Back in February, the time finally came to visit my first regional park in the United States of America and what better place to start than 'America's First Theme Park'?
There was a whole lot to love in this beautiful place, so let's take a little tour around the park's lands. First up...
Ghost Town
The land that started it all and remains the beating heart of Knott's to this day, Ghost Town is pretty perfect as themed areas go. As I write this, I'm looking at that photo of the land's entry sign above and taking in those themed lights, the barrels of flowers and the plentiful shade - perfection.
Ghost Town was full to the brim with shops and restaurants, all with beautiful facades and varied contents - no generic park merchandise situation here! In fact some of the merch was a little too unusual, gun and knife shop anyone? Whilst I'm happy to say the store's gun selection was all labelled 'NOT REAL GUN. WILL NOT FIRE', the knives were very much real. Such a bizarre thing to be selling in a theme park. Cultural differences eh?
Surrounding the town are a fantastic selection of attractions. Dominating the front of the park, Ghost Rider is a really fun, well-paced wooden coaster which rides really well. I especially loved the fact that this coaster stretches out over the pathway between the car park and park entrance, making me both super excited to enter the park and even sadder when it was time to leave.
Pony Express sits toward the back of the land and has the distinction of being my first ever motorbike-style coaster (see you soon Hagrid!!) and it was such a blast! Despite being a family coaster, the vulnerable position made the launch feel a lot more thrilling for me. Personally, I would have loved this ride to be a little longer, but I'd guess it's probably about right for the target audience.
Next door to Pony Express is Calico River Rapids, a pretty standard rapids ride elevated by some really lovely theming elements that tie the ride in solidly with the land and it's narrative. Plus - like most things in this park - it has an absolutely gorgeous attraction sign.
Ghost Town is also the departure point for two beautiful transport ride options: the Calico Railroad and Butterfield Stagecoach. Upon the railroad, you'll find one of a handful of 19th century steam locomotives. Whilst lacking in environmental credentials, these machines are a work of art in themselves. I just wish we could switch out those engines! Then there's the stagecoach. I could not believe my eyes when this beauty first rolled past. A real life stagecoach, the first I'd seen in motion! Obviously, this made me really quite keen to ride it. However, despite (almost) every other ride in the park being an instant walk-on this classic held a 45 minute line all day. If I ever get to return, you'll catch me rope-dropping this!
Rounding off the land are two of the most iconic, historic rides both in Knott's and in the USA as a whole: Timber Mountain Log Ride and Calico Mine Ride. Whilst Timber Mountain was down for maintenance during our visit (don't. it still hurts.), we made a bee-line for the mines. As we climbed in to our snug carriage, squished up against strangers, I wondered what on earth we were about to experience. The answer? A bloody marvellous dark ride. The mine train moved slowly throughout stunning scenes, either of natural beauty (reminiscent of the lift hills of Big Thunder) or miners hard at work. Sure, it's an antique so don't go expecting any technological marvels, but it's not hard to see why this ride has held it's place at the top of the line-up for 62 years.
Arguably though, of all the incredible offerings within Ghost Town, one reigns supreme:
Meeting Pig-Pen in a LITERAL PIG PEN. (Not pictured: the adorable piglets asleep on the floor)
Boardwalk
As far as theming goes, Boardwalk was probably my least favourite of Knott's lands with the overall vibe leaning much more toward amusement park than theme park. However, the area does boast a pretty strong selection of attractions. Towering over the land, and indeed the park, is Xcelerator. Sadly, this was another ride down during my visit so my dream of riding 'Stealth, but with more track!' will have to wait for another day. Thankfully, Hangtime was operating and I thought this Gerst Infinity was a lot of fun. I'd expect nothing less from a coaster named for my favourite coaster sensation. Whilst hangtime itself was plentiful, the real star here is the hang over the first drop. That hold was far more intimidating than I ever expected it to be and I still have no idea why. The ride did have a little bit of a rattle in places, enough that I wouldn't want to lap it, but I'd still come back for re-rides later on. So, not painful enough to be a major issue.
Opposite Hangtime sits Coast Rider, a Mack Wilde Maus with hideous shin guards that absolutely live up to their foul reputation. However, I did enjoy this quite a bit! I know it's hideously trimmed, but honestly after riding all the monstrosities at Winter Wonderland I have had my fill of overly aggressive hairpin turns. It was pretty blissful to just take a leisurely roll around them for a change. Those shin guards tho.
Then there's Knott's Bear-y Tales.
I absolutely loved this ride. Sure, it's not perfect. I had no idea what I was supposed to be aiming for, it's mostly screen-based and the shooters were showing some wear. But, it's just so adorable and full of whimsy that I couldn't help but love it. The fact that you can shoot pies at innocent villagers and then watch them stumble around covered in the stuff is glorious, not to mention the hordes of adorable critters. The attraction signage is great too. Just really, really lovely.
Fiesta Village
Fiesta Village for me was a land of endless surprise. Let's start with the biggest surprise of the whole trip: MONTEZOOMA WAS OPEN. Given I visited and rode in February, I guess I must have missed the part where they walked back this statement.
But I could not be more grateful that they did. Flicking through the coaster line-up when we first planned this trip, I was so excited to see the park was home to a classic Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop still running with the original fly wheel. So thank you Knott's for letting me have this opportunity to ride! I thought it was fantastic too. I don't really know what I was expecting, but boy this packed more of a punch than I was ready for. On arriving back in the station, I had that glorious feeling of 'I couldn't do that again immediately, but damn that was fun' that all the best intense coasters produce!
Next up was Silver Bullet, a ride I didn't really think about too much prior to arriving. But, wow this was the other big surprise of the day for me. I should have known how much I'd love this - Oziris was briefly my number one coaster - especially given how much fun that first drop looked from off ride. This was one of those rides that I just laughed and whooped the whole way around. There were a few intense moments, but for the most part it was blissful soaring through the air. Beautifully smooth too!
