The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

[Rvae]

Its nice to see Xcelerator open again i got a chance to ride it twice man the launch is amazing its good to have you have you back xcelerator.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKaSFwZbyBE

Here is some footage showing the queue and some off ride footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I52Pnd5WFUY

Also while i was there i got some footage of hangtime testing they were testing the yellow train.

[coasterlvr]

yay, back to ghost town weekdays for a bit. dead this afternoon. still, Ghostrider's line was about 20-30 minutes. everything else was a walk on that i could see. oh, and i haven't ridden Ghostrider in some time because of the lines. it's holding up pretty good. i can't really say it feels any different from when it first reopened. so that's good.

 

some more pics of Hangtime...

 

the gift shop looks like it's nearly ready for paint. i like the care taken to prep, primer and paint the short fences. i'm curious about the section between the sky cabin and the end of the coaster. seems like they might be able to fit some small flat there?

 

[thrillseeker4552]

Google Earth has recently updated aerial photographs of Knott's Berry Farm. They are dated December 2017. You can see HangTime under construction, Sol Spin in Windseeker's spot, Montezooma's new colors, and the Soak City expansion. I just thought I would share since I'm always stalking theme parks on Google Earth.

HangTime under construction with pieces across the street.

Sol Spin and Monte's new colors.

Soak City expansion.

[SoCalJasonland]

I went to the park today for a few hours. Everything except for Coast Rider and possibly Jaguar was one train operations. I asked a couple of ride operators if anyone had ridden Hangtime yet and a couple of them told me that they had ridden it during testing yesterday. No one could tell me if they planned to soft open or test with guests. The contractors were working on landscaping so no Hangtime testing during my visit. I was ready to put my life on the line though if they needed me. I am a giver when it comes to coaster testing.

Crazy mid-week Xcelerator crowds

Can you find the cat in this photo? Hint: he is on the rock to the left of the tree in the middle of the photo.

Closer view of kitty

BBQ meal # 11 of the year! Pulled pork and cider.

[Rusty Nail]

i'm curious about the section between the sky cabin and the end of the coaster. seems like they might be able to fit some small flat there?

 

WipeOut?

[Superbatboy]

Google Earth has recently updated aerial photographs of Knott's Berry Farm. They are dated December 2017. You can see HangTime under construction, Sol Spin in Windseeker's spot, Montezooma's new colors, and the Soak City expansion. I just thought I would share since I'm always stalking theme parks on Google Earth.

Ahhhh, so that's where they kept Hang Time's track pieces, across the street!!

[805Andrew]

I forgot to post my pictures from my trip to the Boysenberry Festival last Friday so here we go!

 

I didn’t get to the park until the afternoon since I left home later than anticipated and it took me five hours (instead of the normal four) driving through LA midday traffic. My first time parking in the back lot behind the park which some people call the dirt lot but it’s more like a grass lot.

 

My first time using the Western Entrance into the park. It was a lot quicker getting into the park this way with a lot shorter walk from my car, but the fact that this lot/entrance into the park was open means the park was super packed this day.

 

HangTime is looking great and it’s color scheme blends in nicely with Xcelerator’s.

 

Knott’s nice flower fountain has turned into a Spring Break playground for kids - I’m sure this was totally their intention. [emoji19]

 

The park was in full force for Boysenberry Fest...and Spring Break.

 

Boysenberry Festival was the reason I was braving these Spring Break crowds.

 

A Boysenberry Pie eating contest was going on as I was walking by Calico Square.

 

OMG, these shirts are so cute! I almost bought one.

 

The OG Boysenberry Fest!

 

After checking the prices of the items individually this was a no brainer. At $3.75 per item, my rule was to only pick items costing more than that (so no macaroon unless bought a la carte).

 

Here’s my tasting card. This is going to be both lunch and dinner for me. I really liked the fact that you could mix and match the items since I wasn’t going to try a quesadilla (I don’t like cheese).

 

The back of the tasting card had a map showing all the food locations. I never did see the quesadilla one but I wasn’t looking for it either.

 

First up was the Boysenberry Sausage w/ ketchup, mustard, and relish all infused with Boysenberry. It was really good, though the bread didn’t do much for me and was a bit dense.

 

Second was the Boysenberry Hummus w/ pita. I like Boysenberry and I like hummus, but they don’t work well together. This was my least favorite of the items I tried. The pita was fine and was your standard pita. This booth had the shortest wait of all the food items.

