Photo TR: Julie and Kevin invade SoCal!

[ECZenith]

Nice DCA photos, why didn't you ride California Screamin'?

[USRoadTripper]

^ Someone didn't read all 9,150 words worth of text that I wrote, did they? hahaha

 

I did ride Screamin'...why did you assume I didn't?

 

-Julie

[Guy T. Koepp]

Hi Julie!

 

Awesome TR. So glad we could hang with you for part of the day. I can't wait to see the video of Jahan and me doing our homage to the banned kid on goldrusher.

 

Real sad to here about all the yacking that took place after we left. I'm glad he fealt better and was able to join you for the rest of the day.

 

Anyway, It's late, I'm tired. It was awesome meeting you! Both Alana and I look forward to riding with you again soon.

 

Take care and keep up the great TRs.

[pvcoasterguy]

Julie, I love Heimlich too... he's sooo cute and such a great Disney character... and the Roz at the end of the Monsters INC ride seems really funny... the insults she gives are great. It would be so fun to be the CM working Roz...

[ScOtT k]

Not to everyone Disneyland my least favorite of all the Disney resorts in the world.

 

I always thought that Disneyland was the best.

 

Buzz Light Year, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates are all much better at DL. WDW doesn't even have the same atmosphere or rides (matterhorn, Roger Rabbit, Mr Toad)

 

To me, Disneyland has much more charm than Disneyworld. Disneyworld is huge, and spread out. At Disneyland, it takes about 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other.

 

You are entitled to your opinion...

[TheBannedKid]

Hi Julie!

 

Awesome TR. So glad we could hang with you for part of the day. I can't wait to see the video of Jahan and me doing our homage to the banned kid on goldrusher.

 

Real sad to here about all the yacking that took place after we left. I'm glad he fealt better and was able to join you for the rest of the day.

 

Anyway, It's late, I'm tired. It was awesome meeting you! Both Alana and I look forward to riding with you again soon.

 

Take care and keep up the great TRs.

AH! You and Jahan actually did it! I thought he was kidding when he told me...thats hillarious. I can't wait to see that video.

 

Anyways, I found this to be a nice trip report. I havn't fiished reading yet, but I plan to. Very nice pics though.

[Mr.Six]

^ I was thinking about it...but the sake of humanity wouldn't allow it.

_six

[TheBannedKid]

Dude Mike, stay off the Cupid Hot Dogs. I saw you run in there, get a hot dog and then you shoved it down your throat. You could poke your eye out. Lol.

[USRoadTripper]

^ Wow, my own thread and I have no clue what you guys are talking about!!

 

-Julie

[cfc]

Hi, Julie--I was tooling around DL and DCA with my parents back in August and had a great time. And while I agree with Robb that WDW is a better resort, I think the original Disneyland is a better park than the Magic Kingdom. Although I like MK quite a bit, the cozier atmosphere of Disney's original park is more appealing.

[noyzz]

Looks like you guys had a cool trip.Disneyland is one place i'd love to go check out!

[smells_like_team_disney]

Awesome TR as always, Jules! Your perspective on things is always thought out and refreshing ('cept the bit on Remember... Dreams Come True, but that's another story ). Glad you're enjoying your time in Cali and can't wait for the Knott's update!

[USRoadTripper]

Monday, September 4th

 

This was the morning that we were eligible for early entry because we purchased the three day park hopper pass. Because of the very long day the day before, I wanted to sleep in. Kevin, however, was up bright and early like his normal self, and was out the door without even waking me up.

 

I got up at about 9:00am, and took my time in getting ready. I got a few things rearranged in preparation for leaving the next day, then grabbed some breakfast. I brought it back to the room and ate while I chatted with my mom for a while. She told me that Steve Irwin had died that morning, which was horrible news, but not news that really surprised me. After breakfast, I showered, got dressed and headed for the park, not even worrying about drying my hair.

 

I called Kevin slightly before I arrived, and he was just about to go inside the Disneyland - The First 50 Years movie, so I said I would just meet him at the exit. Once I got to the park, the movie had just started so I wandered around Main Street a bit. I went up into the train station to get some photos, watched a couple of penny movies in the arcade, then browsed the gift shop at the exit of the movie.

 

Once I met up with him, our first ride was the Jungle Cruise. While we waited, he said that he'd ridden everything in Fantasyland, most things in Tomorrowland and lots of other stuff during his early entry time! I really wish I could have drug myself out of bed, but I figured that I'd be toast by the end of the night if I didn't get enough sleep. The Jungle Cruise was the same as always, excepting the new piranha scene. It was a nice touch, but not one that really altered the "classicness" of the ride.

