Knotts Berry Farm (first time)

[Wilcojoe]

Spending two nights at the Knotts Hotel before going to DLR and will be in the park all day on Friday. We will have a fast pass but have heard that some lines can still get quite long. Any recommended order of the rides from rope drop onward? It will be my wife, and two sons (16 and 13) and myself, so the roller coasters will be the highlights for us.

 

[FlyingDonut]

If you're looking for Knott's suggestions, I'd do Ghostrider first. It's the best wooden coaster I've been on, but the load / unload process is not very efficient. Pony Express seems to get a long line too for whatever reason.

I'm not sure if it's open at rope drop, but the stagecoach ride also has a slow moving line.

If I were there a rope drop, I'd just lap Ghostrider as many times as I could. Silver Bullet is good as well, but its line moves a lot faster.

 

[Brandonius]

If you'll have the Fast Lane, you really won't need to worry about much . You'll only need to wait a few mins for everything.

2 optimizations:
1: If you're going to be there for rope drop, I'd recommend going all the way back to Xcelerator first and doing some rides in the front row. The reason is that Fast Lane merges into that line before you choose your row, and the line for the front row during the day is literally 30-45 extra minutes. The main draw of that ride is the epic launch and drop, which is way cooler in the front row.

2: Jaguar doesn't have Fast Lane. After Xcelerator, double back toward the middle of the park and knock it out. That's a one-and-done, but still do it so that you can say you rode everything

After Jaguar, just go around the rides in order from there. Don't waste more steps. Fast Lane is excellent at this park. If it were me, I'd do Sierra Sidewinder -> Silver Bullet -> Ghost Rider -> Pony Express... etc - just continue around the circle until you end up back at Xcelerator.

You'll probably finish the park by early afternoon with fast lane.

I'd also recommend taking a mid-day break and coming back at night. Roller coasters actually get measurably faster over an operating day - the oil in the wheels thins out so they run faster. On long rides like Ghost Rider you can actually use a stopwatch and see that the train completes the circuit in 1-2 less seconds, which makes a HUGE difference on how sharp the airtime is during individual moments, or how fast a turn feels.

I don't really love Ghost Rider in the morning - it runs a bit too slow. At night in the back few rows, it's probably a top 10 ride for me, and I've ridden nearly 200 roller coasters... it's very good . Make a point of getting a back row night ride on it. Absolute best ride there.

 

[Brandonius]

Also don't skip Sol Spin. It's a carnival looking ride near Jaguar in the mexican section. It packs a way bigger punch than it looks like from the outside.

 

[mdmost]

We are going to drop our bags off at the hotel on our way into town and then head to Knotts Berry Farm for our first visit. We probably won't get there till maybe 11am-noon. What should we prioritize? DD17 losts thrill rides so I figure I'll have to go with her. DD15 loves Snoopy so DW will go with her. We aren't getting the Fastpass.