Family Fun at Knott’s Berry Farm

Posted on May 3rd, 2014 by Jean

knotts Snoopy and Charlie Brown
We made it to Knott’s and had a wonderful day! The park was practically empty on Monday, which was both good and bad. Good – we could get on any ride. Bad – we couldn’t tell where the lines started!

The Jaguar

Our first ride was The Jaguar, a relatively tame roller coaster. The entrance to this coaster was somewhere inside of this dark Mayan temple. We gave up the first time, taking one of the many exit doors. The kids were frightened just walking through there. After talking with a park employee, we were told to venture to the center of the pyramid to find the coaster. We did and we did! We got on the coaster, and had a wonderful time! So much so that we went on it again.

Mexican Hat Dance

The Mexican Hat Dance was similar to Disney’s Tea Cups, lots of spinning. So much spinning that I refused to ride a 2nd time.

Supreme Scream

Tom needed a little excitement, and went on the Supreme Scream, dropping 252 feet at 50mph. Wow!
 
Dragon Swing
 
We had a lot of fun on the Dragon Swing! There was a group of boys opposite us on the far side of the swing who would yell, “Whoooaaaaa!” in deep, manly voices when their boat end was in the air. When it would swing our way, our little girls would yell, “Aahhhhhhh!” in their high-pitched girly voices. It was hilarious, everyone was laughing. At the end of the ride, the boys yelled, “Again! Again!”, and the operator started it up again with out any of us having to debark. Fabulous!
 
Coast Rider
 
Time for another kiddie-coaster, the Coast Rider. There are similar rides at Legoland (LEGO® TECHNIC™ Coaster) and California Adventure (Goofy’s Sky School). Good fun! We nicknamed this one “the berry crusher” as it had an unfortunate side-effort on Tom.
 
Knotts Glider and Scrambler
 
While Tom tracked down bottled water (and possible an ice pack for his groin), the girls and I went on Surfside Gliders and Pacific Scrambler.
 
Boomerang
 
Time to get Tom’s heart racing again with the Boomerang coaster. “This scream machine turns you head-over-heels six times in less than 1 minute! And just when you think it’s safe to breathe, it starts all over again — BACKWARDS!” Okay, sure, there’s that! I do like how there is a nice assortment of kids/family rides and thrill rides.
 
Johnny Rockets
 
Is anybody else hungry? It was noon, so we sat down to eat at Johnny Rocket’s. First time for us, and what delicious burgers they have! ::: slurp! ::: It was nice to relax after two hours of non-stop action.
 
Knotts Sky CabinAfter that big lunch, we needed a low-key ride such as Sky Cabin. We enjoyed the nice leisurely climb into the sky, took a few pics, got a lay of the land, and settled softly back down to earth.
 
Timber Mountain Log RideFeeling that heatwave? Time to cool off at the Timber Mountain Log Ride. It’s a little dark in there, completely pitch black in parts, a bear growls at you, and you plummet 38′ at the end…. but well worth the cooling splashes on this hot day!
 
Knotts Shops
 
Did somebody say, “Shopping”?! Might have been me. LOL. First we posed by these vintage characters on benches (even my Mom has posed with them!) before venturing into the Ghost Town Candy Shop. With a name like Ghost Town, I should have been afraid… of the prices! The candy was about $3.25 per quarter lb, and the two lil’ bags my girls filled cost $26.00. Holy cow! What could I say? “There’s no way I’m paying $26.00 for two tiny bags of candy!” Yes, I could have said that, but I didn’t. The girls, with their own money, bought some stuffed animals and Tom bought them personalized plaques for their room.
 
knotts parking
 
As we left the ghost town, we ended up at the front gate! We had been all the way around, but there were still a few hours before closing time. I suggested we return to our truck to get rid of the bags and packages were were carrying before coming back in to ride a thrill coaster.
 
Ghost_Rider
 
Ghost Rider. Look at that picture. Need I say more? I was scared senseless. I think we all were! Mega drops on that bumpity wooden coaster! May I add, the next day it was closed for refurbishment. That gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling.
 
Knotts Sidewinder
 
Think the Ghost Rider was nuts? Check out the Sidwinder, spinning 360 degrees while on a coaster track! I cannot make this up. My head didn’t know which way was up, and I didn’t opt to ride a 2nd time (although Tom and the girls did).
 
