thrillseeker4552

Lagoon has postponed their March 28th opening day. They say they will provide updates weekly. http://www.lagoonpark.com/guest-policies/

^In the fall, during the daytime, they run "Knott's Spooky Farm" - a kids and family friendly version of Scary Farm. I am sure they will do the Boysenberry Festival ASAP once they reopen. That event prints money for the park.

I bought a season pass and parking pass as well. It is very possible (and probably likely) that their opening date of March 28th will be pushed back, but I think the chances of a 2020 season not happening are extremely, extremely low. But then again, 2020 has been testing us. Just woke up to the 5.7 Utah earthquake this morning which was unexpected for me, even as a Californian who has grown up with earthquakes. What a weird few weeks it has been.

According to their website, Glenwood Caverns is closed from the 15th-22nd, so only a week. Lagoon is also up in the air since they aren't scheduled to open for two more weeks, but they could very well delay an opening like everyone else if the situation doesn't improve.

Lagoon is one of the last major parks in the country to not make any announcements regarding COVID-19. Granted, they aren't scheduled to open until the 28th, so perhaps they are waiting it out. I am planning on attending opening day. For now...

It is crazy how unprecedented this is. Has there ever been a time in history where every Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, and Herschend park are all closed at once? What a time to be alive. Can we go back to 2019? 2020 is a hot mess.

It was inevitable. Knott's is closed beginning tomorrow and through the end of the month. https://www.knotts.com/park-update I wonder how this will affect the Boysenberry Festival. Perhaps it will get pushed farther into April? We'll have to see.

My university officially cancelled all in-person lectures and is moving everything online for the remainder of the semester (end of April). My wind ensemble/orchestra is completely cancelled. I live on campus and am allowed to stay here as of now, but who knows if that could change. Crazy stuff! I used to think people were just being hysterical and panicking (which is still partially true), but everything feels so real now since my university made that announcement. I'm a full-time student!

I laughed when people said a mid-March opening, but holy crap that may be possible (at least for a soft opening). I stand corrected. This looks insane!

This park is basically me playing Roller Coaster Tycoon when I was 10.

Looks delicious. I'm bummed I miss the festival every year because it always occurs after my spring break. Once I graduate college next spring and get an actual job, you bet I'm making time to come down to California and try all this deliciousness (the festival has improved drastically since I was in high school!). This and Merry Farm are my two favorite times of the year at Knott's!

I went on Wednesday (March 4th) and it was absolutely dead. It was the deadest day I have ever visited the park. One train operations on all coasters except TC (2) and WCR (3). But it didn’t even matter because it was so dead. I rode every major coaster in the park, CraZanity, and Lex Luthor in the 7 hours they were open. Just beware that many food places are closed due to low staffing, I assume. But it’s a great time to visit. Just wash your hands frequently, try not to touch things like handrails, and you’ll be fine. There’s barely any people in the park anyway.

^That is a good point. I guess I never noticed that they post it with little advanced notice because, as you said, I am one of those “spontaneous local” people. Good news is, if you go between May and September, you can pretty much be guaranteed that every ride is open and running at expected/maximum capacity. The fact that most of their major coasters (GhostRider, Silver Bullet, HangTime, Montezooma) all have an extra train that cycles through maintenance throughout the year helps.

I will be visiting Knott’s Berry Farm this Saturday. After that, I will likely be visiting Lagoon either on opening day or sometime in April.

So do they usually just shut it down in the winter? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yes, but only for 7-10 days. They have to close some of their coasters for maintenance between January and March since they operate year round and don’t have an off-season, so it’s understandable. They list all of their ride closures and dates ahead of time on their website. Xcelerator usually closes for some time in February, GhostRider in September, Silver Bullet in November, and a few other “usual” schedules they stick by. I just always suggest checking the website ahead of time!

I actually really enjoy the Free Spins. I don’t know why people suddenly started disliking them once they got cloned. They’re fun rides and make good additions at any park without a 4D/wing coaster. With that being said, I do think Volcano deserves a much better replacement, but if the Free Spin simply replaces the Crypt and something larger/custom comes down the line to replace Volcano, count me in.

^I believe it is just a steeply banked incline. It basically looks like Steel Vengeance’s outer banked hill but sharper and steeper.

Most of my unpopular coaster opinions come from enjoying coasters that most people dislike, not the other way around. The coasters that I *really* hate are usually universally hated (such as SLCs, early stand-up coasters, terrible woodies, etc.). In terms of “overrated” coasters, or ones that left me disappointed or underwhelmed, I would say Iron Rattler. I enjoyed it, but people who rank it near the top of RMCs baffle me. The first drop and dive off the quarry were the only stand out moments for me. I also don’t like Wicked at Lagoon too much. Not that it gets loads of praise to begin with, but it is definitely my third or fourth favorite ride at Lagoon. The top hat and zero-g are really the only good moments - the rest are pretty rough and boring.

Wow! That’s a nice list of updates. New paint on Joker’s Jinx should be great. All of the other stuff is nice to hear too. I will admit that my 2019 visit to SFA was better than my 2016 visit, and while I’m still not incredibly fond of the park, I am happy to see Six Flags invest in various upgrades throughout the park.

Sorry you missed out on Xcelerator. I guess that’s the risk that comes with visiting in February. I’m glad to see you enjoyed GhostRider and Montezooma. Those are the two “gems” of the park, in my opinion. But HangTime and Silver Bullet are fun too.

While part of me is relieved it likely won't be a Wing Coaster, I still hope we see a coaster soon. Volcano was a huge loss and I'm sure the park is well aware of that. And with BGW significantly upping their coaster game (as well as being a gorgeous park in general), I hope Kings Dominion does something great in the next few years. I think the chances of them going another 8 years without a new coaster is pretty low. The next few years will be interesting for Cedar Fair. Given how much love and attention Kings Island gets, I'm willing to bet the Vortex plot won't stay empty for too many years. Cedar Point will probably get a new coaster in the next 2-3 years. You know Carowinds will too. I wonder if another 2018 will happen where we see several coasters in a year, or perhaps they will play it more conservatively like they usually do with 1-2 coasters per year. You never know. What a fun time to be an enthusiast!

The black bean burger by Gold Rusher is delicious, might I add. I decided to substitute it for a regular burger one time (which I do occasionally) and it was great.

Maybe it's because I grew up (and live) in the west, but I would gladly take desert heat over the gross, humid, swampy, sticky heat in the east. I had a couple days at Cedar Point and Carowinds that were in the 90s but felt WAY worse due to the humidity. It had me wishing I was back out west in the ultra-dry heat. You can actually sweat and cool off when it's dry!

^I think you hit the nail on the head. I totally agree. I do think Pantheon and Iron Gwazi are bit more "upscale" and expensive (neither of those coasters can be cheap), but Stingray, Emperor, and Ice Breaker are definitely on the smaller and cheaper side just to get more people through the gates. I'm not complaining either because I am ecstatic that a B&M Dive Coaster is coming close to my home, but gotta give credit where credit is due. And if rumors are true, 2021 will be similar with rumored coaster additions at 4/5 main parks (BGT being the exclusion).

I'm excited to check out SFMM during a totally dead day next week. My spring break falls obnoxiously early this year (it's March 2-6), which is kind of annoying for some reasons (shorter operating hours at parks), but it will be a total ghost town at both Knott's and SFMM and I am looking forward to marathoning rides like crazy.