 

Next up was the Boysenberry Chicken Wings, which were pretty good, but could have been even better with a little more spice in my opinion. This item didn’t have a la carte price posted but I was quoted $9.99 when I asked which would make it the most expensive item and not worth buying separately as both the sausage and the short ribs are less than that and have more amount of food.

 

Fourth up were the Boysenberry braised short ribs over a bed of rice which were really good but a bit fatty. Notice my Boysenberry colored souvenir cup that I bought when I arrived for $32 to get free refills at the Cedar Fair Parks for the rest of 2018 - filled with Boysenberry Punch of course!

 

After four items I was pretty full, so I decided to walk around and save my other four items for later. Ghostrider’s line was out to the Pan for Gold area, so I kept walking around. I was quoted 50 min wait for Silver Bullet, so I decided to keep walking around since I have a Platinum Pass and could always come back whenever to ride the rides. Although it was crowded, the atmosphere and weather was nice.

 

Knott’s Berry Farm looks really nice in the spring. I’ve always visited in the fall or winter, so this is my first time visiting this time of the year.

 

Most everything had long lines, but I could always count on Supreme Scream and its fast moving line (waiting under 20 min). Plus that Boysenberry sunset is hard to resist.

 

After doing a loop around the park and going back to my car to get a sweater (the temp had dipped to the low 60s which is cold for a Californian [emoji23]) I was ready for dinner and round two on the sausage. The line was quite a bit longer this time and moved a lot slower, and I had to wait extra for them to restock the Boysenberry mustard. I had the sausage (which is Boysenberry infused) with the Boysenberry mustard, relish and ketchup on the side for dipping. I thought this was the best executed item at Boysenberry Festival in terms of the best use of the Boysenberry ingredient.

 

Next up was the Boysenberry Elote. This had a really long line at night and if I wasn’t so full I would have tried it earlier. The slow line ate up into a good portion of my last hour in the park but I was determined to try it. I tried it with the Boysenberry butter and mayo, but w/o the parmesan. It was pretty good but a pretty small piece of corn.

 

I was on the fence on trying the Pierogis because they had cheese in them but decided to because the bacon grilled onions and Boysenberry sour cream that came with them looked good plus I’ve had Pierogis at Knoebels before and those were fine for me. I’m glad I did because I didn’t really taste the cheese with the potatoes in there and the bacon grilled onions and Boysenberry sour cream were really good. It’s like if Knott’s collaborated with Knoebels on this menu item!

 

For my last item I got the short rib again. Although I didn’t really taste the Boysenberry in here, this was my favorite item overall. I grabbed it to go and tried to make it to the coffee window that sells the Boysenberry Boba but missed out on it by ten seconds as they closed the window as I was approaching it when the park closing announcement came on. Oh well, I should have just gotten in line for Ghostrider instead. I hope they bring back the Boysenberry Boba next year or add it to its coffeehouse menu so I can try it. My original plan was to grab a Boba after finishing eating and get in line for Xcelerator to end the night, but that slow moving Elote line put a damper into that. I decided to sit by the outdoor tables by Xcelerator while eating my final short rib and watch Xcelerator trains go by. HangTime started testing after I sat down (just after 10PM) so I got to watch it cycle empty trains while I finished eating before leaving the park. HangTime is going be an awesome addition to Knott’s that will round up its thrills well and I’ll be back as soon as it opens.

 

All in all, I had a great time at Knott’s Boysenberry Festival and would definitely do it again -hopefully next year. I think Knott’s will bring back the Boysenberry Sausage, Short Ribs, and Elote at some point as those were really popular items, but I don’t see them bringing back the Boysenberry Hummus or Pierogis due to their lack of lines (the pierogis were fine, people just don’t know what they are around here). I do hope they bring back the Boysenberry sour cream and Boysenberry salsa (which was served w/ the quesadilla that I didn’t try but heard it was good) and try them served with some type of street tacos in the future. Anyways if you’ve never done Boysenberry Fest before, definitely consider it for a future year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[edgeboy]

^They do open that Western gate mostly for special events (dance/cheer competitions) and haunt. But yes, if it's open other times, it means the park is mobbed.

 

I went on the last Saturday, and it was pretty dang crowded--this past spring break was the most crowded I've ever seen the park. But I'm happy to see Knott's doing such booming business! This park has really found it's niche, and appears to be very successful with all these special events to keep the locals coming back. It's working for me, I find myself returning way more than I used to!

[joelwee]

^^ Great report. I really liked the park's Boysenberry Festival offerings this year, as well.

 

I went again on Sunday, for the last day of the Boysenberry Festival, and it was packed. I bought a tasting card, but the food lines were anywhere between 10-40 minutes. Since I had already tried everything a few weeks ago, I spent all of the tabs on sausage, short ribs, pierogies, and elote, since those were my favorite items.

Ride lines averaged about an hour, but they began to dwindle around 8:00. The food lines, however, did not. They were packed all the way up until park closing.

While the food stands were open until 10:00, the booze stands (in the building next to Pony Express) closed at 9:00. At 8:55, a guy came up to my group and gave us a mostly-unused drink tasting card, since he had to leave. We quickly ran inside and redeemed all the unused drinks on boysenberry wine. It tasted more like punch than wine, but it was quite tasty.

It felt great to ride Xcelerator again; I really missed it over the past few months.

[805Andrew]

I went on the last Saturday, and it was pretty dang crowded--this past spring break was the most crowded I've ever seen the park. But I'm happy to see Knott's doing such booming business! This park has really found it's niche, and appears to be very successful with all these special events to keep the locals coming back. It's working for me, I find myself returning way more than I used to!

 

With the word getting out more each year on Boysenberry Fest, the excitement around HangTime (even though it hasn't opened yet), and theme park food events becoming more popular in general I can see why Knott's had its busiest Spring Break ever. It's an exciting time to be at Knott's and they have made strides in recent years by upgrading classic attractions, adding new attractions periodically, adding more seasonal events, and adding more interesting food items using the Boysenberry. It's my first year being a Knott's passholder as I usually just go for WCB or Knott's Scary Farm but if they keep me excited I'll be coming back more often.

 

 

^^ Great report. I really liked the park's Boysenberry Festival offerings this year, as well.

 

I went again on Sunday, for the last day of the Boysenberry Festival, and it was packed. I bought a tasting card, but the food lines were anywhere between 10-40 minutes. Since I had already tried everything a few weeks ago, I spent all of the tabs on sausage, short ribs, pierogies, and elote, since those were my favorite items.

Ride lines averaged about an hour, but they began to dwindle around 8:00. The food lines, however, did not. They were packed all the way up until park closing.

While the food stands were open until 10:00, the booze stands (in the building next to Pony Express) closed at 9:00. At 8:55, a guy came up to my group and gave us a mostly-unused drink tasting card, since he had to leave. We quickly ran inside and redeemed all the unused drinks on boysenberry wine. It tasted more like punch than wine, but it was quite tasty.

It felt great to ride Xcelerator again; I really missed it over the past few months.

 

Thanks for the kind words. For how busy it was during the day I was impressed with how quick the Boysenberry Fest food lines were moving and it was only at night that the Sausage and Elote lines moved painfully slow. The regular food lines were moving at Six Flags speed though and I only waited in one for buying my souvenir cup for the year. I don't see how so many people still went for the regular park food when the Boysenberry tasting card was such a better deal, especially among families which could have shared a card among 2-3 people.

 

A kid offered me his tasting card with two tabs left when I was in the Elote line but I declined it since I still had two more tabs on my own card to use up afterward, but if someone had handed me their drinking card I would have gone for that. I thought about doing the drinking card as well but decided against it because I wasn't too impressed with the drink selections for the price (Paso Robles wine country spoils me) and decided I could just order a beer or wine a la carte if I wanted one and I didn't need the cheese plate that came with the tasting card.

 

Funny that I decided to come on Friday instead of Thursday because Xcelerator would be open but I never did get on it. In that case, I could have just came on Thursday instead but it looks like it would have been almost as crowded anyways. I'll get back on Xcelerator though when HangTime opens.

[PKI Jizzman]

Great report 805Andrew! I definitely won't be able to visit during the festival, so the pictures are helping me live vicariously. I'm thankful some of the items like beer and bbq are offered year round so I can get my fix.

 

In my mind, when it comes to signature food items at parks like cinnamon bread, blue/Banshee ice cream, skillets, etc the Boysenberry beer and BBQ is right up there in the mix.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Oh yeah, Boysenberry Festival!

 

One of these days I must get out there to this event. Everything looks so good. And any theme park that serves pierogis is okay by me.

[Nrthwnd]

Awesome TR Andrew, of all - that - woooonnnnderful - Boysenberry...............stuff.

I just don't think we could take the crowds that now show up for it. No prob. Like others

have said, there's still boysenberry stuff out there, beyond the Festival itself.

These however, did not impress me. Too dry and very crumbly, with hardly any 'berry' in them. )o: Sept/2016.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

^ Those aren't actually made by Knott's Berry Farm. They sold the brand name to Smucker's, and those cookies are industrially produced. My office has some in the break room convenience store, and yeah they're awful. If you want real Knott's stuff, look for Berry Market brand.

[Nrthwnd]

^ Ahhh yes, I forgot, I forgot what happened. Thanks for reminding me!

 

And yes yes! Berry Market Brand is the way to go. We loved the BBQ Sauce, and a couple of the party dip seasonings (Red Onion - yum!),

that we'd definitely get again, when next there... September 2019, we're hoping.

And speaking of Berry Market Brand (Knott's) stuff. What I picked up back in 2016.

And the spice seasoning 'kits'... and a neat shot glass with an also neat creamer!

[coasterlvr]

i just noticed they put the Peanuts comics back up on the construction walls. i wonder if they changed them to new ones. i'll have to go investigate.

[Arthur_Seaton]

Took a trip to the park today for a few hours to catch a couple of rides on the newly-reopened Xcelerator. It's as good as ever, obviously, since nothing about it has changed. An empty station from opening until about 11:30 am allowed for instantaneous re-rides, although we stopped at five laps. The park felt busy, even though it was a fairly slow day in terms of the rides. There were a number of high-school events underway, so the park was filled with continual shrieking and a notable increase in line jumping (for the two rides that actually had a line, that is: Ghost Rider and a 10-minute line for the log ride). Single-train operations on most of the coasters, but no-trains operations on Hang Time (obviously). Ghost Rider's line began at the bottom of the station steps, ran through a single switchback on the top floor, and still managed to take a full 65 minutes to clear. This, I assume was a staffing issue as there were only two staff members working the station. Such a shame that such a great ride has such poor capacity. In other news, Sol Spin is still weird. Although the ride looks impressive, I really don't see how anyone could enjoy the kind of ride it gives. I'm surprised these models are so popular.

 

Oh, and for fans of the boysenberry thing that happened last week, there's still a lot of boysenberry products on menus and displays it seems. The very idea of boysenberry-anything is horrifying to me, though (most theme-park food is, to be honest), but it's still available if it is your thing.

[coasterlvr]

Hangtime sign has gone up. Looks great!

 

[Nrthwnd]

With Steel Vengeance doing the same kind of thing, it's nice to see wood used more often. Rather than painted metal or on "other material."

 

^ Thanks for posting the photo!

[Arthur_Seaton]

Hangtime sign has gone up. Looks great!

I was there today, and walked past Hang Time at least twice. How did I miss that!? I wonder if they unveiled it later in the day as we bailed around 3pm?

[coasterlvr]

Hangtime sign has gone up. Looks great!

I was there today, and walked past Hang Time at least twice. How did I miss that!? I wonder if they unveiled it later in the day as we bailed around 3pm?

 

i think it went up yesterday actually. i saw it on the webcam last night and wanted to go check it out today.

[Superbatboy]

Hangtime sign has gone up. Looks great!

 

[attachment=0]IMG_4006.JPG[/attachment]

Love it, such a beach vibe

[joelwee]

Hangtime was testing with riders on Monday. (Skip to 7:33). This dude took quite a bit of footage that day. It looks pretty sluggish in the beginning, but it looks like it generally speeds up a little bit by the end of the video. It was also windy that day, which I'm sure was a factor in its sluggishness. I can't wait to ride this thing.

 

[edgeboy]

Actually, that "sluggishness" is what makes it fun. Comparing it to Monster at Adventureland, which I've been on, it was great to be "sluggish" during the loops, because you got that hang time while upside down, not unlike FT at SFMM.

[chickenbowl]

Actually, that "sluggishness" is what makes it fun. Comparing it to Monster at Adventureland, which I've been on, it was great to be "sluggish" during the loops, because you got that hang time while upside down, not unlike FT at SFMM.

 

That's funny, because that sluggishness is what kept me from really enjoying Monster - the pacing felt off. I really wanted to love it, but it just didn't go as fast as I wanted. Monster's drop was great though