Questions for Calif. Residents????

Im planning a trip to Calif for the first week of Dec. and we plan on staying right by disney land. We plan on visiting Dl,DCA, Knotts,Universal and Six Flags MM. How many days do you think are needed at each park?? What special events do they have at the parks for X-mas?? What kinds of crowds/wait times should i expect?? And lastly what are the travel times to the parks mentioned from DL?? Is their a big difference in going to Universal and SFMM on a weekday as compared to a week end as far as travel times?? And one last thing how long is the ride to Sand Diego to go to their ZOO and is it also alot worse on week days than week ends?? Any special tips/pointers you might have would be greatly appreciated!!!

Well I just went to LA in July and had a blast! You will definitley have an awesome time! First, I reccommend at least two days in each park especially for Disneyland.

When I went, we only spent one day at Disneyland and one day at Magic Mountain and I felt very rushed. I hardly had any time to enjoy myself. Also, make sure you give yourself a couple of days during your trip to sleep in, relax, etc to enjoy your trip more and stay more relaxed.

I don't know how crowds will be since I have never been down there during Christmas time. I imagine Disneyland will get pretty crowded since they have all kinds of shows, attractions, etc lined up just for Christmas.

The drive from Disneyland to KBF shouldn't be very far. I'm GUESSING maybe 20 minutes or less, maybe more. I know we passed KBF going to DL, but I didn't really pay attention to how long it was from DL. I would also consider going to each park on a weekday instead of weekends, since a lot of the locals go to the parks on weekends. Hope I helped!

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Six Flags Marine World..... Wild Life AND Wild Rides!

*** This post was edited by Marine World Freak on 3/23/2002. ***

the San Diego Zoo is um... maybe about 2 hours from DL with good traffic
sea world is there too so you might wanna go there i think the zoo costs less to get in though

it might be semi-crowded at DL because of the Christmas stuff and MM because its only open on weekends... but it might be deserted... KBF is usually deserted around then so you shouldn't have to worry about that...

i think KBF is about 10-15 minutes from Disneyland im not sure though...
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"It was sure nice of Mr. Krabs to give me a job here!" "And he was sure nice to start you off at $50 an hour! When i started, i had to pay Mr. Krabs $100 an hour!"

Your planning already for december! Wow!

If you go the beginning of dec and not christmas time you should be fine, crowds certainly will pick up, once school is out. Remember though that Magic Mountain is only open weekends before dec 16th....

It's a little over a hundred miles from DL to San Diego. If the traffic is flowing you can do it in under two hours easy. The gate for the Zoo is about the same as Seaworld, but (for now) parking at the Zoo is free. Seaworld is $7.00 to park at this time.At the Wild Animal Park, the Zoo's second operation out in Escondido, the gate is the same , but they do charge for parking there, $5.00,the last time I was there.

Thanks for the info. And its never too early to start planning!! Is SFMM clsoed on weekdays that time of year??? And if so what would be the better weekend day to visit with smaller crowds. Also what kind of system do they have their for to get in the front of the line, i usually dont use it but with only one day to visit i want to make sure to see my favorites. Do you think it is needed???

Magic Mountain definentaly needs two days at the least. In one average visit, you'll probably be only be able to hit 7 of the coasters(8 or 9 if you're lucky.), and the water park is probably the best water park in the Six Flags chain
(second to Six Flags over Georiga, which is still an honor).

I wouldn't really plan an entire day for California Adventure. You'll find yourself reriding every attraction(skip Maliboomer, those scream mask are rediculous), and Califronia Screamin's long layout will get boring after a couple times, trust me I rode four times in a row. I'd go in the evening to DCA, so you can truely enjoy it in minimal time, California Screamin' is an entirely different eide and arguable the best steel coaster to ride at night.

Knott's Berry Farm, I'm still not fond of going and I don't have the patience to explain why, but Ghostrider, Scream, and Xcelerator are truely worth a trip alone. If you wnat to talk about water parks, head imediately to Soak City USA, this is one of the countries best water parks and has been voted the park with the best collection of water slides by many group/sponsers. Save a day to chill out there.

With Splash Mountain down for rehab I can say good bye to my free tickets to Matterhorn. I've been on Splash Mountain 8 times and every time praying that we never get to the drop, the ride has broken down somewhere. Each time the group was guided by one of the ride workers through the hidden door(might I say Disney hides those doors well out of riders view, and gives each rider a ticket that gives you one walk on ride to any attraction in the park. Everytime I have used that ticket for the Matterhorn, which I have rated the most reridable coaster(well, when there isn't a line that goes all the way around the mountain.). The ride goes by like that and you'll feel like, what happened. Out of all the rides Disney carries to every one of their parks, I don't understand why they leave behind the best. Matterhorn was the best they ever did, but I guess I'm kind of happy that we're the only one that have it.

