Monday, April 10, 2017

Knott's Boysenberry Festival + Disneyland Trip Report



Hello everyone!  :} 


Who's up for some Boysenberry goodness? 


Everyone knows that Knott's Berry Farm invented the Boysenberry back in the day, but what you may not know is that the Annual Boysenberry Festival offers countless way to enjoy the little aggregate fruit. 


I'm here today with California Coaster Kings to check out all of the exciting goings-on down at the Farm!



It's a beautiful day in Buena Park! 🌞

Berries aside, we're also here to enjoy some awesome and/or underrated SoCal coaster mainstays!

Silver Bullet is lowkey one of my favorite B&M inverts. 

One of the reasons I love this ride is for its unique Stengel Dive.

It's doesn't have much of a first drop, but the gradual slope into the first loop is certainly interesting.

The G-forces aren't very strong in the beginning, but they get stronger and stronger as the ride progresses. 

IMPORTANT❗

Montezooma's Revenge is orange now and I AM HERE FOR IT.

Silver Bullet's double mirror flatspin is also a special feature. 

Beautiful new Sol Spin deluxe Mondial Top Scan is coming together!

This custom installation is larger than the standard model and features six additional seats. It's specially designed to occupy the space left by the ill-fated Windseeker.

Montezooma's Revenge was rumored to be getting retired, but instead it's been re-beautified! So happy this classic is safe!

There's nothing more Knott's than the Butterfield Stagecoach and the Timber Mountain Log Flume. 🐴 πŸ’¦

California Coaster Kings / Thrillography selfie on Timber Mountain! πŸ’–

And Xcelerator!

Still one of the finest launches in the industry!

A special treat! Both trains are running!

Xcelerator's entire performance from station to brakerun is about 20 seconds. There's not enough time for a train waiting outside the station to enter and unlock before the dispatched train is already right behind!

Later Intamin Accelerator coasters feature either a launch bay or an exit station. 

Capacity isn't the greatest, but it's still a great ride! 

And lines are short today! 

Hooray for easy re-rides on the milky-pink wonder of Knott's! 🌸

I love Coast Rider but they TOTALLY INSTALLED SHIN BARS ON THE RESTRAINTS AND NOW IF YOU'RE TALL THE RIDE HURTS. It makes me so sad. 
Also sad (for some people): Boomerang leaves Knott's latter this month!

Who would have thought that Knott's was gonna retire the shuttle coaster that 12 years newer?

Rumor has it that Cedar Fair has ordered a brand new Vekoma-1212 train for Boomerang, but the ride's future whereabouts are still a mystery.

See! Here's the train situation: train #1 has cleared half the layout and train #2 is still moseying it's way to the station! 

Supreme Scream time! 

Fun Fact: all 3 sides of Supreme Scream are Turbo Drops because Disney had exclusivity on the Space Shot for Maliboomer at California Adventure! πŸ˜‚

If you like fries, you gotta check out La Papa Loca! Their garlic fries are EVERYTHING! 🍟

If I had a patronus, it would probably be this crazy fry. 

Also crazy: Surprisingly slick dark green Waveswinger! Looking good!

The Sky Cabin has been closed since it stranded passengers for hours in December. Rumor has it it might be on the way out soon too!

At this rate Xcelerator may be the oldest ride in the Boardwalk area before too long! 

Silver Bullet looks so good today! I can't stop taking pictures of it!

I wasn't a fan of the colors when the ride opened but they've really grown on me. 

Ghostrider! Lit as always!

How about a little Boysenberry fun?

Ghost Town flowers ON POINT! 🌼🌹🌺

The motif for the festival are, of course, giant Boysenberries! 

Lots of seasonal venders join the boysenberry food offerings. 

Boysenberry BBQ, Boysenberry alligator bites, Boysenberry corn on the cob – if you can name it, they've got it!

My fav Boysenberry offering is the Boysenberry soft serve and the Boysenberry punch. If you can't make it out for the festival, no worries! The soft serve and the punch are both available all year long!

πŸ’œ

Boysenberry pies and cupcakes?? Nope! They're candles. :}

Hey! This used to be a gift shop!

Now it has animal in it. :}

Want to take home your own Boysenberry bush so that you can make your very own Boysenberry creations??? Knott's has you covered!

We had a great day at Knott's, but the night is young! Let's hop over to Disneyland for the evening!

Grizzly River Run is finally open again! It was sorely missed!

Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is also open again, but it wasn't nearly as missed. 

It may be a random Tuesday in April, but Disney is hoppin' Ninety minute wait for Grizz!

One hour for California Screamin'! 

Ohh? What's this? 

I SPY NEW HOTNESS!

Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout! is looking radiant in the afternoon sun!

The overhaul-en-progess ex-Tower of Tower looms colorfully over It's A Bug's Land.

Original concepts called for a very Discoveryland-Disney-Paris palate of brushed copper shades, but as it turns out GotG has quite a bit of color to show!

Every inch of the re-imagineered tower is covered with little details.

I love Tower of Terror at other Disney parks, but frankly I think this is way cooler. Excited at this opportunity for California Adventure to set itself apart!

Curb appeal is only part of the battle won, however; love it or hate it, I think everyone is curious to see just how experience compares to ToT.

Matterhorn is still closed for its FastPass conversion, but we can still enjoy it from afar. :}

πŸ’™πŸ’šπŸ’œπŸ’›πŸ’–

Here's a ride we love that we don't often photograph! It's the Indiana Jones Adventure!

Long waits mean getting a nice tour of the ride's outdoor overflow queue. 

This ride makes quick work of a full queue! 

Time to pay a visit to temple god Mara!

We did quite a few rides before we called it a night, but the last shot of the day is of Splash Mountain! πŸ’¦πŸŒ‹


That's a wrap! What a great Anaheim day! :}


REAL TALK, GUYS! BIG CHANGES COMING!


STAY TUNED! 


;}