pianojohn

Quantum Pretzel with Sharp Cheddar Cheese-Beer Sauce $12.99 PB3 Superb Sandwich, warm PB&J with Banana and Candied Bacon on Pym Particle Bread, served with Micro Banana Smoothie and crispy Potato Bites $12.99 Pretty standard to overpriced food. The dessert, a HUGE candy bar, was very good with Dark Chocolate, Peanuts, Caramel, Nougat and Chocolate Brownie. $7.99 and definitely needed to be shared with at least 3 other people.

It's basically park food but either HUGE or small in size. The pretzel was huge and big enough to share with 3 other people. There was also the PBJ and bacon sandwich with a tiny smoothie. Food was good but the gimmick is the outrageous sizes both big and small.

Just returned from a whirlwind trip to Knotts and Disneyland. Now, I have been to both parks MANY times, but this was going to be different. I have worked as a musician at Walt Disney World since 1999. Whenever I visited Disneyland, I would marvel at how they got everything right. As soon as I got back to Orlando, I would start planning my next trip to the West Coast. But this time, I was visiting with a different perspective. Thanks to COVID, I was furloughed then terminated from WDW. 21 years as a professional musician taken away. I am still being told that I WILL return to work, but at almost 600 days of waiting, that phone call has not come. So, I planned a trip out to Knotts for Scary Farm with one day at Disneyland. Knotts was amazing like it always is. Knotts Scary Farm blew me away. On the first day (Saturday Oct 30th), my husband and I were able to do 7 of the 8 houses in the first HOUR. Yes, we bought the Boo-Fet Dinner which got us in 1/2 hour early, but spending $45 for an all you can eat meal PLUS a souvenir bottle to get 30 minutes of access is a MUCH better deal than dropping $99-125 for Fear Lane. PLUS YOU GET FOOD!! The houses were great. Each one was unique, and the level to detail just blew me away. The overlay for Calico Mine Train is incredible. The park is NOT shy about really hitting the horror aspect! The highlight was seeing Puppet Up, the Henson company show that features improv comedy and puppets. Each show was different and hilarious. And VERY adult. The F bomb was dropped multiple times per show, and the audience could not get enough! On Sunday, we decided to hit the park for its day operation. The gates opened at 8am for Knotts Spooky Farm, and in the first hour, we got multiple rides on XCelerator, Jaguar, Motezooma's Revenge, Pony Express, the Timber Mountain Log Ride, and more. And they had trick or treating! We had visited Sea World's Spooktacular in Orlando on Friday Oct 29th and found it ok. The candy they gave out was definitely 2nd tier (Smarties, gummies, etc) with M&Ms being the only chocolate. And they handed out maybe one or two pieces each time. At Knotts, we were blown away! HUGE amounts of candy (mostly chocolates like Snickers, M&Ms, Hershey's miniatures) were given out by the handful. AND this all started at 8! I know Sea World's event didn't start til later. Sunday night found us returning to KSF for night two. We waited with the hordes of people under Silver Bullet, and right at 7 were able to hit a few houses before the crowds descended. Again, tons of scareactors, fog everywhere, and live entertainment! Monday morning and we were off to Disneyland resort before our red eye flight that evening. We lucked out and got Rise of the Resistance virtual queues. Parking in the parking garage and WALKING about a mile to the park is NOT a good first impression. Whether it's to save money or the excuse that they have to retrain the operators, it adds up to a really bad show. We got in Disneyland and hit the dark rides. Pinocchio and Mr. Toad were walk ons. Did the new and improved Snow White which was nice. Haunted Mansion Holiday was good, although the 20th Anniversary gingerbread house did not seem to be made from gingerbread. Maybe it is, but to me, it looked like plywood and paint. Lunch time and I had to have one of the park's famous corn dogs from the Little Red Wagon. Got in a huge line and placed my order. Unfortunately, you can no longer get the corn dog a la carte. You MUST choose either chips or an orange. Bad show. I didn't want to pay extra for something I was not going to eat, but they give you no choice. Also, almost all food outlets are mobile order only. Even if there is NO ONE in the restaurant. At Red Rose Tavern, we were stopped at the door and told to place the order online. What could have been a quick order at the counter turned into a 10 minute waste of time placing the order and waiting. Why??? At noon, we were able to secure virtual queue for Spiderman. For FOUR HOURS from now. Is the ride really THAT good? At 1pm, we were allowed to park hop and joined HUGE crowd of people doing the same. I REALLY miss the old days of being able to come and go as we please. Entered DCA and went to Philharmagic. What an awful theater. Definitely not made for this film as the screen is too small, and the "wraparound" effect consists of images shown on the side walls. Makes me really miss the far superior WDW version. At this point, every ride in the park was about an hour wait. Crowd control? I didn't see it since the streets were packed. Went to RSR only to find it down for maintenance. We spotted a lonely car crawling along the track. Hmmm...... Finally, our webslingers time came up. But it's not an instant ride. You enter the outdoor queue which still means at least a 15-20 minute wait. I thought the virtual queue took care of that? The ride? Eh. Very underwhelming. And short. And unless it's dropped from virtual queue, I probably won't ride it again. My conclusion: My days at Knotts were great. I could do whatever I wanted multiple times without having to pre-plan my entire day. I could walk back to my hotel, take a break, and still be back the park for more fun. And the park was gorgeous with decorations everywhere and unique food items and merch as well. Disneyland just felt like a chore. You had to get up early to try and secure a virtual queue. Food had to be ordered on your iPhone. The walk to and from the parking garage was a complete waste of time. Maybe this was all due to the fact that I gave so much to this company for over 2 decades and then cast aside. I don't know. I DO know I am already planning my next trip to Knotts. And I may just skip the aggravation and disappointment of Disneyland.

