All things Knotts Berry Farm

[MK-fan]

I have a season pass question for all the Knottheads out there, I’m looking at you Phroobar!!! I bought season passes last year and they expire at the end of this December. I was on the monthly payment plan and by this point it’s already paid off and I don’t want to renew when they expire. My question is will the season passes automatically renew at the beginning of next year?

 

[AJFireman]

I have a season pass question for all the Knottheads out there, I’m looking at you Phroobar!!! I bought season passes last year and they expire at the end of this December. I was on the monthly payment plan and by this point it’s already paid off and I don’t want to renew when they expire. My question is will the season passes automatically renew at the beginning of next year?

No they do not automatically renew. I buy a pass every other year in August on the payment plan and there is no auto renewal.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I don't know if I agree with you. I did it last night with the lights off. The line moves just as fast with or without the flash lights. Recycling the flash lights is quick because the entrance and exit are right next to each other. The line still moves quickly regardless of the posted wait says. It said 90 minutes last night and we got in after 20 minutes. Haunt is really pushing people through the ques. The flash lights are so dim that shining it in a scare actor's face is not going to hurt. You do miss the wide detail but reveling something as you walk by is scarier.

It's fine if you don't, I just think it's a waste to put a bunch of time, money, and care into making a maze look the best it can be, only for it to almost immediately become clear that people don't care about any of that and just want to do the lights off version.

I find it difficult to absorb all the detail with a flashlight, and if people feel like they can get enough, good for them I suppose. I wager they're still missing more than they think they are.

If they pivoted to lights off years later as they did with Trick or Treat, I would have no issue with it.

 

[Phroobar]

It's fine if you don't, I just think it's a waste to put a bunch of time, money, and care into making a maze look the best it can be, only for it to almost immediately become clear that people don't care about any of that and just want to do the lights off version.

I find it difficult to absorb all the detail with a flashlight, and if people feel like they can get enough, good for them I suppose. I wager they're still missing more than they think they are.

If they pivoted to lights off years later as they did with Trick or Treat, I would have no issue with it.

I was good either way so to each his own.

 

[Phroobar]

No they do not automatically renew. I buy a pass every other year in August on the payment plan and there is no auto renewal.

This is true however not every park works that way. For example Universal and Sea World will continue to auto renew unless you tell them before hand.

 

[CaptinEO]

Looks like The Zoo is officially lights out ONLY for the remainder of the season, which to me is a massive downgrade. It's devaluing one of the two new houses of the event in favor of a gimmick.

I wish I could tell you my impression of The Zoo; alas, I only got to go through once during my previous visit and tonight it was lights out even from second one of the Boofet early entry. So ultimately I can't really judge it one way or another, and that frustrates me.

I'm sure some people are pumped for this move, and I completely understand it logistically. But it really represents to me a failure on both a park level and a guest experience level.

It's a failure on a park level because for whatever reason they did not foresee that the lights off version would be dramatically more popular, something that presumably any child or teenager could have told them had they been asked. The only other lights off maze I'm aware of with SF (and I'm sure there were several) was Trick or Treat, which was already an established maze that was past its prime when it pivoted to the gimmick. Doing this during the first year a maze opens is just asking for trouble IMO. Reportedly there were evenings when the wait for the maze was an hour at 1 or 2 AM, which shocks me a lot less than it apparently did the Knott's team.

It's a failure on the guest experience level because this is a prime example of giving people what they think they want, but at the end of the day everyone ends up with a worse experience. It's a pitch that writes itself: Go through a maze with the lights off?!?!? COOL! Except:
1.) Now the line moves much slower because there are only so many flashlights, and guests will move slower through the maze because they have to work harder to see where they're going.
2.) The performers now have to deal with flashlights in their eyes all night, which will happen even if the guests aren't intentionally trying to shine their light in the wrong places.
3.) You can't as easily appreciate the design and detail that went into the maze because it's wasted on you in the dark. Even if you do catch something, you can't appreciate it in as much detail or for as long as you could have if the maze was lit appropriately.

When one of the two new mazes underwhelms and the other one is The Zoo, it doesn't really reflect all that well on Scary Farm.

Been a few times to KSF this year and it is disappointing to hear that the Zoo is losing the standard version as it is a really well themed maze. That being said the lights out version was hugely popular and has massive waits.

Given that all the other scary farm mazes don't have a lights out version it is a pretty unique offering that more guests will now be able to do.

I didn't notice the line moving any slower in lights out vs standard in my experience.

The staff/park doesn't do a good job of telling people to not aim the lights in the actor's eyes. Every once in a while a staff member mentions it to people when handing out flashlights but its inconsistent. IMO it should be a message on the PA system outside the maze as you wait in addition to adding some signage.

 

[CaptinEO]

Oh, phew!

I know the Knott's Scary Farm Ops team must work their behinds off this time of year to put on such a great show. When the rain started falling here in SD, a few minutes later I thought of the various theme park Ops teams in OC and LA who have big Halloween shows to produce.

They'll probably have a mess to clean up, but they'll get it done by Thursday I'm sure. Showmanship!

The mazes are all in warehouses and stay up all year. Even Mesmer under Excellerator stays up. Whatever they replace it with will be available from the train. The Scarezones might not have sliders but no reason monsters can't wonder around in the rain.

Some of the mazes have a number of outdoor sections to them. I definitely noticed it during Grimoire, Origins, and Chilling Chambers off the top of my head where there are sections with no ceiling above you and just themed walls.

I'd imagine these mazes would likely close during rain.