Knott's Berry Farm | Affordable Family Fun

We recently visited Knott’s Berry Farm a Southern California favorite named America’s First Theme Park.  With dozens of rides, shows, and attractions in four themed areas, fun is always in season at Knott’s Berry Farm. Splash down the Timber Mountain Log Ride, and stroll through the Park’s Old West Ghost Town® or hang with the PEANUTS gang in Camp Snoopy, the land of high sierra fun!

A great thing about Knott’s Berry Farm is ticket prices are super affordable.  It can cost quite a bit to take your family to a theme park; you will find great value in visiting Knott’s Berry Farm.  Be sure to purchase your tickets on-line and save even more.  Their season pass is an even greater value; if I lived closer I would definitely go that route.

My favorite thing about Knott’s Berry Farm is there is a variety of fun for all ages.  There were large roller coasters for my older boys who love coaster thrills and there is also Camp Snoopy, which has a ton of rides my toddler enjoyed.  Children as young as two can ride most rides in Camp Snoopy alone, some require a supervising companion.  Camp Snoopy also has a Peanuts-themed outdoor stage for shows and Peanuts character meet and greets.

My boys loved all the rides they rode, but they rode the Sierra Sidewinder more than five times so I would have to say that was their favorite.

Knott’s Berry Farm has an old west theme; another favorite of mine was the horse-drawn stagecoach experience.  We rode on the top of the stagecoach which gives you the best views.  We also enjoyed the humorous company of our two cowboy stagecoach drivers.  The Cowboys offered pooper scooper work for my boys if they were giving me a hard time, lol.    There is also a fun Wild West Stunt Show they put on in the old west area.  There are so many fun places to explore you can pan for gold and visit an old schoolhouse.

One thing I noticed, there are plenty of benches and seating areas, which again came in handy as I waited with my toddler as the older boys were on rides.  Knott’s Berry Farm does have a rider switch program, so if someone is waiting with a little one, the waiting adult can switch with the other adult and go to the front of the line similar to fast pass without getting back in line, just ask the ride attendant before getting on.  

 

Both the Boardwalk area and Fiesta Village have an arcade area, my toddler and I hung out there while my husband and boys rode Voyage to the Iron Reef, a 4-D interactive ride, where you score points for shooting objects.

Knott’s Berry Farm has a great selection of restaurants and food in and right outside the park.  They are world famous for their fried chicken and boysenberries.  A boysenberry is a cross between a raspberry, blackberry, and loganberry you will find boysenberry treats throughout the park.  If you eat at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant just outside the park entrance, you can get 3 hour's free parking.

We saw so many delicious food options, from Mexican food to Pizza, BBQ and more.  If you frequent Knott’s I highly recommend their All Day Dining Pass.  My boys enjoyed burgers and chicken strips in an old diner feel restaurant named Coasters Drive-In.  I was trying to eat healthier on this vacation and I was pleasantly surprised with all the healthy options.  I enjoyed tri-tip and rotisserie chicken at the Boardwalk BBQ.  They also had fresh fruit cups and salads.  You could also indulge where I ate, with tasty comfort sides, but I appreciated the option to purchase a la carte since I was not indulging on this trip.  They had BBQ sauces to choose from even one with boysenberries.  If I wasn’t trying to eat healthy on this trip I would have most definitely eaten a Funnel Cake from Ghost Town Grub, it comes topped with soft serve ice cream and boysenberry goodness, yum!

Knott’s Berry Farm is the birthplace of THE Boysenberry and each spring, Knott’s celebrates the flavorful berry and its historic roots during the Knott’s Boysenberry Festival with unique food and live entertainment. The three-week food festival features over 75 one-of-a-kind boysenberry inspired dishes, drinks and more, plus foot-stompin’ entertainment, the Wine and Craft Brew Tasting Garden, and family fun everyone will love! From sun up to sun down, the festival offers good ol’ fashion food, fun and entertainment. Pick up a tasting card to sample a few of the most popular boysenberry dishes in the park. For guests with a hankerin’ for some live entertainment, the options are endless with live music throughout the park. The limited-time food festival is included with admission to Knott’s Berry Farm. The Knott's Boysenberry Festival runs March 16 - April 8.  Learn more here: http://bit.ly/2F4vDoS

Knott’s Berry Farm will welcome HangTime, a brand new steel roller coaster and the first dive coaster on the West Coast to the theme park during the 2018 summer season.  HangTime will tower 150 feet over the Boardwalk area, showcasing gravity-defying inversions, mid-air suspensions and twisting dive tracks.

If you are visiting Southern California I highly recommend visiting Knott’s Berry Farm it’s affordable fun the entire family will enjoy.  We visited in January, I hope our next visit is in the warmer months so we can enjoy Soak City!