Bring back Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue. I have my reasons!

Just read that the park has only had two owners in its history. And as for the current owner: "there have been plenty of offers to buy Lakeside/develop the property... and no, owner Rhoda Krasner is not interested Owner Rhoda Krasner is notoriously uninterested in selling the property or partnering with an investor to put money into "fixing it up." The beauty of Lakeside may be in the eye of the beholder, but anyone who visits the park and gets its old-school charm knows the park is fine just the way it is. Krasner has been known to say that part of the reason she hasn't struck a deal is because she wishes to stick by her father Ben's original intent of keeping the park affordable to all." So keep the park a sh*thole rather than fix it up? Makes no sense.

SO sad. I went here in 1980 and remember the art deco and the neon and the insane Fun House. I guess I will just revel in the memories of a different time.

HangTime is waiting for a part from Europe. It could be stuck on one of the 62 container ships stuck outside of LA. Or still stuck overseas. Regardless, I cannot WAIT for my trip to KSF Oct 30-31st!!

The cheapest I found as a passholder was $41 on the non peak nights. So you can save about $10 per ticket if you buy two on Groupon. Comes out to $31.20 per ticket with the discount and no service fees.

If you're planning to go, there is a HUGE deal on Groupon now. You can also get tickets for Howl-O-Scream at Busch Tampa as well. And if you enter the code MISSYOU you get an additional 35% off! I got 2 tickets to use on any night EXCEPT Saturdays for a little over $60! Here is the link (and feel free to delete it if it goes against policy) https://www.groupon.com/deals/gl-sea-world-orlando-howl-o-scream?deal_option=0b01d990-7206-4915-8f5a-796fa495a9ef&fbclid=IwAR2GFGc-oSf2cRFXkS7OLvlzK0HYpKdPs-hf8Sas7VXaD8Phoy6b-qWlkPc

Thanks for the advice. I did find a one way for $65 for two of us via Prime Time Shuttle. Thanks!

Need some advice! Coming out to Knotts for Knotts Scary Farm Oct 30-31st. Flying into LAX and REALLY don't want to rent a car. All of the Uber/Lyft websites I've checked quote me about $120 from LAX to Knotts. I know the Super Shuttle is no longer running. Any other advice on a cheaper way to get from the airport to the hotel? Even renting a car would cost about the same, and I really don't like driving in LA traffic. Thanks for any advice!

By comparison, a Platinum Cedar Fair pass gets your into 17 parks in the US and Canada, free parking, and NO blackout dates for $192. I know Disney is a premium product, but this just seems incredibly greedy to me. Of course, I have never owned a WDW pass (cast member for 21 years) but I don't see how anyone can afford this. Just my opinion!

