The Miscellaneous Thought Thread

[PiratesMansion]

Man, that is was rough! Where do I start? Wow, water parks are gross. It was different when you were in your teens/early 20s. As a parent all you can think of is all the germs. Soak City was packed! Lines for the slides were all an hour long. You had lines before lines just to grab a tube and get in a line. Also very poor decision to go to Soak City and Knotts Berry Farm on the same day. Overall just a real hot $hit show. I don’t see myself going back even with the annual pass. Also just a really poor decision to try to cram Soak City right before Knotts. We didn’t even get there until about 2pm. Stayed for about an hour and a half, did practically nothing but hang around that Splash Zone and left. That brutal sun, no shade and pandemonium took a lot out of us though. Our kids didn’t know what to do with themselves. Wanted to do all the nasty stuff like the Pee Pee River, wave pool and little kiddie splash zone where the water was 100 degrees. A real Nightmare.

Really loved the grounds by Independence Hall with the lagoon and all that grass were the picnic tables are located. Apparently Knotts didn’t get the memo on the AstroTurf. The area had a real old school simple charm to it that I enjoyed. Something that I can’t quite pinpoint brought me back to my childhood. Those bathrooms there are disgusting though. Smelled like the bathrooms at the beach.

Started my day at Knotts by eating at Mrs Knotts. Im here to settle the debate once and for all. Plaza Inn is better. It wasn’t bad. It actually tastes more homemade with a simple flour batter. A little bland though. Now to the positives- they give you a ton of food even if I’d prefer a $15 meal with half the amount of food to the ton of food they give you with the $26 chicken dinner.

I get the Boysenberry hype now! It was the perfect compliment to that tray of soft fluffy biscuits and butter they brought out. Tastes Mixed Berry like. Not too sweet. Not too tangy. Those biscuits were great and the highlight of the meal. In a different stratosphere than the one you get at Plaza Inn. Boysenberry pie a la mode was also good. I’m not even a berry pie guy. Our waiter was very friendly. I’m pretty sure what we ordered didn’t include 5 slices of pie and free beverages. I even liked the cafeteria chicken noodle soup in all it’s starchy glory. Just felt like something they would eat in the old west. From what I understand the restaurant was just renovated. Would have liked to have seen it before they gave it the modern farm to table vibe.

Enjoy the whole feel of the marketplace area and shops right outside of Knotts. Didn’t really step into the shops though. I’m going to save so much money on merch! Haha. And because I definitely won’t be going to Knotts every two weeks. Lol. More on that later.


Part 2 at Knotts coming after this desperately needed shower…

Water parks aren't my thing. Perhaps part of that is that I typically visit things solo, and it feels weird going solo to a water park in a way it doesn't feel weird to go solo to go to a theme park. But it's other things too-some of it is likely my age, and that unlike theme parks, all water parks are basically the same and only a handful of them have anything unique. You can find that same Tornado funnel slide at like 90% of them now, many of the Cedar Fair water parks (like Knott's) have the exact same "new slide tower" now, etc. And the lines move much more slowly. There isn't really anything about them that makes me want to seek them out.

The "line to get the tube, then separate line to get up the slide" is always infuriating. So many water parks do that now to try and get you to rent a tube that you can use to skip that part of the line.

Were the chickens out wandering by Independence Hall? Such a random, weird little thing that gives me joy.

You have the correct chicken opinion-Plaza Inn's bird is better, no question, but Knott's value proposition is definitely better and they don't skimp on portion sizes. I usually get the chicken tenders so that I can get the dinner experience, but with an entree that's more to my liking. Boysenberry Pie a la mode is a winning combination.

I can't pinpoint the exact date of the renovation, but it happened sometime between my first and second visits to the park (so sometime between 2013 and 2017).

Knott's actually has some decent merch IMO. Most of the typical, park-branded merch is in the Marketplace (Virginia's in particular), but I've loved the park history book I picked up there (Knott's Preserved) and some of the more unique items, like a children's book with the characters from the Beary Tale ride, or a book I found a few years ago about Cordelia Knott written at what seemed like upper elementary level. They still sell the jams and jellies, even though they aren't made by the Knott family anymore. Love the park history timeline in there too.

 

[mickEblu]

Water parks aren't my thing. Perhaps part of that is that I typically visit things solo, and it feels weird going solo to a water park in a way it doesn't feel weird to go solo to go to a theme park. But it's other things too-some of it is likely my age, and that unlike theme parks, all water parks are basically the same and only a handful of them have anything unique. You can find that same Tornado funnel slide at like 90% of them now, many of the Cedar Fair water parks (like Knott's) have the exact same "new slide tower" now, etc. And the lines move much more slowly. There isn't really anything about them that makes me want to seek them out.

The "line to get the tube, then separate line to get up the slide" is always infuriating. So many water parks do that now to try and get you to rent a tube that you can use to skip that part of the line.

Were the chickens out wandering by Independence Hall? Such a random, weird little thing that gives me joy.

You have the correct chicken opinion-Plaza Inn's bird is better, no question, but Knott's value proposition is definitely better and they don't skimp on portion sizes. I usually get the chicken tenders so that I can get the dinner experience, but with an entree that's more to my liking. Boysenberry Pie a la mode is a winning combination.

I can't pinpoint the exact date of the renovation, but it happened sometime between my first and second visits to the park (so sometime between 2013 and 2017).

Knott's actually has some decent merch IMO. Most of the typical, park-branded merch is in the Marketplace (Virginia's in particular), but I've loved the park history book I picked up there (Knott's Preserved) and some of the more unique items, like a children's book with the characters from the Beary Tale ride, or a book I found a few years ago about Cordelia Knott written at what seemed like upper elementary level. They still sell the jams and jellies, even though they aren't made by the Knott family anymore. Love the park history timeline in there too.

Yeah the water park - part of it too was just not knowing “how to do it.” We have Disneyland down to a science. And it was just too damn packed. Came to find out they re only open on weekends now through the end of October. Between that, the 90 degree day and the new promotion they have going it was a recipe for a very busy day. In fact, that new 23/24 AP promotion is probably the main reason it was so busy yesterday. I saw a lot of people getting their pics taken at the turnstiles of both parks. I made the mistake of hyping my son up for both parks so I’m not sure we could have avoided yesterday. Certainly wasn’t going to drive all the way to Buena Park and not go to Knotts Berry Farm but also felt like we needed to do the water park since it closes for the season pretty soon.

No chickens but I really liked that area. So unexpected.

I popped in the store for a second to follow my son and saw a Fiesta Village specific magnet. Something I wish Disney would do more of. Not sure why they don’t treat magnets like they do pins. Every ride or land should have its own magnet. Disney really leaves a lot of money on the table when it comes to their attraction posters, magnets and marquee signs.

That book sounds like something I would definitely buy.

 

[mickEblu]

As for my experience at Knotts Berry Farm yesterday I had a lot of thoughts pop into my head yesterday when we were walking around so hopefully I can remember most of them. Right before we got a text saying our table was ready ay Mrs Knotts we had walked into the park and jumped into a line at a Counter in Ghost Town for a slice of pizza for my daughter who was really hungry. $16 for a slice Pizza. I knew they had to make up for the cheap entry prices somewhere. Kind of crazy the value you get at Mrs Knotts for $10 more. We didn't end up buying it because the line moved painfully slow. In fact, it seems like all the counter services and stands had only one overwhelmed person working.

After Mrs Knotts we walked back into the park and went left towards Ghost Town. Obviously the highlight of Knotts. Felt very lively as the park does overall. Im guessing when Summer Nights are over most of the live music goes away except for Crazy Kirk and the live music they play in Ghost Town? It was really weird walking around a park not knowing where you were going. I have been saying that I haven't been to Knotts in two decades but that was a for Scary Farm. The last time I was at Berry Farm during the day was way before that. The only places I vaguely remembered was the area outside of Mrs Knotts and Firehouse BBQ (which smelled really good even on a full stomach) from over 20 years ago. Guess Ive always been into food. Ghost Town is great and I'm looking forward to exploring it a bit more. When I finally saw the outside of the mine ride I realized where all my trippy alternate universe Thunder Mountain dreams come from. Must be some old memories of Calico Mine ride from when I was a kid. The rock work leaves a bit to be desired but enjoyed all the waterfalls. Appreciated that little brook to your right that wasn’t fenced off right before you get to load. Feels like the sort of thing from a bygone era that shouldn’t exist or would be fenced off.

It felt like there were a lot of dead ends at the park due to the train that runs through the middle of the park (instead of around it) and the giant coasters. We really take the layout at Disneyland for granted. You think it would fun not knowing where you're going and being somewhere new. Not so much when you're exhausted with young kids and toddlers. Calico Mine ride was the first ride of the day. Wanted to get on something the whole family could do. It was listed as a 3 out of 5 on the thri ll scale so was hoping a little speed or a few little drops. Very interesting ride. It's what you would get if Walt leaned a little harder into the "hard facts" that created America. Overall it had a very creepy and disturbing tone. Nothing they put in Scary Farm can be scarier than that ride. It's like The Hills Have Eyes: The Ride. Also felt very claustrophobic. I thought some of the scenes that didn't have AAs were nice and made me think its probably the closest thing we have to Mine Train thru Natures wonderland. Anyway, I appreciate it being there but have no need to ride it again for as long as my pass is active, especially with a 30 min wait. In fact, I have no need to ride or do anything we did yesterday again with the exception of Independence Hall, Ghost Town, Mrs Knotts and the marketplace.

Next up was Beary Tales. This is where it all kind of sunk in that this park is no Disneyland replacement for us. It's not somewhere we will be 24 times a year or even 12 times a year. More like 4-5 times and that's Ok for the price we paid. We waited an hour for what has to be the most obnoxiously slow loading vehicles of all time. It doesn't make any sense. The gameplay component of this ride was absolutely awful. I could barely tell which tiny dinky colored pies being shot were mine. It's a shame because it has some of the best dark ride components I've experienced on a shooter. Felt more like a dark ride at times than any of the shooters at DLR. I also like the characters and world they set up. Reminds me of like the Berenstein Bears or something from that era. Too bad, with a few changes it could be a good family ride. As it stands, have no need need to ride this again either. Im absolutely shocked that people knew the ride experience that was waiting for them and still waited 60 minutes for this ride. Then again Knotts is desperate for indoor dark rides and at this point I had been on 2 of the 3 at the park so it wasn't looking good.

To Be Continued...

 

[PiratesMansion]

As for my experience at Knotts Berry Farm yesterday I had a lot of thoughts pop into my head yesterday when we were walking around so hopefully I can remember most of them. Right before we got a text saying our table was ready ay Mrs Knotts we had walked into the park and jumped into a line at a Counter in Ghost Town for a slice of pizza for my daughter who was really hungry. $16 for a slice Pizza. I knew they had to make up for the cheap entry prices somewhere. Kind of crazy the value you get at Mrs Knotts for $10 more. We didn't end up buying it because the line moved painfully slow. In fact, it seems like all the counter services and stands had only one overwhelmed person working.

Fast moving lines aren't really Knotts' strong suit. Granted, Saturday gonna Saturday, but their ops/speed in general leaves a lot to be desired. I basically always buy Fastlane at Knott's because I don't have the patience to deal with their slow lines. It's helpful for everything, but especially for GhostRider.

After Mrs Knotts we walked back in the park and went left towards Ghost Town. Obviously the highlight of Knotts. Felt very lively as the park does overall. Im guessing when Summer Nights are over most of the live music goes away except for Crazy Kirk and the live music they play in Ghost Town?

They used to have a decent entertainment lineup all year round; I remember doing Scary Farm and being impressed just how much was still happening from the 9-5 or whatever brief window the park was operating until then. Post covid, they've clearly cut back a bit. It'll be interesting to compare what they'll be offering this October vs. 2018/2019.

It was really weird walking around a park not knowing where you were going. I have been saying that I haven't been to Knotts in two decades but that was a for Scary Farm. The last time I was at Berry Farm during the day was way before that. The only places I vaguely remembered was the area outside of Mrs Knotts and Firehouse BBQ (which smelled really good even on a full stomach) from over 20 years ago. Guess Ive always been into food. Ghost Town is great and I'm looking forward to exploring it a bit more. When I finally saw the outside of the mine ride I realized where all my trippy alternate universe Thunder Mountain dreams come from. Must be some old memories of Calico Mine ride from when I was a kid. The rock work leaves a bit to be desired but enjoyed all the waterfalls.
It felt like there were a lot of dead ends at the park due to the train that runs through the middle of the park (instead of around it) and the giant coasters. We really take the layout at Disneyland for granted. You think it would fun not knowing where you're going and being somewhere new. Not so much when you're exhausted with young kids and toddlers.

Knott's has a funky layout, and I still don't feel like I've mastered the best way to get around at times. In some ways I love it because of the fact that it developed organically and not in a masterplanned sort of way-it enhances the feeling of discovery. That said, when it's a hot busy day and you've got kids in tow expecting to be entertained, and they don't give out maps anymore (which drives me nuts), I could imagine it would stop being fun real fast.

I love that the rockwork still has a homespun feel to it; it's a feeling that has been studiously engineered out of the Disney parks over the last several decades.

Calico Mine ride was the first ride of the day. Wanted to get on something the whole family could do. It was listed as a 3 out of 5 on the thri ll scale so was hoping a little speed or a few little drops.

The thrill scale is a Cedar Fair thing, and I've found it pretty useless. A ride has to truly do almost nothing to get a 1, but any coaster pretty much gets a five, no nuance allowed. Perhaps for people who are extremely timid of every single thing at a park it might be vaguely helpful, but apart from that, it's worthless.

Very interesting ride. It's what you would get if Walt leaned a little harder into the "hard facts" that created America. Overall it had a very creepy and disturbing tone. Nothing they put in Scary Farm can be scarier than that ride. It's like The Hills Have Eyes: The Ride. Also felt very claustrophobic. I thought some of the scenes that didn't have AAs were nice and made me think its probably the closest thing we have to Mine Train thru Natures wonderland. Anyway, I appreciate it being there but have no need to ride it again for as long as my pass is active, especially with a 30 min wait. In fact, I have no need to ride or do anything we did yesterday again with the exception of Independence Hall, Ghost Town, Mrs Knotts and the marketplace.

I love the Mine Ride because it's so weird. It's also considerably more impressive than most of the non-Disney dark rides out there, with proper AAs (which were only added a decade ago or so when they gave it a massive refurbishment) and the way you encounter the Glory Hole multiple times, which allegedly inspired Tony Baxter to flit in and out of the big room from Indy, in addition to the way the ride (or at least, the hidden queue) inspired Walt.

But between the Mine Ride, Mine Train through Nature's Wonderland, and the Banana Train ride at the defunct Pacific Ocean Park, it was basically a genre of sorts for the 60s theme park.

Next up was Beary Tales. This is where it all kind of sunk in that this park is no Disneyland replacement for us. It's not somewhere we will be 24 times a year or even 12 times a year. More like 4-5 times and that's Ok for the price we paid. We waited an hour for what has to be the most obnoxiously slow loading vehicles of all time. It doesn't make any sense. The gameplay component of this ride was absolutely awful. I could barely tell which tiny dinky colored pies being shot were mine. It's a shame because it has some of the best dark ride components I've experienced on a shooter. Felt more like a dark ride at times than any of the shooters at DLR. I also like the characters and world they set up. Reminds me of like the Berenstein Bears or something from that era. Too bad, with a few changes it could be a good family ride. As it stands, have no need need to ride this again either. Im absolutely shocked that people knew the ride experience that was waiting for them and still waited 60 minutes for this ride. Then again Knotts is desperate for indoor dark rides and at this point I had been on 2 of the 3 at the park so it wasn't looking good.

Speaking of weird dark rides...

Beary Tales is a considerable improvement over the Voyage to the Iron Reef shooter that was there in the past. I wouldn't call it elite, but it's weird enough to be memorable. I do wish they had just rebuilt the ride from the 70s, but I get why they felt the need to make it a shooter, I suppose.

Most parks are astoundingly bad at having rides that are indoors-even parks that are in colder weather and are ostensibly trying to lengthen their operating seasons. Disney and Universal are very much the exception and not the rule there. Knott's is actually better off than most other parks in that area, believe it or not.

 

[mickEblu]

Fast moving lines aren't really Knotts' strong suit. Granted, Saturday gonna Saturday, but their ops/speed in general leaves a lot to be desired. I basically always buy Fastlane at Knott's because I don't have the patience to deal with their slow lines. It's helpful for everything, but especially for GhostRider.

Yeah it was really hot, really packed Saturday Night. A lot of new pass holders. I'm sure it's not always like that. With that said it feels like the park jus doesn't really work for us. As you said, you have to buy Fastlane to make it worth it. As annual pass holders that's not something we're going to do often. If you're going to do that, you may as well buy Disneyland annual passes again. It's also just doesn't have the ride lineup that works for my family right now so the drive out there just isn't worth it. I should have just milked my USH passes for the year. It's not perfect for my family either but it's down the street. On its best day, Knotts isn't worth the hour and 45 min drive it took to get the park with traffic yesterday. But I haven't written it off. I'm sure I'll go at least 5 times. Next time we'll go on a nice Fall day (maybe even a weekday) and head out early.

Knott's has a funky layout, and I still don't feel like I've mastered the best way to get around at times. In some ways I love it because of the fact that it developed organically and not in a masterplanned sort of way-it enhances the feeling of discovery. That said, when it's a hot busy day and you've got kids in tow expecting to be entertained, and they don't give out maps anymore (which drives me nuts), I could imagine it would stop being fun real fast.

I love that the rockwork still has a homespun feel to it; it's a feeling that has been studiously engineered out of the Disney parks over the last several decades.

Stops being fun real fast! Yeah I don't mind the rock work at all. It's part of the charm of Knotts and that era. Just sticks out like a sore thumb when your used to walking by the Cadillac range at DCA.

I love the Mine Ride because it's so weird. It's also considerably more impressive than most of the non-Disney dark rides out there, with proper AAs (which were only added a decade ago or so when they gave it a massive refurbishment) and the way you encounter the Glory Hole multiple times, which allegedly inspired Tony Baxter to flit in and out of the big room from Indy, in addition to the way the ride (or at least, the hidden queue) inspired Walt.

But between the Mine Ride, Mine Train through Nature's Wonderland, and the Banana Train ride at the defunct Pacific Ocean Park, it was basically a genre of sorts for the 60s theme park.

Yes going in and out of that glory hole was cool and how it was multilevel. The tone of the ride and the AA's was just disturbing to me. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Probably the same way I'd want to get out of a real mine. So they nailed it! I couldn't hear anything the narrator was saying either.

Speaking of weird dark rides...

Beary Tales is a considerable improvement over the Voyage to the Iron Reef shooter that was there in the past. I wouldn't call it elite, but it's weird enough to be memorable. I do wish they had just rebuilt the ride from the 70s, but I get why they felt the need to make it a shooter, I suppose.

Most parks are astoundingly bad at having rides that are indoors-even parks that are in colder weather and are ostensibly trying to lengthen their operating seasons. Disney and Universal are very much the exception and not the rule there. Knott's is actually better off than most other parks in that area, believe it or not.

That's true.

Between me not being interested in any of the coasters with inversions and my son not being tall enough anyway that basically leaves us with Camp Snoopy, Ghost Rider, a couple of off the shelf coasters etc. Not enough to make us drive over there too often. If we lived closer snd could just pop in it would be different.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Yeah it was really hot, really packed Saturday Night. A lot of new pass holders. I'm sure it's not always like that. With that said it feels like the park jus doesn't really work for us. As you said, you have to buy Fastlane to make it worth it. As annual pass holders that's not something we're going to do often. If you're going to do that, you may as well buy Disneyland annual passes again. It's also just doesn't have the ride lineup that works for my family right now so the drive out there just isn't worth it. I should have just milked my USH passes for the year. It's not perfect for my family either but it's down the street. On its best day, Knotts isn't worth the hour and 45 min drive it took to get the park with traffic yesterday. But I haven't written it off. I'm sure I'll go at least 5 times. Next time we'll go on a nice Fall day (maybe even a weekday) and head out early.




Stops being fun real fast! Yeah I don't mind the rock work at all. It's part of the charm of Knotts and that era. Just sticks out like a sore thumb when your used to walking by the Cadillac range at DCA.




Yes going in and out of that glory hole was cool and how it was multilevel. The tone of the ride and the AA's was just disturbing to me. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Probably the same way I'd want to get out of a real mine. So they nailed it! I couldn't hear anything the narrator was saying either.





That's true.

Between me not being interested in any of the coasters with inversions and my son not being tall enough anyway that basically leaves us with Camp Snoopy, Ghost Rider, a couple of off the shelf coasters etc. Not enough to make us drive over there too often. If we lived closer snd could just pop in it would be different.

I will say it took me a few visits to 'get' Knott's. Hopefully when you return, it will click for your family too.

My first visit was dreadful, as the was mostly packed with unsupervised groups of teenagers (to the point that it felt as if about three people in the entire park were over the age of 18), and three of the coasters I was hoping to ride were down. Thankfully, subsequent visits were much better.

Did you get a chance to do the Log Ride? Any of the coasters/other rides (train, stagecoach, etc)?

 

[Phroobar]

Yeah it was really hot, really packed Saturday Night. A lot of new pass holders. I'm sure it's not always like that. With that said it feels like the park jus doesn't really work for us. As you said, you have to buy Fastlane to make it worth it. As annual pass holders that's not something we're going to do often. If you're going to do that, you may as well buy Disneyland annual passes again. It's also just doesn't have the ride lineup that works for my family right now so the drive out there just isn't worth it. I should have just milked my USH passes for the year. It's not perfect for my family either but it's down the street. On its best day, Knotts isn't worth the hour and 45 min drive it took to get the park with traffic yesterday. But I haven't written it off. I'm sure I'll go at least 5 times. Next time we'll go on a nice Fall day (maybe even a weekday) and head out early.




Stops being fun real fast! Yeah I don't mind the rock work at all. It's part of the charm of Knotts and that era. Just sticks out like a sore thumb when your used to walking by the Cadillac range at DCA.




Yes going in and out of that glory hole was cool and how it was multilevel. The tone of the ride and the AA's was just disturbing to me. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Probably the same way I'd want to get out of a real mine. So they nailed it! I couldn't hear anything the narrator was saying either.





That's true.

Between me not being interested in any of the coasters with inversions and my son not being tall enough anyway that basically leaves us with Camp Snoopy, Ghost Rider, a couple of off the shelf coasters etc. Not enough to make us drive over there too often. If we lived closer snd could just pop in it would be different.

