All things Knotts Berry Farm

[Phroobar]

Disneyland resort district created a bubble so Anaheim can't get into it. I wonder if Knotts can do the same with an expansion and moving of backstage facilities as buffer. Probably Cedar Fair doesn't have the cash or political power to do it.

They have parking lots on all four sides of the property. But they have Beach Blvd running directly across their property. If they could privatize Western Ave and use that parking lot for backstage, that would stop bad guys on that side. A parking structure could be added to the main parking lot with the entrance near the tunnel under Beach is. Grand Ave would be removed. There would be hotel expansion. Two large tunnels would be added under Beach. The expansion next to Soak City could be used for hotel parking or shopping. A sound wall would be built along Beach with just an entrance and exit to the park on it.

I think this is what Disney would have done if they bought the property and turned it into Disney America like what was planned in the 90's. I think Disney would have boughten out those houses on the lower left and moved the Berry Marketplace there.

 

[Phroobar]

The timing couldn’t be worse for Knotts either, with our Keys expiring we were looking at Knotts as an alternative but this has instantly taken Knotts off our ”we could spend a day there instead” list.

We‘ll be spending less time in CA (and big cities in general) as a result of all the recent crime and chaos. Yellowstone, national parks, Route 66, the “flyover states”, etc are all looking very appealing as travel alternatives to DL right now. Nowhere is immune but big cities are a bit nuts right now, even moderately sized Vegas has gotten crazier than normal lately with smash and grabs, shootings, fear stampedes, etc.

The problem is national parks are packed mostly with Chinese tourists. If you get your sight seeing done early in the morning it works out better. Traveling to other states and seeing America is a great idea. That is something we are doing more of and less local stuff. We are looking at a two day train tour of the Rocky Mountains in the spring.

 

[Phroobar]

I wouldn't call it childish or even grade school mentality, its human nature. We cheer for things we consider our "favorites" and want them to "win" in whatever is the contest. Its called being part of a fandom.

Its the exact same thing as cheering on a professional sports team, they don't care about you other than the money you spend on them, yet a majority of humans on this planet cheer them on anyways.

I hate the stereotype of "Your a guy, you must love professional sports and beer". I've never understood why people cheer on professional sports teams considering how a lot of the athletes would be in jail for how they act off the field. Same goes for "actors".

 

[Disney Irish]

I hate the stereotype of "Your a guy, you must love professional sports and beer". I've never understood why people cheer on professional sports teams considering how a lot of the athletes would be in jail for how they act off the field. Same goes for "actors".

Well I never claimed that you personally "must love professional sports and beer", although you may for all I know.

But you have to admit that a large majority of the human population in the civilized world cheer on some professional sports team, whether that be football, baseball, cricket, corn hole, or what have you.

 

[Stevek]

The timing couldn’t be worse for Knotts either, with our Keys expiring we were looking at Knotts as an alternative but this has instantly taken Knotts off our ”we could spend a day there instead” list.

We‘ll be spending less time in CA (and big cities in general) as a result of all the recent crime and chaos. Yellowstone, national parks, Route 66, the “flyover states”, etc are all looking very appealing as travel alternatives to DL right now. Nowhere is immune but big cities are a bit nuts right now, even moderately sized Vegas has gotten crazier than normal lately with smash and grabs, shootings, fear stampedes, etc.

We had Knott's passes a couple of times over the recent years, generally when we let our Disney APs lapse. We ended up going back to Disney because the experience was clearly worth the extra expense for us. We're now opting out of our Magic Keys again but I don't see us going back to a Knott's AP. Quite honestly, I really could use a nice long break from theme parks.

 

[Phroobar]

Well I never claimed that you personally "must love professional sports and beer", although you may for all I know.

But you have to admit that a large majority of the human population in the civilized world cheer on some professional sports team, whether that be football, baseball, cricket, corn hole, or what have you.

Very true. I just don't get it but that is just me. I'm weird I guess.

 

[Stevek]

I hate the stereotype of "Your a guy, you must love professional sports and beer". I've never understood why people cheer on professional sports teams considering how a lot of the athletes would be in jail for how they act off the field. Same goes for "actors".

