Knotts 12/27-12/28

[tjpavlik]

The end of the year found the family and me out in SoCal.  After visiting family and the beach we deceided to head over to Knotts to see what was going on.

 

At 4 pm on the 27th apparently a lot of people had the same idea as we did.  The place was completely packed.  We first attempted the Xcelerator.  The girl at the top of the queue told us it would be 2 1/2 hours.  No thanks.

 

The Silver Bullet's normal queue extended into the midway.  The Fast Lane queue was at least 75 people deep.  No thanks.  The Sierra Sidewinder and the Pony Express were turning people away from the queue because the patrons were blocking the walking paths to the point where it was total gridlock.

 

We waited about 45 minutes for Riptide.  Fun and pretty intense.  The Calico Mine ride was refurbished last year and it is a really nice dark ride (and a people eater!)

 

We visited several of the Ghost Town buildings where each one had a guide telling folks the history and signifigance of each building.  That was probably the best part of the visit.

 

We stopped at the Grizzly Lodge to exercise our 2015 dining plan.  The food was pretty decent.  The best was the fresh veggies for burger toppings.  After scanning our beverage bottle we refilled the Kings Island bottle for possibly the last 99 cent (85 cents with platinium pass) refill for any 2015 Kings Island Cup.

 

As we headed back to the front of the park I noticed they were still letting people in the park!   We eased the number by 4 and left for the evening. 

 

We woke up early the next day to try again.  We entered at 9:30  and fast walked to the Xcelerator at 10.  We made the fourth train.  I noticed they were only running one train with the other in a major state of overhaul.  No wonder the line was so long. 

 

We headed over to the Coast Rider and it was almost a walk on but we waited through a small mechanical issue to ride.  I like a Wild Mouse. 

 

The observation tower was cool, but the windows needed to be cleaned.  Made for crappy pictures.(Walk on)

 

The kids wanted to ride Riptide again so they walked right on.  I watched.  Ugh, that thing really spins!

 

We then went to the Voyage to the Iron Reef.  The wait was about 45 minutes but the queue moved at a steady (if slow) pace.

 

At that point we were hungry and the place was filling up again.  Pony Express had the queue in the midway and the Silver Bullet queue was the same as it was the night before.  Time for food and a quick exit. ( and one more refill!)

 

Overall, a pretty frustrating experience.  If we were paying retail I would be supremely ****ed.  With a pass, eh, whatever. We saw some family and a little of SoCal and Knotts was a diversion.  I got to ride a few coasters (in late December!) so it wasn't a total loss but something I won't do again.