Trip Report How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Knott's (Knott's Berry Farm/Disneyland Trip Report)

Knott's Berry Farm has been an enigma in my life for a long time now. It started out as that little park across the road from Disneyland that I would have loved to visit except for the fact that when I was a kid going to Disneyland was absolutely sacred so the one time a year I did make it up to SoCal no days were wasted on a non-Disney park. That all changed when the structure of my SoCal trips changed as an adult. Most of the time I'd be staying with friends instead of at an on site hotel, so the idea of doing stuff besides Disney slowly crept into my roster. Two years ago I did a marathon Disneyland/Knott's/Universal/Hamilton trip, for example. In all that time though, when I finally did make it to Knott's I instantly fell in love.

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Knott's Berry Farm has an atmosphere and vibe unlike any other park I've experienced. What it lacks in big E Ticket thrills it makes up for in charm, charm, and more charm! Not to mention a fascinating history that's nearly twice as long as Disneyland's. Knott's set the stage for stuff like themed log flumes and highly immersive dark rides that pre date some of the iconic Disneyland attraction. The Ghost Town area there is rich with history with every building being pulled from a real life ghost town and cobbled together into a themed land. The three big attractions there are Timber Mountain...perhaps the greatest log flume ever created and the inspiration for Splash Mountain...Calico Mine RIde, a dark ride with Pirates levels of immersive set pieces, and Mystery Lodge, an incredibly unique theatrical experience about the storytelling heritage of Native American tribes who were local to Orange County.

Point being, I love Knott's almost as much, if not more, than Disneyland itself. Which is why my grandma and I have decided for the first time to take a SoCal trip not focused on Disney, but on Knott's itself. This trip will encompass three days at Knott's Berry Farm with a side day at Disneyland...the opposite of how we usually do it. I intend to use this thread to showcase all the wonders and Imagineering creativity that the park has on offer and to just have fun chronicling my first Knott's centric trip. Leaving for the airport in 30 minutes, so I'll be sure to keep this updated throughout the day and the rest of the trip!

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TheOriginalTiki

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
On the plane ready to go. Still hoping to get to Knott's around 1PM Pacific. Planning on having a very light lunch in the park and going across the street to the Cauldron for a big dinner after the park closes. The Cauldron is a highly themed bar run by the former Knott's head of entertainment.

Here's the trip roster...

Today-Knott's
Tomorrow-Knott's in the morning and evening with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum starring @MANEATINGWREATH in the middle of the day.
Sunday-Disneyland
Monday-Knott's with Monkey and MEW with dinner at Mrs. Knott's after park closing and then mayyyyyybe a trip to Trader Sam's to cap off the trip.
 

Pi on my Cake

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
On the plane ready to go. Still hoping to get to Knott's around 1PM Pacific. Planning on having a very light lunch in the park and going across the street to the Cauldron for a big dinner after the park closes. The Cauldron is a highly themed bar run by the former Knott's head of entertainment.

Here's the trip roster...

Today-Knott's
Tomorrow-Knott's in the morning and evening with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum starring @MANEATINGWREATH in the middle of the day.
Sunday-Disneyland
Monday-Knott's with Monkey and MEW with dinner at Mrs. Knott's after park closing and then mayyyyyybe a trip to Trader Sam's to cap off the trip.
Sounds like an awesome trip!
 

TheOriginalTiki

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day one is in the can. One of the great things about Knott's is even on a Friday night the crowds are completely managable. Outside of getting my grandma on Hangtime, some other highlights were the Frontier Feats of Wonder stunt show and GhostRider actually being open.

Looks like the refurb schedule for the log ride and GhostRider switched around so unfortunately no Timber Mountain this trip. We had a pretty terrible lunch at Ghost Town Grill...definitely not a great food park outside of Mrs. Knott's and the boysenberry stuff. Had dinner at a themed bar across the street called The Cauldron which did a good job getting the bad meal out of our system. All in all the goal of today was to take in a couple shows we've never done before and we cracked the stunt show and the native American tribal dance off the list. Generally speaking Knott's is a fantastic entertainment park.

Attraction count
Calico Mine Ride - 2
Hangtime - 1
Mystery Lodge - 2
Sol Spin - 1
Silver Bullet - 2
Sky Cabin - 1
 

TheOriginalTiki

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
351965

351967

351968
351969


For those following because they're considering a Knott's trip, I'd love to answer any and all questions you might have about the park so feel free to shoot them my way. When I get back home and have access to a keyboard again I'm planning on doing some more full fledged write ups on some of the park's Disney-level attractions...specifically Calico Mine Ride, Timber Mountain, and the cosmic greatness that is Mystery Lodge.
 

TheOriginalTiki

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
@TheOriginalTiki, mind if I join you at Knott’s today?

Today is tricky because we're seeing ManEatingWreath's show in the middle of the day but we'll be there from opening at 10AM to noon and then we'll be back at the park about 6PM to closing at 10PM. Keep me posted and we can work something out even if it's a brief "ride a ride or two" kind of thing.
 

D Hulk

Well-Known Member
Today is tricky because we're seeing ManEatingWreath's show in the middle of the day but we'll be there from opening at 10AM to noon and then we'll be back at the park about 6PM to closing at 10PM. Keep me posted and we can work something out even if it's a brief "ride a ride or two" kind of thing.
Well I’m down here now. Getting parked. Gotta get my season pass first and we’ll figure out a few-hour game plan.
 

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