"Let's Ride Every Ride in Disneyland" - An Awesome Daddy/Daughter Spring Break Trip (Finished 9/26)

Very cool that she was featured on the big screen at the dance party!

Awesome job completing every ride!!

Very cool getting your own log on Splash!

I was a big fan of the F! package when I went. The reserved area is such a perfect spot and it's nice to be able to sit vs standing! I'm glad you enjoyed the show!
 
Download the app, and you can click on each ride, and see what times they are distributing fastpasses for. You can do this without the tickets.
@Cloe Colton , although MP will also allow you the option to pick up cancelled FPs that may have a quicker return time (if available), in general you will just be able to use it to obtain FPs for the return time window currently being distributed as of when you're selecting. @midnight star is correct that you can find out this information from the Disneyland app. In addition to checking current wait times, you can also check on any ride that offers FP to see for what time window that ride is currently distributing FPs. This requires clicking on each ride individually, but is a free way to get the information. Also, if you have a Disneyland Touring Plans subscription then you can get the current information for all rides in each park on one screen rather than having to click each ride individually. The DLR Lines app not only lists the current posted and expected wait times for each ride, but it also gives the current FP time being distributed for each ride with FP available. This is what I used for my planning to check what time each ride would generally run out on a given day and/or how long it usually took for return times in the evening to become available, etc.

In short, you can scout likely MP availability without actually having MP. Just look at the FP return times on either the free DL app or the TP DL Lines app. This is what I used to build and guide my MP strategies.

Thank you both!! I will definitely be watching closer to our trip and doing "test runs" haha thanks again!!! Super helpful!!
 
Of course my daughter wanted a Flo's V8 burger, and of course I complied.

Man, she really loves Flo's! I'll have to try it next trip. What a trooper YOU are for going so many times :joker:

Our dinner reservation at Blue Bayou was drawing closer, so we made the hop to DL and headed over to NO Square. We were early and in no rush, so I requested a waterside table and they told us they would be able to accommodate us. We waited about 15-20 minutes in the lovely lobby seating area, and then we were called in right around our reservation time. None of my photos came out very well due to lighting and my own incompetence as a photographer, but we a great table with a view of the PotC boats passing by. Service was outstanding and we both really enjoyed our meals.

SO glad your experience turned out much better than mine did! :D I'm hoping for waterside next time I eat at BB, third time's the charm?
 
I was a big fan of the F! package when I went. The reserved area is such a perfect spot and it's nice to be able to sit vs standing! I'm glad you enjoyed the show!

You were definitely one of the people whose experience with the Blue Bayou F! package convinced me to book it. Certainly well worth it for us.

Thank you both!! I will definitely be watching closer to our trip and doing "test runs" haha thanks again!!! Super helpful!!

I actually did multiple experiments where I would monitor the DL Lines app on a given day and simulate my MP strategy to test my theories. Fortunately the crowds on our days ended up being lighter than forecasted, so it was even easier than I expected. Nonetheless, it was valuable to have a plan and be accustomed to what rides to monitor, etc.

Man, she really loves Flo's! I'll have to try it next trip. What a trooper YOU are for going so many times :joker:

SO glad your experience turned out much better than mine did! :D I'm hoping for waterside next time I eat at BB, third time's the charm?

Flo's food is really nothing special, but it has some magical power on my daughter. Yesterday she ate the burger at Del Frisco's in NYC and thought she was paying it a compliment by saying it was "almost as good" as Flo's. If you go, I strongly urge you to not base your expectations for Flo's on my daughter's review. :crazy:

Fingers crossed that your next trip to BB is better. This last trip for you seemed like pure CM error. :(
 


Tuesday April 16 (Day 4)

Chapter 12: Our Day at Knott's Berry Farm

After 3 days exploring DLR and experiencing every ride at both parks, we were looking forward to taking a short break from Disney and trying something new. Neither my daughter nor I had ever been to Knott's Berry Farm, but we are both big roller coaster fans and were excited to try some of the thrill rides they have there. Since Knott's didn't open until 10 AM, we had a chance to sleep in a bit and finally take advantage of the free breakfast offered at the Anaheim Desert Inn. The breakfast offerings were pretty limited, but there was enough for each of us to find some things we like and fuel up. Since Knott's is only about 7 miles from DLR, we decided to take an Uber. It was easy to have the driver meet us on Harbor, and less than 15 minutes (and $15) later, we arrived at the front entrance to the park.

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Given that it was the week before Easter and in the midst of Spring Break season, I wanted to maximize our one day in the park so had purchased the Fast Lane passes for us for the day. It ended up being completely unnecessary for some rides, while being useful on others. I didn't regret doing it for this trip, but would probably only do it again in the future if it turned out we were there on a particularly busy day.

Even though the park didn't technically open until 10 AM, they let us in around 9:30 to walk around, while making it clear that the rides would not start operating until 10. My daughter was excited to check out Ghost Town, so we went there first. We got the lay of the land and soaked up some of the atmosphere before heading to the Fast Lane entrance for Ghost Rider, a massive wooden roller coaster (tallest and longest on the West Coast) that is one of the park's big draws. From fellow roller coaster fans I know, I had learned that Ghost Rider used to be a very rough ride, but it was substantially refurbished and retracked a few years ago and is now one of the country's smoothest and best wooden coasters. My daughter loves El Toro at Great Adventure, which is arguably the best wooden coaster in the world, so I had high hopes that we would both enjoy Ghost Rider.

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We were near the front of the line and ended up being able to be on Ghost Rider's first ride of the day. I thought it was great and would have gone on a few more times, but my daughter found it a bit rough and hit her head a bit on the safety bar, so she was soured on Ghost Rider and refused to ride again.

I let her choose the next ride, and she selected Silver Bullet, which is the iconic roller coaster that is overhead as you first enter the park. Silver Bullet is a steel inverted B&M coaster with six inversions of various kinds. Our FL bands allowed us to board almost immediately and we both really enjoyed it. We planned to return again after dark to get the night experience on the ride.

Our next destination was the park's newest ride, HangTime. HangTime is a dive/infinity coaster with a 96 degree delayed drop and five inversions. The coaster certainly earns its name, as you go completely horizontal up the lift hill and then dangle for several seconds as you hang over the "beyond vertical" steep drop before diving down, picking up speed, and going through the inversions. Both of us loved this ride and added it to the list of rides that we wanted to return to after dark.

At that point we noticed that Xcelerator was operating, so we headed there next. Xclerator is an Intamin launch coaster with a 205 foot top hat and a top speed of 82 mph. My daughter has ridden Kingda Ka, which is over twice as tall and much faster, so she was not intimidated by Xcelerator at all. We decided to wait a little longer so that we could have the front row. There is not much track between the loading zone and the incline, so the launch packs quite a punch. We had a great time and added this ride to the list to repeat later as well.

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By this point my daughter was starting to get a little hungry, so we decided to do just one more ride before taking a break for lunch. We chose to do Montezooma's Revenge, a flywheel-launched looping shuttle coaster that is the last of its kind still operating in the US. In the late 70s and early 80s, Montezooma's Revenge was actually the tallest roller coaster in the world, even though it is less than 150 feet tall. The train launches from a standing start through a vertical loop, then goes up a tower, reverses direction, goes through the same loop backwards, passes through the station in reverse, climbs a second tower located behind the station, and then returns to the station. This ride is a true classic and I was really looking forward to riding it. It did not disappoint, and both of us definitely enjoyed it.

My daughter wanted pizza for lunch, and the ongoing Boysenberry Festival meant the only place in the park to get regular pizza was Beachy Keen's all the way on the other side of the park. It took a really long time to get our food, but the pizza was actually not bad. After lunch, my daughter spotted the nearby bumper cars ride (Wheeler Dealer), so that was our next stop. It's really no different or better than your standard bumper cars at any local amusement park, but we had a fun ride ramming a few other cars and getting bumped around ourselves.

Since we were already in the back section of the park, we went to Voyage to the Iron Reef next. Our FL wristbands allowed us to skip some of the line, but we still had a wait of at least 20 minutes or so to board. The ride, despite being very popular, was understaffed and I was unimpressed by its operations. Voyage to the Iron Reef is a 4D interactive dark ride. I am not really into these at all, but my daughter really likes them. Basically you shoot lasers at various evil undersea creatures. My score was apparently in the top 10% all time, but the experience didn't do much for me. Even my daughter agreed that one time through was enough.

With our sojourn to the back of the park complete, we then resumed our "regularly scheduled programming" of roller coasters and Knott's classics. First destination was Pony Express, a launched Zamperla motocoaster where you ride on the back of a "horse". Our FL wristbands granted us almost immediate access to the horses in the front row. This ride was very short, and not as thrilling as many of the others in the park, but was a really fun trip.

Next up was arguably the most classic ride at Knott's, the Calico Mine Ride. On the way there, we had a chance to do a bit more exploring in Ghost Town, which is definitely the coolest part of the park and (in my opinion) as well themed as anywhere at Disney. My daughter really enjoyed checking out the graveyard and having a chat with Sad Eye Joe in his jail cell.

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The Mine Ride was definitely a highlight of the day, with so many cool scenes within the mine and great use of water and animatronics to build a great immersive atmosphere.

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Given how close Knott's is to Anaheim, we had decided that we would take our usual afternoon break to rest back at the hotel that day before returning to the park at night. Before leaving, we opted to do one last roller coaster. Jaguar is a relatively mild coaster that you enter through a Mayan-style temple building. It travels through the loop of Montezooma's Revenge and provides some nice views of the rest of the park as it winds around. It was OK for what it is, but was not a ride we felt worth repeating.

I ordered our Uber and we got our hands stamped as we left the park so that we could return later that night. Once back at our hotel, we made some plans for what we wanted to do back at the park that night before settling down for a nice nap.

Stay tuned for Chapter 13, where we head back to Knott's Berry Farm for a night of fun, including a ride my daughter had sworn she would not do.
 
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Can I just say wow! I can’t believe how much you all got done on the first day, including that long plane ride. AMAZING!

You 2 don’t tire.
 
Can I just say wow! I can’t believe how much you all got done on the first day, including that long plane ride. AMAZING!

You 2 don’t tire.

Thanks. We were definitely running on adrenaline for most of the first day and night. After planning the trip for nearly a year, the anticipation had built up and the excitement of finally being there was enough to drive us forward. I personally find that flying south and/or west doesn't take nearly as much out of me as flying east and/or north, so really like morning flights to California and then having a full day. Having our hotel so close by so we could nap for a few hours was also clutch. There's no way we would made it through the parks that night if we hadn't crashed for a few hours.
 


Chapter 13: Our Night Back at Knott's

After awaking from our nap, I ordered an Uber to take us back to Knott's Berry Farm for the night. It was a quick trip, but the crowds had definitely grown since we left. While Disney had blocked most annual passholders for the week, I don't think Knott's was doing the same, so I think a lot of people came after work and school got out for the day. It was definitely an advantage to have the Fast Lane wristbands, even though several of the rides we planned to go on did not have FL.

Our first destination was the Timber Mountain Log Ride, one of the park's signature attractions. It is a themed log flume attraction much like Splash Mountain, except the theme is a California lumber camp in the late 1800s. Unfortunately, this had recently been removed from the list of rides where FL was available, so we needed to wait in the substantial regular line. The wait was probably about 40 minutes, but the ride was definitely worth it. The theming was really strong and the drop was fun.

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My daughter then surprised me by selecting Supreme Scream as our next ride. Supreme Scream is a turbo drop ride that takes you up 30 stories and then drops you in a free fall fashion over 250 feet. My daughter generally does not like drop rides, perhaps because her first one was Zumanjaro Drop of Doom at Great Adventure (the world's tallest, with a drop of 415 feet). So I had assumed that she would likely not want to do this one, and she had even said earlier in the day that there was "no way" she was going to do it. But as we were walking past it that night she suddenly declared that she wanted to try it. I didn't want to look that gift horse in the mouth, so we went right through the FL line and were soon getting some great views from atop the tallest freestanding structure in Orange County (thanks Wikipedia!).

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The drop was pretty standard. My daughter liked it more than she expected, but definitely not enough to do it again (much less to do the 400 foot drop on Lex Luthor Drop of Doom at Magic Mountain the next day).

Next she wanted to do something a little more tame and comfortable for her, so she chose the nearby Wave Swinger. It's a standard swing ride like you would find in many local amusement parks, but she has always enjoyed them. Also, since Silly Symphony Swings at DCA was down for a long refurb during our trip, it was nice that we could still do a swing ride elsewhere to make up for it.

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We were starting to get hungry, but opted to do one more ride before dinner. Sol Spin is a Top Scan spinning swing ride. Neither my daughter nor I are crazy about these kinds of rides, but this one is larger and more intense than most, so we figured we'd give it a try. Definitely an interesting experience, but a one and done for us.

Next we went to Boardwalk BBQ for dinner. The food was pretty good, and we enjoyed sitting outside and listening to a very talented musician playing and encouraging diners to sing along.

After dinner, we decided to brave Xcelerator once again. Not sure it was the best choice for a post-meal ride, but we had a good time. It had a different atmosphere at night, which we enjoyed.

Next we went to Coast Rider, which is a wild mouse coaster similar to Goofy's Sky School at DCA. I don't particularly like these kinds of coasters and was not comfortable in the seat, so I jumped out and decided not to ride, but my daughter enjoyed it. Then we rode Wipeout, which is a typical circular spinning ride.

We decided to finish our evening at Knott's with rides on two of our new favorite coasters, HangTime and Silver Bullet. We did the front row on both and had a great time. My daughter got some popcorn on the way out of the park, and we had a quick and easy Uber ride back to our hotel.

Stay tuned for Chapter 14, where we drive up to Santa Clarita for a day at Six Flags Magic Mountain, where we ride lots more roller coasters and encounter some surprise guests.

Day 4 Statistics
Parks visited: Knott's Berry Farm
Rides: 19 (16 different, 3 repeats)
Miles walked (according to my Fitbit): 9.17
 
It's amazing how much you two are checking off your list! I enjoyed your Knott's Berry Farm post. I went for the first time last October since 1996. It truly was a ghost town on that October day. My sister was literally the only one on Montezooma's Revenge when she rode it. It looked so funny...just one lone person in the very back. I found the logs to sail much faster at Knott's compared to Splash Mountain, which was really fun.
 
It's amazing how much you two are checking off your list! I enjoyed your Knott's Berry Farm post. I went for the first time last October since 1996. It truly was a ghost town on that October day. My sister was literally the only one on Montezooma's Revenge when she rode it. It looked so funny...just one lone person in the very back. I found the logs to sail much faster at Knott's compared to Splash Mountain, which was really fun.

We've had the experience of being in a nearly empty park too, and it is both an awesome and eerie feeling. I agree that the speed definitely seemed faster on the Timber Mountain Log Ride at Knott's than Splash Mountain.
 
I enjoyed your coverage of Knott's Berry Farm! I haven't been there since I was a kid, but we thought about taking the kids for spring break or something. (While we're on a break from Disney, haha.) It sounds fun! (Though I don't know how many of my kids are super brave like your daughter about all the big thrill rides! She is awesome!)
 
Wednesday April 17 (Day 5)

Chapter 14: Our Day at Six Flags Magic Mountain

Wednesday would mark the second of our two "field trips" where we would be leaving DLR to play in different parks. After enjoying Knott's Berry Farm on Tuesday, our next destination would be much further from Anaheim. Given Six Flags Magic Mountain's location north of LA, Uber was not practical, so I rented a car from Alamo on Katella. Because of the distance from the hotel, this would also be the only day of the trip that we would not be returning for a mid-afternoon break. Since the Alamo was only a short walk from our hotel on Harbor, and Magic Mountain did not open until 10:30, we had time to again take advantage of the free breakfast offered at the Anaheim Desert Inn.

We finished breakfast around 8 AM and walked to Alamo to pick up our car. We were on the road by 8:15, and predictably hit a lot of traffic on our way north since it was rush hour in LA. I took a route that was a bit longer in mileage to avoid some of the worst backups, but there is only so much that can be done when trying to get through/around LA at that time of day. We were still able to arrive at the parking lot at SFMM before 10 AM, so overall we made decent time. Because we are Six Flags Diamond Elite members, we had complimentary access to the priority preferred parking area. Of course, no matter how good your parking spot is at Magic Mountain, it is still a long way from the front entrance, but we were still there ahead of most of the crowds and able to gain quick entry through the member priority access line.

Once inside, our first stop was the Flash Pass HQ to pick up our discounted FP for the day. It took a few extra minutes due to some confusion about whether we could use memberships from another 6F park to get discounted FPs at Magic Mountain, which was a bit frustrating since the website is very clear on this point, but it was eventually resolved. Along with our FP, we also got skip the line passes for Twisted Colossus and Full Throttle. Since the park was just opening, we went straight to Full Throttle via the regular line. Full Throttle is a launch coaster that launches you from 0 to 70 mph and through a 160 foot vertical loop (the tallest in North America), followed by a dive loop before entering a tunnel, at which point the ride stops for a few second, after which you are launched backward out of the tunnel and partially back up the dive loop, then the train rolls back into the tunnel and you are suddenly launched forward yet again up and over a top hat on top of the initial vertical loop before the train comes to a stop. It is a short ride, but one of the coolest coasters I have ever been on and definitely in my top 3 at SFMM.

Next we trekked to the far corner of the park to ride X2. This part of the park was closed on my only prior visit to MM, so this was new to both of us. X2 is an Arrow 4D coaster (the first of its kind) in which the seats rotate forward and backward a full 360 degrees, so you're flipping around in your seat at various points throughout the ride. I admire its originality, and was different from any other coaster I've ever experienced, but 4D coasters are generally not to my liking and this one was no different. Just as I can enjoy a very basic ride, I can also respect a ride's creativity but not enjoy riding it. My daughter felt the same way, describing it as more confusing than thrilling, which I thought was apt. This would be a one and done for us, though I might give it another try on a future visit.

Our next ride would be the more traditional Viper, a steel looping coaster with 7 inversions. While a bit dated, Viper is still a really fun ride and we decided we would like to come back again and try it after dark if we were still in the park at night.

After Viper, we crossed through most of the park to make our way to Goliath. Goliath is a hypercoaster, quite similar to Nitro at Great Adventure in New Jersey, and in my top 3 at Magic Mountain. The highlight is a 255 foot drop into an underground tunnel. Goliath is not a particularly original coaster, but it always makes me really happy. It's a great example of my taste in coasters, which is that you don't need to launch me or flip me in order to be a great ride. Not that I don't enjoy high speed or inversions or other coaster technology, but a nice big high speed drop is still my favorite part of the ride. My daughter definitely agreed and gave Goliath a big thumbs up.

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I had seen that they were testing Twisted Colossus as we were on Goliath, so we went there after our ride. In my experience, Twisted Colossus often opens an hour or two after the rest of the park, so I was keeping an eye on it in hopes of being able to ride it once with a short standby line before needing to use our FP (you are limited to 1 FP ride on TC per day) or our skip the lines. Twisted Colossus is generally regarded as the headlining attraction at Magic Mountain, and widely considered one of the top 10 coasters in the world. I don't happen to quite share that opinion, as it is only my 4th favorite in the park, but it is a really fun and unique ride and the lines tend to get long early and stay that way. Our timing was excellent, as they were just starting to board riders as we got on line, so we only had to wait a few minutes to ride. Twisted Colossus is a racing coaster where you duel with another train on separate tracks, but what makes it really cool is that you actually do both sides of the track, so you go around twice. The first time you are chasing the train ahead of you, the second time being pursued by the train behind you. It's not easy to describe and needs to be experienced to fully understand.

Next we stayed in that section of the park to ride Scream, a B&M floorless coaster with 7 inversions. Scream is basically the twin coaster to Bizarro at Great Adventure, which my daughter and I both enjoy. I think Scream is a bit rougher ride overall, but still fun.

Our next ride was Tatsu, which is my favorite ride at Magic Mountain. Tatsu is a B&M flying coaster, the tallest and fastest of its kind in the world. I don't always love flying coasters, but this one is just awesome! The highlights are a zero G roll (the only one on a flying coaster in the world) and the world's highest pretzel loop. You fly close to the ground at some points and way up above the rest of the park at others. The way Tatsu takes advantage of the park's terrain really takes the experience to the next level. I was really glad that my daughter loved it too, and we agreed that it would definitely be a priority to return to after dark.

Now is probably a good time to mention that I had received a surprise text that morning from my wife's cousin Danno, who lives in LA and was hoping to meet us for dinner around Disney one night toward the end of our trip. Instead he said that he and his girlfriend Tiffany had taken the day off and were going to meet us at Magic Mountain. I knew that my daughter would be really excited to see them and spend the day hanging out and riding roller coasters. They would not be getting to the park until lunchtime, however, so we still had a little time before meeting them. I didn't tell my daughter that they were coming so that they could surprise her.

Our last ride before lunch was the New Revolution, a classic ride that was the first coaster in the world to feature a vertical loop. While many more thrilling coasters have been built in the past 40+ years, it was fun to experience this landmark ride.

Next we went to Sports Bar for lunch, where we would be meeting Danno and Tiffany. Unfortunately they had some delays trying to get into the park, so we ended up sitting down before they arrived since we were really hungry by this point. My daughter was a little confused by the table for four but was more concerned with getting some food. Soon after our meals arrived, Danno and Tiffany showed up and my daughter was really surprised and excited to see them. While there were still some rides that we wanted to ride for the first time, my daughter was also very excited to take Danno and Tiffany on some of her new favorites.

After lunch our first ride was Justice League: Battle for Metropolis, an interactive 4D shooting dark ride. As I've mentioned, these are not my cup of tea, but my daughter really enjoys them. We decided to do a boys vs. girls competition, which turned out to be a blowout since Danno somehow managed to get a score that ranked in the top 1% of all-time despite it being his first time on the ride!

Next we went to Riddler's Revenge, a B&M standup coaster that I really enjoy. It features six inversions, including two dive loops and a pretty epic vertical loop. I sometimes find standup coasters uncomfortable, but this one is not bad, and it's a really fun ride. My daughter, Danno, and Tiffany also enjoyed it.

At this point, Tiffany unfortunately had to make some calls to deal with an issue that had come up at work, but the rest of us continued to explore the park and do more rides as a trio. It was a crowded day at the park, so we decided to take advantage of the combination of our FP and skip the line passes. Caroline and I used our FP for Full Throttle and gave Danno one of our skip the lines so we could all board pretty quickly. My daughter rode with Danno, and everyone agreed that it is an awesome coaster!

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Next we went to Twisted Colossus and used the same FP plus skip the line pass strategy to ride that. The ride operators really nailed the timing and we ended up with a great duel on both segments of the ride, practically able to reach out and high five the riders in the other trains.

Tiffany wasn't quite ready to rejoin us, so the three of us went over to Batman the Ride. Batman is the only ride at both Great Adventure and MM that I consistently have trouble riding due to my size, so I sat that one out and watched Danno and Caroline. They agreed that it was fun, but nearly as good as several of the park's other coasters.

Tiffany was now finished resolving her work issue, so we met back up with her and all went to Goliath. We had to wait in a long-ish line (maybe 45 minutes or so), but it gave us all a chance to catch up and chat. Caroline rode with Tiffany, and everyone really enjoyed the ride.

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By the time we finished Goliath, the sun had set and Caroline was really excited to ride Tatsu with Tiffany and Danno. We only had to wait about 30 minutes, and I was glad that everyone shared my appreciation for Tatsu, which was indeed an even cooler experience at night.

Danno really wanted to try one of the water rides, so next we went to the nearby Roaring Rapids. Everyone on our raft took their turns getting soaked and we all had a great, if very wet, time. Park close was nearing and we would have a long ride back, but we decided to do one more ride before leaving the park. Viper was my daughter's choice since the line was short and she really wanted to try riding it in the dark. Everyone enjoyed it and we took a group selfie before we went our separate ways.

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We gave Danno and Tiffany our remaining skip the line passes (1 each for Full Throttle and Twisted Colossus). They were able to use them to ride together on Full Throttle before the park closed. Caroline and I meanwhile filled up our drinks on the way out and made our way to the parking lot. While we had stayed at the park later than planned, it probably helped us from a traffic perspective since we had a relatively easy drive back to Anaheim. We hadn't eaten since lunch, so after returning the rental car we ducked into the Denny's next to our hotel for a late dinner before crashing for the night. We really enjoyed our day at Magic Mountain, and were also looking forward to returning to Disneyland the next morning.

Stay tuned for Chapter 15, where we use our Magic Morning at Disneyland and enjoy rides in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland before our breakfast with Minnie and friends.

Day 5 statistics
Parks visited: Six Flags Magic Mountain
Rides: 17 (12 different, 5 repeats)
Miles walked (according to my Fitbit): 13.24
 
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So fun to read about Magic Mountain! I grew up going there about every other summer and haven't been back since 1996. I only recognized a few of the ride names. I imagine I wouldn't recognize the park at all if I ever returned!
 
Sounds like a fantastic day at Knott's! It's great that you were still able to take your midday break too!

Also sounds like a nice day at Magic Mountain! Really great that you were able to meet up with family as well! That's a really nice photo of the 4 of you!
 
Oh this is an absolute NO for me! :rotfl:

Wow! You really accomplished SO much at MM. And what a fun surprise it must have been for your daughter that Danno and Tiffany were able to join you :goodvibes
So fun to read about Magic Mountain! I grew up going there about every other summer and haven't been back since 1996. I only recognized a few of the ride names. I imagine I wouldn't recognize the park at all if I ever returned!
Sounds like a fantastic day at Knott's! It's great that you were still able to take your midday break too!

Also sounds like a nice day at Magic Mountain! Really great that you were able to meet up with family as well! That's a really nice photo of the 4 of you!

I enjoyed your coverage of Knott's Berry Farm! I haven't been there since I was a kid, but we thought about taking the kids for spring break or something. (While we're on a break from Disney, haha.) It sounds fun! (Though I don't know how many of my kids are super brave like your daughter about all the big thrill rides! She is awesome!)

Thanks! While DLR was definitely the focus of the trip, we both really enjoyed these "field trips" to Knott's and Magic Mountain. I don't think we needed a second day at either, but I know that we would definitely like to go back for another day at both on a future trip.
 
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I agree, my favorite coasters definitely tend to be the ones with the biggest drops!!

Sounds like some great days at Knotts Farm and Magic Mountain! I actually miss going to parks like that. Its been a few years since I've been out to Cedar Point and Darien Lake by us is pretty lame in terms of rides.
 
Thursday April 18 (Day 6)

Chapter 15: A Not Quite Magical Start to our Morning

After five full days of hitting the parks hard, including a late night return from Magic Mountain the night before, it's perhaps not surprising that we struggled to get up early on Thursday for our Magic Morning at Disneyland. Having already completed the 48 rides at DLR, we didn't feel compelled to rush over to be at the front of the MM RD crowd at 7 AM. In fact, but the time we finally wandered over, it was probably closer to 7:30 when we made it through the turnstiles and onto Main Street. By the time we arrived in Fantasyland, it was the most crowded we had seen it at any time so far on our trip. With so many people having early access and so few rides operating at that time, I guess it's inevitable that it will feel crowded in FL and TL.

After looking around discouraged for a few minutes for a ride with a short line, my daughter decided she wanted to try Alice In Wonderland. Even though the line was like 20 to 25 minutes, the others were not much better, so we joined the queue to go through the looking glass. The line was moving well until it was almost our time to board, when the ride vehicles all came to a stop, several riders were evacuated, and maintenance CMs descended on the scene. They assured it that it would probably be a quick repair, so we decided to wait it out since we were so close to the front. It only took about 10-15 minutes before the ride was operating again, but in the meantime 8 AM passed, the park opened, and our MM was over without us having even been on a ride yet. Not the best start to the day.

Finally we were on our way to Wonderland and I hoped that our day would improve from here.

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After returning from the Unbirthday Party and disembarking from Alice in Wonderland, we noticed that the densely packed crowds in FL had now dispersed and the area was much more manageable. My daughter's next request was Storybook Land Canal Boats, which was practically a walk on.

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Our next stop was Toad Hall, where we had only a short wait for our wild ride.

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Since we had a character breakfast at Plaza Inn scheduled for 10:20 that morning, we decided to stick around FL and TL and just use MaxPass for a bit to get a few rides in before checking in for breakfast. Our first destination was the Matterhorn, which we rode for our third time on the trip. After that we strolled over to Space Mountain, where we also enjoyed our third ride of the trip. My daughter suggested that we try to do funny faces/poses for our ride photo.

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Our next MP stop was Star Tours, followed by Buzz Lightyear.

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After Buzz, it was nearing time to check in for our character breakfast, so we headed for Plaza Inn.

Join us for Chapter 16, where we hang out with Minnie and pals for breakfast and then make a quick park hop to DCA.
 
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I agree, my favorite coasters definitely tend to be the ones with the biggest drops!!

Sounds like some great days at Knotts Farm and Magic Mountain! I actually miss going to parks like that. Its been a few years since I've been out to Cedar Point and Darien Lake by us is pretty lame in terms of rides.

My daughter definitely wants to go to Cedar Point next year. Unfortunately it doesn't open until May each year, so it's not a viable Spring Break destination. A road trip from NJ to Ohio to do a few days at Cedar Point and a day or two at Kings Island is hopefully in our future for Summer 2020. In the meantime we have Great Adventure just an hour away to get our regular adrenaline fix.
 

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