Finally was Jaguar, a lengthy family coaster that I found really painful and never intend to ride again in my life. However, the level of theming in the queue stunned me. I was not ready to be sneaking around dark temples but I was so here for it, so much so that it was almost worth being slammed around that grim train.
Camp Snoopy
The final area on our tour is Camp Snoopy. As I'm sure you can guess, Camp Snoopy is the park's kids area and oh my is it a beauty!
The 'California state park' aesthetic is probably my favourite style of theming (I love you Sequoia Lodge!) so this land sparked a lot of joy. I mean, just look at this bench. It's impossible to see this bench and not feel happy. That's a bear in a hat for crying out loud.
As beautiful as Camp Snoopy is, it's also home to one of the most horrific cred experiences of my life - Timberline Twister. A 39 year-old torture machine from the long defunct Bradley and Kaye, this ride had a restraint system I'd never encountered before. Each car featured two rows and a lap-bar restraint that was joined to the other bar in the car. In short, everyone sat in the car had the lap-bar at the same level and as the only adult in the car, that level was low. With a metal bar pressed deep in to my stomach, there was nowhere to hide as the car traversed the janky, jerky dips of it's short course. Turns out there really is a first time for everything, even having your ribcage used as a xylophone by a sadistic lap-bar. The only saving grace was that on logging this on coaster count I was challenged by a pop-up saying that many people report this ride as un-rideable, so I can rest easy knowing that many of my fellow enthusiasts will never have to endure this. Nice setting too.
Thankfully, Snoopy did redeem himself by having another coaster nestled in his camp: Sierra Sidewinder. My fellow UK friends may recognise this coaster, given that it's clone was recently installed in our wonderful Paultons Park as Storm Chaser. Storm Chaser was my most ridden rollercoaster of 2021, so I got to know it pretty well. Meaning I was even more stunned when Sidewinder knocked me sideways. It was so much more intense than any of my rides on Storm Chaser have been! Is it the heat? The age? Was I just tender by this point and it was perfectly gentle? Who knows! All I know is that it was a whole lot of fun, and home to yet another beautiful attraction sign.
Food & Drink
Being vegetarian in the USA can be surprisingly tricky, and sadly Knotts was no exception. We spent far more time than expected scooting around the park trying to find much substantial to eat. Online searches for veggie options seemed to either be false (there was definitely no veggie burger on the menu at Coasters Diner) or consisting of fries, or a corn on the cob. Thankfully, an exasperated tweet or two later, we got some tips from a local (thanks, Jeff!) and grabbed a table at Ghost Town Grill. Honestly, this must have been fate because this restaurant was a highlight not only of the day, but of the whole trip. Upon walking in, we were greeted with a beautiful themed eatery with a gorgeous mural along one wall and I knew right then that I was going to have a great time here. Things went from good to mind-blowing on sitting down and seeing a huge sheet spread across each table setting absolutely crammed with details about the land and it's history. On top of all this, as part of the Peanut's Celebration event GTG were offering a seasonal, weird, vegetarian option - a brie and caramelised pear grilled cheese with fig and apple chutney. Now, I am a strong advocate of eating sweet options as lunch whenever the opportunity arises (god bless IHOP) and if they're a bit unusual, even better. Boy, it did not disappoint. Sweet, rich, savoury and beautifully crisp, the sandwich was absolutely stunning and even better were the sweet potato fries. Honestly, if you go here definitely upgrade to sweet potato fries. I am not exaggerating when I say they were the best ones I've ever had. Just perfect and (for theme park food) a great deal at $14, with 20% off as a Cedar Fair Platinum passholder.
However, as much as I loved Ghost Town Grill, the part of Knott's I probably have thought about most since leaving was the bakery. Located outside the park, in the row of shops lining the main walkway, this bakery sold one of the most incredible selections of cakes, biscuits and patisserie I've ever seen - and all at ridiculously great prices. Snoopy themed cupcakes? $2. A large, rich chocolate brownie? $3. Again, all with 20% discount for passholders. There were plenty of themed seasonal items tying in to the Peanut's Celebration event at the park! We came away with a brookie and a regular cookie and they were divine. You don't need park admission to shop here, so even if you weren't intending on a park visit I cannot recommend a visit enough.
It's a small thing, but one final touch I loved about the food and beverage at Knott's was that your all-season drinks cup allows you unlimited refills of not only the usual suspects, but also Knott's Boysenberry Punch! Seeing a unique, signature offering like that just sitting there at the soda station made me really feel respected as a guest and it was wonderful to try my first taste of boysenberry without having to spend a dime! (Exc. the $34.99 I paid for the cup when ordering my pass of course!)
Merch
The final thing I want to say about Knott's - I'm almost done, I promise - is that their merch range is absolutely fantastic. Whilst there were some general park pieces found throughout, there was a great range of area/ride-specific merchandise which I really appreciated. I had to talk myself out of buying a massive haul here but there were two things I saw and instantly knew they had to come home with me. The first was this beautiful pin celebrating 60 years of the Calico Mine Ride. Whilst I usually take my pins off of their cards and place them in a folder, this one is going to be staying on this amazing backing card celebrating the ride's history.
My other purchase was this t-shirt. Because, when a park is selling a shirt based on one particular scene in a quirky dark ride themed around original characters, I buy that shirt.
Knott's was a theme park that I just can't fault. Coasters, kids rides, dark rides, food, merchandise... you name it and it's got a strong line-up. Throw that in with some beautiful theming and delightful staff and you've got a very special place on your hands. I really hope I get to return one day, especially if they really are building a giga!
Speak again soon,
Claire
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