Theme Park in California

Try California Adventure Land near Disneyland. They have a few really fast wild rides you might enjoy. Tower of Terror is an elevator that drops you like a rock, California Screamin is a jet propelled roller coaster, And I cant think of the exact name right now, but think its "Soarin" mimics a small airplane flying over parts of Callifornia and ends by buzzing over Disneyland's Main Street Parade. Its fabulous! There are other rides too, so you might want to see what else there is.

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My family loves Disneyland so we always have annual passes. Are they big thrill riders?? If so I say go to Magic Mountain or Universal. My daughter only likes Knott's Berry Farm for the Scary Farm.

I love San Francisco! If you plan on doing Alcatraz you need to purchase the tickets way ahead of time. Take a cable car. You have to go across the Golden Gate Bridge and go down Lombard street (a couple of times). Lots of great thing to see and a wonderful selection of places to eat.

Have fun...I'm happy for you!!

Magic Mountain definitely has the most, the biggest, and the scariest roller coasters.
Knott's Berry Farm (in Buena Park, about 30 mins from LAX) also has several big coasters.
Disneyland has a few, but nothing that goes upside down or is super scary. I am a total wimp when it comes to roller coasters (will NOT go to Magic Mountain) but I ride all the rides at Disneyland because they are pretty tame.

Universal is fun and the CityWalk is there too so you can eat, shop, bowl, etc. But they don't have big scary coasters the way Magic Mountain does.

Just read the other replies... I have to say to skip California Adventure and Legoland. Neither one even comes close to the others you're considering. And maybe my recommendation for Knott's isn't good after seeing what other thrill-seekers say about it! :D

Magic Mountain is the place to go for thrill rides. But that's pretty much what they have. No fantasy or anything like that. If you don't want to go to Disney, then I would say Universal since they have a lot of other fun things to do there, shows, shopping, etc. that older kids will like.

hubby was in CA about 20y ago when he was 18y and even then said that Universal was much more exciting than Disneyland.

Stick with universal. Knotted berry farm is kinda boring.

Just do not bother with Knotts Berry Farm if it is still around and if you do Disney the California addition thing is skip able unless you get a really good deal on entrance ... they consider them to be two seperate parks

There is also Knotts Berry Farm near there. I can't remember how adrenaline-y it is. Legoland is probably about an hour away but may be too young for your kids.

We did Disneyland between Christmas and New years last year and it was too crowded. They reached capacity around noon and closed the gates. We got there when it opened and within a couple hours we could hardly walk between attractions. Knotts was the same. Any other time of year, I'd say Disneyland is a must.

We went to San Francisco in summer of last year. My kids, then 14,16 and 21 liked the ferry ride and tour of Alcatraz Island.