Crazy Coasters
 
Two more crazy coasters for Tom to ride: Xcelerator which, yes, it does roll to the outside to complete that loop! And Silver Bullet, a typical “feet dangling” ride. Tom bought the photo of him on the Silver Bullet ride, but we lost it.
 
The girls rode The Jaguar, The Scrambler and The Glider one more time before we exited the park at 9 minutes ’til closing. What a day!
 
Mrs Knotts chicken
 
We stopped at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant and got dinner to go. We dined in our hotel room, and promptly passed out. I vaguely recall hearing the girls say something about wanting to go swimming. Can you imagine? Swimming after 8 hours at an amusement park. I’m getting too old for this.
 
• Amusement Parks – yeah or nay?

My Fun-Filled Week in 55 Words

Posted on October 8th, 2011 by Jean

Today’s blog style is brought to you by Writercize (guest hosted this week by my friend Beth). Participants are asked to write a complete story in exactly fifty-five words. The first line should have ten words, the second nine, the third eight, and so on until the last sentence, consisting of a single word, completes the story. Here is mine based on actual events of the past week.
 


My husband traveled to Nebraska to hunt turkey and deer.
 

My sister took the opportunity to stay with me.
 

After taking the kids to school, we played.
 

Breakfast at local dive, What’s Your Number?
 

Pedicures at salon, red polished toes.
 

Kohl’s and Target clothing sales.
 

Mall for cute shoes.
 

Samarai sushi lunch.
 

Chili’s dinner.
 

Fun!

Sea World San Diego

Posted on July 15th, 2011 by Jean

On the second day of our San Diego vacation, we visited Sea World. Sweet ticket deals are available on their website.
 
We entered the park at 9am and made our way to the Dolphin Encounter. The trainers were whistling, making arm movements, and sending the dolphins from one side of the tank to the other. We enjoyed watching the dolphins, and felt such joy just being in the park.
 

 
As we left the dolphins, we ran into some Sea World mascots. It took a lot of coaxing before our youngest agreed to stand near the penguin with the creepy eyes. Too bad we didn’t see the super-cuddly & cute Shamu mascot.
 

 
Making our way to the park’s Sesame Street Play Zone, and we rode all three kiddie rides.
 

 
Now we were ready for a thrill, and headed to Atlantis, the water roller coaster. It turned out to be a little too intense for our oldest daughter. There’s an elevator that the roller coaster cars enter to be brought up the tower for another drop. It was very loud and dark in there, which sent our daughter into a panic. With tears streaming, she finished the ride, only to find out the ride broke down. We were stuck in our seats for about ten minutes until employees made their way to us and released the seat-bars holding us in.
 
Finally free, we sat on a nearby bench. Hubby and youngest went in search of cotton candy to bring the smile back to our oldest’s face. We sat, enjoyed the candy, and people-watched before entering the Arctic Zone. We passed the ride & movie portion, and went directly to the animals. The belugas had a baby one year ago, and it was just darling! The walrus now had 2 short tusks (3 years ago it had one long & one short).
 

 
Just found out some facts about the baby beluga. Her name is Pearl! Her adoptive mother is Allua.
 
Next stop, the Calypso Smoke House for lunch! The kids had chicken & fries on commemorative Shamu plates, while hubby and I split a sampler plate. It was all delicious and worth every penny.
 
Now you’d think we’d be refreshed and energized after stopping for lunch, but quite the opposite happened. The kids started complaining that their feet hurt. Not wanting to leave the park just yet, we noticed a show was underway, and climbed the stairs to available seats. The show was called Blue Horizons, combining “sea & sky”. We watched as costumed performers bounced like yo-yo’s on wires. Tropical birds flew across the stadium, pilot whales and dolphins swam and leapt.
 

 
Trying to fit in one more experience prior to leaving, hubby took youngest on the Rip Tide ride while oldest daughter and I shopped for last minute souvenirs.
 

 
As we made our way to the exit, we heard barking – sea lions and seals. You can buy fish to feed to them. Some lay around, some swam, and others begged (barked) for food.
 

 
We were really dragging now, after just 3.5 hours in the park. We got our hands stamped just in case we wanted to return that evening, but for now we wanted to relax in our hotel room.
 
To be continued.
 
• How long do you typically last at a theme park?
• Have you ever been stuck on a ride?
• What is your favorite animal at Sea World?

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