All things Knotts Berry Farm

PiratesMansion

PiratesMansion

Well-Known Member
Final year for Paranormal, Inc. I will miss the opening scene but otherwise I think they're making the right call-the rest felt tired to me, even with the new ending. A pity Dark Entities isn't joining it in the dustbin, but I suppose there'll still be two new mazes next year anyway, so not a big deal. At least Dark Entities has a very different vibe than the rest of the mazes if it must stick around. I'm surprised but delighted that all of the other mazes appear to be returning next year, and am happy that Pumpkin Eater and Dark Ride have thus far avoided closure!
 
T

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
So I’m doing the day (before Haunt tonight) and I don’t know if it’s been mentioned but the Calico Mine Ride has received a “spooky” transformation this year. You see instead of being a gold mine, it’s now a Candy mine. It’s cute, the glory hole group sings Big Rock Candy mountain, there’s a few props throughout and a bunch of purple lights.
 
Last edited:
T

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
The fog has returned 🎃💀😈☠️🤡

Knotts Scary Farm is back!
18552B05-D088-420D-8826-F1E3031C49C7.jpeg
 
Last edited:
S

SplashGhost

Well-Known Member
I went last night, and I would say that it is an average year. I have gone every year since I moved to California in 2015, I would rank this year the lowest except maybe 2018, and that was only because I didn't like either of the new mazes that year. This is still a great event even if it is one of its weakest years. Only having one new house hurts. However, Mesmer is a really good maze. The scenic isn't very elaborate and it does have black walls, but it is a really creative maze and it has excellent sound design. The audio is what makes the maze great.

Maybe it is just me, but I hate The Depths. I never liked the maze, but this year it is worse than ever. It is low energy, slow paced, and exceedingly boring. The only good parts are the kraken and the shark. It is far and away the worst Knott's maze that I have done. Little to nothing was new in the returning mazes. There may have been some new stuff in Pumpkin Eater, but I would have to watch a video of it from 2019 to confirm. The part that I didn't remember and thought might be new was the rat part.

It also felt like the mazes were lighter on scare actors this year. That is understandable considering staffing issues and COVID, and I never expected this to be an amazing year because I knew it would be a budget cut year because of COVID. I hope they are able to get back to 9 mazes in the near future, and I hope that The Depths leaves as soon as possible.
 
T

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
I enjoyed my night, I feel like they had the zones very well staffed (better then normal) and from what I remember about the same amount of scare actors. I do agree the Depths was the weakest of the night, but wax works was a close second. Mesmers was fantastic, as was Origns and Pumkin Eater. The other mazes were all good, even Dark Entities. I got an off show of Puppet Up, and they did some of the same acts they did 2 years ago (Jazz, Windy [sic].). The Mystery Lodge Show was corny but fun, although it’s very similar to a haunt show that was there a few years ago, and the finale isn’t as strong. Had a blast, FYI the Mine Train does have a scary B story for Haunt with some different audio about children who disappeared in the mine (children, Candy, Knotts I bet you can guess who caused the disappearance.). Paranormal put in a very strong performance in its final year.

Longest Lines were Mesmers and Paranormal.
 
S

SplashGhost

Well-Known Member
Touchdown said:
I enjoyed my night, I feel like they had the zones very well staffed (better then normal) and from what I remember about the same amount of scare actors. I do agree the Depths was the weakest of the night, but wax works was a close second. Mesmers was fantastic, as was Origns and Pumkin Eater. The other mazes were all good, even Dark Entities. I got an off show of Puppet Up, and they did some of the same acts they did 2 years ago (Jazz, Windy [sic].). The Mystery Lodge Show was corny but fun, although it’s very similar to a haunt show that was there a few years ago, and the finale isn’t as strong. Had a blast, FYI the Mine Train does have a scary B story for Haunt with some different audio about children who disappeared in the mine (children, Candy, Knotts I bet you can guess who caused the disappearance.). Paranormal put in a very strong performance in its final year.

Longest Lines were Mesmers and Paranormal.
Click to expand...

Paranormal was one of the strongest mazes this year. I loved Waxworks in 2019, but something felt lacking this year, but I enjoyed it vastly more than The Depths. I wish they had advertised the Calico Mine Ride overlay. I will be back for at least one more night this year, so I will check it out then. The scare zones do seem well staffed, but the mazes felt a little more empty.
 
T

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
SplashGhost said:
Paranormal was one of the strongest mazes this year. I loved Waxworks in 2019, but something felt lacking this year, but I enjoyed it vastly more than The Depths. I wish they had advertised the Calico Mine Ride overlay. I will be back for at least one more night this year, so I will check it out then. The scare zones do seem well staffed, but the mazes felt a little more empty.
Click to expand...
The mine ride during haunt vs day is just a slight audio switch, more of a little surprise.
 
waltography

waltography

Well-Known Member
SplashGhost said:
I went last night, and I would say that it is an average year. I have gone every year since I moved to California in 2015, I would rank this year the lowest except maybe 2018, and that was only because I didn't like either of the new mazes that year. This is still a great event even if it is one of its weakest years. Only having one new house hurts. However, Mesmer is a really good maze. The scenic isn't very elaborate and it does have black walls, but it is a really creative maze and it has excellent sound design. The audio is what makes the maze great.

