knottsberry or 6 flags?

[ChisJo]

We are going to be heading down there and are going to be taking a few days away from Disney. We want to do either 6 flags or knottsberry. We are MAJOR thrill seekers, with no children, so want the park with the best roller coasters or best thrill rides. Cannot really determine that from the website.
What would you all recommend?

Jo

 

[Az Pirates]

My 16 yr. old LOVES thrill rides as well. She said to tell you no question... Magic Mountain (6 Flags)
It's a longer drive to MM than to Knotts, but if you're looking for lots of coasters I would think you'll be happier there.

 

[missmulan]

magic mt has a lot of "teenager" problems recently. they've been in the news more times within a month than i can remember. it's not what it used to be. knotts have some good rollercoasters but i think magic mt has more. so it's quality vs. quantity....you pick.

 

[jiminy579]

If you are truly thrill seekers, then it has to be Magic Mountain. I would try to get there when the park opens.

 

[spendleb]

We preferred Knotts for atmosphere and just the general feeling of the place, plus it has an amazing coaster in Xcelerator (launched top hat), there is also Ghost Rider (woodie) and Perilous Plunge (water ride with a vertical drop) and then Silver Bullet (suspended coaster) but that's about it for 'thrill's, oh forgot the drop tower which is very high.. MM was a strange place, unkept, dirty, disorganised, the rides range from very good (Deja Vu) to terrible (X) and are not really that well looked after, it's a shame as everywhere you look there is a coaster so in that respect MM is probably the one for you, in all honesty despite it's problems we still had a great day!

 

[got2travel]

Wow, goes to show you how much opinions can vary. The previous posted rated Deja Vu as good and X as terrible. My thoughts would have those reversed.

MM has the most coasters on the West coast. I believe they are up to 15 or 16. I know there was another thread about how bad it had gotten in regards to rowdiness, but we have never experienced any problems.

We usually choose to do MM over Knotts, but mainly because we have Six Flags season passes at another park, but we can still use them at MM.

 

[karylrocks]

I thought that Knott's had at least 5 coasters; Ghostrider, Silver Bullet, Montezooma, Jaguar, and Xcelerator. Plus it looks like they have several other rides that look fairly intense. Although MM has many more coasters, I am wondering how many you can actually ride in one day. I have read that the wait times can get pretty long and there are a lot of breakdowns. How do the parks compare for wait times?

 

[spendleb]

We went to Knotts on a Monday and didn't queue for any ride, all of them walk on's

We went to MM on a Wednesday and it was OK, some rides were walk on's, Batman, Superman, Viper etc and some had a large queue but nothing past say 20 minutes, we rode Deja Vu as single riders so that became a walk on too. X was the worst queue and was around 2 hours all day, it's very very slow loading and no single rider queue (my feelings on this ride are above but in it's defense I have heard that it depends on where you sit, I sat in the middle on the outside and all I can say is that the first drop is great then its all a painful blur!)

PS If the park is not busy do NOT purchase the front of line passes, we did and tried to use them but still ended up in the same point of the queue that everyone else did, we went to complain and were told that they are only used once the queue times reach 1 hour! They kindly refunded our money!

 

[ChisJo]

Now I'm confused - I would love to see 6 flags, but don't really want to go if the other attendees are rowdy and unruly, but it sounds more exciting.

Thanks everyone for your help....now I have some more planning to do!

Jo

 

[missmulan]

Jo, don't listen to me...if you want to go to Six Flags, go. Have fun!! Bring a Coke Can and it's buy one get one free!

 

[jiminy579]

You will have a great time at MM as long as your expectations are in the right place. If you are going for ambience, scenery, etc, you will be highly disappointed. I find it to be run down, kinda dirty, and definitely lacking in a complete overhaul. But that is comparing it to one of Disney's parks. You have go to there knowing it is for rides, and rides only. They have the "thrill factor" going for them, and if crazy thrill rides are what you are looking for, them MM is the place for you! You will have a wonderful day!! As for the rowdiness, we have been several times and haven't had a problem.

 

[jlima]

MM has had several occasions of gang violence. DS11 would love to go for the rides but I don't think I would feel safe after what I've read about violence in the park and in their parking lots. It's been a while since I've been there but even back in 1991 there were so many people with gang tattoos, colors, etc that I didn't want to go back.

 

[quiltymom]

Knotts is so worth it, even though it doesn't have all the big thrill rides of MM. But the ones they have are classic. The only time I enjoyed MM was when it first opened and I was in Jr. High. Every trip since then has been a bust -- it's dirty, lots of rude people (who work there AND visit there!), and the rides aren't kept up. You'd just have to turn a blind eye to it all to enjoy it.

Knott's is wonderful. I just love the place. Besides, it also has the largest fried chicken restaurant in the world, and the best fried chicken, too!

Just my humble opinion...

 

[LeftCoaster]

Despite the fact that MM has more coasters and more drenaline junkie coasters, I'd still pick Knott's. You're going to have a long trek up to Valencia. They've been having lots of gang problems lately. The park is filthy, and if you're going in the summer, it'll be brutally hot there.
And with Knott's, you can have their oh so wonderful chicken.

 

[damo]

We were at both MM and Knotts last summer. We absolutely loved MM and were very pleasantly surprised at how clean and safe it was. On the other hand, we were not at all impressed with Knotts or their famous chicken. In fact, we were quite grossed out by the state of the park. Our kids are major, major thrill ride fanatics and we are going back to MM this summer. It is a long way from Toronto, but it is worth it!

 

[Rapunsel]

I vote for MM out of the two. I love their coasters! The last time I went to Knotts I was so dissapointed. To many kid rides. MM is so much better.


Also everyone has to understand that Southern California is very heavily populated... It is not at all like the rest of the US. Meaning if you don't grow up there it can seem very off to you. I lived in LA for 23 years and now live in Niagara Falls, New York. Big change..

So please don't judge the book by its cover. It is just what LA is...

Love MM and Knotts is for kids.......

 

[johnruuu]

6 flags for the most thrill rides

 

[MouseLover]

We spent one day at Magic Mountain, with 2 grandparents and an 8-year-old. If doing over, we would avoid the long drive with traffic and go to Knotts. However, for 2 adults who are thrill-seekers, this park is great! X is the most awesome coaster I've ever been on. There were lots and lots of coasters. A couple were not operating though, and none were operating all their trains, making the waits longer than they should have been. We saw no teenager problems, etc. We had some middle-school aged kids cutting line, but that was taken care of by their sponsors. The park itself was very clean and was landscaped nicely. The bathrooms also were clean.