted by this annoucement in the airport. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please note that you are not obligated to give any solicitors any money in the airport."

Following baggage claim, we where off to Hertz to rent a car when we where greeted by this upon asking where the rental car places where "You do realize its Super Bowl weekend?" funny, i didnt know the game was being played in LA this year and why this effected us i have no clue.

Finally, we made it to Knotts Berry Farm just after 10am:

For it being a Friday, there where lot of school aged kids here in the park today, but never the less the crowds where light.

We headed for Silver Bullet. Brand new for 2005 B&M invert. This would ultimately be one of two rides on this coaster for us. Now if you've read anything about this ride so far this year, the reviews are far from spectacular. Those reviews where dead-on. Read more in the daily notes later.

Next we headed to Jaguar. A decent ride which i reminded me alot of Whizzer and was about the same length but had a lot more theming.

In fact Knotts has great theming and the over all atmosphere of the park was great.
After Jaguar we headed to Montozuma's Revenge, great launch and huge airtime on the back spike that reminded me alot of V2's back

Next we headed to Xcelerator. Awesome Awesome ride! huge airtime and a great launch. deffinately a great ride!

That pretty much sums up my day at KBF. after lunch we rerode SB once more and power rode Xcelerator including several rides in the front row.

Knotts Berry Farm Notes:

Ghostrider was down for rehab, which a few members on this forum decided to repeat what me and Chitown already knew

Silver Bullet lived up to its so-so reputation and is by far one of the worst inverts i have been on.

Monty was probably the most surprising of the coasters.

For this being a CF park, it was one train op land, sure it was an offseason Friday, but still people who live in die about CF's operations should take notice that yes, a CF park can run one train ops.

General Feedback:
Knott's Boring Farm is a great Family park, but it reminded me alot of Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, One great drawing Coaster (Xcelerator) and a few decent coasters.
The ride ops on Silver Bullet had more fun cracking jokes and just plain making BS comments on the PA annoucements rather then dispatch the train, which made longer then should have been wait times.

Ride Ratings
Xcelerator: 9/10 : Great Launch! better then V2's and awesome airtime.

Silver Boring aka Silver Bullet: 5.5/10 : No comparisons to Batman the
Ride needed here, the dark knight beats this bore hands down.

Montazooma's Revenge: Awesome launch and a great treat! 8/10 huge air on the back spike.

Boomerang: 6/10 decent ride. nothing special though.

Jaguar: 6.5/10 again decent ride, and again nothing really special.

Final thoughts and ratings:
Knott's Berry Farm is an awesome family park, no question on that, great family atmosphere, and while i enjoyed my stay there, I was reminded alot of SFKK. Silver Bullet is a weak ride and this maybe because of KBF's target of the family park, but I found it rather boring and decided to power ride Xcelerator instead. Caldico Mine Train: 10/10 awesome!

Cleanliness: 9/10
Food: 4/10 --> AVOID DINER BY Xcelerator
Atmosphere: 10/10
Employees: 6/10
Ride package: 6/10
Overall: 6.5/10

SFMM and USH Trip reports will be posted later.

I always eat lunch at the GhostTown Grill, get a nice hanburger and boysenberry float, and get leaver with Mrs. Knott's takeout chicken. The best food I've ever found at a theme park...

And I thought Silver Bullet was a good ride, but reviews really vary depending on the rider. *** Edited 2/9/2005 5:39:18 AM UTC by GoliathKills***

I enjoyed your report, and I can see when Silver Bullet could be boring. I thought that Raptor waw boring, and it seems along the same lines, if not worse, especially considering that first drop. At least Raptor flew over the midway a bit. Not that I wouldn't ride it (it is unique in the overbank), but nothing "spectacular" to come home braggin about, from the looks of things.
It would take a lot to beat BTR in intensity though, few coaster can live up to that level, so I wouldn't hold it agaist SB too much.

I believe you went to this park with the wrong mind-set. Knotts Berry Farm is in no way a competitor in the coaster-wars saga, but it is one of the leading parks concerning atmosphere.

Everytime I have been to L.A., i have stopped by KBF just to enjoy a park that is run the way it should be. I'm sorry that they were running one-train on the rides, but apparently the waits were not bad at all (if you were able to power-ride Xcelerator).

Nice TR, but I think you focussed on the wrong aspects of Knotts.

If all coasters are a walk on, I'd say its more than acceptable to be running one train.

SFOG, i went to Knott's the way i go to any other park, reguardless the name of the company that runs the park.

And as you read my TR i gave the park a 10 in atmosphere.

One thing i cannot stand though, is the constant way somepeople (not implying you) seem to elevate CF parks over everything.

Thats all.

I encourage the feeback though thank you for reading my TR.

So you passed on Perilous Plunge? Supreme Scream?

And what about the flats?

-'Playa

*** Edited 2/10/2005 2:13:54 AM UTC by CoastaPlaya***

What I cannot stand is people who think "where" is the past tense of "are."

But that's just me.

Silver Bullet, like other B&M inverts of that size, is not ever going to be as forceful as the smaller ones like Batman. In fact I've found that the larger the invert the less forceful it is. I found Alpie to be virtually forceless [but still fun].

Expecting Silver Bullet to have the G-forces of Batman is like expecing an piece of lettuce to taste like filet mignon.

Meanwhile, I found Montu to still pull some nice forces, as did Dueling Dragons, sure, not quite the first threee inversions on Batman, but still good, much better than Raptor.

I agree Mamoosh. Then again, I'll take a forceless invert over anything else B&M produces, except Nitro of course. ;)

Hey, sometimes forceless coasters can be fun, provided they have great settings/theming, and you don't naturally expect every coaster to knock your socks off. California Screamin' is the perfect example.

I agree with Playa. What about the flats and other non-coaster rides like Perilous Plunge or Timber Mountain Log ride? If you're going for coasters and coasters only, Knott's has some decent coasters, but I'll be the first to admit, as a Knott's fanboy, that they aren't the greatest collection. Knott's is about the total package from the theming, the great food (especially the chicken!), some great entertainment, great flat rides like Riptide and Supreme Scream, good classics like Timber Mountain and Calico Mine Ride, and also some pretty decent coasters.

Some of the reasons I love the park have nothing to do with coasters at all. Where else can you go to ride a stagecoach? (No where, because it's the only place left that you can outside of a movie set) And there's the quirky things like getting robbed on the train ride or standing on the grave of someone whose heart is still beating. It's a lot of little things that all add up to make it my favorite theme park above all others. This is coming from someone who lives in Wisconsin, not California.

It sounds like to me that you really went to the park JUST for the coasters, and that's great. I tend to appreciate more in a park than just it's coasters. Sure coasters are what keep me going to parks, but the rest of the package is what keeps me returning. Evidence of that is my last trip out to California. I visited one park during the four days I was there. Knotts. Sure MM had better coasters, but I wanted to spend all my days at Knotts because of the total experience.

Sounds like you guys had a good time in California, though. Thanks for the detailed trip reports.

I guess I was asking his opinion more than anything.

I was disappointed as hell with PP...and that's even on a slow day. After the atrocious loading times, the ridiculous body harnesses (for goodness sakes, give me a BIB too!) and breakdown after breakdown, the ride you've waited so long for is more like running through a lawn sprinkler.

And Supreme Scream? At least the visuals are interesting. The ride itself is by far the weakest of the S&S towers I've ever boarded. I can't say I don't understand why (they cut the compression cycle--and therefore the ride forces--to improve capacity) and remember, I'm 25 minutes away from a much better model.

And what 'Wreck said about B&Ms inverts and forces....the Florida trio has 'em. Frankly, I'd add the first half of Raptor to that list as well.

I'm sure it woulda been a better trip with GR up and running and a little more variety in the ride choices. But overall, I have to agree with the 'boring' description. On an empty day, it doesn't feel like an all-day experience.

-'Playa

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CoastaPlaya said:

And Supreme Scream? At least the visuals are interesting. The ride itself is by far the weakest of the S&S towers I've ever boarded. I can't say I don't understand why (they cut the compression cycle--and therefore the ride forces--to improve capacity) and remember, I'm 25 minutes away from a much better model.

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I completely agree. The only thrill I received on Supreme Scream was the thrill of height. There was a little excitement as you first start your descent, but it quickly fades.

Galvan, I'll admit that I have not travelled the world comparing theme parks, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences with Knott's. Concerning coasters, I would definitely choose SFMM or CP; concerning theme, I would definitely choose DL or WDW. Alas, Knotts offers a mix of both Thrills and an excellent overall themed experience that I enjoy about once a year.

Back to Playa: I also agree on your Perilous Plunge plunge comment. The ride is not worth the seven minutes of preparing for a NASA launch that every rider must go through to ride a shoot-the-chutes (albeit a hell of a chute) ride. Once was enough for me. (I'm sure I would have enjoyed the ride a lot more with its earlier restraints.)

Edit: A few typos (in order to not piss anyone off). *** Edited 2/11/2005 11:46:03 PM UTC by SFOG Country***

FYI, word has it Plunge will receive new boats this season with OSTRs, much like what Oakwood is getting for Hydra.

Wow, that would be great news Moosh.

Is it just me or is there a pretty desent backlash against CF parks? Or perhaps it's just Knott's.

For me, Knott's has never been totally about the coasters. I just get a very comfortable feeling when I'm at that park. Knott's has never had any "best of" when it comes to coasters, but when you put the whole package together, it's pretty darn impressive. *** Edited 2/12/2005 2:16:11 AM UTC by DWeaver***

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Brian Noble said:
What I cannot stand is people who think "where" is the past tense of "are."

But that's just me.

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And i cant stand when people think they can correct another persons grammar.

Please, next time if it really bothers you email me,I probably was typing so fast i never noticed it.

Wow, a boomerang does better then a B&M invert? And to think how much money they could have saved with an SLC.

I don't think I can, I know I can. That's why they call me Professor. You don't like it? Proofread your posts before you submit.

While we are at it, it is "I", not "i"; "can't", not "cant"; and "person's" not "persons". And that's just in two sentences.

*** Edited 2/12/2005 3:54:39 AM UTC by Brian Noble***

Amen, Brian! "Typing too fast" is not an excuse, especially with the handy 'edit' button. Anyone who wants to be taken seriously here [or in life] needs to take the extra few seconds to check their post, either before or after posting.

After all, good grammar and spelling is part of the Coasterbuzz TOS!

Back on topic: Comparing Knotts to Magic Mountain is like comparing a walkie talkie to a pineapple. Magic Mountain is a "thrill park" with rides that primarily appeal to teens. Knotts is a "theme park" with rides that appeal to the entire family. Knotts will never be a destination for coaster nuts in the same sense that Cedar Point and SFMM are. It will never have a double-digit count and for that I'm glad.