Time needed to do Knott's - 4-5 hours enough?

[northshoremama]

this is the first time we will be going to knotts berry farm as a family (me, DH, dd2, and dd1). we are planning on arriving at LGB around 10:30am...rent a car...grab some lunch, and then head to the hotel for an early afternoon nap. so my question is...will 4-5 hours be enough to see/tour knotts? if we get to knotts by 4pm on saturday may 2nd (hours are 10am - 10pm), will we have enough time to do/see most of the good stuff?

or should we try to do knotts during the day?...rather than late afternoon/evening? is there a difference?

how are the crowds in early may on a saturday anyways? they can't be as bad as DL, right?

any knotts advice would be appreciated!

 

[Stacerita]

By that time in the afternoon, lines will be long. I don't think 4-5 hours will be enough to do much of anything. If it was during the week, maybe. But not on a Saturday. Not as bad as DL. But not worth spending the price of admission to do so little.

 

[northshoremama]

By that time in the afternoon, lines will be long. I don't think 4-5 hours will be enough to do much of anything. If it was during the week, maybe. But not on a Saturday. Not as bad as DL. But not worth spending the price of admission to do so little.

thank you for your input. the last time i went to Knotts was with my mom and older sister way back in the late 80s! i think we spent pretty much the whole day there...but knowing that we won't be doing all the 'bigger' rides, i figured maybe we could do it in a shorter amount of time. i was also wondering about the weekend vs. weekday crowd! thanks again! maybe i'll change our plans to get in friday instead of saturday, so that we could start knotts at opening time.

 

[Stacerita]

I just noticed that you have younger kids. True you won't be doing the bigger rides, but I still think a whole day would be better. Or at least an earlier day. You don't want to miss any of Camp Snoopy stuff. Cute kids rides and such. And you must do the stagecoach. And if your little ones can handle it, the train is fun. The little surprise on it might scare them, but who knows, they might be able to handle it. I would also make plans to have an early dinner at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restraurnt. Sooo good.

 

[northshoremama]

I just noticed that you have younger kids. True you won't be doing the bigger rides, but I still think a whole day would be better. Or at least an earlier day. You don't want to miss any of Camp Snoopy stuff. Cute kids rides and such. And you must do the stagecoach. And if your little ones can handle it, the train is fun. The little surprise on it might scare them, but who knows, they might be able to handle it. I would also make plans to have an early dinner at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restraurnt. Sooo good.

yeah, i was just on the knotts website, and they have an example of a 1/2 day and a full day for a family with small children. they camp snoopy on there...so i think that's where we'll spend most of our time. i'll make a note of dinner at Mrs. Knott's Chicken dinner restaurant!

 

[Teknik_DC2]

Depending on the crowds you could easily do knotts in that time frame. When we went we did all the rides once in just under 4 hours. We went on a week day though so where your going on a saturday it might be tougher to get it all in.

 

[mechurchlady]

Disneyland, Knotts and other Southern California parks have a pattern of Friday evenings, Saturday after about noon, and Sunday after noon being the busiest time of the week. Even in the middle of winter those are the busiest days. A 5 minute line in October on a Monday will become a 15 minute line on Saturday evening.

Since you have little kids they would be able to do Camp Snoopy pretty well. Do not plan on doing a lot of rides but the kids will be happy if you do not gripe about things. Let the kids be kids and have fun in Camp Snoopy.

The stagecoach is fun but it is a slow riders because of the idiots in management who took out the loop. In the old days the driver would park the stagecoach and if he could not get close enough then around the loop he would go and try again. Now if they cannot get the horses to align properly then they have to redo the ride. Best to enter and go to your right into Camp Snoopy. To the left is the old part of the park and the western section. That way will lead you to the rafting ride on the left and ahead to the train and newer part of the park.

Have fun there and let the kids be kids and enjoy what they can. Planning may help.

 

[northshoremama]

thanks for the advice everyone. changed our plans...we'll be arriving at LGB at 6pm saturday...so we won't be going to knotts then. we will be going on either monday, tuesday, wednesday, OR thursday...1st week of may. any recommendations on which day would be best to go. we will probably plan to get there at opening and stay for an early dinner (i believe they open at 10am, right?).

 

[Zoemakes5]

I think if you go mid week in May you should be able to get everything done in a shorter period of time. It's really quiet in may during the week. Try getting in to the stagecoach early.
I have to ditto Mrs. Knotts. LOVE their food. You get a ton, though, so you might want to share.

 

[Chriistiinaaa]

thanks for the advice everyone. changed our plans...we'll be arriving at LGB at 6pm saturday...so we won't be going to knotts then. we will be going on either monday, tuesday, wednesday, OR thursday...1st week of may. any recommendations on which day would be best to go. we will probably plan to get there at opening and stay for an early dinner (i believe they open at 10am, right?).

Any of those days are wonderful. The crowds will not be much and you will be able to finish the park within 4-5 hours. Yes they do open at 10am. However Knott's on weekdays do close early i believe it's around 7pm. I use to work at Knott's for about half a year around this time and I'd get less hours because the park would close early. During spring break it does close around 10pm, but there's no use for that because you're not going during spring break. Any of those days are good. Have a funn time at Knott's.

 

[BenA81]

what is the typical wait time for a an above average roller coaster on a may weekday?

 

[Ron Nelson]

we are heading to KBF on Thursday March 12,2008. There will be 3 adults and 3 kids (8yr old, and twin 5 year olds) was wondering if we will be able to do all of KBF in one day? the other question is will the 5 year old boys be able to do a fair bit of rides or are they going to be bored?

any advice would be much appreciated

 

[Chriistiinaaa]

what is the typical wait time for a an above average roller coaster on a may weekday?

I'd say around 15-20 mins tops.

we are heading to KBF on Thursday March 12,2008. There will be 3 adults and 3 kids (8yr old, and twin 5 year olds) was wondering if we will be able to do all of KBF in one day? the other question is will the 5 year old boys be able to do a fair bit of rides or are they going to be bored?

any advice would be much appreciated

I think you will be able to finish Knotts in one day. You can arrive there when it opens which is 10am and i believe it closes at 7pm but i'm not sure. That week might be part of spring break but i doubt it so it might close around 7pm.

For the 5 yr old boys i believe camp snoopy will be good for them BUT they might finish camp snoopy within i'd say 3 hrs or so. They might be bored afterwards. Needless to say there are PLENTY of games they can play. They have a boardwalk of games, the games varies from easy to hard.

Have funn trip to KBF!! Hope this helps.

 

[Ron Nelson]

Thank you so much for the info

only six days left until we get onto the plane