The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

[dylanreich]

I don't see Knott's being at fault here if the lady did call the scare actor the F word. It really is a bummer if scare actors aren't allowed to talk to people anymore.

[TopThrill182]

A brief Haunt review from last night:

 

Combining my group's late start (we didn't get into the park until 9:45) and insane crowds (to be expected on a Saturday night, I suppose), we didn't get as much done as we had wanted to...

 

All in all, we experienced 6 mazes: Trick or Treat, Dominion of the Dead, Delirium, Pinocchio Unstrung, End Games, and Virus Z.

 

Trick or Treat was my favorite maze of the evening. While it wasn't necessarily the "scariest," the theming was top-notch. There was tremendous attention to detail, which really helped the witch's house "come alive" IMO. There were so many awesome moments (e.g. the ghost covered with bedsheets standing at the front door, the witch rising up above the dining table, etc.)--all of which helped me fall into the story.

 

Pinocchio and VIrus were also impressive IMO, rounding out my top three. The marionette in Pinocchio was a cool moment, and the Carrie ending of Virus was nicely done, too. All in all, I thought both of these mazes had great stories and were executed in such a way as to help those stories come alive.

 

While I thought Dominion had an interesting concept (the violin playing vampires, while not necessarily scary, seemed like a fresh idea), it was poorly executed. Many of the walls throughout the maze were entirely bare, which "deflated" the overall experience for me. Not a favorite...

 

Delirium had a cool concept as well, but the set dressings appeared cheap, and I never really believed half of the things I was seeing (I felt like Knott's was going for the "gross factor" with this maze, but I feel like it's hard for painted wood to appear disgusting). Again, this one couldn't compare to the first three mazes I experienced.

 

End Games was definitely a sensory overload experience, but the whole thing felt oddly disjointed. There were a lot of props inside, but I didn't understand how any of them related to one another (e.g. how does the rock monster fit with the apocalyptic, video cameras watching the survivors' every move concept?). I felt like End Games was the result of Knott's having a lot of props left over (even though none of them really harmonized well). I thought the live stream videos of people going through the maze was really interesting, and if Knott's were to focus on this particular theme (perhaps something like "Hunger Games"), I feel like the maze could become stronger.

 

The first time I went to Haunt was in 2010, and I found myself both underwhelmed and disappointed by the experience. They had a lot of mazes, but many of them felt cheap and one-dimensional to me.

 

I feel as though the event was much improved this year. I had a lot of fun. Although I didn't experience everything, I felt like I got a nice sample. Overall, I feel like Trick or Treat should be the model maze for Knott's going forward. Like Terror of London, which I experienced back in 2010, Trick or Treat demonstrated a Universal-like quality that really allowed me to feel immersed in the story.

 

I still prefer Universal's event--primarily because I feel as though they value quality over quantity; Knott's, on the other hand, still seems to be focussed on quantity rather than quality. They had some great mazes, but also a substantial number of not so great ones, too. I'd love to see them jettison one or two of the not so great ones, and invest that money into making all of them really great.

[Jhcbiinoc]

Haunt looks as if it is a good one this year.....wish I could have gone. I was going to try to fly up and do Scarowinds, but unfortunately could not, but doing Fright Fest at SFOG this coming weekend.

 

In re the entire incident reported on OC Weekly-honestly, I think both were in the wrong, the patron for using a homophobic slur and the monster for criticizing her weight. It will be interesting to see what transpires as a result.

[Jew]

The gag order has been lifted, but the witches have been removed from the streets.

[XYZ]

I always wondered why SB's lift has a different color. It fades badly & it is an eyesore and if they painted it the same color as the rest of the ride, it would look better. So, why is SB's lift a different color?

 

Here's what it looks like with the paint right now and using my paint skills, what it would look like if it matched the color scheme of the rest of the coaster:

 

[thestripedtaco]

^ While that does look a tad better I think it would have been much better if the whole ride was painted a silver or white of some sort. Making it red/yellow just makes the fact that it ruins half the park even worse.

[XYZ]

^ While that does look a tad better I think it would have been much better if the whole ride was painted a silver or white of some sort. Making it red/yellow just makes the fact that it ruins half the park even worse.

 

After seeing what Knott's did to putting new colors on Boomerang, they probably would make it worse if they put new colors on Silver Bullet.

[thestripedtaco]

^ While that does look a tad better I think it would have been much better if the whole ride was painted a silver or white of some sort. Making it red/yellow just makes the fact that it ruins half the park even worse.

 

After seeing what Knott's did to putting new colors on Boomerang, they probably would make it worse if they put new colors on Silver Bullet.

 

THIS (But can it really get worse than yellow and red over a lake and half the park?)

[Wes]

Didn't some executive's child pick out the colours? Or was that for Xcelerator? Either way, Knott's has some bad colour schemes.

[MrSum1_55]

This is the reason why, IF California were not in such desparate need for an airitme machine, I would rather not see a giga at Knott's. Because, like many other coasters, they would probably build it over the ghost town, as well as add an ugly A$$ color scheme to it. I would take a full NTAG of Ghostrider over a giga any day, but, in practice, that is unlikely to happen.

[3Mutts]

^^ It's still better then some Shockwaves previous colors. IMO, Silver Bullet should have had a silver track with gold or dark brown supports.

