Buena Park

European settlement of the area dates to the Spanish "ranchos", huge land grants in the late 1700s. A rail connection to Los Angeles was established in 1875. Buena Park was established as a community in 1877 (in conjunction with the railway development) and formally incorporated as a city in 1953. While there has historically been some industrial activity in the area (such as a Nabisco factory which closed in 2006), Buena Park is the closest city in Orange County to Los Angeles and operates largely in that city's shadow; various attractions (which formerly included a wax museum, a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum and a deer park) have come and gone over the years, but the city is best known for an amusement park on what used to be Walter and Cordelia Knott's farm.

By car

• I-5 (Santa Ana Freeway) or CA-91 (Riverside Freeway) takes you directly to Buena Park. Take the Knott Ave, Beach Blvd, or any of the other Buena Park exits. Anaheim is just south of Buena Park, with Fullerton to the east, so both of those cities can serve as an entry as well.

By plane

• Fullerton Municipal Airport only accepts private airplanes and is 3 miles (4.8 km) from Buena Park.
• Long Beach Airport is about 15 miles (24 km) from Buena Park. JetBlue Airways serves it nonstop from 14 destinations. It is also served by Alaska Airlines, American, and Delta.
• Orange County/John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, is about 16 miles (25 km)/24 minutes from Buena Park. It is served by Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and Virgin America
• Los Angeles International Airport is served by a wide array of foreign carriers as well as most US airlines.

By rail

• Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner runs from Paso Robles to San Diego; the closest station is Fullerton.

• Buena Park (Metrolink)

  address: 8400 Lakeknoll Dr.
  Metrolink's Orange County Line runs from Los Angeles to Oceanside, with stops in Buena Park and Fullerton

By foot

• The main tourism corridor in Buena Park is located along Beach Boulevard. Most of the main attractions, including Knott's Berry Farm, are located here and are within walking distance of each other.

By transit

• Many Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA) lines come together in Buena Park. Route 29 (Beach Blvd.) runs north-south, from the Brea Mall to downtown Huntington Beach and the Pacific Coast Highway, straight through downtown BP. Route 38 (La Palma Ave.) runs east-west, from Lakewood to the Anaheim Shopping Center, serving the Buena Park Promenade. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority Route 460 connects BP with downtown Los Angeles, Norwalk, Fullerton, and Disneyland. All three routes serve Knott's Berry Farm.
• The Knott's Berry Farm Resort Hotel and other hotels in Buena Park provide a shuttle to Disneyland.

By car

• Buena Park is small enough for driving, but most attractions are on Beach Boulevard.

• Independence Hall at Knott's Berry Farm

  phone: +1 714 220-5200
  address: 8039 Beach Blvd
  A recreation of Independence Hall (site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence) is so accurate that the original structure in Philadelphia used Knott's blueprints for its own restoration. The replica also stood in for the actual Independence Hall in the film National Treasure.

• Los Coyotes Country Club

  phone: +1 714 994-7788
  address: 8888 Los Coyotes Drive
  Golf course with restaurant, wedding and event facilities.

Dinner theatre

• Medieval Times Tournament and Dinner Show

  phone: +1 714 521-2342
  address: 7662 Beach Blvd
  A medieval feast, with dinner show featuring knights, maidens, kings and jousting.

• Pirates Dinner Adventure

  phone: +1 714 690-1497
  address: 7600 Beach Blvd
  A four-course feast, promoted as fit for a pirate king, served while buccaneers from an 18th century Spanish galleon battle each other with swords, knives, and fists.

Knotts Berry Farm

Knott's bills itself as America's oldest theme park. In 1920, this was a working farm selling berries; its restaurant served its first chicken dinners in 1934. Once the restaurant started drawing a crowd, Walter Knott began constructing a replica Ghost Town in 1940; the park's first ride attraction (the Ghost Town & Calico Railroad) opened in 1952. Knott's Berry Farm remained family-owned until late 1997; the park is now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company and the food brand was acquired by The J. M. Smucker Company.
The park made many claims to have had the first, largest or only version of various amusements: the Calico Mine Ride (1960) as the world's first themed amusement park attraction, Timber Mountain Log Ride (1969) as the first log flume with thematic elements, Corkscrew (1975) as the first modern roller coaster to successfully turn riders upside-down, Xcelerator (2002) as the world's first hydraulically-launched roller coaster. The Ghost Town & Calico Railroad (1952) claimed the only remaining narrow-gauge steam engines still in operation at one point; many other heritage railways have since restored historic engines to service. Supreme Scream (1998) was briefly the tallest turbo drop–type amusement ride in the world (312-feet tall), Perilous Plunge (2000) was once the world's tallest and steepest water chute ride (at 121‘ tall and 77.8°; permanently closed in 2012).

• Knott's Berry Farm

  phone: +1 714 220-5200
  address: 8039 Beach Blvd
  Originally a roadside berry farm (boysenberries are a cross between raspberry, blackberry, dewberry and loganberry). Now a large theme park with a long list of amusements and rides, including scream machines like the Silver Bullet rollercoaster and the Supreme Scream Drop Tower . Less themed than the Disney parks, a Peanuts cartoon theme appears on a handful of rides with a Camp Snoopy for the little ones. A store and restaurant still sell the berry products (including juice and jam) and the chicken dinners.

• Knott's Soak City USA

  phone: +1 714 220-5200
  address: 8039 Beach Blvd
  A water park filled with water slides, a river and a wave pool.

Events

• Knott's Scary Farm

  phone: +1 714 220-5200
  address: 8039 Beach Blvd
  Knott's is transformed into a Halloween Haunt extravaganza for mature audiences, which is not recommended for under-13's.

• Buena Park Mall

  phone: +1 714 503-5000
  address: 8308 On the Mall
  Basic mall with the usual store names.

• Knott's Marketplace

  address: 8039 Beach Blvd
  A shopping and dining district adjacent to Knott's Berry Farm. One of the highlights is the Berry Market where Knott's jams and jellies can be purchased.

• Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant

  phone: +1 714 220-5055
  address: 8039 Beach Blvd
  Traditional American fare, the specialties are fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits. A popular place to eat which usually has long lines (so plan to arrive early), this 1934 restaurant is one of the oldest parts of what is now the Knott's Berry Farm theme park. Lines at Cordelia Knott's restaurant lasted for hours, so Walter Knott built a ghost town (and later an amusement park) to entertain the crowds.

• Fuddruckers

  phone: +1 714 739-8801
  address: 7802 Orangethorpe Ave
  Great idea choosing and putting your own contents into your burger

• In-N-Out Burger

  address: 7926 Valley View St
  Classic California. Looks like fast-food but you do have to wait for your freshly made burger and fries.

• Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour

  address: 8650 Beach Blvd

• Pink's Hot Dogs

  phone: +1 714 220-5084
  address: 8039 Beach Blvd

• Porto's Bakery

  phone: +1 714 367-2030
  address: 7640 Beach Blvd
  Regional chain of five Cuban-style cafés.
• Fast food and diners on Orangethorpe and nearby streets.

• Motel 6 Buena Park-Knotts/Disneyland

  phone: +1 714 522-1200
  address: 7051 Valley View St

• Buena Park Howard Johnson's

  phone: +1 714 521-9220
  address: 7039 Orangethorpe Ave

• Courtyard Anaheim Buena Park

  phone: +1 714 670-6600
  address: 7621 Beach Blvd

• Holiday Inn

  phone: +1 714 522-7000
  address: 7000 Beach Blvd
  Reasonable sized rooms, outdoor swimming pool.

• Buena Park Hotel & Suites

  phone: +1 714 522-7360
  address: 7555 Beach Blvd

• Knott's Berry Farm Resort Hotel

  phone: +1 714 995-1111
  address: 7675 Crescent Ave
  Knott's Berry Farm's on-site hotel offers package deals with special entrance to the park, complimentary shuttle to Disneyland, and special themed Snoopy rooms complete with tuck-in service provided by Snoopy himself. Great for kids.

• Portola Inn & Suites Hotel - Buena Park/Disney-Anaheim Area

  phone: +1 714 739-5885
  address: 7921 Orangethorp Ave
  Offers free wifi, comfortable accommodations, complimentary breakfast.

• Radisson Suites Hotel Buena Park

  phone: +1 714 739-5600
  address: 7762 Beach Blvd
  Stylish, all-suite hotel that provides an array of amenities, including complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast in the on-site Flora Restaurant, meeting space, Manager's Receptions Monday-Thursday and complimentary scheduled shuttle service to Disneyland Resort and Knott's Berry Farm (reservations required).

• Anaheim - the home of the Disneyland Resort - 10 to 20 minutes (travel south on Beach Boulevard then east on Katella Avenue, take LA Metro, Interstate 5, or use the free shuttle from the Knott's Hotel)
• Long Beach - 20 minutes (travel west on State Route 91 then south on Interstate 710)
• Los Angeles - 25 minutes (take I-5 or an Amtrak/Metrolink train to LA Union Station)
• Hollywood - 32 minutes (travel to LA Union Station and transfer to the LACMTA Red Line)
• Orange County beach cities - 25 to 43 minutes (travel south on Beach Boulevard)
• Yorba Linda - Richard Nixon's Birthplace, Museum, Library, Burial, and Childhood home - 20 minutes (travel north on Beach Boulevard then east on the Imperial Highway/California State Route 90, or simply take the 91 freeway)
• San Diego - 2 hours (by train from Fullerton)