California Amusement Parks: Theme Parks and Amusement Parks in California

If going to amusement parks is your idea of a great vacation, California's variety of amusement parks will keep you entertained for weeks. From the themes of Disneyland Resort and Legoland to the adrenaline surges of Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags Amusement Parks, children and adults of all ages can chose from a veritable playground of activities.

It's the "happiest place on earth" and for that reason millions of tourists flock to Anaheim, California to visit the Disneyland

Resort every year. The popular amusement park was a dream of Walt Disney that came to life in the fifties. His vision was to have a safe and clean amusement park that families could enjoy together. With that vision, Disneyland's Magic Kingdom was born. Visitors can walk through themed areas of the park like Adventureland, Fantasyland, Frontierland, Critter Country, Mickey's Toontown, and New Orleans Square and enjoy rides, shopping and dining. Mickey Mouse, Goofy or other Disney characters, like the lovely Sleeping Beauty, greet you as you walk through the park.

 

In 2001, Disneyland opened California Adventure, an adjacent theme park with California themed lands: A Bug's Land, Paradise Pier, the Hollywood Pictures Backlot and Golden State. The shops, restaurants, and rides, augmented by clever animation, are portals to another time. Between the two parks, Disney has plenty of activities to keep the kids busy. Disneyland offers several rides for small children like the Carousel and Dumbo ride while daring teens like stomach lurchers like Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain.

The year 2000 marked the opening of the first true amusement park for very small children. Legoland opened in Carlsbad, California featuring an entire park of Legos: Lego rides, Lego seating and even a Lego man who roams the park. For small children, Legoland is the induction into amusement parks with rides for the very smallest to those with a developing interest in roller coasters. For adults, Legoland is a balance between nostalgia and creativity, especially in Miniland USA. Miniland USA features small-scale replicas of Washington D.C., New York City, New Orleans, New England, Florida and California, made from over twenty million Legos.

Just a few miles from Anaheim, in Buena Park, California, lies Knott's Berry Farm. The 160-acre amusement park known as Knott's Berry Farm grew from a working boysenberry farm and Chicken Dinner Restaurant owned by Walter and Cordelia Knott. Knott's Berry Farm still sells jams and jellies in its specialty stores, but Knott's Berry Farm has developed a reputation as an amusement park that offers exciting, quick moving rides. What Disneyland has for small children, Knott's has for teens. With the towering inversion loops of Montezooma's Revenge and Xceleration's zero to 82 miles per hour in 2.3 seconds, Knott's Berry Farm attracts all but the faint of heart.

For thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies, Six Flags rates high in thrills. Six Flags Magic Mountain, located in Valencia, California boasts over ten thrilling roller coasters with varying speeds and inversions. It is home to Colossus, the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the Western United States and recently, Six Flags Magic Mountain introduced "Déjà vu," a boomerang roller coaster that ejects riders through a series of twists at high speeds, first forward then backward.

 

If you're traveling to northern California, visit Six Flag's Marine World in Vallejo, California. Six Flag's Marine World is a combination of Wildlife Park, aquarium and amusement park. Get close to the dolphins, feed a giraffe or enjoy some of the many rides and attractions that this all-inclusive amusement park has to offer. Take a spin on Medusa, a floorless roller coaster with several opportunities to be turned upside down.

Also in Northern California just south of San Francisco is Paramount's Great America.