Knott's - Was Excited, but Now Concerned - HELP

[Delilah1310]

Hi all.
We are headed to DLR the first week of August. We have talked about doing some other things on this trip, and DS9 is a total thrill seeker, so we thought we would try the coasters at Knotts.
But looking up a few things here about Knotts has me concerned - I have read several reports of line mayhem ... just general problems with ride loading.
Can someone explain a little more about what is happening and what kinds of problems have happened?
Is there a safety concern that my 9yo will get on a ride he shouldn't because of his height?
Pushing and shoving that might be dangerous for a child?
Separation of children and parents?

How concerned should I be?
We had thought we would do breakfast at DLR and then head over for the (currently posted) opening time of 10 am. Less crowded first thing in the morning, or does it matter with summer crowds?

thanks for any additional insight!

 

[endy]

I think my son rode most of the thrill rides when he was 5, by himself, some of those rides are too scary for me. We went again when he was 13 and had a friend along. I don't remember anything to be worried about tho this was a few years ago.
For thrill rides I think he would still want to go to Knotts over most parks.

 

[Steven G]

The thing with the lines is that for many of the rides, at the point where you have to choose which row you want to be on the coaster, on many of the rides there is no employee there to tell you which row to go to, you just decide yourself. This leads to a little chaos, and maybe not the most efficient loading.

Most of the time, this should not be a concern.

As far as height restrictions, there are usually enough employees that will check a kid for height before the ride starts. I saw at least twice where a kid had to leave the ride because of that.

I don't remember any pushing or shoving, but of course your mileage may vary.

 

[PHXscuba]

The biggest height issue I saw was that (because they are somewhat understaffed) a child sometimes doesn't get height-measured before they get in the line. So if they look close to the height limit, they will pull them off as they are getting onto the ride vehicle to measure him on the platform height guide. As long as YOU know what rides he is supposed to be able to ride (which is available on their website and should be posted outside the ride) this is a non-issue.

I haven't heard of problems with mayhem. It's a little less organized than Disney, but everything is! In general, I found the Knott's employees helpful and fairly friendly. If you are a party of 3 just always make sure your son is riding with you or your spouse.

PHXscuba

 

[Sergio S]

I'm heading to Knotts on June 7 with my 7 year old and 4 year old and can give you my experience afterwards. I haven't been to Knotts in a long time but I dont anticipate any issues really. I know some ride have weight restrictions but im more concern that my son doesn't meet the minimum weight restriction (if any).

 

[sheetz]

I understand it's standard practice at Cedar Fair parks for guests to choose which row they want on rollercoasters instead of being assigned one by a cast member. I guess coaster aficionados prefer that. But i've never heard of it being a major problem at their parks.

 

[Delilah1310]

thanks for all the comments.
your perspectives make it seem like perhaps it might be a little frustrating, if at all, but definitely not a dangerous scene.
I'm glad to hear that!!
thank you all for taking the time to respond!

 

[oakleycat]

I've never had a problem at Knotts and we take our kids (now 10 and 8) every year. The lines are less organized/managed than DL but as long as you check his height and readiness for rides, you shouldn't have a problem. It's a fun park, as a kid I preferred it to DL!

 

[Sergio S]

So as I mention, my family and I did make it to Knott's on June 7. Overall, it was a great experience but here's what I saw that you should take into consideration:

-Parking isn't too bad, you can pretty much walk to the front gate from wherever you park. Of course, Soak City wasn't open and if you go when it is open, then you might have to park a bit further away, but its still a reasonable walk. We arrived around 1115 when the park opened at 10 and our walk to the front gate was only 15 mins.

-A lot of schools (mostly high schoolers) actually went on the same day we went so that was a bit odd feeling. Mostly because I'm standing in line to get on a ride and I look around and only see older kids around me. There was the occisional adult there too, but it was def a high kid to adult ratio.

-Now here's one annoying thing that I experienced and it probably relates to the fact that it was a school day...A LOT of line cutting! Not one or two people, but like groups of five or six people (mostly students) walking through the line to join ONE friend or group of friends who were ALREADY IN LINE!!! And of course there wasn't any security or park personnel anywhere near the line enterance or along the line to do crowd control or anything! In fact, when I told one of the ride operators on Ghostrider what I saw he just said "yeah, it happens."

-At the beginning and middle of the day, I didn't see any Knott's personnel at any ride entrances, but I did see them at all the entrances towards the end of the day. I did see two security guards the entire time I was there but they were mostly towards the front entrances of the park.

-When it came time to actually board a ride, a lot of the rides did not have boarding management or control and it was pretty much a free for all as to where to sit. Jugar was good example of that. However, other rides did have good boarding control such as the Calico Train Mine ride or Pony Express.

-Now most of the thrill rides did have a minimum height restrictions of 48". My son was just barely under the 48" line but we still risked it and got in line for those rides. He was only checked once...on Ghostrider. And although the ride operator saw he was barely under the line, he still let him on. For the other rides, he wasn't checked. In fact, for one ride, there was no wait and we went directly to the seat. (That's where the free for all worked in our favor).

-My son and I never sat separated in any thrill ride and to be honest, I wouldn't want to be. It might be tempting to take that one free seat and then either you wait or have him wait for you at the exit, but why risk that headache?

-Fastpass: I was really REALLY tempted to buy a fastpass since I was waiting on Ghostrider for 1.5 hours, but ultimately I didn't. That was really the longest I had to wait for a ride and even with all the school kids at the park, lines weren't that long and overall the wait times were 15-30 mins (if that). Now more towards the middle of summer when more people attend Knott's, a Fastpass might be an option.

-When we went, the park closed at 8pm. But by 6, the crowd was already starting to thin out and there was no wait on rides like Supreme Scream (54" height minimum) or Jugar or Mountzuma's Revenge. We were told by ride operators that as long as you were IN LINE by 8pm, then you will ride the line. Which made sense why we heard screaming coming from Ghostrider when it was closer to 845pm.

Hope that helps

 

[Steven G]

Line cutting happens anywhere there are teenagers in large groups, including Disneyland (on days that are "grad nights" for example). I was at Disneyland this weekend and I was line cut at least 4 separate times by 3-7 teens. I was mildly aggravated the first time (on Peter Pan) since I usually don't see that at DL very often, but I just got resigned to it..

As far as Knotts and line cutting, I only have seen it rarely, but I have been there mostly when it's mostly families, not teens, and not too crowded.

As far as security, it's their goal to be "unseen" until needed. So it's very likely there was a lot more security around than you noticed.

The "fastpass" at knotts is mainly good if you are a coaster junkie and want to ride the coasters as many times as possible (or your party just can't handle lines). The best thing about the "fastpass" at knotts is that it really does get you very close to the front of the line, or are completely separate lines from the normal line. Many of Disneyland's fastpasses just let you skip the majority of the standby line, but you join the standby line (like Indiana Jones).

Ghostrider is best done first thing in the morning if possible, and is probably the longest line, except maybe Supreme Scream.