The Moretons Amazing California Advenutre - Day 3

[LLKJDisney]

DAY 3 – KNOTTSBERRY FARM

Lee was first up today at 3.30am, although I did wake at 2.45am but there was no way I was getting up then. Lucas woke just after 4am, which meant he had slept for 10 hours. As Lee was wide-awake he took him downstairs to watch cartoons. Slowly but surely everyone got up and we were all up before 6am – jet lag is great. Breakfast consisted of cereal, toast and lots of tea. Jacob checked out the Wrestle mania results from last night, we then put Mr Bean the movie on the TV via netflix, Jacob loved it. Lucas then watched Peabody and Sherman all before 9am.

Knottsberry didn’t open until 10 and it was only 8 miles away so we didn’t need to leave the house until at least 9.15am. I could not find my sunglasses anywhere, I was sure I had given them to Lee in Denny’s yesterday but of course he could not remember this. We decided to check in Denny’s on the way but no luck. Lee was not happy as the delay meant we would not be the first car in the car park at Knottsberry. We got there around 10am but the organisation of the parking was shocking which resulted in cars going in all different directions. Eventually we paid our $15 and parked up. Lucas had already dropped off; his body clock was all over the place. The first thing you notice about Knottsberry is the huge wooden coaster that stretches across half the park.

We scanned our paper tickets that we printed off the Internet in the UK and headed straight to Camp Snoopy. We figured this area would get busy quite quickly. The park as expected felt different to a Disney park but early impressions were good. Camp Snoopy was very well themed and the rest of the park is very old western American we enjoyed this area of the park.




As Lucas was still asleep in the stroller, Jacob ventured on a few rides himself. He managed to convince Lee to go on a ride called Linus Launcher; to say Lee did not enjoy this was an understatement.

Jacob wanted to play hook a duck, we told him not to waste his money as it was fixed and you never win. He wasn’t so sure and eventually agreed to move on, we said he could play later.
Lucas woke up and was straight into it and went on Huff and Puff, which is a ride that you have to power round a track yourself, for my little 3 year old this was hard work, but he pumped it hard and he soon got round.

It was a lovely warm day and not oppressive at all. We went on a few more kiddie rides before stopping so the boys could have a snack. We always try to take some nibbles into the park as we find it’s cheaper and healthier to do this. We then spotted the Xcellerator, straightaway Lee and I where keen to go on. Grandma and Granddad stayed with the boys while we went to join the queue. It was only a 15-minute wait and it was brilliant, it was a cross between the Hulk and the Big One (Blackpool). Lee and I love coasters and we both said this would make our top 5.

We then went in search of ice cream but no luck, as nowhere that sold it was open! We ended up on the Calico Mine Train which is a nice family ride, it did break down for a about 5 minutes while we were on it but we still enjoyed it. It was approaching midday and we were all peckish, as we had eaten breakfast so early. We got some overpriced hot dogs and burgers but they did the job.

Jacob was desperate to go on the rapids until he found out the wait time; he is not the most patient 6 year old. Sue and Dick were keen to go on the Stage Coach that we had spotted going around the park, after eventually finding where to join it we queued up for 20 minutes. This was a great attraction that took us all round the park, it showed how big the park actually was. Lee wanted to go on the Silver Bullet but it was down so we opted for the wooden coaster. Again it was just Lee and I. The boys were now tired and winding each other up. The queue was about 25 minutes; the ride seemed to go on forever. It was good but very bumpy and certainly shook you about, a proper boneshaker! We both said better than the Gwazi at Busch.

It was now very hot there was no breeze and not a cloud in the sky. We decided to go back to Camp Snoopy so that Lucas could do some of the rides he missed out on first thing.

Jacob and Lucas went on 5 or 6 more rides before we all decided enough was enough and we should get some dinner. Before we left we were taught a little lesson. That lesson was kids never forget, Jacob had remembered the promise of a go on hook a duck. So we found the stall and paid for him and Lucas to have a go and guess what….he won! He was now the proud owner of ‘sticky’ who was a multi coloured spider soft toy. He also did not let us forget that we told him that no one ever wins. It was around 4.30pm when we left the park.

you can see "sticky" in this picture!

Today was one of the few days we had already decided on where to go for dinner. We had heard a lot about Mrs Knott’s chicken diner and we were very much looking forward to it. Unfortunately it turned out to be a disaster and probably our worst dining experience of the trip.