 

Leaving Adventureland, we decided to take a ride on the Sailing Ship Columbia. We had neglected to ride the Columbia on the last trip, so it was a priority this time. As we rode, we spotted the canoes...the only Disneyland attraction that I don't care to do again! I was exhausted after riding them on the last trip! I thought the below decks displays on the Columbia were really cool, and our pirate guide did a great job too! I wish we'd gotten a chance to ride the Mark Twain, but we didn't end up having the time. Again, one more reason to come back!

 

Kevin wanted to check out the Billy Hill and the Hillbillies show in the Diamond Horseshoe, and since one was coming up soon, we decided to go over there and have lunch before the show. I didn't like the looks of anything on the Diamond Horseshoe menu, so I headed next door to Rancho del Zocalo. I'd heard great reviews of this restaurant, and now I can give one too! After oogling at a man in line who was wearing a kilt, I got a chicken taco salad, and took it back to the Diamond Horseshoe to eat. Kevin had found a table near the back of the main floor, and soon it was show time.

 

Hearing the description of the show, I wasn't terribly interested in seeing it. I find a lot of comedy of that genre to be pandering and stereotypical, but I didn't feel that way about this show at all! I had a blast! I loved the bit where the main Billy puts in the fake teeth and plays Devil Went Down to Georgia...hilarious! I will most definitely find time in any future Disneyland trip to see these guys perform again!

 

After the show, we went back into Fantasyland to ride the Storybookland Canal Boats since that was one of the only things there that we hadn't done. While on the ride, we noticed that the Casey Jr. Circus Train was running...it was supposed to be in rehab when we were there, but I guess not. We never got around to riding it though. I don't find the canal boats to be that thrilling of a ride, but since it's the only one like it, I'm sure I'll ride it every time I'm there.

 

Kevin had been excited to take in a showing of the Snow White musical since that day was the last day it was ever being performed. A show was just about to start when we arrived, so we got seats towards the rear of the theater. Snow White is one of my favorite Disney movies, so I enjoyed the show, but I'm not too sad to see it go. It was good, but not something I'd probably make time for again. Animazement...now *that* was a great show!

 

We headed back into Toontown again after the show, and got Fast Passes for Car Toon Spin. The standby line said an hour, I think, but the Fast Passes were only for half an hour later. So we wandered around a little bit, reliving a few funny moments from the trip in 2001. Kevin played with the talking mailbox, I got a barbell dropped on my foot, we played with the post office boxes, then decided to get in line to meet Mickey. We hadn't found him in either park yet, and you just have to get Mickey hug when you're at Disneyland! His house was so cute...I don't recall going through it last time...and the wait wasn't all that bad. After getting our hug and our picture with the Big Cheese, we perused the main gift shop, where we each made some small souvenir purchases. I got a nice photo album, some stickers and some magnets, and Kevin bought a few odds and ends. By the time we were done, our Fast Passes were valid.

 

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin was closed during the last trip because it was right after the little girl had gotten hit by the ride vehicle. So it was a completely new experience for me, and one that I thought was pretty good. I've never seen the movie, so I didn't really understand what was going on, but I thought it was fun nonetheless. Despite trying really hard, I wasn't able to control the spinning on the car. I'd try to spin it, but I had to pull or push so hard that I eventually gave up on it.

 

At this point, we split up for a bit. Kevin wanted to go back to DCA and see the Aladdin show again, and I wanted to reride a few rides so I could video tape them. Once he was off, I got in line for the Tomorrowland side of the Matterhorn again. I called Jahan and chatted with him through my wait, which only ended up being about 10 minutes. I got great video of it! We were also racing with another bobsled, which hadn't happened on my previous two rides.

 

While I was there, I rerode Alice in Wonderland, then Mr. Toad, then Pinocchio, video taping each one. Most of the video didn't come out well, but at least the sound recorded well. I wanted to run back over to DCA for a bit to ride Screamin' again, so I started towards the front of the park. I decided to stop and watch the First 50 Years movie on the way out, which I really enjoyed. It was pretty much just a humorous timeline of the changes Disneyland had gone though...I'm glad it wasn't a sappy tear jerker like One Man's Dream! (which I love, but don't watch too often since it's a more emotional film)

 

I started to leave the park, but just then the train pulled in, so I ran up to the train station to get a ride. I figured that if I didn't ride it then, I wouldn't get a chance to. And is it me, or did they change the train? I could swear that in 2001, all the seats on the train faced the right side...so all the guests were facing outward as you went through the Small World facade. Maybe I'm wrong, but I really don't remember it being a normal train. After the ride was over, I left and went back to DCA.

