The Valley Torah Scroll

An amusement park is: “a commercially operated park having various devices for entertainment (such as a merry-go-round and roller coaster) and usual booths for the sale of food and drink” (Merriam Webster). According to Kids Konnect, the first amusement parks were created in Europe during the middle ages; these parks consisted of fairy and pleasure gardens where people attended for recreation, shopping, and fun. The first modern type amusement park was created in Chicago in 1894 and was called “Paul Boynton’s Water Chutes”. Today, the United States has more amusement parks in it than any other country in the world. Two of the most popular amusement parks today are Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knotts Berry Farm; both these parks are located near Los Angeles and are the major contenders for ride parks. Other major amusement parks like Universal Studios and Disneyland have their own distinct niches that make them stand out, but Magic Mountain and Knotts Berry Farm have similarities in their niches which makes many who visit Los Angeles ask: Which is a better amusement park, Six Flags or Knotts Berry Farm?
In order to determine which park is better, there needs to be a set of criteria to judge them on. When considering the best amusement park one should take into account which one has the better diversity of rides, a better theme, better shows, better carnival booths, better location, better food, better price, shortest line, and the larger age group that it caters to.
Although many people might love rides like roller coasters and waterslides, when judging an amusement park it is important for the amusement park to have different types of rides in order to cater to different people. This is one thing Six Flags lacks in; almost all their rides are roller coasters, whether it is one for toddlers or one for teens who have an addiction to adrenaline rushes. All roller coasters amusement parks could seem like the best park to a select group of people, but it excludes many other people who enjoy other types of rides too. In Knotts Berry Farm, Although they have many roller coasters, they also have a much more diverse type of rides.
Other than being an amusement park, both Six Flags and Knotts Berry Farms are Theme parks; this means that throughout the park there is a unifying theme bringing the park together. In Six Flags Magic Mountain the theme is the DC universe; the rides are all named after DC superheroes like Superman and batman. The theme is incorporated in things like the items they sell, the design of cups, ride names, and general decor. Although there is a theme, the theme is not that heavily incorporated. In Knotts Berry Farm, the theme there is the wild west; one can not escape this theme. Everywhere one goes the theme pops up; They have many towns (stores and restaurants), shows, and rides that incorporate the wild west in them. For this reason, Knotts Berry Farm definitely has a better theme
Other than rides, a good Theme park has other activities that can keep people happy. Almost every major theme park has shown, often incorporating the theme. The one park that has the least amount of shows is Six Flags. The only show that Six flags have, other than a firework show for the fourth of July, is a concert by the entrance and this concert is not even an everyday one, it only goes on busy days like weekdays, holidays, and school off days. In Knotts Berry Farm, one could spend almost an entire day just watching all the shows they have. An alternative attraction at theme parks other than rides and shows is the carnival games. Both Sixflags and Knotts Berry Farm have them and for the most part, they are pretty similar to each other.
The location of a park might be one of the biggest reasons why one would go to the park that day or not. Both Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knotts Berry Farm are located near Los Angeles. Six Flags Magic Mountain is located North of Los Angles in a city called Valencia and Knotts Berry Farm is located east of Los Angles in a city called Buena. Los Angeles is a huge city with one of the biggest traffic problems. In rush hour it could take over two hours to get from Six Flags to Knotts Berry Farm and both theme parks also have the traffic coming in from other directions. For these reasons, determining whether Six Flags has a better location or if Knotts Berry Farm does all depends on where each individual is staying and has to be determined independently.
Going to a major Theme park could be a costly trip so for people who are on a budget, the price of tickets for the amusement park could make a big difference. As it is, Six Flags and Knotts Berry farm cost almost half of what other major theme parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios, “At an average of $62, the admission charge was among the cheapest in the state. Overall, Knott’s was named the best California amusement park for travelers on a budget. … Knott’s was roughly $10 dollars cheaper than Six Flags Discovery in Vallejo, which placed second on the list.(bloom)” Price-wise they both are good options and would be almost the same if one just got dropped off and didn’t pay for parking.
Whenever someone goes to an amusement park, one question that often pops up is “how long are the lines to the park”. Both Six Flags and Knotts Berry Farm have long lines on busy days but on average Six Flags lines are longer. This has to do a lot with the fact that Knotts Berry Farm attracts a lot of visitors to places like shows and activities, spreading people around; On the flip side, at Six Flags the only thing to really do there is to eat or go for a ride, making the rides busier.
Amusement parks are not only for kids; to properly evaluate an amusement park, one needs to take into account how big of an age group the park is good for; the bigger age group that the park can satisfy, the better the park would rank. At Six Flags, there is a big section filled with many rides for those about age six. It accommodates childish roller coasters, ball houses, mini droppers, and more. Six Flags also has many thriller roller coasters with many of them beating world records like the fastest loop (Full Throttle) or longest overhanging coaster (Tatsu). So far Six Flags has accommodated the toddlers and the people who want the biggest thrillers; where they have a big gap is with one the elderly, and two the people in the between stages. Elderly people, for the most part, would not go on either the thrillers or the kids’ rides; there is just not much attraction for them. There is also a gap for older kids who are not yet into thriller roller coasters; people in this stage find themselves very limited in the number of rides they like. In Knotts Berry Farm, they also have thriller roller coasters and a kids section, but not all the entertainment is invested in those two extreme opposites; there is a large sum of rides at Knotts that are for the people who don’t fit at the two extreme opposites. On top of that, Knotts also has other attractions like shows, horse carriages, trains, and more that would attract people who don’t enjoy rides that much like the elderly.
The last criteria a theme park could be evaluated on is how good the food they serve is. People often wake up early and leave late at night when visiting a theme park, meaning that they usually need to buy at least one meal at the park. How good food is at a restaurant can not really be measured so easily; the best way to see which park has better food is by reading reviews. On Quora, when a question was asked about which theme park was better: Six Flags or Knotts Berry Farm? Corbin Byers responded in his evaluation “Knott’s DOES have better food and entertainment other than rides though.” To the same question, David Gaston responded saying, “Knotts does a good job at theming, but still have great thrill rides, food, atmosphere. Overall a great park. At Magic Mountain while many of the rides are amazing, there is no theme, the park is not run very well, food is not very good.” Although the judgment of two people is not close to an accurate survey, they give one a general idea. No other people in the Quora question said anything about the food or even disliked their comment.
In conclusion, when considering all criteria for what makes a good theme park, Knotts Berry Farm wins. Six Flags attracts mainly people who go to the theme park for almost only thriller roller coaster rides, but for anyone who’s looking for more than just thrilling roller coasters Knotts Berry Farm is the place to go.