I love sports, especially hockey. In general, hockey players seem to not fall into the traps that other sports athletes do (with some exceptions of course). That being said, I was pretty vocal about kicking a guy off the Kings and out of the league when he beat up his wife. Thankfully, the Kings agreed and he's never played hockey in the NHL again. The NFL can be very challenging but I hold the players to the same standard. I don't want a guy on my favorite sports teams that is a jack hole.

 

[Phroobar]

I love sports, especially hockey. In general, hockey players seem to not fall into the traps that other sports athletes do (with some exceptions of course). That being said, I was pretty vocal about kicking a guy off the Kings and out of the league when he beat up his wife. Thankfully, the Kings agreed and he's never played hockey in the NHL again. The NFL can be very challenging but I hold the players to the same standard. I don't want a guy on my favorite sports teams that is a jack hole.

I was at a car dealer and the salesman was an ex-fullback for the Rams. He had a ton of football memoribia in his office. He kind of uses it to impress us. Now he just a front line car dealer. He wouldn't say why he now sells cars at a dealership. Where did his money go?

Anyway, sorry we are off topic.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I also don't think anything will ever really change at Knott's. They have made their identify, their raison d'etre, to be the cheaper alternative to Disneyland, and as such, they have to keep costs down. If they were actually serious about taking care of the park and hiring and training more security personnel, it could throw their whole business model into disarray. Next thing you know, they just end up selling the land to some housing developer.

I think other than this one issue they seem to take very good care of their park. You want actual places that don't take care of themselves? Check out Camden Park or Lakeside sometime. Poor security is something that could and should be improved, sure, but it's not like the place is a dump or even particularly badly operated outside of that one issue.

They're not going to sell to a land developer, it's a very different situation from Great America. Great America was never really profitable or a money maker for any park operator over its history; Knott's is highly profitable and is the most highly attended park Cedar Fair owns. That's like saying that Disney would sell Disneyland to developers just because they're tired of dealing with the city or state and out of room. It's transparent nonsense.

The timing couldn’t be worse for Knotts either, with our Keys expiring we were looking at Knotts as an alternative but this has instantly taken Knotts off our ”we could spend a day there instead” list.

We‘ll be spending less time in CA (and big cities in general) as a result of all the recent crime and chaos. Yellowstone, national parks, Route 66, the “flyover states”, etc are all looking very appealing as travel alternatives to DL right now. Nowhere is immune but big cities are a bit nuts right now, even moderately sized Vegas has gotten crazier than normal lately with smash and grabs, shootings, fear stampedes, etc.

Discounting the recent Knott's situation for a moment, I've spent quite a lot of time in cities this summer and maybe I've been lucky, but they've all been normal and fine to me. I know that certain people with big followings like to go on TV or wherever to lather themselves into hysteria about this city or that, but I have yet to be in a city this year where I truly felt unsafe or like anything was different from any other year.

 

[Phroobar]

Discounting the recent Knott's situation for a moment, I've spent quite a lot of time in cities this summer and maybe I've been lucky, but they've all been normal and fine to me. I know that certain people with big followings like to go on TV or wherever to lather themselves into hysteria about this city or that, but I have yet to be in a city this year where I truly felt unsafe or like anything was different from any other year.

I recently spent the day in downtown L.A. We toured the public library and walked to a couple of museums. At no time did we feel unsafe. L.A. is a lot of hill climbing though. The library is gorgeous with a huge five story tall hall way filled with art. It was very pretty. If you get a library card, there are discounts to parking and to the museums. We checked out the Broad museum, MOCA and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. We had lunch at Lemonade next to MOCA. Sure there are homeless everywhere but they aren't going to bother you unless you start giving them money. It was definitely a nice day trip.

 

[el_super]

You want actual places that don't take care of themselves? Check out Camden Park or Lakeside sometime. Poor security is something that could and should be improved, sure, but it's not like the place is a dump or even particularly badly operated outside of that one issue.

They will have a chance at redemption since another teen takeover event is being planned for August 6th.

They're not going to sell to a land developer, it's a very different situation from Great America. Great America was never really profitable or a money maker for any park operator over its history; Knott's is highly profitable and is the most highly attended park Cedar Fair owns.

I'm sure that's true right now, but part of my point was, if they have to start hiring more security and implementing new processes to prevent these flash mob scenarios, that calculus can change. I had been told for years and years that Knott's never really made that much money, save for the Haunt events (where ironically they do end up charging more and having more security).

