Even though I live about 1-1/2 miles from the park I decided to drive over. I could have taken the bus, but there are the normal schedule problems there. I could have walked, but I am trying to recover from a strained hamstring and didn't want to risk stretching it to much.
This shot is northbound on Beach Blvd approaching Lincoln Ave. Knott's is about 3/4 mile past the intersection on the left side. I can see the top of the Sky Cabin ride, but I know where to look. The Sky Cabin is a docile ride where you sit and the cabin spins slowly as you slowly go up and down.
Getting a little closer, Knott's is on the left and I can see the top of the Supreme Scream. On that one you go up slowly and are released at the top and do a bounce at the bottom. The drop is a little better that on some I've been on and being outside on a clear day you get a good look at the Southern California area.
The walled area immediately to the left used to be an RV park, but has been converted into crowded luxury (IOW $$$$$) housing (that may not be selling very well at the moment.)
Getting closer, this is at Crescent Ave, which is the southern boundary of the park. Since it's early October they are running their Halloween Haunt program in the evenings and you can see it advertised on the sign on the left. Knott's has the ride park on the left side of Beach and Soak City, a water park, on the right.
I u-turned at La Palma Ave and am heading into the park. The ticket booths and entrance are on the right and the parking is on the other side of Beach, accessed by a tunnel. I am arriving at 10:00 AM, just about opening time, and there is not much traffic.
I missed the turn into the tunnel am continuing through to Crescent. It's a simple come-back to get into parking. Ahead is Ghostrider, the wooden coaster. I don't know if this is the signature ride but it is the longest.
I have my ticket in hand and am looking back at the booths – not many people. The normal price is $39.95, but but there are various discounts normally available. Living in a SoCal zip code means I get in for 31.95.
Just inside the entrance. The Silver Bullet is to the right and may be the signature ride since it's used a lot in commercials.
This is probably an hour and a half after opening and you can see how busy the place is. There are advantages and disadvantages to going when the park is not busy. Advantage—no wait for rides and you can stay on a lot of them if you want to re-ride. Disadvantage—a lot of the smaller things are closed. This applied to the ice cream carts, so I had to go to the marketplace outside the park to have some ice cream.
Since they are running the Haunt in the evening, that may be a major factor in the crowd levels and the things that are opened.
Ghostrider—This is what really attracted me to the park. It is visible from the street as you go by and from the blocks to the north and south. This is the real thing: a wooden coaster.
Another view as a load of riders head to the top of the big climb.
One last look before heading in. Ghostrider is a pretty long and very rough ride.
This is a between rides picture. There were so few people that it wasn't easy to find someone walking by to shoot me.
Next up—Xcelerator. This is a Rockin' Coaster type ride where they shoot you off at a great acceleration rate, then you zoom up and over. You do a twist just before and after the peak, followed by a couple of less exciting climbs/turns. It is a short ride, but worth doing over.
Watching a car make the climb from the entrance to Xcelerator. Me and the person right there turned around to watch the action. One of the differences between Knott's and a lot of parks is here you are right in the ride as you walk around. In this case the entrance is straight ahead so we walked under a good portion of the ride as we walked to the boarding area.
Another group launches. You can see the staging lights on the right side at the end of the loading platform; they tell you when you will go.
Silver Bullet. This must be the park's signature ride because it's right inside the entrance and is used a lot in commercials. The ride launches from the left and the first slow clime is there on the left. It twists, turns and loops until you are ready to see if the crowd is ready to catch lunch.
A happy group of riders on the Silver Bullet. They're on their way...
...to this.
As they came down, they were looking right at me and smiling for the camera—I wasn't fast enough to catch them.
I've left the park and have passed under Ghostrider and am in the Marketplace parking lot. Look at all that wood.
Now I've walked through the tunnel and am back at the parking lot looking back at Ghostrider.
