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How to Guide to Knott’s Merry Farm with Kids

Our family was provided with media tickets to facilitate our review of Knott’s Berry Farm. No other compensation was received, and all opinions are those of our family.

Our family is quite spoiled with the best amusement park in the world right in our backyard, Cedar Point. As our boys get older (currently ages 5, 3, and 1), and their love of rides and attractions has gotten greater each year, Cedar Point has been a great park that caters to families of all sizes and ages.

In 2014, our family spent 12 visits to Cedar Point for various occasions. In addition, we elected to purchase Cedar Fair Platinum passes for the 2015 season because it will not only get us into Cedar Point, but also all of their other parks across North America (which we plan on featuring throughout next year).

So when our family elected to spend this Thanksgiving out in California to visit Disneyland, we also really wanted to take the opportunity to visit Knott’s Berry Farm, a sister park to Cedar Point.

A quick background on the park shows that it was started as a small farm creating the boysenberry, and over the years transformed into America’s first theme park. Today, they continue to offer some amazing food featuring the boysenberry, as well as provide guests with all the fun of traditional amusement and theme parks.

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What also was appealing to our family is that it is one of only two Cedar Fair parks that is open beyond the Halloween season. Our first also happen to correspond with Knott’s Merry Farm, the transformation of Christmas throughout the park.

Since we are from the Eastern Time Zone, we naturally were up bright and early before the park opened. So we decided to wander around the outside of the park, which features a variety of shops, and the iconic Mrs. Knott’s Kitchen.

Looking to expand their business, Mrs. Knotts started serving her fried chicken, and it caught on like wildfire, today being one of the major things the park is known for in food experience. So what better way to start the day then with a complete fried chicken breakfast.

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The food was outstanding, and in addition to the chicken, was served with potatoes, eggs, sausage, and biscuits and gravy. Of course, the biscuits were also EXCELLENT when topped with some boysenberry jam. Not to mention a tall glass of Knott’s boysenberry punch.

Following a fulfilling breakfast, we headed into the park promptly at opening.

On select days this December, the entire front of the park is free to come and experience the Christmas Crafts Village. Area vendors come in and set up stalls to sell their wares. This is also a great way to get into the park and see it decorated for the holidays, and try some of the great Knott’s food.

When you are done shopping, you can then head into the theme park with paid admission to see the rest of Knott’s.

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We started off the day riding the iconic Calico Mine Ride and Timber Mountain Log Ride. Talk about an incredible way to start out the day! Our family is BIG fans of animatronics and themed rides, and both of these rides featured storylines that enhanced the overall experience.

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Our family then continued to make our way around the park, taking in all sorts of rides.

The great thing is that Knott’s is very accommodating for families, by allowing them to child swap. Once one of the parents rides the attraction, and the other watches the kids, the other can then proceed through the exit to get right on the ride. This takes the stress out of trying to decide which parent will ride.

Our family spent the entire day, and into the evening taking in the entire park, eating the famous foods, seeing a show, and all of the holiday decorations.

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Our family was extremely impressed with Knott’s! The park was the perfect size, and the perfect combination of theme rides to thrilling attractions. Together with some fantastic food and unique themed shopping areas, Knott’s Berry Farm is an ideal family attraction.

What is your favorite family friendly aspect of Knott’s?

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Source: InACents

Skip the Lines Sale

Free Cedar Fair Fast Lane with 2015 Ticket Purchase

Cedar Fair is currently offering 2015 tickets at the 2014 gate price at almost all of their amusement parks. In addition, they are giving you a Fast Lane ticket with purchase.

The following parks are participating:

Canada’s Wonderland– $59.99 each
California’s Great America– $62.99
Carowinds– $57.99 (not valid on Saturdays)
Cedar Point– $59.99 (not valid on Saturdays)
Dorney Park– $52.99
Kings Dominion– $64.00
Kings Island– $59.99
Michigan’s Adventure– $32.00 (Valid through July 31, 2015)
Valleyfair– $44.99
Worlds of Fun– $52.99

Fast Lane alone is normally $45-60, making this an incredible value. Tickets are good for the entire 2015 regular season (through Labor Day, September 7, 2015) except where noted.

Is the Skip the Lines Sale a good offer?

Last year, there were several one day sales on tickets for $29.99; however, those tickets were only valid a limited number of days. Even if you consider a ticket costing $30, you are paying roughly half price for your Fast Lane wristband, which will make your day go progressively faster with very short lines for your favorite rides.

Offer ends Thursday at midnight.

Our family is extremely excited to be season passholders for the 2015 season, with plans to visit a bunch of the parks next summer to highlight some of the great family offerings. Stay tuned!

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Source: Kings Island; Cover Photo ©Cedar Fair

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Cedar Point Halloweekends Family Guide

Cedar Point amusement park is located on the shores of Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio. Most people know the park because of their roller coasters, which have been setting records for years with the biggest, fastest, and most extreme rides on the planet. However, few people seem to realize just how much the park caters to families to make it an incredible day of fun activities.

Growing up in Northeast Ohio, our family typically went to the park at least one day a year. Now that we have our own family, with three young thrill seekers, we tend to go to the park a lot more often because they simply can not get enough of the rides.

The most appealing part of Cedar Point to our family is that most everything is kid friendly, since we travel nearly everywhere with them.

Throughout September and October, Cedar Point is transformed into Halloweekends, which started back in 1997. The event started out as a means to get people into the park during the cooler months, and the decorations were the typical cheap stuff you can pick up at your local store. However, today, Halloweeknds is a huge draw for guests, often the busiest time of the year, and Cedar Point makes a huge investment into top quality decorations.

Our family spends the majority of our time in the park at any of the three kids zones: Camp Snoopy, Planet Snoopy, and Kiddie Kingdom. These three distinct areas offer a variety of rides to suit all your younger kids needs. I have rather enjoyed seeing our kids interests develop over the last year with certain rides they would not even look at from the beginning of the season to seeing them love some of the bigger rides they originally had anxiety to ride.

Cedar Point also does an extensive job of bringing in special events just for families during Halloweekends.

For example, they have straw mazes and tractor rides.

140912 Cedar Point Halloweekends John Deere Pedal Cars

Foam pits where foam is pumped into a straw bale enclosed area for the kids to play. They even provide towels to clean off at the end.

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Kiddie Kingdom is set up to host a trick-or-treat, where kids take a card around to several stations and receive a treat at each spot.

140912 Cedar Point Halloweekends Trick-or-Treat Card

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At 5:00 on Saturday and Sunday during Halloweekends there is the Monster Midway Invasion Celebration parade featuring the characters from the Peanuts gang.

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140912 Cedar Point Halloweekends Parade

Kids can enjoy a scare free “haunted” house at Magic House on Boo Hill. Besides some spooky decorations scenes, this walk through is totally kid friendly.

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Cedar Point also features a variety of live entertainment shows that are kid friendly and fun to watch. They include everything from magic shows to Cirque style acts. Our family is always really impressed with the quality of the live shows. Our tip is to get in line for your favorite show early as the limited weekend schedules and high crowds can sometimes make for some difficult times getting in to see them.

For those looking for the scarier events, Halloweekends features five haunted houses and six outdoor scare zones. Scarier zones start around 8:00 pm, so if you kids may be susceptible to getting scared, you might stay clear of those areas.

We can say this was our family’s first year at Halloweekends, let alone our 5, 3, and 1 year olds first time at a haunted attraction, and they LOVED every part of the night time experience. The cast members are extremely good with the kids and enjoy joking around with and taking it easier on them.

Family’s can enjoy a casual train ride around the park at their leisure on the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad. The train provides two stops (one in the middle and the other at the rear of the park) and allows you to bring your stroller if getting off in between. One the back half of the trip, guests can enjoy Boneville, one of our family’s favorites with animatronic skeletons carrying out hijinks.

Worried about bringing your little ones to the park? Cedar Point makes it super easy with things like the Family Care Centers and Parent Swap program.

Our family was delighted this year to see Cedar Point had some Charlie Brown themed animated window displays.

At 7:45 nightly near the back of the park, the Witch greets guests with Call of the Scare, unleashing all the scaresters onto the crowd. This is a very cool event, though your little ones may get scared when all the monsters run out. Again, our kids loved it.

Coming in from out of town? Stay at Hotel Breakers or Breakers Express.

Curious about what a family can eat at Cedar Point? Check out the CPFoodBlog, which highlights all of the latest dining news at the park.

Discounted Coaster Club Membership

Live near Cedar Point (or any amusement park) and interested in taking part in special events throughout the year? Then take advantage of joining a coaster club to get in free to the park and enjoy exclusive ride times (ERT), meals, and merchandise. We have even partnered with the Coaster Crew to give you an exclusive family discount you will not find anywhere else.

Win a Family Four (4) Pack of Tickets to Cedar Point

Update: This contest has ended and the winner has claimed their prize. Thank you!

Cedar Point has graciously donated four tickets for one of our readers, and entering could not be any easier. Simply visit the link below and enter your email address. After confirming your email address, you will then be giving a chance to earn even more entries by sharing.

Win a Family Four (4) Pack of Tickets to Cedar Point

Please note that the tickets are only valid this year, and the lucky winner only has three (3) more weekends to use them. Cedar Point is open on Friday nights (after 6 p.m.), Saturdays and Sundays now through November 2, 2014.

Good luck!

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Source: InACents