They may already be chasing the bottom of the barrel... reducing operating costs and packing the place full of passholders, just to make selling it seem less lucrative.. for now.

 

[Phroobar]

I'm sure that's true right now, but part of my point was, if they have to start hiring more security and implementing new processes to prevent these flash mob scenarios, that calculus can change. I had been told for years and years that Knott's never really made that much money, save for the Haunt events (where ironically they do end up charging more and having more security).

They may already be chasing the bottom of the barrel... reducing operating costs and packing the place full of passholders, just to make selling it seem less lucrative.. for now.

Actually according to the recent revenue report, first quarter 2022 broke revenue records. Knotts and Cedar Point are their top two revenue producing parks. With the introduction of the food events and concerts each quarter they are at higher than pre covid levels. That is why Knotts is getting a lot of love from Cedar Fair.

 

[el_super]

Actually according to the recent revenue report, first quarter 2022 broke revenue records.

Yeah, exactly my point. Knott's has established a practice of keeping pricing low and pumping up revenue on volume, without taking on the additional operating costs. Higher revenue is great, but it doesn't mean as much if you have to take on additional operating expenses.

Knott's shouldn't have to be the low cost/high volume Walmart of theme parks, but they are.

 

[Professortango1]

Yeah, exactly my point. Knott's has established a practice of keeping pricing low and pumping up revenue on volume, without taking on the additional operating costs. Higher revenue is great, but it doesn't mean as much if you have to take on additional operating expenses.

Knott's shouldn't have to be the low cost/high volume Walmart of theme parks, but they are.

I'd still that equate that to Six Flags. Knotts does take on higher operating costs with the recent upgrades to three attractions with updated animatronic elements. Ghost Town Alive is a large cost to pay talent to simply interact 7 days a week. Whenever I visit, they seem to have staff.

 

[Consumer]

Discounting the recent Knott's situation for a moment, I've spent quite a lot of time in cities this summer and maybe I've been lucky, but they've all been normal and fine to me. I know that certain people with big followings like to go on TV or wherever to lather themselves into hysteria about this city or that, but I have yet to be in a city this year where I truly felt unsafe or like anything was different from any other year.

I’ve done my share of traveling and I would overall agree, with the sole exception of Philadelphia. Most cities you just see the occasional insane drug addict, but Philly had insane drug addicts practically piled on top of one another in the downtown area. I’ve heard from trusted friends that San Francisco is the same way, and obviously parts of LA are like that. However, I will also say the area of Philly near Independence Hall is incredibly nice. In reality, it all just depends on which neighborhood you’re in.

 

[CaptinEO]

I recently spent the day in downtown L.A. We toured the public library and walked to a couple of museums. At no time did we feel unsafe. L.A. is a lot of hill climbing though. The library is gorgeous with a huge five story tall hall way filled with art. It was very pretty. If you get a library card, there are discounts to parking and to the museums. We checked out the Broad museum, MOCA and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. We had lunch at Lemonade next to MOCA. Sure there are homeless everywhere but they aren't going to bother you unless you start giving them money. It was definitely a nice day trip.

There are lots of incidents of homeless people assaulting others. I agree 99% won't do anything though but people should always be cautious. Many are mentally ill.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

As predicted. They should expand this to 7 days a week through the summer when the park is opened past 8 pm, but we’ll see how this goes.

 

[AJFireman]

Here is the policy

 

[PiratesMansion]

But but I was told that Knott's was just going to do nothing because they suck at everything so much and that even though they were Cedar Fair's most highly attended and one of their most profitable parks, they were going to be sold off and closed!!!!!111

In all seriousness, this is a great way to deal with this situation. And as someone whose visit is scheduled for this Saturday, it looks like my visit just got a lot more pleasant! This will cut down on the number of teens in the park on those days significantly and I'm fine with that.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

In all seriousness, this is a great way to deal with this situation. And as someone whose visit is scheduled for this Saturday, it looks like my visit just got a lot more pleasant! This will cut down on the number of teens in the park on those days significantly and I'm fine with that.

I hadn’t been planning a trip but if after they work out the kinks in a few weeks things go smoothly I might seriously consider taking a day off on a Friday.

What a pleasant experience Fridays and Saturdays would be if this policy were enforced. Hope other parks take a look at this as a precautionary measure. And that they consider extending this to scary farm.