 

My only real objective at DCA was to ride California Screamin' again since I like it so much. I pretty much beelined for the Pier, stopping only to take photos along the way. I rode in the front seat for my ride, and it was once again a great ride. I thought about going back around for another ride, but ultimately I decided not to.

 

I called Sean, and he and Pamela had already met up with Kevin, and they were having dinner at Red Rockets Pizza Port. I assumed that someone would have called me when it was time for dinner, but I was wrong. I left the park, and when I got inside Disneyland, I called again, and they said that they were about to get in line for Pirates. I got them to wait for me, then scurried over there as fast as I could. The wait was significantly shorter for this ride than the first!

 

After the ride, I was really hungry, but I didn't just want to grab a snack somewhere since I was wanting to stop for a full meal. Kevin said that he wanted another mint julep, so when we got to the mint julep bar, I got a Coke. I was so hungry and thirsty that I downed my Coke almost immediately, so we headed into the counter service restaurant to get a refill. Afterwards, we browsed the Disney Gallery, and oogled over all the stuff that's too expensive for us to own! Sean and Pamela are collecting these miniatures of Main Street, and you can buy a big table to put them all in to display them...they were really awesome, but way too large for something I would collect!

 

We'd picked up Fast Passes for Indiana Jones earlier at some point, so we wanted to use them before the fireworks. Sean and Pamela said that they'd go stake out good seats in front of the castle, so we rode while they held spots for us. We didn't even need the Fast Passes since there was no line, so we kept them as souvenirs.

 

We found Sean and Pamela directly in front of the castle, which were perfect fireworks viewing seats! I, however, had had more than my fill of fireworks already, so I wanted to go hit up a few more rides before the night was over. Sean decided to wait with Kevin and watch the fireworks, while Pamela and I went off to ride some more. Having some time to kill, we decided to ride Astro Orbiter. The line was really long, but it wasn't so bad since we were able to chat through the whole wait. Afterwards, we rode Buzz with two Fast Passes that Sean had handed off to us earlier.

 

With fireworks having not even started yet, we opted to ride the Autopia. The wait time was posted at 20 minutes, but we ended up waiting about 45 minutes instead! At one point, Sean called to say that the fireworks had been cancelled due to winds, and that they'd meet us after our ride. I really like the Autopia...definitely my favorite miniature car ride because of the off-road section and the hot rusted nuts! The ride was very dark, and I could barely tell what any of the scenery was, so I almost missed the hot rusted nuts!

 

After the ride, we found the boys right where they said they'd be. I mentioned that I still had not had dinner and that I was about to starve, so we decided to stop in the Main Street bakery on the way out since that was just about the only thing still open. I ended up getting a turkey sandwich, a huge chocolate chocolate chip muffin and a glass of water. It was all great, and almost too much to finish! Sean and Pamela split a giant cinnamon roll, and we all sat in the Carnation Cafe while we finished our goodies.

 

By the time we were all done, the park was almost empty, so we took the opportunity to get some shots of the Main Street lights with very few people around. Most of them came out really well! I was quite surprised and impressed with myself! hehe On the way out, we found Paul Pressler's commemorative brick, and took a few pictures of the DCA lights. We wandered out through Downtown Disney, but didn't stop in any of the shops, and soon made it back to the car. Once at the hotel, we bid our friends farewell until next year, and headed to the room. I tried to pack up a bit of stuff, but that didn't really work too well, so I just went on to sleep.

 

-Julie

Finally...Sean and Pamela! Mr. and Mrs. "Two Exits from Disneyland."

The main entrance of DCA, with only a few people in sight

Main Street and the castle.

Ending the night, we decided to wander around and take night shots of Main Street. This was my favorite of them.

Back at Disneyland, I experience one of the reasons why Autopia is my favorite car ride...the off road section!

Oh...my...God...this isn't that great of a picture of it, but this woman had backboobs the size of the boobs on my chest!!

Signature shot. Insert your own humorous caption here.

After sliding back over to DCA for a bit, I finally get a good picture of Grizzly Peak!

Ok, this is the single worst pair of shoes I have ever seen on a human being in my life. Who sees these in a store and thinks "Wow, I look AWESOME in these shoes"???

Couldn't go an entire trip without one of these pictures, right?

I didn't end up with too many pictures of myself from this trip, so I figured I should post this one!

"Hello Minnie. Do you have Prince Albert in a can? Can you tell me if your refridgerator is running?"

Another blast from the past...I get a barbell dropped on my foot.

A blast from the past...Kevin listens at the Toontown mailbox.

More fantastic, interactive Toontown theming.

My two favorite Toontown windows! Chinny Chin Chin construction company sharing a building with Huffin and Puffin wrecking company!

