Southern Cal Buzzers: Which Park?

Here's the scenario: I'm going to be in Newport Beach, CA for 5 days in about 2 weeks. I'll be working until 5 every day except Friday, when I should be off around 10 or 11am. Since all the local parks close at 6, I'll only have Friday afternoon to visit a park. So which one should I visit?

The prices for 1 day admission are about the same - so that's not really a factor. I've been to WDW, so I don't know that DL will have too much to offer. That leaves DCA, Knott's, or Magic Mountain. I've heard bad things about DCA, plus they don't have that many marquis attractions.

Obviously, SFMM has many more rides, but is at least an hour further away from where I'll be. What would be best, taking the extra time to go to SFMM and have more rides to choose from, or having more time for re-rides at Knott's?

Being from Alabama, I don't really have a lot of opportunity to visit the SoCal parks, and with this trip I'll only be able to hit one of them. Suggestions are appreciated!

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*** This post was edited by Fafolguy on 12/29/2002. ***

*** This post was edited by Fafolguy on 12/29/2002. ***

If you want roller coasters roller coasters AND roller coasters more than anything else while on your trip, then you answer if clearly Magic Mountain. While Knott's is a must-visit park with alot of stand-outs among stand-outs in the industry (Perilous Plunge, Xcelerator, GhostRider, Supreme Scream), I'm telling you from a So Cal local point of view, take Magic Mountain, for you'll be bound to have yourself busy the entire time.

Most of Knott's major and more popular attractions can be done in pretty much a snap (not saying the park is lackluster though). Rerides are pretty much gauranteed most of the time during this time of year.

I assume you're talking about going on the 10th of January. I'm very suprised they're open that day. Will be very empty that day, so don't worry about that. The problem is that its 80 miles away, vs. knotts being 24 miles away, so you'll have less time to enjoy in the park. SFMM has a lot of rollercoasters, but not as many flat rides, hirstoric rides, and shows as knotts. DCA would be empty too, but all the attractions there are STRAIGHT from WDW, except several (animation, screamin', and soarin'), and I'm not joking. A lot of shows here too, so your time would be gobbled up. They're probably open till 8 though.

The cheapest park to get into handsdown would be knotts. If you go to a supermarket called food 4 less (or ralphs if they change promotions), you can get tickets for just 22 or 23 bucks by buying them from the checkout stands. Real easy. The thing is the promotion ends on January 7th so you would have to go as soon as you arrive. There aren't really any promotions going on for SFMM, and Disneyland rarely offers a good deal.

I'd go to knotts. You'll be as entertained as you would be at SFMM, and it would be a lot easier and faster to get to. It could easily take you 1:45 to get to SFMM.

First off, forget DCA and DL.

SFMM is my favorite park, but if you finish at 11am, you won't get there until about 12.30pm. If you go on X and Deja Vu that'll swallow up 3 hours, however you'll probably have walk ons on Goliath and Batman, and a short waits for Riddler's, Superman, and Ninja. Everything else should be a walk on.

Knott's will be deserted and you should have walk ons on Xcelerator and GhostRider, which are both good and you should have many rerides. Other good rides are Perilous Plunge and Supreme Scream, but personally I wouldn't go on these more than two or three times. Unless you are the type the likes multiple rides on everything, you won't need more than 3 hours in Knott's.

I would go to SFMM because it is a more high profile park and everyone should experience it, even if for a few hours, and you'll need every hour you have.

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Not a SoCal'er, but I will say this...one ride on X will change your life...WILL!

Since Knott's/DCA are closer, you may be able to do them on another day...;)

Also, traffic on a Friday morning *that late* shouldn't be TOO bad.

Traffic on a Friday night in LA? You bet there is. It doesn't move, it literally crawls.From Newport Beach to Valencia it could take you three hours at that time of day,easy.

I don't live in southern cal but I have been to all of them except dca and would have to say got to knotts. Xcellerator is worth the trip all by itself plus it's much closer to newport than sfmm.

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I hope they kill that iron yuppie. Thinks he's so big. The great homer simspon

Dutchman, I was referring to the 10-11 am trip TO the park (SFMM). The trip back FROM the park, as you stated.....Ack!

bill, wondering IF the Hi-speed rail ever gets up and running, will it be successful enough to be adopted elsewhere...contrary to poular belief, petroleum is a *non-renewable resource*...;)

Even though I am not a SoCal living dude, I can say, IMHO, that Knotts' superior coasters far outshine SFMM and their coaster glut. I don't know why, but Knotts' atmosphere more than makes up for the numerical lack of rides, and as you all know, Knotts' rides are top notch, and incredibly well maintained. I went to both parks in Feb, and found Knotts' lines to be smaller as well. Besides, Po Folks is only 3 blocks away, and that kicks in itself!

Then again.... I haven't ridden X yet.:( Decisions.... decisions....
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www.tripowered.com - Damage is your only course.

Tell me about it Nasai. Gotta tell you though, Po Folks is nothing compared to what I can do in my kitchen, so I'll be skipping it. :)

I think I am going to Knott's mainly because I like wood more than steel - and I'm dying to hit Ghostrider. Plus I think I'd rather have the opportunity to ride everything (maybe many times) before they close at 6.

SFMM will just have to wait until I have a trip where I can devote a whole day or two to the park.

Thanks for all the input, folks!

