All things Knotts Berry Farm

Rich T

Rich T

Well-Known Member
Phrubruh said:
I loved the Wacky Soap Box Racers back in the day. I loved the animated characters, sets and explosion effect in the fireworks factory at the end. It was very creative. It was fun to try to get your car to move faster to beat everyone else. It was sad when the ride started to get stripped of it's personality.



12571868274_12cd98d7b7_b.jpg
Click to expand...

Totally agree. When it was new, it was a fantastic, fun ride. I always tried to get the leftmost lane, as that one seemed to win the most frequently (lagging behind for most of the race and then pulling off a last-moment comeback by having the inside track on the long downhill turn into the Fireworks Factory!) :D
 
NobodyElse

NobodyElse

Well-Known Member
Rich T

Rich T

Well-Known Member
NobodyElse said:
Oh, that's good to hear. I thought I recalled that it was damaged or destroyed in the 2001 fire. I guess they've had plenty of time to rebuild if that was the case.

And, let's not forget to mention the more scenic version of these types of attractions:

Mystery Spot

:)
Click to expand...
Mystery Spot. Cripes. I can't believe how many people I meet in Northern CA who actually believe the Mystery Spot backstory is "real." When I mention that it's a series of illusions duplicated across the U.S.--and that Knott's Berry Farm has had one for decades (it could also be found at the gone-but-missed Frontier Village)--they just blink, confused. Then mutter, "No...it's real..." :D
 
TwilightZone

TwilightZone

Well-Known Member
Phrubruh said:
I loved the Wacky Soap Box Racers back in the day. I loved the animated characters, sets and explosion effect in the fireworks factory at the end. It was very creative. It was fun to try to get your car to move faster to beat everyone else. It was sad when the ride started to get stripped of it's personality.



12571868274_12cd98d7b7_b.jpg
Click to expand...

I wasn't around for this version, but now I'm mad it isn't like this anymore.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
DanielBB8 said:
I love Knott's, but not as much as I used to. There are too many areas that need improvement. Darkbeer gave an excellent summary of what will happen. I agree.

  1. Please improve the facilities especially the restrooms. Many reek of urine smells and leaky and moldy pipes and tiles. The Charles Schulz Theater needs new seats. The tower ride needs new windows.
  2. Improve the show scenes on the train rides (big train and little train) and flume rides. It needs more polishing. Disney is much better with this with a bigger budget. Knott's should find ways to do it cheaper and they do, but they need the will.
  3. Upgrade the Knott's Marketplace. The stores are tired. The bakery needs expansion.
  4. Improve reliability of Iron Reef ride. This attraction gotten worse in loading and breakdowns.
  5. Attraction loading is horribly inefficient. You have to go in a less busy day to enjoy all the rides. Food lines are equally a time waster.
  6. Needs a dark ride that is actually dark. A spooky haunted ride would fit the bill.
  7. Parking needs major upgrades.

  • Add main parking entrance at La Palma Ave instead of using the underground tunnel off Beach and on Grand Ave. Tunnel should be for pedestrians only.
  • Close off Grand Avenue for cars. This is a major traffic bottleneck that could be easily avoided.
  • Add major parking structure at the main parking lot.
  • Pave over the dirt/gravel lots.
  • South lots on east and west sides of Grand Ave could be park and marketplace expansion.
Click to expand...

1. Knott's just totally re-did the restrooms in Ghost Town near the Stagecoach. Even added Family Restrooms. Also the ones near the Log Ride. Other restrooms are scheduled to have the same treatment in the future, especially the ones near the exit and near Mystery Lodge.

The Charles Schulz Theater just recently replaced all the seats. The Tower Ride just came back from a refurb including new windows (same time as when HangTime was built).

2. Agreed.

3. Knott's is doing that currently. Areas that have been recently upgraded. The Emporium just re-opened. Peanuts HQ next to T.G.I. Fridays also was redone. So was the Chicken to Go and Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. Virginia's also got a refurb. The Starbucks was converted from the Ice Cream Shop. So only a small section including the Bakery is left.

4. Agreed.

5. Well, the attractions have limits. Knott's has been trying to address this, but the attractions are what they are, so you have the Fantasyland attraction problem. How do you improve the loading of the Stagecoaches? As Knott's builds new Food Locations, things are better, look at the Current Boardwalk BBQ. As I mentioned, I am hoping for a Carowinds Food Hall Concept (recently built) to be added at Knott's (including a Chicken Meal option inside the park on the Dining Plan).

6. Agreed, but Cedar Fair feels the Mine Train and Log Ride fill the slot.

7. Well, agree in part.

8. Won't happen, partly due to the city of Buena Park and it's wishes for traffic issues on its streets.

9. Once again, the city won't let that happen, they want cars off the city streets and onto the private road. Grand Avenue had its parking removed and repaved. About the best you will get.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
NobodyElse said:
Oh, that's good to hear. I thought I recalled that it was damaged or destroyed in the 2001 fire. I guess they've had plenty of time to rebuild if that was the case.

And, let's not forget to mention the more scenic version of these types of attractions:

Mystery Spot

:)
Click to expand...

