moved

[Leggyb]

...nevermind I love knotss berry now!

 

[snickerboo]

I'm sorry you guys did not have a magical day at Knotts. We hadn't planned to go there anyway but your review lets me know we're making the right decision.

 

[pumpkin5156]

Sorry for your ruined trip. We just went yesterday and didn't experience any of those problems. However, we have a 3 year old and only went on things he could go on. All the employees were really nice, even though most were young teens/adults. I didn't expect it to be like Disneyland, though. Disney is one of a kind! We totally enjoyed ourselves as did our son. It was $83 for all of us to get in, and we could never do Disney for that

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Sorry for your experience. We had the complete opposite experience in June. When DLR parks are at capacity, there is no magic in that. I've seen teens and adults do crazy, stupid things because they're stressed out at DLR. I saw none of that at Knotts. There was a large sercurity presence, many of them were of a mature age group. They observed every line for line cutters who they would kick out of the park.
DLR doesn't do that. When the park's at capacity, everyone is frustrated, it's every bit as rude for groups of teens to cut in lines as it is to smoke in lines or on a ride. At DLR, they don't even have a stated line cutting policy in their brochures. Knotts has them up all over the place with huge signs you can't miss. They don't take no bull at Knotts. We personally saw at least 3 people being escorted off of rides for rude behavior, and we liked that!
We never saw kids getting on rides in which they were too small. In fact, we saw them being very vigilant about checking each customer and making them remove anything that could come loose during the ride like cameras, jackets, shoes, slippers, purses, etc.
As far as the food goes, DLR also has low quality, highly overpriced food. The food in either park didn't appeal to me.
You are entitled to your opinion and I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your trip!

 

[ratherbeatdisney]

Or if you DO go, make sure you go before Disneyland because there is NO magic there. I'm sorry but I just have to rant for a bit...

Example 1:

We decided to eat at one of the counter service restaurants. Not only did it take 20 minutes for them to prepare our food, but the "employees" (if you can even call them that) got into a "shut up" fight in front of everyone ordering. They were not getting along and swearing at eachother in front of CHILDREN! In front of my family. By the time we finally got our food, we were so nervous that it wasn't cooked properly that we didn't even eat it! Oh and it was ridiculously over priced as well.

Example 2:

The ride operators weren't even checking height for children to ride. I saw little tiny kids ride rides they shouldn't have even been allowed to enter in the line. Shame on their parents for risking their lives for a stupid rollercoaster (there are height restrictions for a reason) and shame on Knotts for not maintaining the standards. I guess that is what you get when the park is ran by 16 year olds.

Example 3:

And this was by FAR the worst. There were idiots smoking on the silver bullet right in front of us. For the ENTIRE ride. When the ride finally ended we informed the ride operators of what the 4 idiots had done. They completely shrugged it off and said they wouldn't let them ride again with the cigarettes. WHAT?! You have got to be kidding me! If that would have been Disney, they would have been kicked out of the park. THIS is what bothered me. At knotts they have cameras that film your whole ride experience and Knotts had the audacity to SHOW their video with them flipping off the camera AND SMOKING. It was disgusting. I will never return to Knotts.

I just wanted to warn everyone of what a HOLE Knotts Berry Farm has become. It isn't even worth going to even if you have free tickets.

Im sorry you had a bad experience, but i think its foolish to tell everyone to just not go there. thousands of people enjoy that park daily and have a GREAT time there. Is it as magical as Disneyland? of course not. are the the employees as good as Disneys? probably not, but what themepark compares to disney, NONE in my opinion. Knotts is a LOT of fun, they have some great classic rides. Ghost town is Great, so are is the Log Ride and the Mine Train, they are really fun rides. again im sorry YOU had a bad time, but WAY more people have a great time than bad time. What about people that have a bad time at Disneyland on their first trip? it surely has happened, they just happened to get stuck on small world, and had a rude castmember, what if they told everyone to not got to Disneyland? it would sound absurd.... just because ONE family had a bad time doesnt mean others will...

 

[Leggyb]

......

 

[Todd Lee]

I'm guessing that the bad experiences are hit and miss. My wife and I had a great time at Knott's, the last time we were there. We had a horrible time at Six Flags MM though. When I was at MM, all I wanted to do was go back to Disneyland. (which we did the next day)

 

[Dizneydaz]

Sorry OP had such a bad time.

I've been to KBF many times and never experience what they did re: smoking, etc. I would have asked to talk to someone in charge. The young ride ops aren't going to do anything. They also could learn a thing or two from Disney about loading guest quickly.

I enjoy KBF for what it is. It has some great rides-coasters-Silver Bullet, Xcelerator, Sierra Sindwinder, Montezoomas, Jaguar, etc. (Don't like Ghost Rider-too rough). Great nostalgic rides as well-Calico Mine Train, Log Ride, Train.

We don't have one right now but we have had AP in the past. For under $120 I can get AP for my DD10 and myself. Triple that at DLR, with blockout days.

I don't do Knott's in the summer. Too many local kids. But it is an awesome place to go in Jan, May, and Sept. when my DD10 is offtrack. I also enjoy going back for the nostalgia as well. I went to KBF when I was a kid-before they even charged admission (does that date me?). Christmas at Knott's is nice too. They have the craft village which I enjoy. The first picture my DD10 had with Santa was taken there on Thanksgiving day when she was 2 months old. Very cute.

As far as food goes, yes KBF is very expensive-more than DLR! Plus they serve Pepsi, and I'm a Diet Coke fan. Saves me money, I just don't buy any sodas. We drink water and DD adds those flavor tubes. We always get Chicken at the Chicken to Go. Then we eat it outside. Here's one tip I was given years ago by an employee-when you are ordering your chicken (ToGo) ask them to get it hot from the kitchen. They will gladly do this. This guarantees that your food will be hot when you eat it. Especially important when the park isn't very crowded and they don't replenish as often.

I just checked their website and AP are only $59.99 for all ages and are good until 12-31-10. That's a great deal! Only $120 for the 2 of us. No blackout dates. Looks like it's time to get AP again. DD really enjoys going to KBF. Oh, and while I paid $79 to add parking to my DLR AP, I can upgrade DD's KBF AP for only $30 more and not only get parking, but get admission to all KBF Waterparks as well as all Cedar Fair parks. What a deal! Since she's always with me when I go, putting the parking on hers is a good idea. Also they have the same deal for Seniors as well. only $90. Total cost for DD and I to go without blackout days, and inc. parking will be $150. Less than the cost of one So Cal. AP without parking.

Now that she's older she enjoys the coasters. Oh, and unlike OP she has always had her height checked and since KBF height restrictions are more stringent than DLR, and she's small for her age, there have been rides she hasn't been able to go on yet. I think she's finally tall enough to ride Xcelarator-52". She will absolutely love this ride! When she was smaller she loved Camp Snoopy! One day in Sept. she rode 26 rides (we counted). It was a wonderful day.

No KBF isn't Disney. But then only Disney is. We went to Universal about 5 years ago and were very disappointed. Not enough for DD to do-we left early.

 

[Grim_Grinning_Girl]

I have to agree with the original poster, our family abandoned Knott's years ago. It use to be part of our So. Cal theme park trips, went about 2 times a year. Last few years it was apparent how much the park had gone down hill, so much that we have decided never to return - we gave it several chances to shape up.

I met a girl in San Francisco recently who worked there, she had nothing but bad things to say about the park and its guests. She said she once worked the Halloween Haunt that they do, and told about how gangs would play these games where they scored points for every costumed employee they could punch and sometimes slash with a razor blade. My friend said she was punched in the face, which was the final straw that made her quit.

My opinion about Universal Studios is starting to go south as well. The employees there are definitely different than Disney employees .

 

[kelmac284]

I agree with OP as well. I hadn't been to knott's in YEARS and so we thought we would try it. BIG mistake. We went a few years ago in the summer and we couldn't WAIT to get back to DL. We found the park to be dirty and had NO magic at all. The rides did not even compare and it just overall was NOT fun. Prob the ONLY rides we enjoyed was the mine train. The log ride was closed when we were there. I LOVE roller coasters but did not even enjoy the ones they had. The ghost rider gave me HORRIBLE whiplash and I would never ride that thing again.

In fact we left early and went BACK to dl because we are AP holders and were able to do so. I guess for some people it is ok but it certainly wasn't Knotts I remember from my childhood. I won't tell people NOT to go because I am sure there are those out there that prob would enjoy it but for me it didn't even hold a candle to Disney and I couldn't WAIT to get back. The ONLY park I have ever been to since that even holds a candle is Islands of Adventure in Florida. Now THAT is a good park and I would gladly trade a disney day for that place!

 

[ukstitch]

I just want to add a positive experience to this thread

I've just returned from a day out at Knott's and had a really good day. It's not perfect and there definitely is no "magic", but then again I didn't go expecting to find any. Having said that, Disney can have it's own negatives at times as well...

The rides were good fun (especially the Pony Express) - even Ghostrider although I could only ride it once or twice because it is (as mentioned before) VERY rough.