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I sing sometimes for the war that I fight, 'cause every tool is a weapon, if you hold it right. -Ani Difranco

Not being from So Cal but from having visited the fine state recently i will offer my thoughts.
If your only goal is to up your coaster count i would go to SFMM, but realize the park will offer a depressing general state of affairs as a couple of coasters are nice but in regards to employee's/cleaniness it is subpar!!!
I would advise to skip the park and instead go to DL which wont offer as many coasters or thrills but for a all around great experience it cant be beat!!! That is if you like a place that is safe/clean/well run and has food that is edible with classic attractions!!
And if not i would go too Knotts which has some great rides and offers IMHO alot better experience than SFMM does, with some good shows and good foood!!

If you like wood more, you'll fall in love with Ghostrider. Its been running real good lately. And I can guarantee you the line will be less than 15 minutes, could be a completely deserted station if the weather is not good. I also find that Perilous Plunge's drop is a lot like a woodie drop, for strange reasons, maybe all the rumble or something. Xcelerator's been much more reliable lately, so you'd have a good chance getting on that. Montezummas revenge beats superman ANY day, and then aslo goes on to beat Revolution. Supreme Scream can usually be marathoned if you're a single rider, just ask a ride attendent cause suprme scream's are THE friendliest in the park. If you get bored the park has several shows, a standout is Mystery Lodge, which was supposed to go to Disney's America, but then that failed so knotts baught it for like 20 million and it is really good, and has won numerous awards. Knott's log ride beats jet stream and log jammer combined. It could be closed when you go because they converted it into elf mountain christmas for the holidays (what a lame copy off of its a small world holiday), and i believe the ride gets a pretty big rehab this time of year.

Knotts is a hell of a lot cheaper if you go to the supermarket to buy the tickets. I'm sure some ralphs promotion will replace the food for less one.

Like I said, DCA is all recycled WDW attractions. Examples include mullholland madness, grizzly river run, its a bugs life, muppet vision, who wants to be a millionare: play it. The list goes on.

SFMM will be emptier than what grant said. Those wait times were what they were during the free admission toys for tots weekends.

What is with all of these people and their assumptions that because Magic Mountain is a Six Flags park, it is more dirty than any other park? (especially the none so-cal-ers that are posting). It's really irritating. I visit all the SoCal parks quite regularly and none of the parks is dirtier, more depressing than the other (Actually, Disneyland itself has more of a feeling than the others, but that's all there is for this talk)

Hmm...went out there last March, SFMM was an absolute trashole, KBF, DCA, and DL were 100% cleaner.

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WOOD: It does a body good.

It makes no difference if I am from SoCal or not. I can see crap, smell crap, and hear crap. SFMM is NOT a horrible place, but there are better parks out there. For the size, SFMM is a huge letdown, mostly due to the fact that no matter what time of year, something is down. i.e. X, Ninja, Deja Vu, S:TE, etc.... I still really enjoy SFMM, and it is a must visit park for me, but if I had my druthers, AND I DO, I will take Knotts everytime.
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www.tripowered.com - I prefer eggs over easy, so kiss my arse.

Maybe its the fact that there are like 6 sweepers roaming all of SFMM? The bathrooms were what really got me disgusted. You would NEVER see the stuff you see in SFMM's bathrooms at Legoland, Knotts, Sea World, or Legoland. Stuff like crap in the urinals, piss all over the floor, dirty diapers on the floor, and lots of reports of bloody towels. Whenever you enter knott's bathrooms you can smell the freshness. You also actually see sweepers at those parks, everywhere you turn there's an employee cleaning up. There's no trash on KBF's midways, maybe you're blind and mistaking all the tree debris for trash (this gets cleaned up overnight), and whenever you see a manager walk past say an empty packet of mustard lying on the floor, you'll definately see he or she pick it up. Also, people tend to smoke in the SFMM queues, a lot more than KBF's queue's or in Disneyland's midways (smoking is only allowed in designated areas). Oddly though, a lot more line jumping goes on at Knotts, but people will compain to the ride ops there, and I have seen security guards make a few people actually cry by yelling at them.

KBF and the Disneyland resort have much better food than Magic Mountain. You could go to the Chicken dinner resturant once knotts closes (they're open till like 9pm). Or one of the resturants in California Adventure or Downtown disney. There are also lots of great resturants within walking distance of knotts.

::waits for the Phantom lives to yell at me : )

*** This post was edited by Speedy on 12/29/2002. ***

Sorry to be the one to break this to everyone heading to Knotts in the next 3 weeks, but Xcelerator will be down for scheduled maintanance. It has to happen sometime, I just wish Knotts posted the dates months in advance (hey, they follow a schedule) on their website like disney does. the ending date of a rehab is not known usually, since things can come up. its usually less than a month for the coasters since knotts can't afford to have 1 of their 6 coasters down for a few months. the flat rides can be down for as long as 6 months sometimes though.

Hmmm, today is the 8th - I wonder if it'd be back up by the 31st or 1st? Cutting it kind of close :(

Thanks for the info, Speedy.

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I would take the trip to SFMM. I went on Sun. and the park was EMPTY (see TR). X was really a life changer and it's at least as good as S:RoS or MF in my book (esp. from the back row).

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
You must be this dumb to ride Viper. -SFGAdv.

Yeah, Timber mountain log ride and xcelerator are major KBF rides, so a SFMM trip may be wiser. Make sure you talk to an operator on that KBF info line by pressing 0 in the main menu. Just incase that info posted on westcoaster (people to trust on KBF), is possibly true. the website's good cause we recently posted that Pepsi is heading back into knotts soon, and guess what, some places serve pepsi now.

*** This post was edited by Speedy on 1/9/2003. ***