Rode it once in 2003. It was intense but no worse than other coasters I had ridden. I DO remember that the ride ops made me take off my hat and gloves (this was December) since they said they could fly off. Hat I could understand but gloves? I was holding the bar tightly! So the thing I remember is how cold I was after the ride!

Worst. Park. Ever. I had pretty much the same experience when I went in June. Luckily I was able to ride the coasters that WERE open. I left after a few hours. Close it down. Really nothing worth saving there.

I think a clone of HangTime from Knotts would also fit in the space. And the theme of a boardwalk coaster all ties in nicely. On the flip side, you gain an amazing multi loop sit down coaster. So why keep the Corkscrew? Historical, but I am sure it is also costly to maintain. just some random thoughts from a random guy.........

Great meeting you and hanging out for a bit! I ended up leaving around 5pm on Saturday since I had a REALLY early flight on Sunday, and I wasn't sure the weather would ever clear up. You will LOVE the book! So well written and well researched. Hoping KI puts out a 50th Anniversary picture book next year like CP did this year for their 150th. And yes...hoping to do CoasterStock next year too!

I did the Racer/Orion walkback and took a few pics. It was drizzling the whole time and seemed a lot more crowded since there wasn't as much space as there was during the Beast walkback. Still cool to get these shots which I will post right now!

Really REALLY wish they would commit to bringing back LIVE entertainment. It's been 16 months and still no Fantasmic, Castle shows, real parades, Beauty & The Beast, Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones, Finding Nemo, Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, Turtle Talk etc. And no mention of Candlelight Processional. Come on.

I wanna say it closes 30 minutes prior to fireworks. I know that's when the Beast line closes.

Just got back from a whirlwind 3 days! Flew Orlando to Louisville, did Kentucky Kingdom for a few hours, then drove north to Kings Island. Spent about 5 hours there on Thursday (pretty dead and rode everything!) then went back for CoasterStock on Friday and Saturday. Highlights would be the Beast walk back and the book signing. If you haven't picked it up yet, you should! Also met a few TPR folk along the way. Weather was great Thurs/Fri, rain on Saturday. Looking forward to next year and the 50th anniversary of KI!

Heading to the park next Thursday for my first visit since 2005! Hitting the park for a few hours before heading north to KI and CoasterStock! Any advice on crowds on a weekday? I arrive about 11am and will head straight to the park. I am only looking to ride Lightning Run, Storm Chaser, and Kentucky Flyer (all new credits) and get some cinnamon bread. Do any of these lines move particularly slow? Hoping it's nice weather so most folks will head to the water park. Thanks! And I posted some pics from my last trip there! Most of these rides have been moved and/or retired!

I guess I will take the opposite opinion. While the design is cool, it would also better fit in with the budget resorts like Art of Animation or Pop Century. Re-doing the rooms in the Deluxe resorts just cheapens them. If I wanna see Pixar or Disney characters in my hotel room, I would expect that in the lower resorts, not the ones where rooms start at $500 per night.

So I wrote the park directly as well as corporate, and they are refunding my ticket! I am sure they usually don't care about making people happy, but my tale of woe must have moved them. I posted the same comments on the park's Instagram page and was met with a hostile comment: "This is the best park in Colorado, and if you don't like it. just stay the f*ck home!" Umm...the best park in Colorado when there is literally one other one, also run down and barely open. And I have never been, but it looks like Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park is a better park than either Lakeside or Elitch!

Cool. Now how about rehiring the 900+ entertainment people who have been waiting 15 months to return to their stages. Just a thought....

Frustrating is the word that comes to mind when thinking of SFMM. My first trip was in 1980. I loved the place. I was obsessed after seeing it in the movie Rollercoaster. The sky tower was not open. My next trip was in 2000. It was a slow weekday in September. I got to ride everything. Sky tower was again NOT open. Next trip was April 2013. Weekday and totally dead park. Yet most of the major rides were not running due to "high winds." When they did finally open up, the lines averaged an hour each due to lack of staffing and slow ops. Never did get on Tatsu or X2. On my way out, I tweeted to the park about the horrible day I had. They IMMEDIATELY blocked me. And of course, Sky Tower was never open. My last trip was September 2015 during West Coast Bash. Got a few rides on Twisted Colossus, one ride on X2, and NO rides on Sky Tower. Why? Closed. Don't know if I will attempt this park again. It just manages to piss me off every time.