We waited about 10 minutes for a table even though there were lots of tables available. When we were seated Dick and Sue were given the senior citizens menu, which was basically the same as the normal menu with a couple of dollars off. Our server Robyn came over and took our drinks order, however Dick wanted a beer but this proved to be a problem as he had no ID. Despite saying he had the senior citizens menu the answer was still no. Lee had ID so said he would order it for him, you would think this would not be a problem but it seemed to be, and Robyn went to get her manager to approve that we could in fact order a beer! She made a point of saying so the beer is just for you then to Lee and looking at me! I wasn’t drinking the beer, and Lee told her he was ordering it with his ID for his dad. She eventually agreed and when it came it arrived with 3 glasses: for Dick, Sue and Lee to share! I’m still not sure how this happened and it was probably our fault but it did seem strange that a 63 year old could not order 1 bottle of beer.

Now, I know I said I would not give a blow-by-blow account of our meals but I feel the need to explain our experience in a bit more detail.
Lee ordered the Chicken Dumplings, which came with a chicken noodle soup
Sue had chicken breast and a salad
Dick opted for the Turkey dinner with sweet corn
I was still full up from my hot dog at lunch so only had a salad. The boys had chicken strips, which came with Jelly.

The food took a while to come out, we were given some bread to keep us going, now we normally like a bit of bread to nibble on before dinner. However this bread tasted weird, they were described as ‘biscuits’ but they tasted of nothing even adding butter or jam didn’t work. The main courses then arrived and were kind of dumped on the table rather than given to us individually. The mash potato was inedible; it just fell through the fork when you tried to eat it. My salad was fine but not a lot can go wrong with a salad. Lee did eat his chicken dumplings and said they were nice but nowhere near as good as the cracker barrel in Florida. Dick eats mosts things put in front of him but he struggled with his Turkey and Sue ate half her chicken. The boys just ate their jelly. Looking back on it now its quite funny and I think tiredness contributed to our poor experience, but its fair to say Mrs Knott’s did not live up to our expectations. The restaurant was very busy and there was a long line waiting to get in when we left so may be we were just unlucky. The bill was $90 including tip.

Overall our day at Knottsberry was very enjoyable, we tired in the afternoon but the park was very nice and suitable for all ages there are lots of rides for young children and 4 or 5 big rides for teenagers/adults. The signage in the park isn’t great and we found that the food outlets were either closed or limited on what they sold, also the loading of rides was very slow, often there would be 1 member of staff doing everything which slowed things down a lot. I think we would visit again but would give the Diner a miss.

It took us about 15 minutes to get home, we sat in the yard and enjoyed the evening sunshine, the boys were in bed by 7pm. We had a quick team meeting and decided that tomorrow we would go to Santa Monica, this had been on the schedule for Friday but we decided to re-shuffle. Lee put Stand by Me on the TV but no one made it to the end. Sue and Dick went to bed around 8.30pm and we followed just after 9pm. Hopefully we will stay up past 9pm on at least one day this holiday

[Pussycat Doll]

I don't think we ever made it past 10pm in California Kerry! By e sounds of your experience I'm glad we gave the chicken place a miss when we went to Knotsberry! A good day though apart from your dinner! Pussycat x

[Guest]

What a shame about the kerfuffle at Mrs Knotts! We had a great time in 2012!

[Guest]

This is my first ever "look" at KBF - we love Snoopy in our house, I think that's going to be a must do during our 2017 CA visit!

Thanks for posting - I'm enjoying reading along.

April

[LLKJDisney]

Originally Posted by Pussycat Doll

I don't think we ever made it past 10pm in California Kerry! By e sounds of your experience I'm glad we gave the chicken place a miss when we went to Knotsberry! A good day though apart from your dinner! Pussycat x

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Thanks Selina
Yes Mrs Knotts chicken dinner is definitley not a good place IMO

Originally Posted by Rollercolster

I've heard good things about Mrs Knotts too but that really doesn't sound good ... sounded like a great day otherwise though - thanks for sharing

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Thanks for reading

Originally Posted by GopherLass

This is my first ever "look" at KBF - we love Snoopy in our house, I think that's going to be a must do during our 2017 CA visit!

Thanks for posting - I'm enjoying reading along.

April

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Oh you really must it's a fabulous park, and the camp snoopy area is fabulous for the kiddies ... and adults!

[rebeccarobbins]

Loving your reports!
That meal did not sound appetising. Hope you find somewhere better tomorrow!

[abiknox]

Great day, some of the rides at Knottsberry look fab.

[tocpe321]

Great day thanks for report.

We have booked tickets for Knotts Berry Farm on our first day so hope to take advantage of jet lag.

Shame re Mrs Knotts. Was thinking about trying there.