Exploring Knott's Berry Farm's best features
By: Michelle Lee
Looking straight up at HangTime
What to Know
Imagine walking past a sign that says Knott’s Berry Farm, expecting to see a vast land covered with berry vines but instead seeing mountains of colorful rollercoasters. Well, if it’s a theme park, then why is it called a berry farm? That’s the same question I had when I first visited Knott’s Berry Farm. It turns out that the park was originally a boysenberry farm, but one of the owners, Walter Knott, wanted to give the young visitors some entertainment. He eventually came up with the idea of creating amusements around the farm, leading to the amusement park that it is today. This year marks its 100th anniversary.
Driving by the Knott’s Berry Farm Entrance Sign
I think now is the time to mention that the entrance fee for the park is actually not that expensive compared to other theme parks. To enter and spend a single day there, you only have to pay $55 per person. Keep in mind that this is the regular price for online ticketing. If you choose to purchase the regular ticket at the gate, you would have to pay $89, so make sure to pay online for the cheaper ticket. Another thing to note is that there is a $20 parking fee, so don’t forget to purchase a parking ticket if you plan on bringing a car. Now that we have that information down, let’s see what exactly Knott’s Berry Farm has to offer.
Riding Our Way Through the Park
It was the spring of 2019. My family was taking a road trip to California because my dad had a meeting to attend there. While discussing how the rest of us would spend the day, my mom made a suggestion. She was the one who introduced Knott’s Berry Farm to me and my younger sister, saying that we’ll like it since it has a lot of exhilarating rollercoasters. Of course, we were excited because we hadn’t been to an amusement park in such a long time. We were ready to experience that thrill again. There was just one condition: mom had to go on some of the rides with us. My mom was never a rollercoaster person. She didn’t really understand why anyone would risk his or her life, but I thought this was the perfect way to help her relieve some stress.
My dad dropped us off at the gate, so we didn’t need a parking ticket. After being admitted into the park, we grabbed a map and headed to our first ride: GhostRider. This is a wooden rollercoaster, and I don’t know about everyone else, but I think those are some of the best rollercoasters out there. They might not have the best colored tracks, but the actual rides themselves are full of excitement. Just looking at the coaster tracks is like looking at an architectural masterpiece. We wasted no time getting to the line, which was surprisingly not as long as I had expected. It was a weekday and technically still a school day, so it was understandable.
I know I said I love wooden rollercoasters, but GhostRider exceeded my expectations. Going up the hill took as long as 30 seconds, building up the tension for the drop. As the train quickly dropped, I felt the wind brushing my hair back. The entire ride was smoother than any other wooden rollercoaster I’ve ever been on. The abrupt turns aggressively pushed my torso to different directions to the point that I couldn’t even reposition myself until the very end. Most of the times that I expected the ride to finish, it didn’t. The fact that I was able to be on the ride for so long was the best part. Despite the fact that my groins hurt because they frequently bumped into the seatbelt during the aggressive turns, I’ve ridden this at least 5 times.
My favorite ride (GhostRider) dashing through the tracks
Image from Knott’s Berry Farm
Lunch and More
By the time we finished exploring most of the rides in the park, our stomachs were growling for food. Indecisiveness runs in the family, so we had to check the map and walk around before finally choosing what to eat for lunch. After spending all that time studying the restaurant options, we landed at Johnny Rockets. Since lunch time is pretty universal, the place was full. Our wait time was about 15 minutes, which we didn’t mind at all. In the meantime, we looked over the menu so that we can order right away. I ordered the Smoke House burger, and when I took a bite, the crispiness of the fried onion ring inside was the texture that I needed.
Knowing well enough that it’s not the best idea to go on a rollercoaster right after eating, we chose a nice shady spot to relax and digest. That spot happened to be directly in front of the most terrifying ride I have ever been on: HangTime. While the light turquoise color of the tracks posed as a welcome sign, the rest of the rollercoaster was everything but welcoming to me. It was a ride for extreme risk takers.
A long and nerve-wracking pause in HangTime
Image from Knott’s Berry Farm
HangTime was the ride that I was most anxious about going on because of the pause. Before walking towards the line, I slowly lifted my head as my eyes followed one of the cars up the track. Then, the car stopped at the tilt, and I thought, “OK, no.” Even though I was slightly concerned, I went on anyways because I knew my sister would force me. Plus, even my mom was going to ride it. Going up was like a moment of defying gravity. I could feel my body lifting away from the seat, but I was still up in the air. Then came the moment that felt like death. As I waited for the drop, “hurry up” was the only thing I could think of repeating to myself. My body was pushing down and basically relying on the seatbelt, but the drop wasn’t happening. The pause felt like an eternity. Just when I was about to regret going on this ride, we finally dropped, and the thrill I normally felt during rollercoasters returned.
Conclusion
Although I’ve only talked about rides for older visitors, Knott’s Berry Farm is family and kid friendly. Every spring, they have a Boysenberry Festival that welcomes people of all ages. And as of May 2019, there is a new water ride called Calico River Rapids. Unfortunately, I went in April of 2019, so it was still under construction. I hope to visit again when it reopens, so I can reexperience the fun and joy of all of the rides, old and new. Here is a more detailed list of all the attractions in the park. The next time you visit California, try to spend at least one day exploring all of these great attractions at Knott’s Berry Farm. I can guarantee that you won’t regret it, especially if you’re a rollercoaster person.
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