Knott's Berry Farm: My Bodacious ACE Coaster Con XXXVII Trip Report - Part VIII

I'm tired. From Magic Mountain. Still.

Are you tired?

I'm tired. 

I think we were all tired. As a result, M&M, Josh, Ron, and I stumbled into our Sunday at Knott's Berry Farm still wiping the proverbial eye crusties from our sleepy faces. Good thing Knott's is the liveliest of the Cedar Fair bunch; it whipped us right into shape! For the most part anyways…

There are photos in here that I'd forgotten I'd taken, and entire events that I couldn't recall until I saw the photographic evidence. Our day at Knott's was wonderful, but apparently I was asleep for parts of the day! I take comfort in knowing that semi-unconscious Alex still took photos about as frequently as fully-conscious Alex does. It's sort of like that feeling of relief when you wake up after getting wasted the night before to discover that you actually didn't do anything stupid. :}

ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzZZZZZZZzzzzzzzZZZZZZZzzzzzzz…….

…….ZZZZZzzzzzZZZZ–**SNORT**…….*yawn*….

Hey, where are we? This doesn't look like Tennessee.

Hey!! We're at Knott's Berry Farm! I'm still on vacation! It wasn't all just a dream. :}

*stumbles around*

Jeez. Look at this town. I don't see a 7-11 or a Walgreens or anything! How can I wake up without a can of Full Throttle Energy? Magic Mountain spoiled me with a giant Full Throttle at this time yesterday. :}

You guys, what are we doing now? I need to wake up!

Hey!! This gives me an idea!!

Ghostrider for breakfast!

During the 8 years between my first ride on Ghostrider in 2002 and my first ride on Voyage in 2010, Ghostrider was my #1 coaster. The ride isn't what it was when I first rode it, but I still REALLY enjoyed it and still consider it to be a spectacular ride! Considering all of the bad things I'd heard about the ride in recent years, I'd actually say some credit is due to Knott's for somehow managing to keep the ride as good as they have for so long.

We took our time that morning. In fact, the day would end up being pretty slow-paced in general compared to our day at Magic Mountain. We were all very happy with this. :}

However, our loitering in Ghost Town attracted the attention of some constables. 

They apprehended Tony and gave us a stern talking to!

However, they decided to accept a hostage-trade a la Beauty and the Beast...

…and May was ordered to open a potentially-explosive box at gun-point!

(Can't say I'm not surprised to still see pistols at a California theme park)

One of the constables has snatched the contents of the box away from May! 

Turns out the explosive contents were some fast-food beans!!!

One of the constables tried to have a conversation with Ron while the other ate the beans behind his back!

The constable eating the beans has been discovered! He must pay! 

Dodging bullets is an art, not a science.

Oh my! It would seem that the activity in the square has attracted some attention!

Turns out the kind Miss sought to compliment the dancing constable.

The trigger-happy constable, moved by the kind Miss's admiration, apologized for his actions and decided to marry the two right on the spot.

(I honestly have no idea what's going on here. Is this a dream? I think I'm asleep.)

GAHH! Pony Express! You startled me!!

What? No! Of course I wasn't sleeping. That's ridiculous! …….

Anywhoo, let's go for a ride!

I rather like these straddle-a-thing-and-launch coasters. I believe this is my third one, and my first themed to ponies. :}

Good morning, Train! Did you hear about all of that hullabaloo in Ghost Town earlier?

No? Not a thing? Ok, just checking…

¡M&M y Josh montan los caballos! 

¡¡¡Van muy rápido!!!

¡¡Weeeeeee!!

(same in Spanish as English. :} )

Train, are you sure you didn't hear about anything happening in Ghost Town? There was some kind of bomb threat and a dance party and a wedding. 

I think I need to eat something.

Mmmmm toast. :}

So, like, Silver Bullet is, like, the most underrated B&M ever. 

People say it's, like, sorta boring, but I think it's super fetch.

Like, even more fetch than I remember. It was, like, totally fetch when I rode it in 2005, but now it's, like, even fetcher. It's obviously aged super well.

This, like, speaks to me on a personal level.

As we all sat down for a nice lunch in Fiesta Village, I enjoyed the view of the park from where Windseeker's brief life at Knott's took place.

Heyyy Montezooma's Revenge! You may be the oldest coaster here, but we all know that this is still your show, amirite?

Jaguar! is pretty cool too, even though the train looks more like a long, skinny rock than a jaguar. 

Let's face it, Ghost Rider and Xcelerator are great and all, but this right here is the greatest thing about Knott's Berry Farm's gnarly coaster collection. 

What you're looking at is THE last Schwarzkopf shuttle loop in the United States. And the ride still effing ROCKS.

Jag's whole mine-train-ish gig is pretty cool too. Any fans of the original roller coaster at Mall of America? Those two are, like, total bros.

In all seriousness, Knott's Camp Snoopy at Mall of America was totally like a concentrated conglomeration of Knott's Fiesta Village and Camp Snoopy, plus some other righteous inclusions, like a log flume and a Zamperla Roto-Shake (Hammerhead Shark, anyone??)

Whoa!!! Look at this radical action going on over here! 

Dude, Monty, I hope you realize that your bodaciousness is that for which this report is named. 

It's your world, dude, and we're just living in it.

I was starting to feel a bit more like myself after lunch. It was close to noon, and I was finally waking up!

But, like, there's this part of me that is, like, really feeling influenced by the area. 

Xcelerator, you are positively pink these days. Coral, even. Are you okay with all of your neighbors getting the attention, instead of you?

Like the Calico Mine! It's in the best shape of it's life this year! :D

There's a LOT of activity going on inside the Calico Mine!

And some beautiful sights to see.

M&M is positively captivated! :}

The Timber Mountain Log Ride completes the Knott's Berry Farm holy trinity. :}

Love is sharing a log with your favorite person. <3

Which means I have THREE loves today! :D

Every so often there's a shoot-out in the heart of Knott's Berry Farm. It's nice to be able to catch a quick show just in passing. :}

For a 20-ish minute show, it was very well done!

Supreme Scream never did get a ride from me on this trip. Love the ride, just sorta forgot. lolz

Silver Bullet, on the other hand, commanded our attention.

After a summer full of such B&M masterpieces as Banshee, Wild Eagle, Flight Deck, and Riddler's Revenge, Silver Bullet really rose to the challenge and proved its worth.

The G-forces right here are excellent! It's a fabulous finale to a fabulous ride. 

Speaking of fabulous, the new Boardwalk is just about as fabulous as it gets!

Never was there ever a more radiant Boomerang. 

And I'm tickled by the fact that the ride is a different color every time I see it. 

The girl on the right seems to be doing an amalgam of a gang sign and Auguste  Rodin's "The Thinker."

Time to get wet! 

Waiting in line for the rapids ride is one of the only ways to get a good shot of Ghostrider from inside Knott's Berry Farm.

The rapids were marvelous and wet. I'd say it's the best rapids ride in SoCal! :}

And Ghostrider, you're easily still the best wooden coaster in SoCal, though that's not saying much. 

We decided to enjoy Knott's classic "Mystery Lodge" while we dried off. Photography is not allowed inside, but the Lodge is quite a nice way to relax at Knott's. 

Of course, on a day like today, getting too relaxed can be dangerous. Wouldn't want to fall asleep on a bench somewhere!

What we need are MORE THRILLS! So naturally, we turn to...

HORSIES! :D

Knott's remarkable Butterfield Stagecoach attraction is probably the only one of its kind in the entire theme park industry. If you want to ride a horse-drawn carriage beneath some roller coasters, you gotta go to Knott's!

With all of Knott's wonderful, unique attractions, I'm starting to feel like this place is pretty underrated. I mean, it's hard competing with Disney and Magic Mountain, but Knott's absolutely holds its own.

Here we have the tea cups Sombreros!

Knott's Camp Snoopy has received some refreshments this year and is looking lovely.

I'd never ridden the Butterfield Stagecoach before, but who knew it gave such great views?!

The horses whisper amongst themselves about whether or not Silver Bullet is forceless.

The only problem I have with Montezooma's Revenge is that there just isn't enough of it to photograph! Oh well. This is still the Montezooma's Revenge Show! :}

Don't listen to what anyone says, Silver Bullet. You are a STRONG, INDEPENDENT, and FORCEFUL B&M and you don't need NO MAN to complete you! 

We passed back through Camp Snoopy after our stagecoach ride.

It's a marvelous attraction, indeed!

As is Sierra Sidewinder, the park's MACK spinner! I fell asleep on the lift hill, but I was in pretty good shape by the time the ride was over. :}

So I took some flower pictures. :}

I love plants.

Plants make me dance.

Come dance this dance, as we sing of romance, and carry each other away! <3

All of the grown-ass adults in our party who are under 6' got their Timberline Twister credit. I already had mine from when I was 10. :}

After another quick ride on Montezooma's Revenge (because, you can't, like, walk by it without going for a ride, amirite?), we continued through Fiesta Village to take care of some unfinished business on the Boardwalk! 

Time for our ride on Coast Rider! Hooray for a 2ND MACK coaster at Knott's!

And these "Large Park" mice have a great layout!

We can only hope that the park's next move will be to open a coaster next to the BBQ stand in Calico Square and name it "Toast Rider." :}

Also, we, like, totally still haven't ridden Xcelerator! How bogus is that?!!?

Xcelerator was only running one train on our visit; the other train was enjoying some TLC and was therefore in pieces.

Fortunately, Xcelerator's ride cycle is SO fast that it was hardly noticeable.

Like my ACErs who visited SoCal for Coaster Con, I missed out on Xcelerator during my first Knott's trip in 2002. Fortunately, all was set right in 2005 when I came back for Silver Bullet and Xcelerator credits, plus more rides on my #1 wooden coaster and the best Schwarzkopf in the west! 

2005 was a Disney year for me; Magic Mountain got snubbed in favor of Knott's. This year, however, Disneyland would have to wait until I make my next return to California. 

Knott's really went overboard with the string lights, and I have absolutely no problem with this. :}

Coast Rider was met with some opposition by thrill-seekers who are still waiting for Knott's next white-knuckle coaster. I, on the other hand, think that there's a great deal of strength in Knott's strategy of out-coastering Disney and out family-ing Magic Mountain. 

And you just can't argue with these atmospheric changes. 

Boardwalk felt like a giant-steel-ride catch-all in 2005, but without Perilous Plunge, the area has greatly improved.

SoCal parks have a tendency to feel crowded and overwhelming in places, but the Boardwalk at Knott's now has a distinct openness to it that's a very welcome change from the looming might of Perilous Plunge.

And there is no flat ride more fair to an ACEr that a flyer. :}

By this point in the day, our group had split up to do different things. M&M, Josh, Ron, May, and Tony went to get some Mrs. Knott's Chicken, while Jody, Dave, and I decided to stay in the park. 

I naturally ran around and took pictures. :}

"Everyone should know

Just where to go!

For fun in the sun? The Montezooma Show!!"

It really just doesn't get any better than this. 

I want Montezooma's Revenge to be the next ACE Coaster Landmark. 

I hereby dub this mess: "The Knott's Berry Knot!"

The "Stengel Dive" on Silver Bullet is so fetch. Wouldn't you agree?

Look! More flowers! :D

Time for a twilight tour of Ghost Town!

One of Ghost Town's loveliest treasures is their geode museum and shop. :}

Professional geode hunters provide Knott's and other geode retailers with geode nuggets that you can crack open and take home with you! :D

Here we have Miss Charlotte, a southern transplant living the good life in California!

I'm quite partial to Disneyland's Frontierland, but frankly Knott's Ghost Town takes the cake. 

And Calico Square is quite lovely at night!

Speaking of lovely at night, the new Boardwalk really comes alive when the sun goes down!

The transformation that this area of Knott's has seen over the years is truly remarkable. 

Let's check out the pier some more, shall we? :}

Knott's Eli Bridge Scrambler has been in the park for over 40 years. Its home on the Boardwalk Pier is its 4th, and definitely its most fabulous! With the new Boardwalk came a new LED lighting package for the old classic! *cough*SantaCruzBeachBoardwak*cough*

The iconic lighting arrangement of the Scrambler really lends itself to the spectacular dancing of the LEDs!

…and then there's Riptide, which was totally without life during our visit. Its location under Boomerang makes it easy to miss when it's not operating. 

Hopefully we will see a development in Riptide's future that better reflects the splendor of the new Boardwalk. :}

Flyers + LEDs = Yes

When I saw string lights in the concept art for the new Boardwalk, I said to myself "I want to see these at every Cedar Fair park." Much to my delight, they've already made their second and third appearances at Cedar Point and Valleyfair!, respectively, and hopefully more are on the way!

After 20+ years of non-stop developments on the Boardwalk, I think the area has finally reached a point where the park can say "Ok, this area is solid. No more lemons and maintenance nightmares."

It's funny to think that Xcelerator is now one of the older rides in the area.

You knew we'd be back. There's no better place to be at Knott's than right here!

The fresh train decal for Montezooma is on point. It's great to see that the park is continuing to re-invest in this gem of a ride!

You can never have enough string lights. :}

Thank you, Knott's Berry Farm, for a wonderful day! I miss you already.

Remember how I said I was tired earlier? Yeah, that tiredness has increased exponentially. In fact, I really……..uhhm………....*YAWN*……….….I………..

…..…..ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz…………