A while later, we headed back into Toontown!

Ugh...the dreaded explorer canoes! What could anyone like more than manual labor when you've spent about $50 to be in the park that day?

This is a kitchen that was in the below decks area of the Columbia. As soon as I took it, I thought this would have made a great "name that park!" photo!

It's the Columbia! A much more interersting ride than the Liberty Belle!

The First 50 Years exhibit contained this...a model of what Disneyland looked like on opening day. I thought this was really cool for whatever reason!

This is my favorite of the many photomosaic murals throughout the parks.

And Main Street. Two things make this photo a VERY different photo than one you'd take in the Magic Kingdom!

The morning begins with a stroll around Main Street. This is the Main Street railroad station.

Comments welcome!

[rosscoe]

Are you sure that was a woman?

 

Cause the word Drag Queen seems to fit in as well.

 

Great TR Julie.

[rollermonkey]

OMG, Julie! Great TR as always, but I'm going to have to put off page 4 until tomorrow! HUGE TR!

[Mr.Six]

Hey Julie, Nice TR and photos!

To answer your question, some of the trains have all the rows facing the stations and some are just arraged so their facing foward. I can't give you much more info .. Jahan probably knows more.

_Six

[USRoadTripper]

Tuesday, September 5th

 

Tuesday morning found us both sleeping in a tad bit since we were both gonna have redeyes home that night. Once awake, I showered, then finished packing up everything into my backpack. Luckily, everything fit since I hadn't overindulged in souvenirs. We checked out, then loaded up the car (which we hadn't even touched in the last two and a half days), and headed out to find some breakfast. On the way to Knotts, we stopped at a McDonalds for some grub.

 

We arrived at Knotts a little while after park opening, but the park was really dead, so we knew that lines wouldn't be a problem. Since we didn't find a Ralph’s with the discounted admission, Kevin got a AAA discount, which was better than full price at least! Before we were even inside the park, I noticed all the trash cans that everyone always talks about! Too funny! But everyone is right, there are way too many trash cans!

 

The first ride we went for was Silver Bullet since it was pretty much right at the entrance to the park. Since there was no line, I rode in the front row, and Kevin in the row behind me. I quite enjoyed this ride, and really don't understand why everyone calls it "forceless." It had plenty of forces, just not as strong as other inverts. It was a fun ride, but not one of my favorite B&M inverts.

 

Since it was nearby, we rode Jaguar next. It was a fine ride, though nothing that thrilling. Montezooma's Revenge was nearby, so we headed for it next. There was no line, but we still ended up waiting for quite a while before they would dispatch the train. This is just like the shuttle loop at Kentucky Kingdom, so while it's a good ride, it's sort of a "been there, done that" type feeling.

 

The park's frisbee was near Montezooma's Revenge, so I stopped to watch it for a while. I'd been wanting to try out a frisbee that was kind of small, and didn't have an insane program on it, and this one seemed to fit that bill. Kevin didn't want to ride, so I rode by myself. I was quite worried that I wouldn't like it because of the pendulum motion, but in reality I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was fun, and not as sickening or disorienting as I thought it might be. Now I'm excited to ride a bigger or more intense one!

 

Kevin said that the heat was getting to him, so we popped into a candy store to cool down a bit. We had an interesting conversation about Jelly Belly jelly beans with the lady working in the store, and we tried our hardest to get her to sample some of her product, but she wouldn't! When we were sufficiently cooled down, we decided to catch a ride on the sky tower. I really enjoy these type of rides, and this one was no exception. The glass seemed very foggy or dirty though, so none of my pictures came out well :-/

 

Kevin still wasn't feeling 100% because of the heat, so he decided to sit out on Boomerang and go inside and stay cooled down. The boomerang had no wait, luckily, so at least I didn't have to waste half my day waiting to get my head bashed in. Good thing Kevin didn't decide later to go back and get that credit, or he'd have been riding solo! We also noticed that Perilous Plunge was open at this point, though neither of us had any intention of riding.

 

Moving along, we decided to ride the Timber Mountain Log Flume next. This ride had the only significant wait of the day, clocking in at just a little under half an hour. This, I believe, was my favorite ride in the park. It got us just wet enough to be cooled off, but not enough to really be wet. And it had lots of unexpected theming and show scenes inside the mountain that houses the ride. Frankly, I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed the Disneyland version of Splash Mountain!