Knott’s Berry Farm is located at:

8039 Beach Blvd, Buena Park, CA 90620

Save $$$ buy tickets on-line:

https://www.knotts.com/tickets-passes

Standard Parking at the time of our visit cost $18.

For Calendar and Hours:

https://www.knotts.com/explore/calendar-and-hours

More information on Knott's Berry Farm and all they have to offer visit their website at https://www.knotts.com/

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Disclosure: I received complimentary tickets in exchange for my time and efforts in reporting my opinion within this blog.  Even though I receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine.

Madame Tussauds Hollywood

Our family went on a family vacation to Los Angeles in January and my husband and I had talked about taking our boys (ages 10, 8, 6 and 2) to Madame Tussauds Hollywood Wax Museum.  My husband and I had visited many years ago before we had kids.  We were a little unsure if our kids would enjoy it.  We thought they probably won’t know most of the wax sculptures but we thought we would give it a try since we were going to be in the area.

Well, I am here to tell you my boys LOVED it!  They had so much fun, even with the wax figures they didn’t know, and I was pleasantly surprised at how many kid-friendly characters there were. 

One thing I didn’t remember from my visit years ago was the props.  They had props with most of the wax figures which made it more fun for the boys to pose and take pictures and interact. It was so fun to watch my boys get into character and just have a blast taking pictures and videos of them. 

There are three floors of wax figures; I was impressed with how lifelike many of them are. You start on the top floor and work down; there are elevators and stairs, so if you have a stroller the elevator comes in handy. 

The floors follow a theme, one floor has disco lights with wax figurines of singers and performers, then you go down and there are actors, producers, movie type characters like E.T.  My boys have never watched the movie E.T. but they had fun posing on the iconic bicycle with E.T. and taking pictures.  There are classic figures like Elvis, Jimmy Stewart, Charlton Heston as well as new figures like Taylor Swift and Kylie Jenner, they are always updating and changing. I loved seeing the new Selena wax sculpture.

They have staff photographers at some of the wax figurines, and you can purchase a photo package at the end of your self-guided tour.  For only $40 you get 4 printed out pictures and access to all the digital downloads of the photos the staff takes.  I think it’s a great deal and I love the photos we had taken, they will be memories that last a lifetime.  You actually start off on the top floor in front of a green screen and the photographer will tell you different poses to make and I was so happy with the way those turned out.

There are more areas like an athlete section, wild west section and something new they had was a Marvel Super Heroes 4D section, this was really cool especially for my boys, they posed with their favorite heroes Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Tony Stark, and more!

You can expect to spend at least one hour walking through and taking photos, we were there closer to two-hours; my boys really enjoyed themselves.  There were other people there while we were visiting, but it was not crowded and there are enough wax figurines to pose with one while someone else is posing with another and switch stations.  They really put a lot of thought into the display and backgrounds behind the wax figures, many have themed music.  Many have signs with facts and information, you can read and learn about that person or making that wax figurine. 

They have a station near the end where you can make a wax hand souvenir for $15.

If you walk up to Madame Tussauds Museum Hollywood admission is $30.95 for adults and $14.95 for kids.  You can save $10 by purchasing your tickets on-line.  They are also part of GO LA Card, so if you have an extended stay in Los Angeles I highly recommend that method to explore Madame Tussauds and more in Los Angeles. 

If like me you are unsure that your kids would enjoy it, I think you will be pleasantly surprised as I was, your family will have so much fun acting, posing, taking pictures and exploring.

Some fun facts they had posted:

• 500 million people worldwide have visited a Madame Tussauds – that’s more than the population of North America and Australia combined.
• It takes approximately 800 hours to make a figure.

Number of hours to . . .

• Sculpt a figure | 350 hours
• Mold a figure | 175 hours
• Insert hair & style figure | 145 hours
• Make a pair of eyes | 15 hours
• Make a set of teeth | 30 hours
• Color a head | 50 hours
• Costume a figure | 35 hours

There is also plenty to explore nearby like the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Minnie Mouse received her star the day before we visited so it was fun searching for her new star.  The TCL Chinese Theatre is next door, there is the Dolby Theatre, and there are the double-decker tour buses you could take while in Hollywood.  There is also plenty of restaurants nearby.

Parking in Hollywood can be tricky, we chose a parking garage nearby Madame Tussauds.  Remember to bring cash as some parking garages only accept cash, parking can range from $10-$25 depending on which lot you choose.

Madame Tussauds has many wax museums around the country I hope after reading about the fun we had you will explore one near you or while in Los Angeles visit the  Madame Tussauds Hollywood.  

Information:

Location: 6933 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, California 90028

Phone Number: 323.798.1670

Website: https://www.madametussauds.com/hollywood/en/

Hours: Monday through Friday 10 AM to 7 PM 

Saturday & Sunday 10 AM to 8 PM

Disclosure: I received complimentary tickets in exchange for my time and efforts in reporting my opinion within this blog.  Even though I receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine.

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Disney on Ice Follow Your Heart Review | Sacramento Golden 1 Center

Last night I attended Disney on Ice’s opening night Follow Your Heart show at the Golden 1 Center featuring Disney Pixar’s Inside Out, Finding Dory, Disney’s Frozen and other beloved Disney stories.  

Disney On Ice presents Follow Your Heart is at the Golden 1 Center from February 15–19, 2018.  It is nice that they are in town on a three day weekend since most kids are off of school for Presidents Day they have a Noon and 4 PM show that day, Monday, February 19th.

I loved every minute of this presentation and so did my four boys (ages 2, 6, 8 and 10).  There was a lot of singing and action to keep their attention, throughout the entire presentation and a nice changeup from previous shows.  

The show opens with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy they also make appearances throughout the show.  You'll see the characters from Inside Out introduce some of the other performances like Beauty and the Beast.

Our favorite part was the acrobatic performances by the Little Mermaid and Rapunzel from Tangled. Watching them dance in the air, hanging by a rope, is pretty amazing. Followed by a close second our other favorites were the adorable seven dwarfs from Snow White and the Toy Story gang.

As a mom I greatly appreciate the intermission time which is about 15-20 minutes, great for bathroom breaks, no one misses the show and it is nice to get up and stretch your legs.  After a quick intermission, Mickey and his friends introduce Finding Dory who is super adorable. 

Disney on Ice Follow Your Heart did not disappoint!  It was magical and exciting!  Disney did a great job with set design and costumes, they always do!  The skating and special effects were awesome!  I would highly recommend Disney on Ice for families with children of all ages.

If it is your first time visiting the Golden One Center, I recommend you give yourself plenty of time to arrive and locate parking, especially allocate time for traffic flow.  There are quite a few parking garages to choose from or street parking if available.

You can reserve parking ahead of time with SacPark.org or ParkingPanda.com.  It is super easy, I reserved parking right on my phone, paid $10 and it gave me a QR code to show the parking attendant.  Most parking garages are a short walk, and there are crowds of people parking and walking with you to and from the Golden One Center.  

Here are some pictures from Disney On Ice Follow Your Heart.

You can also follow me on Social Media to see more pictures and videos.

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Disney On Ice Follow Your Heart continues at the Golden One Center until Monday, February 19th.  Get your tickets at www.DisneyOnIce.com, Ticketmaster Retail Locations, the Box Office or call 1-800-745-3000.

  

Disclosure: I am a Feld Family Ambassador, and in exchange for my time and efforts in attending shows and reporting my opinion within this blog, as well as keeping you advised of the latest discount offers, Feld Entertainment has provided me with complimentary tickets to Feld shows.  Even though I receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine.

Facts & Tips

• Arrive early!  I like to arrive between 6 PM - 6:15 PM (Find parking, Go through Security, Use the Restroom, Purchase Souvenirs).
• Park near a light, it is dark when you leave and this makes it easy to find your car.
• In the middle of the show, there will be an intermission time, great time to use the restrooms.
• If you are purchasing a snow cone or souvenir from the concession vendors, I recommend, purchasing before the show starts or at the beginning of intermission.  The lines are long if you wait till after the performance, or if you hesitate during intermission.
• They sell popcorn and cotton candy right at your seat, also Coke and Diet Coke, before the performance and during intermission.
• Snow cone souvenir cups are my boys favorite depending on the character cup you choose prices are $12, & $15.
• Popcorn and Cotton Candy comes with a Souvenir hat and are $15.
• There is also a variety of food available like pizza, nachos, pretzels, ice cream bars.
• If you have little ones that want to dress in their princess dresses or Disney costumes, do it, there are many kids dressed up.  My boys usually wear their favorite Disney T-Shirt.
• Plan on the show with intermission lasting 7 PM to 9 PM.
• Baby bags, plastic bottles, and formula are permitted in Golden 1 Center as long as the bag is no larger than 16” x 16” x 8".
• Child Admission: In most instances, children under twenty-four (24) months of age are admitted free of charge in Golden 1 Center for events provided that they sit on an adult’s lap. Please note that some events may have varying age requirements. Please see specific show guidelines for more information.

WHEN: 

Thursday, February 15 through Monday, February 19, 2018

Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7:00 PM

Friday, Feb. 16 at 7:00 PM

Saturday, Feb.17 at 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM

Sunday, Feb 18 at 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM

Monday, Feb 19 at Noon and 4:00 PM

WHERE: Golden 1 Center – 500 David J Stern Walk, Sacramento, CA 95814

TICKETS: Tickets start at $20 each!

                         

Tickets available for purchase online at Ticketmaster.com, 

charge by phone at 800-745-3000 or in-person at the venue Box Office. 

*prices subject to change; additional venue/ticketing fees may apply

To discover more about Disney On Ice, visit www.DisneyOnIce.com or follow us on these social media platforms:

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/DisneyOnIce

Twitter: @DisneyOnIce

YouTube: www.youtube.com/DisneyOnIce

Instagram: @DisneyOnIce

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Disney On Ice THIS Weekend at the Golden One Center

Disney on Ice is coming to the Sacramento Golden One Center this weekend!  Purchase your tickets TODAY! We are so excited about going to see Disney On Ice Follow Your Heart.  My boys and I love attending Disney on Ice.  Every time we have attended we have had a fun time together, making memories.  I will post a review of the show this Friday.  You can also follow me on Social Media to see pictures and videos first.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blogaboutitall/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theblogaboutitall/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/blogaboutitall

For showtimes and ticket information see below!

Sacramento Show Schedule:
Thursday, February 15 through Monday, February 19, 2018

Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7:00 PM

Friday, Feb. 16 at 7:00 PM

Saturday, Feb.17 at 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM

Sunday, Feb 18 at 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM & 7:00 PM

Monday, Feb 19 at Noon and 4:00 PM

WHERE: SACRAMENTO - Golden 1 Center 500 David J Stern Walk, Sacramento, CA

TICKETS: 50% Off Discount Opening Night tickets available on select seating (not valid for premium VIP/Front Row seating) 

Tickets available for purchase online at www.Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at 800-745-3000 or in-person at the venue Box Office. Prices subject to change; additional venue/ticketing fees may apply.

To discover more about Disney On Ice, visit www.DisneyOnIce.com or follow us on these social media platforms:

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/DisneyOnIce

Twitter: @DisneyOnIce #FollowYourHeart

YouTube: www.youtube.com/DisneyOnIce

Instagram: @DisneyOnIce

I am a Feld Family Ambassador, and in exchange for my time and efforts in attending shows and reporting my opinion within this blog, as well as keeping you advised of the latest discount offers, Feld Entertainment has provided me with complimentary tickets to Feld shows.  Even though I receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% mine.

About Feld Entertainment

Feld Entertainment is the worldwide leader in producing and presenting live touring family entertainment experiences that uplift the human spirit and bring people together. With millions of people in attendance at its shows each year. Feld Entertainment's productions have appeared in more than 75 countries and on six continents to date and include Monster Jam^®, Monster Energy Supercross, AMSOIL Arenacross, Disney On Ice, Disney Live! and Marvel Universe LIVE! More information about Feld Entertainment is available online at www.feldentertainment.com.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

March 2nd, 2018 is National Read Across America Day in honor of Dr. Seuss's Birthday!

Read Across America Day is a nationwide reading celebration that takes place annually on March 2—Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Across the country, thousands of schools, libraries, and community centers participate by bringing together kids, teens, and books, and you can too!

I grew up reading Dr. Seuss books and have passed on my Dr. Seuss books to my children as well as added to our collection over the years.  They are so fun to read with all the rhyming and silly names.

Last year I made some fun Dr. Seuss inspired treats and surprised my kids when they arrived home from school.  They loved it!

This is a fun event to share with your kids' teachers if they do not already celebrate it.  Volunteer to bring in some of these treats and read a Dr. Seuss book to your kids class, I'm sure your teachers and children would love that.

Here are the easy treats I made last year.
Cat in the Hat Kabobs
What you need: Skewers, Marshmallows, Strawberries, Bananas and an edible marker to draw the Cat in the Hat face.
These are easy to make, super cute and fun to eat off a stick.

Lorax Cuties
What you need: Cuties and yellow construction paper.  I cut out Lorax shaped mustache and eyebrows and taped them to the cuties.

Green Eggs and Ham Pretzel Snacks
What you need: Pretzel Sticks, Marshmallows, and green topper (fruit loop or green candy)

A super easy snack Popcorn in honor of Hop on Pop and Goldfish in honor of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  The colored Gold Fish would look more festive, but I used what I had.

This year I am going to attempt to make a Cat in the Hat Pizza and a treat with cotton candy because I happen to have some Cotton Candy in my snack stash that needs to be used.  

Hat's off to reading and hat's off to Dr. Seuss, I hope you enjoy the day reading some oldies but goodies with your children, grandchildren or the kids in your life.

Helpful Links:
Hat's Off to Dr. Seuss's Birthday | Seussville

5 Ways to Celebrate Dr. Seuss's Birthday | Scholastic

Snack Ideas:
One Fish, Two Fish Jello Cups by Cupcake Diaries

Cat in the Hat Ice Cream by Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons

Seuss Pancake Stacks by The Country Chic Cottage

Studying with Dr. Seuss by Ship Shape First Grade

Lorax Treat by Newly Nesting

Dr. Seuss Muffin Tin by Be Brave Keep Going

Green Eggs & Ham Pancakes by Mom Endeavors

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