Maybe it is just me, but I hate The Depths. I never liked the maze, but this year it is worse than ever. It is low energy, slow paced, and exceedingly boring. The only good parts are the kraken and the shark. It is far and away the worst Knott's maze that I have done. Little to nothing was new in the returning mazes. There may have been some new stuff in Pumpkin Eater, but I would have to watch a video of it from 2019 to confirm. The part that I didn't remember and thought might be new was the rat part.
Click to expand...
I think Mesmer is an amazing piece of set-work within budget; it really works with the simplicity of some of the scenes rather than against it I think. As a maze it's light on scares, but it more than makes up for it in the show and concept (the tight rope hallway alone is a really cool concept, and the use of back projections works for the penny theater sideshow aesthetic).

I agree with The Depths; it's just not a fun maze to walk through, though I think the lighting design in some of the scenes are superb.
 
SoCalDisneyLover

SoCalDisneyLover

Well-Known Member
I went on Friday. Since I have the Scary Farm Pass, I just wanted to do a quick run thru of all the mazes, and then I plan to come back at least 4-5 more times before it ends.

I was there for the opening ceremony, then headed for Mesmer. I did in the following order:

1. Mesmer
2. Dark Ride
3. Origins
4. Paranormal
5. The Depths
6. Dark Entities
7. Wax Works
8. Pumpkin Eater

Longest wait was Wax Works (45 Min), followed by Origins & Paranormal (20-30 Min.) I was able to get through all the mazes by 9:30.

The line for Ghostrider was just ridiculous. The Fast Lane was down the stairs and outside of the building. I began to wonder what happens if people were just coming off the ride, and getting right back in line. How long was that standby line going to take. I think the ride also went down, because when I was in line for Wax Works, it was not coming by for at least 20+ minutes.

I got there before the park closed, and tried the Petrified Pizza Burger on the meal plan. I wouldn't say it was bad, but I wasn't overwhelmed by the pizzas, so even though it was a lot of food, and filled me up, I'd probably prefer a regular burger or the pastrami sandwich, next time.
 
Emmanuel

Emmanuel

Well-Known Member
Went to Knotts on Friday as well for Scary Farm but I also was there during the day so I was there from 10am to 2am when Scary Farm ended.

The park during the day was empty and they had the Galloping Goose out for the Calico Railroad. I checked out the Candy Mine ride overlay for the mine ride. Pretty to look at and the song is pretty catchy but something that could use some improvements. I wasn't aware that there was a small audio change in the stalagmite caverns for Scary Farm until yesterday. Knotts could've better advertised this new thing instead of just slipping it in the page for Spooky Farm on the website and not even on the Scary Farm page.

Did the Boo-Fet at 5pm and for the first time, I was directed to the Chicken Dinner Restaurant instead of Spurs for the food. Luckily I had the Scary Farm pass added on to my Season pass before it quickly sold out. I also had with me a voucher for the Scary Farm event Shirt that I got from the website. Saved me money and allowed me to purchase an Origins the Curse of Calico cap from Cordys Corner.

Longest i've waited for a maze was probably Wax Works given that the queue looked long. 30 minutes seemed to be the longest I've waited. I saved Paranormal for last as I knew it would be busy because of this year being its final season. I did Origins 3 times.

Invitation to Terror was pretty good to me and it was great to be back in the Mystery Lodge theater. Puppet Up Uncensored once again made me laugh pretty hard. Caught only the band at the Calico Mine Stage but not the circus acts.

I'm abstaining from doing a maze ranking as I was just happy to have the event running again.
 
Emmanuel

Emmanuel

Well-Known Member
Knotts has changed opening hours for Saturdays and Sundays during Halloween season. Park now opens at 8am instead of 9am beginning this weekend.
 
Emmanuel

Emmanuel

Well-Known Member
Was at Knotts yesterday and got there a bit after 8:30am. Given that many are used to KBF opening at either 9am or 10am, there wasn't many people going into the park. This allowed me to ride Silver Bullet and Montezooma and the log ride with no wait.

When Knotts Scary Farm began, thats when the actual crowds arrived. Mazes quickly got to waits hovering around 90 minutes. Origins line went down the street going towards the saloon and churro factory. Pumpkin Eaters line reached almost the halfway point of Camp Snoopy.

I was there until 11pm when it became apparent that the crowd level was more than I could handle at Knotts. Since I did all mazes last time, I wasn't pressured to do all the mazes and I spent more time in the scare zones and saw Puppet Up and Invitation to Terror.

Going forward, if you're planning to go on a Friday or Saturday, the Fright lane is highly recommended.

Also the Boo-Fet is sold out on the 8th and 9th.
 
Emmanuel

Emmanuel

Well-Known Member
cmwade77 said:
I don't think Knotts even knows if they are at this point, it is likely being evaluated on a daily basis as to what they can and can't do.
Click to expand...

They've announced their Military Tribute days that runs most of November and until December 16th Monday-Thursdays only with it beginning Nov 1st.

Military Discounts | Military Tribute Days | Knott's Berry Farm

Active, Retired, and Veteran U.S. Military Personnel may receive discounted admission to Knott's Berry Farm during Military Tribute Days! Learn more today!
www.knotts.com www.knotts.com

Military members may buy tickets for $19.99 for themselves and up to 5 guests
 
S

Sailor310

Well-Known Member
Emmanuel said:
They've announced their Military Tribute days that runs most of November and until December 16th Monday-Thursdays only with it beginning Nov 1st.

Military Discounts | Military Tribute Days | Knott's Berry Farm

Active, Retired, and Veteran U.S. Military Personnel may receive discounted admission to Knott's Berry Farm during Military Tribute Days! Learn more today!
www.knotts.com www.knotts.com

Military members may buy tickets for $19.99 for themselves and up to 5 guests
Click to expand...
Thanks! I just called Knotts about this. The guy didn't know anything about it.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom