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The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

P. 651: Montezooma's Revenge project terminated?

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^^November 11th is actually a Tuesday, the Sunday is the 9th. I would avoid that weekend as Veteran's Day always brings huge crowds to the park. Years ago, I made the mistake of going on the Saturday of that weekend and only got on 4 rides total, and the couple times I've been on Sunday I've still found 60 minute waits for the headliners. If you can go any other Sunday it shouldn't be bad (15-30 minute waits for headliners), but I would definitely avoid that one.

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^That probably won't be too bad, though since tomorrow is going to be a bit wet Sunday will probably be slightly busier than normal. Expect up to 30 minute waits for headliners, possibly a bit more if the ride is only running one train. Also note that some of the Knott's Scary Farm stuff will still be out and the Calico Mine Ride will still be in Witch's Keep mode (or possibly closed).

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Thanks for the info! I'm only here for a few more days, so I'm thinking Sunday will have to do. As long as I get on my girl xcellerator, it will be a great success! And if I feel like being a "credit enthusiast" I guess I'll ride the boomerang and macklemouse. The last time I was out there I avoided the bangarang, and macklemouse wasn't built yet. I'll take lots of pics, I gotta catch up on my PTR from this year.

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I had an absolute blast at the Farm last night (Halloween). When I first visited Knott's Scary Farm in 2010, I was disappointed with the event, largely because I felt it valued quantity over quality. This year, however, I felt the event was of a much higher caliber, even if a bit smaller, which made it far more enjoyable.

 

Some notes:

 

Mazes

 

- Tooth Fairy and Forevermore were fantastic. They had incredible sets (I particularly loved the "Deer (sic) Tooth Fairy" notes surrounded by bloody coins in Tooth Fairy and the strobe-lit, tar & feathered dining room scene in Forevermore), and I enjoyed how they were supported by clear and compelling stories.

 

- Gunslinger doesn't seem to be well liked by many, but it was one of my favorites of the night. I thought the Western theme was unique and a lot of fun (the various large-scale horse props, dead and alive, were novel), the set was beautiful, and the air gun effects were unexpected.

 

- Dominion's set wasn't anything to write home about, sure, but I thought it was a very competent implementation of an inoffensive vampire theme. And what Dominion lacked in novelty, it made up in scares. This maze had some of the best scareactors I've seen. They were very competent at resetting between scares, and I found it difficult to discern live actors from inanimate props (I was particularly startled by a bust on a mantelpiece that suddenly opened its eyes and came towards me).

 

- Voodoo was visually stunning, though not at all the traditional actors-jumping-out-at-you maze I was expecting. As others have said, I think Voodoo can best be described as a less disciplined immersion into a highly themed environment, combining the freedom of a scare zone with the themed specificity of a maze into an interesting hybrid. My biggest issue with Voodoo was how short the experience was. But make no mistake, this was by far the most visually impressive and realistic Halloween attraction I've ever seen. I truly felt like I was walking through a New Orleans swamp.

 

- Black Magic had a number of compelling elements (the tilting knife-throw walls were cool), but I experienced this one after midnight when the actors seemed to be both thinning and tiring out. It didn't help that my party was the first to enter the maze after a break in the crowds (for some odd reason, this was the only attraction to have no line at this point in the evening; perhaps it's due to the obscure location?), and we seemed to catch many of the few remaining actors off-guard.

 

- Trick-Or-Treat was as fun as I remember it being 3 years ago (not many scares here, but a number of high-quality, holiday-relevant themeing elements--especially the flying witch and the end--make this an enjoyable experience). Pinocchio Unstrung didn't make much of an impression on me, largely due--in my opinion--to an incoherent storyline.

 

Scare Zones

 

- The Ghost Town scare zone was your typical monsters-in-the-fog experience, but I thought it was executed wonderfully. The fog was thick and the pathway was just narrow and dark enough to make this feel more intimate, and, dare I say, claustrophobic, than other iterations of the same. (At the end of the night, a heavy rain caused many, myself included, to head for the exit. While walking through Ghost Town, I was completely surprised by the fact that the fog was still going strong and the actors were still doing their thing. The pathway was so crowded with guests headed out of the park, it was nearly impossible to differentiate monsters from the general public, which led to quite a few unexpected scares and screams. It was a very cool, albeit wet, experience.)

 

- In CarnEVIL and Fiesta de Los Muertos, I loved how the actors would often group together and either gang up on a small group of guests or put on a mini-show amongst themselves (for example, there seemed to be a simulated brawl in Fiesta at one point involving all of the actors in a big circle). Whereas most scare zones I've experienced seem intent to create pell mell by diffusing actors over the entire area, I thought these moments of organization actually proved quite enjoyable and gave their respective areas a lot of energy.

 

Special Experiences

 

- I opted not to pay for Trapped, and my group didn't make it over to Special Ops in time to get a return ticket. While the latter attraction seems to have an interesting concept, its lack of capacity seems to be a big hindrance, and I would be opposed to the park wasting too many resources on attractions that only a small percentage of park guests are able to enjoy each night.

 

- The Witch's Keep is the one attraction that failed miserably this year, in my opinion. The witch theme clashed with the Old West theme in such a way as to make the whole attraction seem a jumbled, chintzy mess. The bizarre incongruities (realistic looking mining figures across the way from cheap plastic skeletons and Party City-esque green flood lights) were too self-reflexive and prevented me from focusing on anything else. While the idea of a sit down Halloween-themed attraction remains interesting, especially in the absence of a holiday-themed Timber Mountain Log Ride, and while I do concede that Calico Mine Ride provides a canvas with many possibilities, the park seems to have too much invested in this newly rejuvenated attraction to commit to properly transforming it for Halloween.