 

Next, we decided to try out the Calico Mine Ride. They were only running one train, which would have made for a terrible line had there been many more people in the park. We waited probably 5 minutes or so, and were on the next vehicle that came by. I enjoyed this ride quite a bit too! But Kevin and I both had the question...does this ride count as a coaster?? It's pretty much like a train ride, or a dark ride, but then it's got a chain lift at the end! If you count powered coasters, should you count this ride? I don't know! It straddles the line between coaster and not-a-coaster more than any other ride I can think of!

 

We were both getting snacky by the time we left the ride, but we knew that we wanted the Mrs. Knotts Chicken Dinner restaurant to be our dinner stop. As we passed a fruit stand, Kevin picked up a container of watermelon and I got a container of strawberries. We went into the nearby Calico Saloon and sat down to eat. I pondered getting a giant pickle to accompany my strawberries (and pondered buying a garter even more, since it was on the menu right next to the popcorn!) but ultimately decided to find something heartier since I was really hungry.

 

I walked out the opposite side of the saloon and found a place with potato soup in a bread bowl on the menu. After being assured that it didn't have bacon in it, I ordered a bowl and headed back to the saloon. After the first bite, I could honestly say that that potato soup was some of the best soup I had ever eaten! It had a huge handful of cheese on the top of it that was now gooey and stringy, and the soup itself was still steaming hot. And the bread bowl...yum! It was so soft and fluffy! I just never imagined that I would go so crazy over a bowl of potato and cheese soup...but it was truly a fabulous meal! Best theme park food I've had in a long time!!

 

As I was finishing up, a show was beginning, so we stayed and watched. It was pretty cute...it was the story about a woman who left her boyfriend because he wouldn't marry her, and he was trying to get her back. It was funny, though I doubt I'd go out of my way to see it again. Before the show, Kevin had also purchased a sasparilla, which I didn't even know that they made anymore!

 

A show time for the Mystery Lodge was coming up soon, so we headed deeper into the western themed area of the park. This area was so cute, and so well themed. Most buildings had windows that you could peek inside and see little dioramas of things going on at the time. Lots looked like bedrooms or offices, while one was a post office, and one was a gold seller. My favorite was one that appeared to be a man sitting in a barber's chair, while the barber nervously eyed a wanted poster with a picture of the man in the chair on it! Those were great little touches!

 

On the way to Mystery Lodge, we passed a gold mining sluice, and having wanted to try out gold panning for some time, I decided to give it a go. It was $6 and you got a pan full of dirt and sand to sift through. Long story short, I got pretty tired pretty quick, so I asked the man working there for help. Once he emptied out my entire pan of sand, he'd only found one little tiny chunk of gold. So he reached into a bag behind his back and pulled out a few handfuls of what was obviously not regular sand! Every hadful had a few tiny pieces of gold in it, and by the time I was done, I had enough gold to cover the bottom of the vial they gave me. I wish I'd found more, but what I was got was ok too.

 

Finally, we headed into the Mystery Lodge. The employee let us into the air conditioned preshow early since it was so hot outside, and everyone was pretty much wiped out and laying on the floor. Kevin and I laid down too, which felt great after walking all morning. Soon the show started, and I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed this show! I loved it! I thought the story was so beautiful, and was presented so well! It even made me misty eyed a couple of times! Kevin didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did, but it was my favorite thing in the whole park! I don't know why people don't talk about it more...it was wonderful.

 

We wandered around a bit more, popped our heads into the teddy bear shop, and pondered having an antique photo session done. We also found an old schoolhouse with some interesting framed items! One was rules for teachers, with rules such as "After ten hours in school, teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or any other good books" hahahaha Another was a list of punishments for things such as "wetting each other during washing at playtime" and "climbing for every foot over three feet up a tree" haha The school also had garters for sale, so I picked up one since I thought it was one of the more random souvenirs I'd seen!

 

Ghostrider was the last major coaster we needed to ride, and when we arrived, it had no line. The coaster is very pretty...it takes a great picture! But that's just about the only nice thing I can say about it! After my ride, I now have five woodies that are on the lowest rung of my coaster list...the "never in a million years will I ride that pile of crap again" rung. We hadn't even made it 1/3rd of the way through the ride before we were both grimacing and wanting off. The onride photo is priceless though! I wanted to buy a copy, but no one was manning the photo booth. Unfortunately, this ride has a really nice layout...sort of adds insult to injury to imagine just now great this coaster would be if it didn't try to kill its riders.

 

The last credit left in the park was Timberline Twister, so we headed off to Camp Snoopy. This area seemed a little haphazard, but was very shady, which was great! Kevin stopped for a frozen drink, then we got in line for the coaster. This was the first time that I almost hadn't fit into a coaster I was trying to ride! Kevin fit just fine (he was straddling the lap bar) but I wasn't able to fit when tucking both of my legs onto one side of the car. So I got out, they sent the train, and when the next one came around, I was able to fit by straddling the lap bar. Whew!

 

As we wandered, we saw some caves with suspension bridges leading to them. We both thought "Cool! Like Tom Sawyer's Island!"...uh, no. The cave was only a few feet long, and had nothing in it. Lame! They also had a very carnival-y looking Ferris wheel, which looked very out of place for such a large park.

 

We were pretty much done with the park by this time, so we started back towards the front of the park. We passed the Butterfield Stagecoach along the way, and since the line was pretty short, we decided to ride. We only had to wait through one "cycle" which was good since the ride has such an insanely low capacity. I thought it was a pretty interesting ride, though not one I would ever wait very long for! They also had a funny "Rules for stage riders" sign just before you enter the stagecoach!

 

When we left, we saw that the train was just about to leave, so we decided to ride that also. Everyone else was seated in the open sided car just behind the driver, but we decided to sit in the front section with the driver, despite it's being closed in with windows. That was a really good decision because since we were the only two up there, we got a private lesson about the history of the train The Galloping Goose. The front originally had a gasoline powered car attached to it, but it now runs on deisel per the modern codes. There were also photos of the train when it was in service as a real train, which was very interesting! The train conductor was awesome...you can tell that he's really into his job, and loves what he does.

 

Being completely done with the park, we scooted out the front gate with about half an hour left before park closing. We decided that since everyone and their mother raves about the Mrs. Knotts Chicken Dinner Restaurant, we wanted to try it out for ourselves. There was only one large group in front of us when we arrived, but not everyone in their party was there, so we got to go ahead of them. We were seating towards the back, next to what appeared to be an outdoor patio that was now closed in.

 

I got the fried chicken as my entree, and got chicken noodle soup as my appetizer. The soup was great, though it was exactly like what they serve at the Mr. Gatti’s I have been to numerous times near SFKK. Does Mr. Gatti’s buy Knotts chicken soup, or do they both buy from someone else? Hmm...the mystery continues. Kevin got the rhubarb soup, which he said was great too. I took a little bite, and having never tried rhubarb before, I thought it was pretty good.

 

When the entree arrived, I really was expecting it to be better! I got three HUGE pieces of chicken, which was way too much to finish (I finished one and a half pieces). But the chicken had barely any flavor...the batter was very flavorless, and there was very little of it at that. Any average piece of KFC chicken would have been more flavorful. And the mashed potatoes were abysmal! Ugh, they were like drywall paste! Not one bit of seasoning in them...no salt, no butter, no nothing! Ugh! Couldn't eat more than one bite of them. Even the rolls had no flavor. Would it kill them to brush some butter over the tops of them?

 

But then the waitress did something that really didn't sit well with me. She came back to the table and asked if we were full, or something to that effect. We said yes, and she reminded us that dessert was included in the price, and that she could box it up to go if we wanted. Since I'm so picky, I was just gonna ask for ice cream for dessert, which isn't something you can really take with you. And we were heading straight to the airport when we left, so we wouldn't really have time to eat anything later. So I said that I'd rather eat it then. So she stressed again how she would be more than happy to box it up, but again I said that I'd rather eat it there. So she walked away for a bit, then comes back and says something like "So I'm boxing up your dessert to go?"

 

Now, I know that any restaurant wants to put through as many people as they can in a day, but this insistence on us taking our dessert to go was extremely rude in my opinion. I had to tell her that we wanted to eat it there three times before she asked us what we wanted! It really felt like she didn't care if we'd enjoyed our meal or not...she just wanted us out the door as quickly as possible so she could seat another table. Needless to say that once she brought us the dessert (which was great, and just about my favorite part of the meal), she didn't return to the table.

 

A native southern Californian friend of mine described the Mrs. Knotts restaurant as a tradition, and I can respect it as such. But since I'm not from California, I can almost certainly say that I won't be back. The food was very average, and the service was sub-par in my experience. Kevin seemed to enjoy his entree (chicken and dumplings) much more than I did, so his opinion is probably different. I'd rather eat another bowl of the awesome potato and cheese soup than go back to Mrs. Knotts!

 

Leaving Knotts, we headed back towards LAX. We took a brief detour while I tried to find the Randy's Donuts, but wasn't able to find it quickly. I dropped Kevin off at the arrivals gate, and bid him a sad farewell until December.

 

With Kevin safely on his way, I headed back out in search of the Randy's Donuts. I found it quickly on the second try, but since it was dark, I didn't get very good picture of it. I called my mom and chatted for a bit, then headed up to the window. She was very insistent that she wanted a t-shirt from Randy's, so I got the t-shirt and a dozen assorted donuts to take back home and share. I gave her the caveat that if I got hungry during the ride home, I reserved every right to eat a few of the donuts!