Again thanks for the great info, cant wait for my trip out west!!!

Magic Mountain is NOT open on weekdays until the week of (or before) Christmas. For the past two years, the first two weekends in Decmenber were "free admission days" if you brought a $10 toy to donate. Thus, expect large crowds at SFMM on early December weekends. I found this out the hard way. Plan on spending the two days there on the weekend. The other parks should NOT be any problem DURING the week. In fact, you could probably do Knotts and DCA easily on the same day. Knotts offers a discounted admission after 4pm, which is good to take advantage of. I have been able to ride everything (good) at least once and Ghostrider 3-4 times in a two hour span on weekdays (although I am familiar with the park layout and the rides I want to go on). Knotts is about 5 miles from Disneyland. DCA is across the street from Disneyland. Universal Studios is about 40 miles north of Disney and SFMM is about 20 miles further north.

PS - I would certainly hope that Splash Mountains' rehab is done before December.

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I've traded in my 2000 Giovanola for a 2002 Arrow X4D :)
My other car is now an Arrow X4D!

LoadedG Is any weekend better than than the other??? Is sunday better than saturday. Sad to here this, i would have thought a park in CA would be open all year and not closed on week days.

Bob O, unfortunately, SFMM is (as far as I know) the only park that isnt open each day of the year. This isnt because of weather, however, it is more because of attendance. They (SFMM management) feel that it is more economically beneficial to stay closed during the week during the off-season. They are open every weekend all year long. Sunday is ALWAYS better than a Saturday. I dont think either of the two "free admit" weekends are better than the other. My suggestion is to do what you can elsewhere on the weekdays (shouldnt be ANY problem getting to ride EVERYTHING at any park on a weekday in December), and plan to spend both Saturday and Sunday at SFMM. Take it easy and dont let the crowds get to you. Expect to wait around 30min-1hour for most rides, and more for X and Deja Vu. But Hey, you can get in for $10 each day (bring a toy!) :) .

PS - assuming of course that they offer the same Christmas promotion again this year.

Also - I would be shocked if you werent able to do BOTH DCA and Knotts in one day (on a weekday ((Tue-Thur for sure)))

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I've traded in my 2000 Giovanola for a 2002 Arrow X4D :)
My other car is now an Arrow X4D!

Im a season passholder so the toy deal wont help but i guess i will cough up the money for a fastlane ticket. Do you know how SFMM manages their fastlane, how much money, how many rides and which rides are part of the program????? Again thanks!!

a Fastlane pass is currently $15. This includes 4 tickets to use on most of the major coasters. Use them ALL on X! I am pretty sure Deja Vu doesnt support fastlane. Ridller, Batman or Goliath would be the only other Fastlane Worthy rides. Fastlane ticketholders enter through a "special queue" (((the exit ramp, usually))) and a specified number of fastlane holders are allowed on each passing train. Usually 2-4 only. The Fastlane ticket office should be able to give you a specific breakdown. I would suggest checking the lines out before using a fastlane pass. Goliath usually moves pretty quickly, whereas Batman is notoriously slow moving. Riddler is often a lengthy line, especially around lunch time, because everyone converges at the WATERING HOLE for lunch right next to it.

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I've traded in my 2000 Giovanola for a 2002 Arrow X4D :)
My other car is now an Arrow X4D!

.....ahhhhh, so many Coasters, sometimes do we really realize how great Six Flags Magic Mountain really is?!?!?

Can you use fastpass at sfmm on the same ride??? At sfga you can only ride a coaster one time with a fastpass, they punch your card for that ride and have to ride another coaster. Can you ride x times with one fastpass???

you can use each ticket for any of the available rides. If you want to use all four on X, then you may.

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I've traded in my 2000 Giovanola for a 2002 Arrow X4D :)
My other car is now an Arrow X4D!

Don't bother using them for Batman:The Ride. The lines aren't going to be that long, and even if they are they move much faster than most of the other coasters.

Im surprised they would let you use them all on X??? That could really make the line long. Do they limit the amount of fastlanes passes they sell??? Do the lines for goliath or superman move quickly, or shouls they also be used for a fastpass??? We have a batman coaster at sfgam so i wouldnt need to ride it, i would perfer to ride the coasters i havent been on.