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Knott's Merry Farm 2018 Report!


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Brittney and I will start this one off by saying “Merry Christmas!” It’s December 25, and for your Christmas present we have a special holiday report from Knott’s Merry Farm! Knott’s is completely decked out right now for the holidays. Every area of the park - from The Boardwalk, to Fiesta Village, to Camp Snoopy, and of course Ghost Town - is covered in holiday decor. There are holiday shows and entertainment to watch, tons of delicious food to eat, and lots of neat holiday merchandise to browse. We attended their media night to get a taste of what’s in store for the 2018 holiday season - check out our full report below for all the details!

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We’re at Knott’s Merry Farm to check out the Christmas festivities!

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Right after entering we were greeted with a beautiful floral holiday photo backdrop.

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Ghost town looks great! There are vibrant red and white poinsettias all throughout.

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Lights, wreaths, and garland adorn all the buildings.

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There’s a warm glow throughout the whole town.

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The Calico Saloon looks festive as well!

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A simple wreath is all a steam engine needs to look the part.

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Everywhere you look are awesome details!

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The Christmas Crafts Village transforms Ghost Town into a festive marketplace where you can purchase unique gifts from dozens of local artisans. There are booths set up all over the town with things to buy.

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We always enjoy checking out the hand-knitted items at Miss Doolittle’s!

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These Christmas tree hats are awesome!

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Bows, bows, and more bows.

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Moving around town we saw tons of other items that would make great gifts. Here’s a robot ornament. Who doesn’t love robots?

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Ornaments for everyone in the family!

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Did you know that Rudolf’s nose was really a golf ball?

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When the holidays get too stressful, you can take to drinking with one of these custom flasks!

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After all the drinking you’re sure to work up an appetite. There are lots of delicious snacks to be had!

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If you start swearing during your drunken stupor, they offer soap to rinse your mouth out.

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We “soap” you have a merry Christmas!

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Let’s purchase all of these and go snowman bowling!

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If you know any jewelry lovers, there were several booths with necklaces and rings!

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Pick it today. Paint it today. Take it today!

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There are some Christmas figurines that you can paint and take home.

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But rather than the Christmas ones you should totally go with the sensually posed lamb.

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We couldn’t possibly cover everything that's for sale in the craft village - you’ll just have to go and explore for yourself!

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Inside the permanent stores there are lots of holiday items to be had as well.

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Snoopy lovers will have no shortage of items to browse through!

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Let’s head over to Calico Square for the tree lighting ceremony. Look behind you Brittney, the show is starting!

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The ceremony began with carolers singing and playing bells on the saloon balcony.

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The Peanuts characters were joined by dancers for a performance, followed by a burst of confetti!

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Cherie Whyte, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, and Tim Klega, Area Supervisor of Knott’s Berry Farm Show Development, welcomed everyone to the event. Over 600 members of the Boys and Girls Clubs in Orange County were present in the audience!

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The Mayor of Calico came out to introduce a special guest - Santa!

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Santa brought a special present which was opened by 2 children from the audience.

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Inside the present was a giant glowing light.

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They hung the light on the tree, the entire tree lit up bright, and snow began falling from the sky! Christmas is officially here!

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After the tree lighting ceremony we headed to the media reception where they had a selection of holiday food on display. Here are the holiday egg rolls.

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Turkey Dinner Bites.

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Holiday Turkey Pizza.

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Turkey Poutine.

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Tons of festive “DoughKnott’s”

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Holiday Crepes mmmmm.

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Peppermint Churros.

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Peppermint Cheese Cake.

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Holiday Danish.

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Holiday Macaroons.

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Yule Log.

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Which cupcake would you get?

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More “DoughKnott’s” because they look delicious, and you can never have enough!

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There was also a table showcasing more of the holiday merchandise.

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The gift baskets and mugs are super cool, and really reasonably priced. For $12.99 you get a Knott’s mug filled with treats and a commemorative pin. Some parks would charge that price for just the pin!

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For $19.99 you can get a gift basket with a Snoopy or Brutus plush, the commemorative pin, and tasty snacks.

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Kudos to Knott’s for not just making great merchandise, but also making sure it’s affordable!

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I love the Knott’s Merry Farm beanies!

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New this year are “Snow and Glow” lanterns that glow along with the snow show in Ghost Town!

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Knott’s found an old employee magazine from the 1960s in storage and decided to make some special items using the cover art. How neat! We love how they always find cool new ways to honor the park’s history.

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The even had the original magazine on display, and opened it up for us to take a peek!

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“Hey Bill, there sure is a lot of thoughtful and reasonably priced merchandise here.” “I couldn’t agree more, Henry.” (Serious question - do these guys have “official” names? I’ll go with Bill and Henry for now!)

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Next we headed to the Calico Mine Stage for "It’s The Merriest Christmas Show Ever, Charlie Brown!”

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The show has lots of dancers.

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And of course lots of fun with the Peanuts characters!

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Impressive moves!

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Schroeder plays some tunes while we wait to see if Snoopy will make it home in time for Christmas.

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Lucy leads a dance number.

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Snoopy made it! Yay!

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You can’t have a Peanuts Christmas show without Snoopy!

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At the end of the show snow falls from the sky as Snoopy and Charlie Brown say goodbye to the crowd!

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The Charleston Circle Fountain has new beautiful Christmas decorations this year.

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We love the light-up swans!

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Let’s check out the decorations over on the Boardwalk!

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There are trees floating in the water by the Pier.

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Hangtime has a special music and light show that plays intermittently. Here’s Brittney rocking out and playing her air guitar with the show!

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The giant light bulbs and trees on Coasters Drive-In look great!

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All the game booths have holiday prizes.

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Brittney spotted a prize she wanted - a mini polar bear squishy - so she decided to play and give it a shot!

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Perfect aim! It’s looking good!

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Success! She won! Woo hoo!

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The polar bear squishy belt toy thingy has been successfully acquired!

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Fiesta village has a Mexican Christmas theme.

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Feliz Navidad!

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Meet the Calico Christmas Cactus! It’s both cactus-y and christmasy all at once!

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Mr. Snowman is having a fiesta!

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A Christmas kangaroo with maracas? Brittney votes yes!

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Next up, Camp Snoopy.

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The forest-y decorations are adorned with wooden ornaments.

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There are also holiday themed projections lighting up the pathways.

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Brittney spotted another plush toy she wanted, so she had to play!

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The funny thing is you’re actually guaranteed to win this game, and we learned later that the plush actually costs more than the price of the game if you buy it elsewhere in the park!

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Snoopy plush secured! Ahh, the sweet feeling of success.

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The store windows are decked out for the holidays!

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Back over to Ghost Town, I hope you brought your Snow and Glow lantern because the show is about to begin!

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Look up! It’s snowing!

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It’s quite a blizzard!

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It snows all throughout Ghost Town.

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Brittney twirled and twirled and twirled in the snow.

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She danced around with her Snoopy and her polar bear while the snow fell. It was pure happiness.

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What a magical way to end the night!

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On the way out we stopped for one last picture in front of the giant Christmas tree. We had an awesome night!

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Knott’s Merry Farm is such a charming So Cal Christmas tradition! There’s so much to see, do, and eat - it’s a wonderful way to celebrate the holidays! In addition to everything we covered in this report, there’s so much more that wasn’t part of the media event this year - The Calico Saloon Christmas Show, A Christmas Carol/The Gift of the Magi, Merry Christmas Snoopy ice show (One of our favorite amusement park shows!), A Peanuts Guide to Christmas, and Santa’s Christmas Cabin all return as well! You’re going to want to spend the whole day there, because there’s so much to do! Merry Farm runs through January 6, 2018 so you still have time to check it out! Thanks to Knott’s for inviting us to attend, and thanks to you for checking out our special Christmas Day report. We hope you have a very merry Christmas and lots of happiness in the new year!

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Great report!

 

I loved the merchandise at Knott's, which ended up being to my benefit. I was only planning on spending an evening there and accidentally parked in the Marketplace. Fortunately I bought enough Snoopy Xmas shirts and sweatshirts that I got three hours of parking validated.

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"It’s The Merriest Christmas Show Ever, Charlie Brown!” is a great show, as is the holiday version of Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies. Food is also great, though I wish during media events they would not just label it, but also say where it is available.

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