 

On the way to return the rental car, I stopped to top off the tank with gas, then went to return it. I rearranged most of my stuff so I could check my large backpack, and keep all my important stuff (camcorder, ipod, etc) in my smaller bag to carry on the plane. When I went to pay for the car, they acted like it was a huge inconvenience that I wanted to pay part of it in cash. When I originally got the car, the girl I got it from also acted inconvenienced because I hadn't called ahead to attach my Blue Chip number to my reservation. I had to wait for about 15 minutes in line just to get to a cashier that would even accept cash! Next time, I will know...put the Blue Chip number on ahead of time, and definitely don't pay cash!

 

I took the Thrifty shuttle back to the airport, were I got checked in reasonably quickly. The security line wasn't too long, but was filled with people who have no common sense. Almost every person was waiting until one x-ray machine was completely empty before going up to it, neglecting to see the huge tables in front of the machines where you get all your stuff ready to be x-rayed! The security folks kept yelling at everyone to fill in any spots they saw at the tables, but people still just stood there like morons. Airport security has got to be one horribly stressful job since you deal with a steady stream of morons all day.

 

Once I got to my gate, I had some time to kill, so I called Mike and chatted for a while. Later, I went and got a fruit parfait from McDonalds so it would tide me over until I got to Atlanta and could find breakfast. Just about as soon as I was done with my parfait, we started boarding.

 

RANT: I will NEVER carry a dozen donuts onto a plane again. When I got the first comment or two about the donuts, I thought "heh that's kinda funny." But then more and more people started making comments about the donuts...and soon it felt like every person who came within five feet of me felt obligated to comment on the fact that I had donuts with me! You couldn't smell them...and they were just in a plain brown box, so it's not like the box screamed DONUTS either! And do you believe that I had two people even ask me the question "Is that a live animal, or is it donuts?" What the hell kind of idiotic question is that??? Is it a LIVE ANIMAL or is it DONUTS??? Give me a freaking break! I don't even think a person who reeks of body odor would get as many "I hope I'm not sitting next to you!" comments as I got with those donuts. So a word to the wise...as nice as it may seem to bring your mom a dozen donuts from an iconic donut shop in SoCal..DON'T DO IT!

 

Anyway, once the donuts were safely stored, I was fast asleep. I only woke up a few times...on take off, when I was handed my little snack pack, one time when I moved from one seat to the one beside me, then when we were about to land. It was nice to get some decent sleep on a plane for once.

 

Arriving in Atlanta, I didn't have too much time to spare, but I had just enough to get to my gate and find a Nathan’s Hot Dogs along the way! I'd never had a Nathan’s hot dog, so I ordered two with sauerkraut. I knew that the very last thing I needed was to not only carry those donuts onto the plane, but to carry two sauerkraut loaded hot dogs onto the plane with me also! So I ate them as quickly as I could, and didn't finish until after my plane was loading. They were good...I'd definitely get them again.

 

The flight from Atlanta to Nashville was pretty much just like the LA to Atlanta leg. The girl next to me looked like Claire Danes, but I was too tired to try and start a conversation with her and figure out if it was her or not...probably wasn't, so no big loss. The next thing I knew, I was landing in Nashville. After collecting my backpack, my mom arrived to pick me up. She drove me to my place, where I promptly opened up the box of donuts and declared that by God they were going to be the best donuts she'd ever eaten in her whole life! In reality, they were good, but not anywhere near good enough to go through the airport donut hell that I went through to get them back to Nashville again! As soon as she left, I hit the sack and got some more sleep.

And finally...Randy's Donuts. A California icon.

Thanks for reading! Hope you've enjoyed my TR! Questions and comments are welcome!

*snicker*

After leaving, we headed for what I thought was a mediocre dinner at Mrs. Knotts.

The Galloping Goose. Not the greatest train ride scenery ever, but it was a highlight of the day because of the awesome conductor, and the history of the train itself.

This is a great example of how disjointed Knotts seems to be. Teepees right up underneath a Beemer? Seems very out of place.

Kevin remarked that his ride on Timberline Twister was the first time he'd ever been allowed to drink a drink during a roller coaster ride.

Oh yeah...we certainly look like we're enjoying our ride, huh? Too bad the photo booth was unmanned, else I'd have certainly brough home a copy of this one!

Ahh, what a lovely photo of what should have been a lovely CCI woodie.

This was in one of the old buildings in the western area of the park. This is the kind of detail that is apparently slipping away from Knotts with every addition they make. I found this to be a great little "story in a story" in the park.