 

General

 

- In 2010, I remember the maze "ushers" (I'm not sure what the non-actor employees inside the mazes are actually called) wearing bright yellow jackets and having their flashlights turned on at all times. While I understand the need for safety and security, the employees' garishness distracted me from the attractions themselves. I was pleased to see the employees wearing dark blue jackets and only turning their flashlights on when necessary this year, which allowed for greater immersion in the mazes.

 

- I purchased a discounted Passholder ticket online but was surprised when I was allowed to enter without anyone ever checking to see if I had a Pass.

 

- I was interested to see that Knott's seems to allow a continuous flow of people through their mazes (with the exception of Trick-Or-Treat, where time is occasionally taken to close the front door and ring the door bell). I feel like most parks send guests into mazes in small groups, allowing areas to clear and reset before the next group comes in. I like how the continuous flow of people allowed the lines to move much faster (I was able to experience all of the mazes in one night, despite heavy crowds, which simply isn't possible at most parks without front-of-the-line pass), and I actually felt like having more people in the mazes created a sensory overload of sorts that allowed me to be more surprised by actors and props.

 

This event was a ton of fun, despite the rain, and I felt the $33 ticket price for Passholders made it a tremendous value. I love the fact that the park seems to be focusing more on quality now rather than quantity, and I'm curious to see how the park's various experimental experiences evolve over the coming seasons. I can't wait to attend next year!

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The rumored "Iron Reef" dark ride would be a nice addition.

While this is an interesting theme for a shooting dark ride, I would love to see a Roaring 20's shooting dark ride, kind of like Dick Tracy's Crimestoppers.

1030959821_dicktracy4.thumb.jpg.7d7f37dbf1e14b6eff5c8246eeed0289.jpg

*atmosphere intensifies

Edited by DonGeorge
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It would be cool to see that section returned to the Roaring 20's theme. Especially since the sign is still there. But with the boardwalk just being refurbished, I don't see that happening.

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- I was interested to see that Knott's seems to allow a continuous flow of people through their mazes (with the exception of Trick-Or-Treat, where time is occasionally taken to close the front door and ring the door bell). I feel like most parks send guests into mazes in small groups, allowing areas to clear and reset before the next group comes in. I like how the continuous flow of people allowed the lines to move much faster (I was able to experience all of the mazes in one night, despite heavy crowds, which simply isn't possible at most parks without front-of-the-line pass), and I actually felt like having more people in the mazes created a sensory overload of sorts that allowed me to be more surprised by actors and props.

 

The hardest part of "conga lining" the attractions is it's very difficult for the actors to remain in character for so long. It puts a lot of stress on the attraction itself (to run every single air powered effect at once takes a lot of air pressure). And it gets harder to try and watch cameras. You go from a few groups (6-8 for us) to groups in every camera. It's hard to see stuff. Not to mention the fact that we get people who are too scared to keep moving forward. Which slows everyone down and it feels like you're still in line inside the attraction.

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- I was interested to see that Knott's seems to allow a continuous flow of people through their mazes (with the exception of Trick-Or-Treat, where time is occasionally taken to close the front door and ring the door bell). I feel like most parks send guests into mazes in small groups, allowing areas to clear and reset before the next group comes in. I like how the continuous flow of people allowed the lines to move much faster (I was able to experience all of the mazes in one night, despite heavy crowds, which simply isn't possible at most parks without front-of-the-line pass), and I actually felt like having more people in the mazes created a sensory overload of sorts that allowed me to be more surprised by actors and props.

 

The hardest part of "conga lining" the attractions is it's very difficult for the actors to remain in character for so long. It puts a lot of stress on the attraction itself (to run every single air powered effect at once takes a lot of air pressure). And it gets harder to try and watch cameras. You go from a few groups (6-8 for us) to groups in every camera. It's hard to see stuff. Not to mention the fact that we get people who are too scared to keep moving forward. Which slows everyone down and it feels like you're still in line inside the attraction.

 

I was a maze supervisor this year, and we really dislike having to do a continuous flow of people, but sometimes the crowds dictate that we need to.

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^I've never worked for CF but IMO, they shouldn't. As much as CF is a business and they want/need to make money, there is a certain point where the park needs to be capped. This was the exact issue at Wonderland on the night of the stabbing. The park was crowded to the point that all the mazes had over 2 hour lines. Better yet, they had one usher at the front of the line and one at the back. Everywhere in between was a free for all....no order once so ever. Also, you could barely walk around the park without hitting someone....oh and when I went to the front gate (when the crowds were already packed) , they were STILL letting people in. It's been discussed recently on other forums, but we (at least at Wonderland) are likely to see some serious changes to how Haunt is run next year.

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What's going to make people more mad? Letting them in to enjoy 2-3 (more than that honestly) attractions or telling them at the gate they can't come in at all, even if they have money. Maybe it's different in other places, but we get people driving from up to 3-4 hours away. We aren't going to completely ruin their plans/evening.

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Knott's and Universal sell out on a regular basis for Halloween.

 

This is NOT the Wonderland thread, so please try not to mix up the discussion of the two. Lines were longer this year at Knott's, but I don't think safety was every compromised.

 

And at Knott's, it's obvious why the lines were longer: less mazes and an entire former scare zone swallowed up by a limited capacity attraction. And two less shows. And the Haunt pass.

Edited by Jew
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