The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

[Jew]

I figured people would voice their expectations for this year or speculations on what's already been happening at the park. A handful of mazes have already begun to go up.

 

There will for sure be more buzz after the panel at Scare LA.

 

There's really not as much speculation/suspense for Haunt since it's a given that most of the mazes from the previous year will be back.

[Vonni]

^ I'd rather see some clues to what will be coming to the Park for 2016. I'm not expecting much, but surely it wont be nothing....

[CedarFlags]

I'm not sure I understand the point of staggering the reveals like this, but... stage 1 of the Scary Farm 2015 lineup is....

 

New Stuff

1. Dead of Winter - The snow queen and her army of undead Viking soldiers, yada yada.... trolling Frozen (which makes me so SO happy). Will have a Skeleton Key room

2. Elvira's Asylum - Elvira returns for a show with stunt / acrobatic performers. Not the Academy of Villains, unfortunately.

 

Returning Stuff

1. Special Ops: Infected - Patient Zero - Back in Camp Snoopy, with new guns, more zombies, and more missions. Will it also be able to handle more guests? Let's hope. Not an upcharge (which it should be, imho)

2. Tooth Fairy - Getting a Skeleton Key room and a new finale.

3. The Gunslinger's Grave: A Blood Moon Rises - Werewolves come to the town. No more Key room.

 

Extras

There will be 10 mazes, plus Infected, pluuuuusss.... a haunted ride. Can't say which one, but I'm glad to see the idea come back.

[Jew]

^I'm glad Infected isn't an upcharge. They took away an entire scare zone AND space for two mazes to make it fit. That's too much real estate to charge for.

 

As far as Dead of Winter goes, I'm not so sure it is trolling Frozen. Gus said as much at the panel, saying that the source material goes back to the same Norse legends from long ago.

 

Gunslingers with werewolves sounds like they found old Red Moon Massacre masks in warehouse P and needed to repurpose them. Not excited about that (I always thought the premise of having a maze about the wild west when you already have Ghost Town was silly in the first place---but at least the sets are nice).

[PeoplemoverMatt]

They can say whatever they like for legal purposes and maintaining whatever relationship with the Mouse House that they want. If Dead of Winter resembles Frozen in any way shape or form, that's what people are going to focus on and talk about. It may not be Frozen directly and specifically but people will still social media about how it's *like* Frozen if there's any resemblance.

 

Besides isn't it something of a Haunt tradition to troll that other park down the street just a little bit?

[disney4me2001]

I'm not sure I understand the point of staggering the reveals like this, but... stage 1 of the Scary Farm 2015 lineup is....

 

New Stuff

1. Dead of Winter - The snow queen and her army of undead Viking soldiers, yada yada.... trolling Frozen (which makes me so SO happy). Will have a Skeleton Key room

2. Elvira's Asylum - Elvira returns for a show with stunt / acrobatic performers. Not the Academy of Villains, unfortunately.

 

Returning Stuff

1. Special Ops: Infected - Patient Zero - Back in Camp Snoopy, with new guns, more zombies, and more missions. Will it also be able to handle more guests? Let's hope. Not an upcharge (which it should be, imho)

2. Tooth Fairy - Getting a Skeleton Key room and a new finale.

3. The Gunslinger's Grave: A Blood Moon Rises - Werewolves come to the town. No more Key room.

 

Extras

There will be 10 mazes, plus Infected, pluuuuusss.... a haunted ride. Can't say which one, but I'm glad to see the idea come back.

 

Also announced during Q&A- Trapped is not coming back. Kind of hate to see it go since I never got to do it (in any of the 3 versions/years it was offered), but as they said, it allows them to focus their time and resources elsewhere. And ooh...a haunted ride? Can't wait to find out which one! My guess is Calico Mine Ride (even though they've done The Witch's Keep the past 3 years already), or maybe Iron Reef. I'd love to see a maze come back to Timber Mountain Log Ride as well, though I remember them saying at WCB that it probably won't happen again for many years, if ever again (or at least that's how I interpreted it).

[DJeXeL]

I cringe at the thought of the line for Voyage during Haunt...

[PeoplemoverMatt]

I cringe at the thought of the line for Voyage during Haunt...

 

Less people in line for the mazes.

[marth555]

Iron reef seems like it would be easy to change for scary farm

[Vonni]

With all the negative reviews I've read about Voyage to the Iron Reef, do you think that within a couple of years it will be one of those "forgotten" about attractions, and lines will be nonexistent? Or is it actually better than the reviews are leading me to believe?

[Jew]

They can say whatever they like for legal purposes and maintaining whatever relationship with the Mouse House that they want. If Dead of Winter resembles Frozen in any way shape or form, that's what people are going to focus on and talk about. It may not be Frozen directly and specifically but people will still social media about how it's *like* Frozen if there's any resemblance.

 

Besides isn't it something of a Haunt tradition to troll that other park down the street just a little bit?

 

People are going to compare it to Frozen no matter what. I also have no doubt that Frozen is what led him down the path to research old Norse legends. However, the maze isn't designed as a parody. He wanted to try scary maze with high contrast colors (which has been typically left to the 3D parody mazes), so the snow setting is a natural fit.

 

The Disney jabs have typically been left to the Hanging (which is actually co-written by a Disney performer) now that their entertainment has been cut down to just the Hanging and Elvira (the improv show always had Disney jabs as well---and they were all Disney performers as well).

[thrillseeker4552]

With all the negative reviews I've read about Voyage to the Iron Reef, do you think that within a couple of years it will be one of those "forgotten" about attractions, and lines will be nonexistent? Or is it actually better than the reviews are leading me to believe?

 

While this is slightly off-topic, I don't get why there is so much hate for Voyage. I rode it with pretty low expectations the first time and it was surprisingly fun! It's really nice to see a true dark ride in the park after so many years.

[CedarFlags]

Jew - I say that Infected should be an upcharge is because of what a drain it is on the resources of the event combined with how low its guest capacity is. As an upcharge, it could pull more of its own weight and the budget could be used on other improvements (like bringing back some shows).

[Jew]

If they were to charge what the experience is actually worth (considering the amount of space and staff it requires), it would cost as much as the ticket to the event did. I appreciate that Knott's is willing to go all in trying something completely different and unique AND keep it free. If they got rid of a scare zone AND 2 mazes to make it work, I'm glad I can still experience it for free!

 

Plus, the only performers I miss from Haunt over the last 10 years are Jeff Putz, Ed Alonzo, and the improv troupe. Problem is that it was nearly impossible to see all the shows and experience all the mazes in one night, so it actually makes sense to refine the entertainment options.

[KBrylczyk]

^ What he said. When I visited last year the place was hardly crowded and I was able to bang out four mazes in the first half hour. I should also note I didn't have a front of the line pass, just general admission. Even with minimal crowds I was still unable to see Elvira or ride Xcelerator (single train ops and it kept breaking).

 

This year I'm planning a two-day trip to be able to see and do everything. Also Special Ops is totes the bomb diggity.

 

Edit - As for Dead Of Winter, I'm already imagining a knockoff of Let It Go...

 

Let it flow

Let it flow

Let the blood flow on the floor

 

Let it flow

Let it flow

Their heads are now gone

 

I don't care

If they scream and cry

 

Let the guillotine fall

The mess never bothered me anyway

[6flagsbrad]

So I'm trying to figure out which mazes won't be returning this year. Trick or Treat, Dominion of the Damned, and Pinocchio Unstrung are the oldest mazes that all debuted 3 years ago. I'm guessing Trick or Treat is out. I really hope Dominion is returning as it's one of my favorites. I was thinking Pinocchio was out, but now I'm hearing rumors that it will be back. As for the haunted attraction, my guess is towards mine ride, I think they could find a way to bring the monsters back to that one and the park will wait until next year to use Iron Reef. If any of this plays out, that leaves room for one more new maze to announce.

 

1. Voodoo.............................(skeleton key)

2. Dominion of the Damned?.......(skeleton key?)

3. Tooth Fairy.........................(skeleton key)

4. Infected

5. Gunslinger's Grave

6. Pinocchio Unstrung?..............(skeleton key?)

7. Forevermore

8. Black Magic........................(skeleton key)

9. Mine Ride

10. Dead of Winter...................(skeleton key)

11. TBA

[Jew]

I don't think Forevermore is coming back. They kind of implied that during the Q&A when someone asked about using other famous horror authors.

[Nrthwnd]

..Let the guillotine fall

The mess never bothered me anyway

 

Best. Lyrics. Ever.

[CedarFlags]

Dominion is gone. Idk if I'm supposed to say that cuz it hasn't been officially announced, but it's been semi-public knowledge since the end of last season when they sold the costumes on the last night.

[KBrylczyk]

^ Oh well. It was hit or miss for me. One time I went through the place was packed with actors, then later on there were maybe three. Good to know they'll use that huge space for something else, though!

[mike932]

I just scored a room at the Knotts hotel by bidding on Priceline. I will visit Knotts 2 weeks from now. This will be my first visit ever.

 

Can someone please tell me the price of a one-day ticket if I am already staying at the Knotts hotel?

 

Can someone give me advice about which rides to ride first?

[Paradox]

Definitely go to Xcelerater first. When I was there I was very happy that I chose to ride it first as it broke down about mid-day and didn't reopen.

 

TBH if it's just you going it would be better to stay at a hotel outside of Knott's as the hotel is very outdated.

[VegasBaby]

I just scored a room at the Knotts hotel by bidding on Priceline. I will visit Knotts 2 weeks from now. This will be my first visit ever.

 

Can someone please tell me the price of a one-day ticket if I am already staying at the Knotts hotel?

 

Can someone give me advice about which rides to ride first?

 

I agree that you should head to Xcelerator first, it's in the back of the park and has no lines in the morning. I would probably head to Voyage to the Iron Reef next after Xcelerator. The other popular rides have much better capacity, so it's best to knock out Xcelerator and Voyage early. They usually open the gates 10-15 min before the park opens and then you have to wait for the National Anthem. They drop the rope as soon as the Anthem ends, and then you can head straight for Xcelerator. You can get discount tickets at the Knott's front desk, I'm not sure about the price but I think it's around $37. You can currently buy a 3 day advance ticket on the Knott's website for $42, so I would call the hotel and see what price is cheaper.

[CedarFlags]

I just scored a room at the Knotts hotel by bidding on Priceline. I will visit Knotts 2 weeks from now. This will be my first visit ever.

 

Can someone please tell me the price of a one-day ticket if I am already staying at the Knotts hotel?

 

Can someone give me advice about which rides to ride first?

 

If you're staying at the hotel, you may be allowed to enter the park early. I don't know the exact schedule of it or what rides are included, but it's worth asking about.

 

I would say do Iron Reef first, because it's the newest attraction at the park and not really worth more than about 25 minutes of waiting. Xceleator's capacity isn't great, but if you get to it by 10:15-10:20, the line won't be so bad. Silver Bullet's line is usually pretty long from 10-11, because so many people run straight there at rope drop. It calms down considerably by about noon (assuming the park isn't totally packed). Ghostrider's line is always long, so just be prepared for that.

[mike932]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am going a couple weeks from now, so hopefully every kid will be at school.