The attraction did get burned down in the fire. They rebuilt it in a true historical manner, without ADA upgrades.

Love the Mystery Spot....
 
D

DanielBB8

Well-Known Member
Darkbeer1 said:
1. Knott's just totally re-did the restrooms in Ghost Town near the Stagecoach. Even added Family Restrooms. Also the ones near the Log Ride. Other restrooms are scheduled to have the same treatment in the future, especially the ones near the exit and near Mystery Lodge.

The Charles Schulz Theater just recently replaced all the seats. The Tower Ride just came back from a refurb including new windows (same time as when HangTime was built).

2. Agreed.

3. Knott's is doing that currently. Areas that have been recently upgraded. The Emporium just re-opened. Peanuts HQ next to T.G.I. Fridays also was redone. So was the Chicken to Go and Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. Virginia's also got a refurb. The Starbucks was converted from the Ice Cream Shop. So only a small section including the Bakery is left.

4. Agreed.

5. Well, the attractions have limits. Knott's has been trying to address this, but the attractions are what they are, so you have the Fantasyland attraction problem. How do you improve the loading of the Stagecoaches? As Knott's builds new Food Locations, things are better, look at the Current Boardwalk BBQ. As I mentioned, I am hoping for a Carowinds Food Hall Concept (recently built) to be added at Knott's (including a Chicken Meal option inside the park on the Dining Plan).

6. Agreed, but Cedar Fair feels the Mine Train and Log Ride fill the slot.

7. Well, agree in part.

8. Won't happen, partly due to the city of Buena Park and it's wishes for traffic issues on its streets.

9. Once again, the city won't let that happen, they want cars off the city streets and onto the private road. Grand Avenue had its parking removed and repaved. About the best you will get.
Click to expand...
I guess a lot has improved since I been there last year around this time, during Boysenberry Festival. Great report.

I do think the parking could be diverted off the streets by building a parking structure off La Palma and having cars stacked inside, but perhaps that's not feasible today.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Somewhat off topic, I was working in my garden this weekend and my Boysenberry vines loved all the rain. Fortunate enough to have one plant that came from Knott's when they removed the vines from the Silver Bullet area.

Also have a couple of hybrids. Easy to tell the difference, the original has thorns😈

Had to buy some new tressels since the vines have gotten too long. But now thinking about buy one new plant to grow directly under them.

Also went to Tomatomania and got quite the variety for the back yard. Also have lots of blumes on my Avocado, Peach, Plum and Tangerine trees.
 
PiratesMansion

PiratesMansion

Well-Known Member
Darkbeer1 said:
5. Well, the attractions have limits. Knott's has been trying to address this, but the attractions are what they are, so you have the Fantasyland attraction problem. How do you improve the loading of the Stagecoaches? As Knott's builds new Food Locations, things are better, look at the Current Boardwalk BBQ. As I mentioned, I am hoping for a Carowinds Food Hall Concept (recently built) to be added at Knott's (including a Chicken Meal option inside the park on the Dining Plan).
Click to expand...
That's definitely true of the older legacy attractions, but there's no reason they couldn't work harder to, say, get more people through on the coasters. Certainly, many of them have their limitations too, but in general it's not rocket science to get a coaster train out quickly. It shouldn't take as long as it does to get a train out on Ghostrider, for example, and I'd love to see them work on improving some of those load times.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Well they are never going to be as fast as Disney is on their coaster loads. The rides are not designed for that. However I do believe the knotts employees are faster at load and dispatch than at Magic Mountain employees. I think they are better supervised and older in age. I've seen some MM ride operators treat it as if they where hanging out with friends. That makes the ride unsafe. I never see that behavior at Knotts or Disneyland. I think they are doing as well as they can for a ride that can only have two trains on the track at once.
 
PiratesMansion

PiratesMansion

Well-Known Member
Phrubruh said:
Well they are never going to be as fast as Disney is on their coaster loads. The rides are not designed for that. However I do believe the knotts employees are faster at load and dispatch than at Magic Mountain employees. I think they are better supervised and older in age. I've seen some MM ride operators treat it as if they where hanging out with friends. That makes the ride unsafe. I never see that behavior at Knotts or Disneyland. I think they are doing as well as they can for a ride that can only have two trains on the track at once.
Click to expand...

I'm not asking for them to be Disney fast, just faster than what they are. Most of the other parks I've been through around the country can dispatch their wooden coasters more quickly than Knott's. And Ghostrider is a long ride, long enough that it was designed to run three trains (originally at least.) So there's no reason, given the length of the ride and the number of people who want to ride it, that the ride crews should be so slow that the train on the course usually makes it back to the station and waits on the brakes for a decent amount of time before the train that was loaded is finally sent out. Anything to get that line to move faster would be a good thing, and getting a decent crew that moves faster is an easy way to do that.
 
T

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
Every Cedar Fair Park should take notes from and strive to be like their sister park Cedar Point when it comes to ride ops, they do a really good job there, but Kings Island is quickly coming up to Cedar Point levels as well. Knott’s is a step below these parks but no where close to the bottom of the chain (here’s looking at you Kings Dominion and every ride under 300ft at Carrowinds)
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom