Knott's Berry Farm visit, CEC, Korean, and Beach Volleyball - 2026/04/28

Time for our next adventure! Last year when we visited, our Six Flags passes were only good at Six Flags parks. Since then though, all the Cedar Fair parks have been rolled into the family and now they're included as well! It's been forever since I've been to Knott's Berry Farm, and the kids have never been! 
We watched a few videos showing all the rides and the kids were excited to get on some new roller coasters. 

I was a little disappointed that my "free parking" on my season pass didn't include Knott's Berry Farm. There goes $40. Since we're coming back later this week, I was planning to upgrade to the $90 yearly parking pass, but I'd have to do that once we get inside. 

We queued up before the park opened officially at 10am. 

At 9:45am they opened the gates and started letting people through! We've got our Front of the Line passes (they do wristbands here) and we're in! 

In to the rope drop line at least. 

No matter. That gave me time to get my All Parks Photo Pass activated here. I went to the photo services booth and scanned my pass. Denied. It wasn't coming up. I pulled up the email I had received with the confirmation. Denied again. Grr. 

Eventually we figured out that Six Flags uses a different company (Pomvom.com) versus Cedar Fair who uses someone else (FunPix.AmazingPictures.com). When I bought it, my money went to PomVom and if I want my pictures from any of the Cedar Fair parks, I've got to buy another All Pictures Pass from them for $60. Grr. Lexi was very understanding, but wanting our pictures from our summer travels, I knew I'd need to pony up the additional $60. 

After the National Anthem played, the rope dropped and everyone went running to the top coaster in the park, Ghost Rider. We were towards the back of the big mass of people, but luckily for us, we're not going in the regular line. The big mass must have been held up somewhere in the queue, because when we went through the Fast Lane, there was no one else at the platform yet! First in line! 

Do we want the front or the back? Let's take the back row! On the first train of the day! 

It was a wooden coaster, but not as bumpy and rough as Apocalypse at Magic Mountain. The back gave up some good airtime where we were floating out of our seats too. And since I paid money for it, here's our photo from the ride! 

The regular queue is starting to back up (45 minute wait) but we looped right back around and got to ride in the front row! 

Yeah! 

Then why not one more time for good measure. 

I stopped by guest services to upgrade my parking to the all season parking and get my $40 reimbursed. I was told that despite the app showing I could upgrade, the all season parking is only for people who choose Knott's Berry Farm as their home park. For me, I'll just have to pay $40 every time we come. I tried to go through the app to get it to add the parking pass, but once I had to enter my pass number, it bonked and didn't let me proceed. Grr. 

Going to the other side of the park, we stopped by a photographer to get a couple more photos. 

Then it was over to Xcelerator. This launch coaster gave us serious Kingda Ka vibes, though only 205 feet tall instead of 456 feet. 

The Fast Lane pass lets up come up the exit ramp, and we only have to wait 1-2 train cycles. Sweet! 

So let's do it again and again! 

Ian really wanted to go on the Log Ride, which is a Knott's classic. Alli and I didn't really want to get wet, but we went anyway. We put him in the front to get the wettest, while we tried to avoid it in the back. 

Along with the big rides, we are also on the lookout for rides that Theresa can do when we come back later this week. Knott's Bear-y Tales looks like a Toy Story type shooting game. 

But maybe not done quite as well as Toy Story. The 3D screens were messing with all of us. Something didn't seem lined up properly in places, with one eye going dark at times, then the other eye going dark. 

At the exit, we got to meet up with Boysen. 

Who is hungry? I know Alli is. And there's a place that says "Italian" on it. She loves pasta. Let's go look there. 

Alli loved that the noodle station gave you multiple options including penne/spaghetti, alfredo/marinara/bolognese, and multiple topping options including grilled veggies/meatballs/chicken.

Ouch! $17.50 for a slice of pizza and two breadsticks. Good thing we're on the dining plan and it's included. Ian opted for the breadsticks, while I chose the side salad because Alli wanted to try it. 

Settling in for a tasty lunch. Ian was impressed with the pizza. And Alli loved her pasta. 

Choosing the grilled veggies. 

Why wouldn't you do a big spinning ride right after lunch? This pendulum spinner is similar to many we've been on, except La Revolucion has seats that face inwards instead of outwards. 

The Fast Lane is so not fair here. We can get off the ride, get back in line, and be on the next ride before the regular line even moves. 

It was unfortunate that the Drop of Doom was closed at Magic Mountain. We had to give this mini tower Supreme Scream, a try instead (252 feet instead of 400 feet). 

We rode their version of a mouse coaster, Coast Rider, to see if Theresa could do it. I think she totally could. 

Over at the hanging coaster, Silver Bullet was giving me serious Batman: The Ride vibes. It's made by the same company, so that makes sense. We had a lot of fun riding it. Pictures didn't look so great. 

But they have cameras on both sides! Hmm. Still don't look great. 

They'll be better the next time! 

From the lift hill, Ian saw Jaguar was up and running! I didn't get a picture riding it, but boy was it rough. We all agreed that we didn't need to do it again.  

Time for another new coaster! The Pony Express! 

This is so where Disney's TRON Lightcycle got the restraint idea. Bars that come behind both knees and a pad that pushes against your back. This is totally something Theresa could do. This ride did have on-board photos, but it wasn't working today.  

We all enjoyed spinning on the Sierra Sidewinder. 

Back over to Xcelerator for more big launches! 

Pretending to be asleep. 

Hi Snoopy! 

We had a lot of fun on the Sol Spin. This 6 armed spinner whips and flips you all over the place in all sorts of crazy directions! We all took a turn on the very outside seat where you get the most extreme spinning. My only problem was the palm tree frond nearby what whipped my leg as I went by! Twice!  

Our day is starting to wind down, and we've gone on so many fun rides today. How do we want to wrap things up? 

Another time on Ghost Rider? 

Two more times on Ghost Rider? 5 total for the day! Fun times! 

While I went to grab something for us to nibble on for the drive back to Manhattan Beach, the kids enjoyed spinning on the Pacific Scrambler. There was just one coaster here, Hangtime, that hasn't been open all day. The kids really wanted to go on it, but maybe we'll have better luck on our next visit. 

Now, we've got to brave the Los Angeles freeways to go pick Theresa up so we can all go out to dinner together. 

Dinner at our favorite Korean restaurant! Ms. Lisa recognizes us and knows all our favorite things. Hard to believe we've been coming to either this restaurant, or her previous one up the street for something like 20 years now. 

We always end up with way too much food. I like the japchae. 

She brought Alli a bowl on dongchimi all for herself. 

She's been enjoying that for a long time. 

Ian loves the fried wontons. 

But he used to like the japchae too. 

Ms. Lisa wouldn't let the kids get away without some snacks for the plane ride home. Ooh! I see some things I like too! Maybe some taste tests coming!

Thanks Ms. Lisa! 

Wednesday 04/29/2026

The kids were excited for today's events. We're going to play some beach volleyball tonight! 

My friend Alysa gave us a volleyball we could practice with, so we spent the morning bumping around at the hotel. 

Want to go to Chuck E Cheese to play around? Everyone thought it would be fun. I checked traffic and while the good CEC was 40 minutes away, another that we've been and don't like as much was only 12 minutes away. Guess which one won? 

Why don't we like it? Well, my first game on 2-Minute Drill earned me 5 tickets (I checked my card to verify). On the next play, I earned enough points to win the bonus! Or so I thought. I waited to see if it would really pay out the 50 tickets and it paid nothing! I played again, beat the high score again and again 0 tickets. Grr. 

I then went over to the basketball game. Beat the High Score to win 25 tickets! Not great, but maybe I can get a couple wins. Except it was only 20 seconds of gameplay, instead of the 45 or 60 seconds at other places we've been. And when I did beat the high score and lights flashed and alarms went off, it paid out 8 tickets. 

But we've still got to find some good here. 

Theresa got in a lot of practice with the Milk Jug Toss. The ticket payout is only 50 tickets if you get all 5 jugs (it's 250 tickets at most other places). 

We don't see Guitar Hero too often. 

Alli getting 100% perfect, hitting every single note! 

Only 160 points off the high score! Nice work girl! 

Over at Skee-Ball, or AlleyRoller, if you beat 55000 points you win 25 tickets. You only get 7 balls to do it, instead of the previous 9, so it's way more difficult, nearly impossible... Unless the game has a glitch and accidently triggers to 10000 every once in a while. 

Alli is good, but not that good. She played enough times that the randomness eventually paid off in her favor and she won the bonus! 

Well Theresa is getting lots of good practice in! Her technique of hitting the back panel with a light toss is really paying off! We did learn that instead of paying 50 tickets for 5 jugs it only pays 40 tickets, so she didn't stress too much if she missed one of the five throws. 

But she got so good that she was able to have a back-to-back 5 jug game! Nice job! 

Alli putting up another big score on AlleyRoller. Way to win again! 

I realized after the first win that Chuck E Cheese comes over the game's speaker to congratulate you if you beat the high score. I was ready for it the second time. 

After CEC, we dropped T off at the hotel where once again she's off to play mahjong with her friends. 

Me and the kids are headed to the beach to play some volleyball! The kids are definitely getting better. We played a couple games together, then I joined Alysa in some 2 on 2 games (my favorite).  

And around sunset, we were treated to a satellite launch from Vandenberg. 

Watching as the rocket streaks across the sky. We've got an early morning tomorrow, so we've got to head home. We are hungry though. Kids, what sounds good? 

Al Noor?

Again? I mean, it is delicious. This time I ordered 1 Mild and 1 Regular. Ian started with the Mild, but asked to mix in some of the Regular because he wanted that spicy heat. So good! 

Tomorrow we've got to get up early for our next adventure!