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A DAY ON THE FARM
Best...and Oldest...Theme Park
© 2002
By Darryl Musick
If you've followed along on our East Coast Odyssey this fall, you will see that we got a bonus from the Cedar Point, Ohio portion of our trip...season passes for Knott's Berry Farm.
Not that we'd really need them, we visit the Farm frequently enough anyway.
Readers of this site will know that Knott's is my pick for the best theme or amusement park in California. So far, only Cedar Point in Ohio has surpassed my beloved Farm in that assessment.
Read our original trip report for Knott's Berry Farm here.
Much has changed since our last report, lamenting the changing of the guard from the Knott family to the corporate ownership of the Cedar Fair Corporation. Here is an updated report from our latest few visits.
Tim and I have the day off. It's a couple of days into the new year and we're going to use our Cedar Point passes for another bonus day at Knott's (if you buy a season pass at any Cedar Fair amusement park, it's good for admission to any other park in the chain also - see their website below for a list of parks).
We get really lucky this morning and snag a handicapped parking spot in front of Bob's Men's Shop directly across from the Chicken Dinner Restaurant and just a few feet further from the main gate. Usually, we have to park in the far shadow of Ghostrider which is still a great spot to park.
That means today we will get a whole day of free parking. Normally, the shopping lot (where most of the handicapped spots are) charges for anything over three hours. It used to be free all day for guests with handicap plates. Now it's a maximum of $5 versus $7 for everyone else.
We're a bit early, arriving about fifteen minutes before opening. At five minutes to go, the gates are swung open. A new security checkpoint is there and guards search all bags and scrutinize guests before they are allowed at the turnstiles. Such is the post 9/11 world we now live in.
The guests congregate in the plaza just inside the gate. Tim & I slip into the information office to grab a Special Assistance Pass (SAP), which is needed to use the accessible entrances to the rides. Employees bar entrance to the rest of the park with ropes.
At opening time, the Star Spangled Banner is played over the loud speakers. This is not a post 9/11 event but in fact is something they've always done at the Farm. It's always been a nice touch. As the last notes end, the employees gather up the ropes and off we go!
Most of the crowd (which is pretty sparse at this time) make a beeline to Ghostrider, the Farm's outstanding wooden roller coaster. From experience, we know it will take the crew at least an hour to get into their groove and we would have to wait a bit for the elevator.
Instead, we head to the other end of Ghost Town to the Timber Mountain Log Ride. We are the only two guests in this part of the park.
It's a challenge to get a disabled teenager into a rocking, floating log but I manage. There is a reserved loading platform here for disabled riders so I am able to take my time.
The log ride is an old favorite here...the first thrill ride ever installed at the Farm. It's still first rate with the audio anima-tronic figures working in the sawmill as you go, the pitch-black first drop and the final drop into the pond.
Splashdown on the Timber Mountain Log Ride
When we get back to the loading ramp, there is still not a soul in line. The ride operator, realizing how difficult getting into and out of the log is, let's us continue riding as long as there is no one in line. We make three more circuits before we finally call it quits. (There were still only 4 people in line when we got out, we just wanted to move on)
Just beyond the log ride, I rode on Boomerang for two circuits...Tim didn't want to ride. This compact steel coaster features three forward and three backward inversions. I have a lot of fun on this ride.
Just across from the Boomerang is the Wipeout, a spinning contraption that wobbles as you ride it. It looked fun. Tim rode on the inside, me on the outside. The operator started it up and the centrifugal force pushed Tim into me so hard I found myself gasping for breath. Next thing I know, the ride is stopped and the operator is by my side asking me if I want to get off...I had blacked out!
Pain is not the word for this ride and I cannot recommend it at all. I was ok though. After a rest to catch my breath, the two of us continued on.
Walking past Supreme Scream, I was reminded of my one and only ride on it a couple of years ago. It is extremely thrilling, perhaps a bit too thrilling for me. We pressed onward to Jaguar!, a mild steel coaster that makes a loop over the park's lake.
After Jaguar! and a quick ride on the Gran Slammer next door, I went on Montezooma's Revenge. This is a catapult launched coaster that sends you on a high speed journey through a loop and up a nearly vertical incline where gravity takes over and sends you back the way you came...backwards.
Truly one of the world's best coasters of its type. Unfortunately, disabled access on this ride means someone has to carry you up a long flight of stairs. Looking at the platform, it really would not take much to make this ride more wheelchair friendly.
Making our way back to Ghost Town, we pass by the church (which still has two services each Sunday) and Walter Knott's original berry stand. Behind the stand is the last of the berry vines that made up the original farm.
The Last of Mr. Knott's Boysenberry Vines
Now it's time to do Ghostrider. We make our way to the elevator entrance (which is nowhere near the main entrance...you need to go to the main loading building) and quickly get a ride upstairs after showing our SAP.
This is now our 22nd time on this coaster and we now know it's turns, drops, and quirks by heart. It's also just as thrilling now as it was on our first ride. This is how our best wooden coaster we've ever had the pleasure to ride goes:
The Ghost with the Most...Ghostrider
We drop into the desert landscaped garden from the loading platform. This are of sand & cactus is where the old Pan for Gold attraction was. It's a quick right-hand U-turn and then we're clanking up the 116 foot lift hill. As we crest the top, we're dropped into the very fast, left hand twisting first drop. As the train enters the frame work of the ride at 56 miles per hour...threatening to lop off our heads...the on-ride photo camera captures our fear.
The train cuts a diagonal swath across and up the timbers before making a high speed right turn and dropping into the perilous second drop. Another right and the train quickly climbs up over the loading platform where it slows down for an off cambered right turn and crosses over the midcourse trim brakes (which I have yet to see being used).
The train drops into the framework again and takes a hard left turn. Back out across Grand Avenue, we make a right turn and fly through the bunny hills next to the handicapped parking lot...hey, there's our car! The train makes a fast, tight, right-hand spiral into the final brakes leading to the station. Finally, we slow down.
Great, great, ride.
Afterward, it's time for lunch. Knott's has three great choices for a good sit down meal (plus a couple more places for food to-go). We opt for Ghost Town Grill where I can get a good steak and Tim a burger. For $7.95, their rib eye steak platter is a bargain. The other two great choices are Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant, just outside the gate, and Cucina, Cucina! next door at the Radisson Hotel.
After lunch, we let our food digest while we take in the show at the Calico Saloon. Next, we wander up the street to take a ride on Bigfoot Rapids and the Tumbler before calling it a day.
If my wife was with us, this would be the part where we slowly make our way up through Ghost Town perusing the shops before hitting more of the same just outside at the California Market Place. I might even buy a few shirts at Bob's Men's Shop before I get back in the car.
Whatever we do, we always make our last stop the bakery next door to the Chicken Dinner Restaurant for a delicious treat before heading home.
So, what has changed since our last report?
NO LONGER AT THE FARM
The Steak House Restaurant - replaced by Auntie Pasta's, a pizza place.
Ghost Town Grill easily makes up for it, though.
Windjammer (AKA Jammer) - A steel racing looping coaster missed by
no one.
The Parachute Ride - The tower's still there. Replaced by Supreme
Scream and Vertigo (a bungee-style extra charge ride)
The Dolphin Show/Diving Arena - Was standing, but not operating on
our last report. Now replaced with Perilous Plunge.
The Haunted Shack - A classic park attraction loved by many.
Torn down to make room for Vertigo and, officially, because it couldn't
be made accessible.
NEW TO THE FARM
Perilous Plunge - A shoot-the-chutes water ride. Very tall and
very steep. Currently closed due to a rider's death.
Ghostrider - a very good wooden roller coaster. Among the best
in the world.
Vertigo - An upcharge, bungee style ride. Currently closed because
a similar ride in Ohio collapsed and all similar rides are being inspected
to see if they are safe.
***UPDATE*** Concerned over the safety of the ride, Knott's has removed Vertigo
Cucina, Cucina! - A very good and reasonable Italian restaurant at
the park's Radisson hotel next door.
For more information, visit Knott's Berry Farm's website at www.knotts.com or Cedar Fair's corporate site at www.cedarfair.com.
There is almost always a discounted way into Knott's so you shouldn't have to pay full price. Many supermarkets in the area have half price tickets available, AAA members get a discount as do military members. There are also many special promotions throughout the year such as bring a toy for Toys For Tots and Coke can specials. The Radisson Hotel also has some pretty good package deals. Call the park ticket office for current discount offers before heading out.
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