Kevin does his best "dead Kevin" impression. Quite convincing, huh?

Mystery Lodge...far and away my favorite thing in this park! Go see it if you haven't seen it before!!

This is Tom, the employee at the gold panning area. You might recognize him better as dead Elvis from Haunt. Supposedly he has won lots of awards for his performance as dead Elvis!

Here's me doing some gold panning. This was much more tiring than I imagined since you are hunched over the whole time, and it took at least 15 minutes.

The potato soup...a hot and steamy, ooey, gooey, cheesy wonder in the abyss of lackluster park food. Notice Kevin's fingers sneaking into the photo to pilfer my bread bowl top!

During the Calico Saloon show, Kevin enjoyed an "adults only" sassparilla.

Kevin reminisces as we approach the Calico Mine Ride..."Ahh...this is almost exactly like the Alhambra!"

The Knotts shooting gallery is one that you can take a picture of, and it will set off all the gags! Just after I took this, I was relieved of the desire to pay $1 to use a gun to set off the gags!

This was my favorite of the three log flumes I rode in California. It was surprisingly fun and well themed.

The boomerang was a real pain, but at least it was pretty...kinda like Paris Hilton.

Montezooma's Revenge...the second best of the fairly mediocre credit lineup.

Jaguar...a very average family coaster with a killer entrance.

Kevin gets to know a couple of the lovely Orange county locals.

I found Silver Bullet to be quite an enjoyable ride. Best coaster in the park (that I was able to ride at least).

Silver Bullet is quite a pretty coaster, with the same gray supports (which I love) as Dueling Dragons.

Dammit dammit dammit!!!

Knotts is the only park I know with a Cobra Roll as it's weinie.

Y'know, I think I'm beginning to understand why everyone makes jokes about how many trash cans they have at Knotts.

On the way to Knotts, we passed Adventure City. I hadn't been able to work in a stop there on this trip, but certainly will if it's around during my next trip!

[GMAN962]

^Any idea when xcelerator might reopen, or if it's major? I'm going there soon

[Nrthwnd]

Glad you enjoyed Mystery Lodge there at Knotts, Julie.

 

That attraction originally debuted at Vancouver's EXPO 86 World'sFair, as part of the General Motors pavillion, believe it! And it was sold to Knott's following the fair's closure that October.

 

The original was definitely different in focus in regards to the Native Indian Culture and folklore of the (then) immediate area around BC. But the electronics, film technology and live theater 'magic' is all one and the same.

 

And this was one of The Big Hits of the fair back in 1986! I remember actually RUNNING to the pavillion one morning at opening time, just to NOT have to wait over a (usual) hour or more with the (usual) eventual long lines that immediately formed after EXPO's gates opened, heh heh.

 

It was a great attraction, and I remember enjoying it again when we saw it at Knott's in 1996. True retro memory of the fair, thru Mystery Lodge.

 

~ ~ ~

 

Excellent TR too, by the by.

Mmmmm - bread bowl and potatoe w/cheese soup.

 

Excellent. Looked good there.

[Top Thrill Dragster]

Any idea when xcelerator might reopen, or if it's major? I'm going there soon

Xcelerator reopened about a 2 weeks ago.

[GMAN962]

Any idea when xcelerator might reopen, or if it's major? I'm going there soon

Xcelerator reopened about a 2 weeks ago.

I know, but unless the tr is old, I was wondering if it was another breakdown that could leave it down for a while.

[Wes]

^ The TR is from a month or so back, she's just completing it now.

 

Good report, Julie! It's interesting to hear an outsider's perspective on Knott's, I know us So Cal folks are pretty jaded from seeing what the park was turn into what it is.

[vjgx]

Finally, someone who agrees with me about Ghostrider... The layout is great, but add a whole bunch of pain to that and you have no fun at all.

[nursemelis374]

Wonderful trip report! I always enjoy reading your reports and this was no exception! It was especially fun as you were visiting all of my home parks!

 

I agree with you on so many things, but there are 2 things I disagree with. I think that WDW's Jungle Cruise is better than Disneyland's. I love the inside part at the end. I also hate Mystery Lodge. I just think it is boring and too long.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write this! Where are you heading next?

[Meteornotes]

The chicken dinner used to be good. The last time I ate there (2000 or so), I had pretty much the same experience you had.

 

And Ghostrider also used to be awesome. For awhile, it was my favorite wood coaster. But CF have let it got to hell, and seem to have no interest in putting any sort of upkeep into it.

 

I was laughing at the donut portion of the story. You should have told people you were carrying a box full of scorpions...

 

dt