OK I know this is a bit like asking "What's the best religion" but I'll give it a try anyway...

What's the best coaster park in SoCal? Is it Magic Mountain, knotts, some other spot?

We are already planning to hit Universal, and skip DCA (take that Eisner!) but we would like to ride some killer coasters during our April SoCal blitz.





Thanks for your input....

What type of coaster?

Knott's has an excellent woodie, Ghostrider.
Six Flags Magic Mountain has one of the world's most unique steel coasters, X.

I personally prefer Knott's to SFMM, because while Knott's might not have as many coasters, they tend to actually operate theirs.

If your family has non-coaster riders, I'd definitely recommend Knott's over SFMM; there's a lot more to do and see for non-riders at Knott's.

If you don't mind a little side tripping, my two favorite "little" parks in SoCal are Adventure City (a few blocks away from Knott's) - they have an excellent 1950's vintage Miler wild mouse, and a weird kiddie coaster that is built over a tree limb. The other place I recommend, is Scandia near Ontario airport. They have a 100 ft. tall Miler coaster called "Screamer" that can be downright brutal. I've seen and heard many people say "Oh, it's just a little coaster" come off quite impressed. They also have some fun, well operated flat rides (including an Orbitron that my wife and I call the Britneytron), mini-golf, bumper boats, and gokarts. Scandia is a FEC, Family Entertainment Center, not really an amusement park, but plenty of fun is there to be had.

Originally posted by CoasterMatt
What type of coaster?



Esentially what we are looking for (on this trip) is the Extream. It's just me and my Boy (10) so we're looking for all the ones Mom won't let us ride! Big, Bad, Fast, Fast, Fast....

I'd suggest Knott's... SFMM has a TON of rides down now, and isn't open during the week. If you go to Knott's during the week, all their rides will be open with no lines whatsoever, whereas at SFMM all the big thrillers could be closed. X always has problems, DejaVu will probably never run steadily, Goliath has train issues, Scream at least had a broken lift motor that may be fixed by now, Ninja never seems to run unless it's a hot day, Superman somehow still has problems running... at Knott's you can have three really good coasters that you can ride all you want, along with the nice flume ride and several fun flat twirler rides and a couple nice dark rides. It's also only 14$ or something like that if you bring a can in for the food drive in the next month or so.

Ok, too late to edit that last message, but I didn't realize the flume at Knott's is going into rehab soon. So you might be without that nice ride, but all the coasters should be working, with two trains on Xcelerator soon too. :)

Timber Mountain Log Ride *should* be operating in April, when Steve0 visits. TMLR is currently in rehab (they have to remove the "Elf Mountain" overlay, and it gets it's yearly rehab). Ghost Rider should be in top notch form in April; it'll be delivering nice happy rides in March for the Solace.

As always thanks to all the experts here on MP.

Based on all your advice it looks like we'll skip SSMM and visit Universal first then Knotts the next day for a double play.

We are planning to opt for either the "front of line" or "VIP Experience" pass at Universal (Thanks to Coastermatt for pointing out those options...)

At knotts it looks like the only option is to get there early and hope for the best...

CoasterMatt: is there a rehab list for KBF anywhere you can point me to? I'm headed out two weeks before Solace (I know, I know) and it's much better to be able to tell the kids in advance what they won't be riding.

Knott's does not post a refurb list on line, but you can call them....714/220-5200

OK, I'm probably just being dense here (it is Monday morning...) but what in the heck is "Solace"

Thanks.

Never mind, I should do my own search before asking dumb questions..

http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24052&highlight=solace

Well, it breaks down like this.......

KBF has Ghostrider, the best wooden coaster in the state, and Xcellerator..probably the fastest launch in the state. Currently, they have the only operational boomerang coaster in the area. So there is 3. Supreme Scream is the best freefall ride in the ara, and certainly is in the "xtreme" category. Jaguar falls under a jr. steel category, and Montezuma will not feel very fast after Xcell, so make sure to hit that one before Xcell. If Perilous Plunge is open, it's a rather tricky ride with a bizarre restraint system, but it is the tallest water ride in the state.

SFMM has a more diverse collection...there's X - which is currently the only one in existence. Riddler - the tallest, longest stand up coaster, Scream - a solid floorless coaster, Batman- a solid inverted coaster, Viper - a classic steel looping coaster, Collosuss-which may or may not be running backwards during spring break, and is the park's average wood coaster, Pscylone - the park's below average woodie (but somehow, it has fans), Goliath - so cal's tallest steel coaster with it's 250 ft. drop, Ninja - a suspended steel coaster, more of a mid range ride, along with Goldrusher another jr. steel coaster. I wouldn't expect to find Superman, Deja Vu, or Flashback open (but not riding Flashback is no loss).

Avoid SFMM on Saturdays, and if you decide to do Knott's, check their rehab schedule. Showing up and not being able to ride Ghostrider is a stunning blow to the park.

IMO, the best coaster park is SFMM out of the two simply because of the variety of coaster experiences. Knott's is the better of the two thematically and food wise.

Six Flags all the way!!!!

If you are looking at just the coasters... Magic Mountain wins...

But with the ongoing maintenance issues at SFMM, the second best SoCal coaster park is Knott's... and they have been doing a GREAT job, and at just $12.95 with the current food bank promo... it is even better...

Disneyland Park itself could contend for number 2, but with Space and BTMRR closed, Knott's is truly number 2....

I've noticed a trend with, Knott's. Is it me or are they taking the Wal-Mart strategy; in regard to their prices for entry?

Well, they haven't lowered their parking or food and merchandise prices.....

Second, there is part of the park closed to make way for some new rides (Lucy's Tugboat, Rip Tide and Silver Bullet).

And I think it is a combination of Cedar Fair taking over, and the addition of DCA.... But yes, it seems like there has always been some type of special for Knott's, usually in the $25 range.. but January is a slow month in general, so it was a good time for a really low price....

The current rumor is that SFMM passed on adding a major attraction this year and instead is pouring money into upgrading, heck just repairing, the park...sort of like a park wide rehab. I guess they finally realized that people do notice the overall condition of the park, and not just the coasters.