Knott's Berry Farm

Today Sarah and I went to Knott's Berry Farm with the soul purpose of riding Xcelerator. Sarah said she saw a train running when we were on the freeway, but when we arrived at the park it was closed.


Before all that though, when we got to the park we wanted to start the day with Sierra Sidewinder. While it wasn't that busy today, the ride was only operating 1 train, and the line was really long. We continued in that direction and our first ride of the day was Montezooma's Revenge. A friend of our who has 3 kids is jealous that Sarah and I go to theme parks all the time, but she wanted us to ride Montezooma's Revenge for her. It must have been a long time since she has been if Montezooma's Revenge is her favorite coaster. We rode the coaster in the back, which is the best seat in my opinion.



After that we walked right on to Jaguar! another coaster I prefer in the back. Staff seemed to be a lot quicker than they were last weekend.


Next we went over to Dragon Swing which like all other rides in Fiesta Village had no line. Sarah really liked, but my stomach really disagreed.


After that I was done playing around and we headed straight to Xcelerator. Unfortunately it was closed. We asked the employee at the entrance if the ride would open soon, and he said he didn't think so. Sarah and I sat in front of the ride and talked about leaving the park early and trying to come back some time next weekend to see if it would be open then. After a while we walked over to Boomerang but skipped it because the line was too long. After that I tried convincing Sarah to ride Big Foot Rapids, but I failed. I was able to talk her onto Pony Express which didn't feel as pointless as I remembered it. I think it is a great ride for a family with small kids, the wood tunnel around the (not so) over banked turn is a nice addition as well. The ride is pretty fun while it last, but the length just kills the experience for me.


After that we headed over to Silver Bullet. Maybe it has something to do with the high capacity trains, but there is almost never a line for this ride. The line is always a walk-on, and that is why the only seat I've ever sat on for this coaster is front row. I think the layout is unique, I really like the over-over banked turn (Seem people call it a half inversion... No) and the tight helix at the end of the ride. I don't rate this ride as high as it deserves because I think the first drop is boring, and the inversions feel forceless. Silver Bullet is still a great ride though.



After that we walked back over to check on Sierra Sidewinder, but it was still packed. We got stuck talking to a guy offering us a 90 Minute Resort Tour which we if we completed we would have had 3 nights stay free in Las Vegas, and 2 tickets to Knott's Berry Farm. The only reason we were considering it was because we live right by the resort, but we decided not to for Nothing! is for Free. After that waste of time we went on GhostRider. GhostRider was about a 10 minute wait, the ride was very ruff, and unpleasant for Sarah. In fact, her necklace got entangled in her hair and it took me a few minutes just to get it out. I've noticed that GhostRider is a smoother ride in colder weather, it is best as night or before the Sun is at it's hottest. I still enjoyed it though :)






I love Xcelerator so much that even if it wasn't open I wanted to be with it. When we walked over to Xcelerator there were more staff in the station than when there were before. Every couple seconds someone was walking up to the ride asking if it was going to open, but the women at the entry said, no. After a minute of so of standing there the first test began, the ride rolled back. The next 5 attempts all made it over the hill and Sarah and I were the only people there waiting so when the women let us through, we walked right up to the front of the line. Immediately after tons of people started running up to the station. I was actually feeling nervous, and a little shaky just like my first time riding Goliath. Difference is, I've been on Xcelerator many times before, I was just so excited. The launch is such a high it should be illegal, The tower was breathtaking, and the over banked turns just give you time to celebrate. We got off the ride as fast as we could and ran back in line before the ride got completely filled up. Fortunately most of the line was for front, so we were able to ride in the back seat in less than 5 minutes. The back was great, especially going down the tower, but it doesn't even compare to the experience up front. I was really looking forward to seeing the on-ride video feature and probably going to buy our DVD but the cameras were down. After our second ride the line was completely filled in.



Next we headed back to Silver Bullet. This time I decided to try something and ride the coaster in the last row. I've been looking for a reason to really like this coaster and I finally found. I usually think the best seat on inverted coasters is the front because of the view, but Wow! Silver Bullet is exactly what I wanted it to be in the back. From now on this will be where I ride. After that we checked on Sierra Sidewinder one last time but it was still too long so we called it quits and left the park.

Six Flags Magic Mountain won the parks this weekend, but Xcelerator won the rides.

Today's Ride Rankings

07. Pony Express
06. Dragon Swing
05. Jaguar!
04. GhostRider
03. Montezooma's Revenge
02. Silver Bullet
01. Xcelerator