 

Link: http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20355&hilit=Colors+of+shockwave&start=3920

[thestripedtaco]

If Knott's gets a giga I have this weird feeling that it's going to have Leviathan colors. I mean it's supposedly a clone and was meant for Knott's originally anyways right?

[Jew]

Didn't some executive's child pick out the colours? Or was that for Xcelerator? Either way, Knott's has some bad colour schemes.

 

That was Xcelerator. I believe the story was that it was the son of the guy in charge of development for Knott's.

 

The story Jack Falfas told about Silver Bullet's colors is that the intent was for it to represent the fire/smoke when the bullet comes out of the barrel.

Edited October 23, 2012 by Jew

[XYZ]

If SB would've gotten another paint job, something like Afterburn's color scheme would work well as it has silver-like track and the blue supports would go well with the lake.

 

[thestripedtaco]

I think something like that but with brown supports would have been perfect. It actually might have made it look nice.

[jray21]

As long as it rides good, I dont mind what it looks like. While it would be nice if it looks good, any new ride is better than nothing. Although, Xcellerator's colors are definitely some of the ugliest.

[dippindotsguy8]

Some of the colors on the rides at Knott's wouldn't be so ugly if they were kept nice. Boomerang looks awful with lots of the blue starting to show through from chipping paint, and Excelerator looked really nice with red and green as opposed to pink and green.

[Guy T. Koepp]

I was at HAUNT on Sunday. Had a great time. For the most part all the mazes were awesome! The lesser being Dia de Los Muertos, Virus Z, Uncle Bobo's, and Slaughterhouse. Dia has long run it's course for a HAUNT maze, as well as Uncle Bobo's. They both need to be either removed, or redone extensively. The clowns in the street were awesome, but the maze is just old and tired. Virus Z I loved last year, but was very lackluster this year. And the Carrie ending was way off theme and just plain unnecessary. Slaughterhouse I thought had run it's course last year, but actually was a bit better this year. Not great, but better. The standout mazes for me were definitely Pinochio and Dominion, with Trick or Treat being the highlight. All three were excellent in their themeing and the Scare-actors were on top of their game. The only downside being that ToT is a bit short.

 

The Hanging was pretty much par for the course. Funny, campy, pretty much what I expected.

 

Ed Alonzo and his entourage of hot dancers was great as usual. He is always funny and works well with the audience. A special shout out to one of the dancers. I obviously don't know your name, but you had the short brunette, blunt cut hair. Or was it a wig. It doesn't matter. You were mesmerizing! I'm not a stalker. (As far as you know) But you danced your way into my psyche for the rest of the night and into my dreams afterward. If anyone knows you, please pass along my heartfelt admiration. Kudos! Well played young lady. Well played!

 

Midnight Witching Hour was a fun short event to wrap up the night. But IMHO, I actually thought it was a bit long. After the witch appears, she kinda rambles on for a few minutes and I really just wanted her to curse us all and then torch tha joint.

 

Oh! Unearthed! This is another new addition. It's only about a 15 minute long show, but a real treat none the less. It helps give you some more backstory to the Green Witch. It's hard to find as it actually takes place in the Mystery Lodge theater.

 

Also, The Calico Mine Ride. While not a scare-actor filled ride this year, it is themed for HAUNT and also helps tell more back story about the Green Witch as well. It's a lot of fun and almost always no wait.

 

I didn't go to any of the other shows as I had seen most of them in years past, but I caught a bit of Blood Drums as we exited Slaughterhouse. It seemed like it was all it's trash can bangin', pipe tappin', belt sander against metal, sparks flyin', goodness.

 

As far as the street monsters were concerned, they seemed to be in great terrorizing moods as their gag order had been lifted. Even the Witches were trolling the streets, and I might add hiding very well as one stepped out in front of me from behind a tangled vine and startled the shit out of me! (Best scare of the night! Kudos Witchy! Kudos!) I especially liked the Tricksters as they were particularly tormenting to people and quite funny. I thought it was awesome that they had plain clothed "plants" this year that the tricksters would randomly grab out of the crowds and drag off in to Ghost Town's dark alleys. After much screaming from the "plant", and insidious laughing from the Tricksters. The Tricksters would re emerge and the "plant" would be gone.

 

All in all. I had an awesome time at the event this year. I hope Knott's keeps upping their game. They did a marvelous job! Congrats to all involved in HAUNT. It was a glorious 40th. Keep up the great work.

[Jew]

Cedar Fair recently trademarked the name "Coast Rider." Just a coincidence the new ride will be in the board walk section of the park and play off the name GhostRider? I think not.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Terrible name..

[XYZ]

If this is the new name for the 2013 ride, that would be horrible. If you say Coast Rider & Ghost Rider, it's almost the same pronounciation. Hopefully, this is for something else.

[SharkTums]

Oh dear. And to think I just said something nice about Cedar Fair in the Coke thread!?!? Oh well, at least we can always count on Cedar Fair for their amazing naming schemes and paint jobs!

[Crazy4Coasters!]

I can already hear it in my head, "You wanna get on Ghostrider or Coast Rider?" @_@

[XYZ]

May I suggest the name Coast Jammer?

[Meteornotes]

I was hoping for Flight Deck.

 

dt