The only other minor annoynace I found was their policies on what you could take on rides - basically NOTHING. To quote several ride operators from today:

"Sunglasses, prescription glasses, glasses with straps around them, hats, bags, purses, murses, fanny packs, backpacks, sweatshirts tied around necks, sweatshirts tied around waists must all be placed in the cubbyhole on the platform"

While I appreciate this has to be done to an extent, not all the rides they enforce this on really need it. I think Disney are a lot more sensible on this one - they have no issues with me wearing my glasses on anything in Disney, including California Screaming

 

[darren123]

Sorry to hear of your day at KBF even though I have had one visit there during May 2008, Our time was great there I even enjoyed listening in the Staff talking about Knotts to a school group the lady was in her 60's which inspired us to go and see Calico Ghost Town near Barstow. We really enjoyed walking around KBF looking in the windows and just enjoying the day. The only thing we did not like was how rough the Ghostrider was the first time in years been on a wooden rollercoaster and there was a lot of Teenagers in the park that day mostly were well behaved and there were not any trouble with them looking forward to going back in Jan 2010. We did not go on our first trip to KBF because we heard a few bad things about it from other Australians now I wish we did go same with SFMM give the park ago if you do not like it aleast you have seen yourself.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Glad I'm not the only one who enjoys Knott's.

 

[Surroundedbyboys]

After reading this thread, we weren't sure if we should give Knotts a try or not. We decided to go and really wish we had listened to the advice here. First, the good points- we had lunch at Johnny Rockets and the staff was great. Very friendly. The food was good too. The Snoopy Christmas on Ice show was well done & fun. The Christmas Market was great. Lots of variety and reasonable prices.
However-
The day started off bad when I asked a manager at the gate if there were any rides with some kind of "fast pass". He said, "Nope, it's not Disney- although I wish it were". Uh-oh. Next, when we got on line at the first roller coaster we were yelled at for stopping at the turnstile. Being used to someone guiding us to a line we stopped to look to see where we should go. Not only did we get yelled at, but it was over the "mike" and we were pointed out as being the people who made the line long. He thought he was funny, us not so much.
The Pony Express was broke down every time we went to ride it and then when it did get fixed, they shut it down for the parade. (They also shut down the bumper cars.) The parade was about 5 minutes long but the floats themselves were cute. When they opened the bumper cars back up the line was rushed by a huge group of young teens, jumping over the bars. We ended up going from about 4th in line to 30th. The man working there just shrugged and said, "kids".
The overall look & feel of the park is shabby. It all just needs sprucing up. I think for teenage kids out for a few hours it would be fun but for a family of 4 to spend the day it was lack-luster and there wasn't enough to do. The employees don't look like they like working there. There were a couple of friendly interactions but most of them were abrupt and impatient. We ended up leaving 2 hours earlier for the airport than we'd originally intended.
We definitely won't go back there again.

 

[DLtorgo]

I really loved Knotts as a kid, but have stopped going as an adult. The things that attracted me were the low key homespun elements. I loved the miniature museum, Beary Tales, Soapbox racecars, Haunted Shack, etc. Those things all went away in favor of more rollercoasters. I know that appeals to many, but that was not what I was really visiting for. It was that magic of being at a special place with new things to discover around every corner. I think that is why the magic is gone from Knotts, for me at least!

 

[perlster]

The day started off bad when I asked a manager at the gate if there were any rides with some kind of "fast pass". He said, "Nope, it's not Disney- although I wish it were".

Too late to make you feel any better then, but as someone who has visited KBF for decades, there was a misunderstanding here . It has always been a standing joke at KBF to mention Disneyland in a snarky way. The classic one was "If you enjoyed the show, tell your friends. If you didn't enjoy it, tell them you saw it at Disneyland."

 

[InfoCentral]

It is sad that Knott's was sold and the current owner is heavily involved in thrill parks. I was sadden to see the prehistoric ride close as it was the last "Disney" type of animatronics ride in the park. While it does contain a childrens section, as well as Magic Mountain, I would be hard pressed to call it a "family park." What Knott's has become is a "teen park" just like Magic Mountain and as such is suffering the same fate. Prices keep dropping and so does the atmosphere. Annual passes which a few years ago were $119 are currently down to just $59. While I hate the high price of Disney Annual Passes they seem to be the only family park around.

 

[kkmcan]

We went to Knotts a few years ago after visiting Disneyland. It was just really dirty. The teens running the rides really could care less about anything. Lots of smoking, foul language as we walked thru the park. My family didn't like it at all.

The feeling was "icky" not fun.

 

[luvgoing2disney]

Well, this thread has been "informative" if nothing else. We were planning on doing KBF on our next trip to DLR that we are now planning. Our son is very much into thrill rides, but also notices when things are not up to Disney standards. As we live all the way across the country, this will only be our 2nd trip to DLR and thought KBF would be fun to see as well. Now, I'm not so sure.