Sorry you had a rotten time. I was there yesterday. We got there about 10:30 and left around 3:30. It was really packed and hot. Probably because kids are going back to school. Disneyland would have been far worst. Most of Knott's attractions are outdoor so you really can't beat the heat. I would suggest a week day after summer nights is over and before Haunt begins. It is pretty dead. Did you at least interreact with the citizens of Calico and do some of the games and treasure hunt they do? Did you see any shows?

You got to remember the Calico mine was built in 1960 (before POTC) and had a first of it's kind lift hill and hidden queue. It had a major build with new AA characters in 2014. Before that most of the AA characters looked they were carved from wood. The Log ride was build in 1969 and inspired Tony Baxter's Splash Mountain.

If I knew you were there, I could have showing you some tricks.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Sorry you had a rotten time. I was there yesterday. We got there about 10:30 and left around 3:30. It was really packed and hot. Probably because kids are going back to school. Disneyland would have been far worst. Most of Knott's attractions are outdoor so you really can't beat the heat. I would suggest a week day after summer nights is over and before Haunt begins. It is pretty dead. Did you at least interreact with the citizens of Calico and do some of the games and treasure hunt they do? Did you see any shows?

You got to remember the Calico mine was built in 1960 (before POTC) and had a first of it's kind lift hill and hidden queue. It had a major build with new AA characters in 2014. Before that most of the AA characters looked they were carved from wood. The Log ride was build in 1969 and inspired Tony Baxter's Splash Mountain.

If I knew you were there, I could have showing you some tricks.

I can also vouch for the fact that during the week when school's in session, the park is pretty dead. So dead that they don't bother selling Fastlane on those days. Even if Scary Farm is later in the evening, you can show up at Knott's on a fall weekday and find much, much shorter waits. GhostRider and the Stagecoach can still be problematic on those days, but the rest of the park is much easier to manage.

Another good reason to go during Haunt season even if you have no intention of actually going to the actual event? It's their busiest season of the year, so everything will be up and staffed, barring some sort of unusual circumstance, even though the park can be quite uncrowded or even dead midweek-the crowds aren't coming for the main Knott's experience that time of year, after all.

 

[Phroobar]

I can also vouch for the fact that during the week when school's in session, the park is pretty dead. So dead that they don't bother selling Fastlane on those days. Even if Scary Farm is later in the evening, you can show up at Knott's on a fall weekday and find much, much shorter waits. GhostRider and the Stagecoach can still be problematic on those days, but the rest of the park is much easier to manage.

Another good reason to go during Haunt season even if you have no intention of actually going to the actual event? It's their busiest season of the year, so everything will be up and staffed, barring some sort of unusual circumstance, even though the park can be quite uncrowded or even dead midweek-the crowds aren't coming for the main Knott's experience that time of year, after all.

Also during the day they do Spooky Farm with trick or treating in Ghost Town for the little kids and the bar is open with the skeleton horse (black horse painted with skeleton strips).

If you want five minutes of laughs, go talk to Sad Eye Joe in the jail. It's a silly joke but it is fun to give the kids name to guy at the window and then Sad Eye Joe greets them. Boot hill is also fun to take pictures, feel the heart beat in one of the graves and check out the baby rattlers.

Fun fact, Knotts has 5 operating coasters (six if include Xcellerator). Disneyland Resort has six rollercoasters. This isn't Magic Mountain with 19 coasters.

 

[Phroobar]

I can also vouch for the fact that during the week when school's in session, the park is pretty dead. So dead that they don't bother selling Fastlane on those days. Even if Scary Farm is later in the evening, you can show up at Knott's on a fall weekday and find much, much shorter waits. GhostRider and the Stagecoach can still be problematic on those days, but the rest of the park is much easier to manage.

Another good reason to go during Haunt season even if you have no intention of actually going to the actual event? It's their busiest season of the year, so everything will be up and staffed, barring some sort of unusual circumstance, even though the park can be quite uncrowded or even dead midweek-the crowds aren't coming for the main Knott's experience that time of year, after all.

We should meet up at Knotts some evening.

 

[mickEblu]

Sorry you had a rotten time. I was there yesterday. We got there about 10:30 and left around 3:30. It was really packed and hot. Probably because kids are going back to school. Disneyland would have been far worst. Most of Knott's attractions are outdoor so you really can't beat the heat. I would suggest a week day after summer nights is over and before Haunt begins. It is pretty dead. Did you at least interreact with the citizens of Calico and do some of the games and treasure hunt they do? Did you see any shows?

You got to remember the Calico mine was built in 1960 (before POTC) and had a first of it's kind lift hill and hidden queue. It had a major build with new AA characters in 2014. Before that most of the AA characters looked they were carved from wood. The Log ride was build in 1969 and inspired Tony Baxter's Splash Mountain.

If I knew you were there, I could have showing you some tricks.

That would have been nice! We didn’t walk into Knotts until about 6pm though. We could definitely use some tricks. We had Disneyland down to a science and outside of buying a VIP tour guide we had it to just about as stress and hassle free as could possibly be just from experience and .01 % type of hacks so that will be missed. I went from feeling like the top .01 % to the bottom 5% lol.

I definitely respect the Calico Mine Ride. Just have no interest in riding again anytime soon. Lol.

No I didn’t any of the games, shows, treasure hunt etc. Will try to do more of that stuff next time.

 

[Disney Vault]

Reddit - Dive into anything

reddit.com

With all the drought discussion I thought this was very interesting. The orange county water district deserves more credit

 

[Dear Prudence]

In re: cash:

I know there was a cash shortage during the height of the [on-going] pandemic, and many places switched to electronic or touchless methods of payment. I think the constant exchange of (filthy) money was a health risk, so maybe that's what they mean by safety. Personally, I don't any issues with using cash in places like Disneyland, or like in-museum stores or things like that, but I tend to not have cash on me for safety reasons in most of my real-life, and I feel very anxious getting cash out in public.

 

[Consumer]

In re: cash:

I know there was a cash shortage during the height of the [on-going] pandemic, and many places switched to electronic or touchless methods of payment. I think the constant exchange of (filthy) money was a health risk, so maybe that's what they mean by safety. Personally, I don't any issues with using cash in places like Disneyland, or like in-museum stores or things like that, but I tend to not have cash on me for safety reasons in most of my real-life, and I feel very anxious getting cash out in public.

 

[Dear Prudence]

[on-going]

 

[mickEblu]

In re: cash:

I know there was a cash shortage during the height of the [on-going] pandemic, and many places switched to electronic or touchless methods of payment. I think the constant exchange of (filthy) money was a health risk, so maybe that's what they mean by safety. Personally, I don't any issues with using cash in places like Disneyland, or like in-museum stores or things like that, but I tend to not have cash on me for safety reasons in most of my real-life, and I feel very anxious getting cash out in public.

You re probably right. That’s what they mean by “safety.” Which of course is just a ridiculous excuse as people are breathing all over each other at theme parks and touching the same hand railings etc. Just say you want to go “cashless.” Why the BS?

 

[Consumer]

[on-going]

I didn't say Covid ceased to exist, I implied it's no longer a pandemic, because it's not and hasn't been for a while. So no, there is no "on-going" pandemic.

 

[Dear Prudence]

You re probably right. That’s what they mean by “safety.” Which of course is just a ridiculous excuse as people are breathing all over each other at theme parks and touching the same hand railings etc. Just say you want to go “cashless.” Why the BS?

Yeah, I think when the cashless systems were in place, people were still masking and distancing. It would probably be a waste of money to go back and remove all of those new systems. I definitely hated working/dealing with cash before the pandemic, though. I also read somewhere cash is now more of a liability because of thefts and stuff, but I am not sure how true that is.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The safety of cash largely relates to everything that goes in to handling and managing large sums of cash. Just something like someone claiming they were given incorrect change can escalate.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Mickey Pumpkin is up. 100th bunting is gone.