4 go La La in La La Land - Day 13: Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset, Repeat

[Pumba75]

Monday 13th August 2018

Firstly, apologies for the delay in getting this day of the trip up - work has been incredibly busy for both of us recently, so time to do anything has been at a premium.

Today was one of our “rest” days involving no Disney parks, so we had a bit of a lay-in to recover from the pace of the last couple of days. After showering and dressing we decided to go for breakfast at the Starbucks across the road. There was quite a big queue, and they seemed to be out of everything we wanted to have, but in the end we managed to get some food and drink and sat at one of the outside tables. It was ok, nothing really special. As a consequence of all these shenanigans, I don’t appear to have made a note of what we actually had. But this was our view, looking over the road at our hotel.

The plan today was to visit Knotts Berry Farm - M had read about this park when we were doing all of our planning and, having seen all the coasters on offer, was VERY keen to go! We’d booked the tickets through Expedia before leaving, which was a better deal than buying tickets on the gate. When we’d been doing our research on the park, we’d figured we might spend just a few hours here - Spoiler Alert - we ended up staying until closing!

We left Hotel Indigo about 9.45am.

Saw this on route and the name made Melissa giggle!

It was just a short journey - we were pulling up in the car park around 20 minutes later. Traffic in this part of LA was a lot more bearable than it had been in and around Burbank.

We walked from the car park to the park entrance, a route which included passing under the MASSIVE wooden rollercoaster that would be ridden later.

The process of exchanging the Expedia vouchers for park tickets was very straightforward, and soon we were in the park itself, and discussing where to start. It was still quite early, and the park was not at all busy.

I already knew that, due to my inability to ride coasters (all medically-enforced remember )today was going to be a day of relatively few rides for me - however, there were a couple that looked do-able. One of those was the Timber Log flume ride, so the girls and I headed there first. As flume rides go, this was a good one - a bit like a water coaster. There were a few drops in the dark on the inside part of the ride, which were great, but the “big” drop at the end of the ride was a little tame, and we didn’t get too wet. We all agreed that if we could have had the inside part of this ride, with the end drop of Splash Mountain, then it would have been awesome. Melissa went to find some shade as it was already hot.

M was getting impatient to get on one of the more serious rides now, so we headed to “Hangtime” so she could start getting some coaster action. This ride looked absolutely crazy, and featured a fairly long pause at the start as the ride carriage “hung” at the top of an almost-vertical drop, before heading into a series of twists and loops.

Whilst the 3 of them were riding this, I went and got one of the park’s refillable drinks mugs - it was $15 and, given how hot it was again, proved to be money well spent, as we definitely got full value out of it for the rest of the day.

The next ride for the 3 of them was Xcelerator - another coaster with a lot of twists and turns, that accelerates to 82mph in less than 2.5 seconds, whilst heading more than 200 feet into the air.

The adrenaline of the last couple of rides had obviously made Melissa and the girls hungry, so we headed to grab a light lunch at the Johnny Rocket’s that was located in the park. Here we shared some plain fries and also some Bacon & Cheese loaded fries, and each had a milkshake. Delicious.

We never got time to ride this. We would have done if Grandad had been here!

After lunch it was time to tackle “Ghost Rider” - this is the wooden coaster, claimed to be the largest on the West Coast. It is, honestly, huge, with the track travelling outside the boundaries of the park itself, out further on to the Knott’s Berry Farm resort estate. This was where Melissa and the girls encountered the biggest queue of the day - around 45 minutes. You can purchase “Fast Lane” passes, but we had decided against this as they were $70 per person. Other than this ride, everything else we did was pretty much a walk-on. Again, this ride was a hit.

Following this, Melissa and M went off and embarked on a bit of a ride frenzy - hitting Silver Bullet, Supreme Scream, Jaguar and Sol Spin.

We don't have many photos, as we were just enjoying our time there.

They also tried Montezooma’s Revenge, but this broke down whilst they were in the queue. We all met up again, and watched M go back on Sol Spin, which she had loved.

Even watching this ride made me feel queasy! There was a long horizontal arm that went round. on the end of this arm was an axle with 6 spokes coming off it, which also went round (like the hands of a clock). The seats were on each of the spokes, and there was also an axle at the end of the spokes, so these also span. I don’t know how she rode it once, let alone twice - and we still didn’t see her lunch again!

The girls felt it was about time that I did a ride again, so we headed back to the Timber Mountain Log ride, before we headed off to Big Foot Rapids.

Given my experience on Grizzly River Run a couple of days earlier, I decided against this one, so E&M did it on their own. They then rode Pony Express - as coasters go at this park, this was relatively mild, but you were sat vertically, as if on the back of a horse.

It was then Melissa and M’s turn to again get some action on the rides that were beyond me and E, taking in Sierra Sidewinder and the, now repaired, Montezooma’s Revenge. Sierra Sidewinder was a fairly standard coaster, except that the car also span as it went around the track.

It was now dinner time, and we were all hungry, so we decided that, firstly, as there was a Panda Express within the park and, secondly, that we’d spoken for years about eating at Panda Express and never actually got around to doing it, that this should be where we go. We were so glad we did, all going for different variations of the combo meals available - including the Orange Chicken that is often praised on The DIBB. The food was really good, and was also good value.

Having eaten, there was still a bit of time before the park closed at 8pm, so we decided to get some last rides in. We did Timber Mountain for the 3rd time, partly because the girls and I enjoyed and partly so I felt like I’d had some value for the money spent on my ticket!

Then it was Coast Rider, and finally, as the light faded and park closing began to tick around, Silver Bullet. In fact in the final 10 minutes before closing, Melissa & the girls managed to ride this three times in quick succession - Melissa and M first, then all 3, then M&E for the final one.

The park was now officially shut, and we headed out, via one of the souvenir shops where we picked up some Boysenberry Biscuits - Boysenberry being the berry the farm is famous for.

We got back to the car and made the short journey back to the hotel where we were soon all tucked up in bed.

Today had been a great day - we didn’t really know what to expect of Knott’s Berry Farm, and had initially thought we might spend half a day there. We ended up staying all day and had loved it. If you have any coaster fanatics or adrenaline junkies in your party, then this park is a great way to spend a day, so many rides, many of them totally crazy! It had been pretty quiet as well, virtually every ride was a walk-on, so we really felt we’d made the absolute most of our time. It’s obviously very different to the Disney parks, but I would highly recommend a visit if you’re heading to Anaheim, and want to try somewhere different.

Thanks for reading.

Tomorrow - Pool time and shopping.

[Goldia]

Ooh goodness some of those coasters look very intimidating. I much prefer to not see the ride before getting on, in fact I may have had some medically enforced rest too! Still it sounds like you all had a fab time and bonus you got to try Panda Express...I've still yet to do that either!

[Melbatb]

My kids would love this park - me and DH not so much

We loved Panda Express when we were in California! So reasonable!

[i love jack]

Another fantastic day

[slow.jo]

I feel a bit motion sick just reading this day! What a great park, we'd love to go one day.

Glad you liked Panda Express, it's one of my faves!

Jo xx

[cdavenport]

Loving the trip report, looking forward to the rest.

[Lisa_Lollipop]

Wow your girls really are dare devils! I absolutely love a rollercoaster but looking at these photos there are a fair few rides that I would have been opting out of! Looks like a fab park though, definitely going on the list for our next trip over to the West Coast!

Oh and you have totally got me craving orange chicken now!

[Pumba75]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Ooh goodness some of those coasters look very intimidating. I much prefer to not see the ride before getting on, in fact I may have had some medically enforced rest too! Still it sounds like you all had a fab time and bonus you got to try Panda Express...I've still yet to do that either!

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Medically enforced exemption is the best excuse for me! Panda Express was totally worth the wait.

Originally Posted by Melbatb

My kids would love this park - me and DH not so much

We loved Panda Express when we were in California! So reasonable!

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Ha ha - I have to say, even though I couldn't do many of the rides, I thought it was a great park.

Panda Express was one of the best value meals we had I would say.

Originally Posted by i love jack

Another fantastic day

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Thanks for reading.

Originally Posted by slow.jo

I feel a bit motion sick just reading this day! What a great park, we'd love to go one day.

Glad you liked Panda Express, it's one of my faves!

Jo xx

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Its a great park, M absolutely loved it, and none of the rides phased her at all.

Panda Express has definitely made it on to the "return" list!

Originally Posted by cdavenport

Loving the trip report, looking forward to the rest.

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Thanks very much - we've only got a few days to go now

Originally Posted by Lisa_Lollipop

Wow your girls really are dare devils! I absolutely love a rollercoaster but looking at these photos there are a fair few rides that I would have been opting out of! Looks like a fab park though, definitely going on the list for our next trip over to the West Coast!

Oh and you have totally got me craving orange chicken now!

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Oh they are - M in particular - although none of these rides have anything on Rage at Adventure Island

Thanks for reading all

[mrsdjh]

Ooh some scary looking rides there! I would have to be the designated bag carrier if I ever went there 🤢

[Pumba75]

Originally Posted by mrsdjh

Ooh some scary looking rides there! I would have to be the designated bag carrier if I ever went there 🤢

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Us girls loved it. G was more than happy to be bag carrier!

M x