All things Knotts Berry Farm

[D.Silentu]

I hope you're saying that they just cut the book and not the flying bit at the end of Origins. That's such a perfect capper for the maze that it would be a shame if they've gotten rid of it.

Thank you for explaining the idea behind Grimoire.

Not to worry, that scene is intact! I also appreciate the extra context behind Grimoire. I am aware of what the book is, but found the maze's plot convoluted as I experienced it for the first time over the weekend. I felt the same about Bloodlines; both had fantastic aesthetics, but poorly presented throughlines. It's consternating that I will have to watch youtube walk throughs from last year to understand what the designers intended.

 

[CaptinEO]

Not to worry, that scene is intact! I also appreciate the extra context behind Grimoire. I am aware of what the book is, but found the maze's plot convoluted as I experienced it for the first time over the weekend. I felt the same about Bloodlines; both had fantastic aesthetics, but poorly presented throughlines. It's consternating that I will have to watch youtube walk throughs from last year to understand what the designers intended.

I really liked grimoire, it was just so strange that I didn't need a straightforward story to enjoy how surreal it was.

 

[D.Silentu]

I'm usually in that camp with you as far as surrealism goes. Last year I was the sole appreciator of The Weekend maze at our Horror Nights party. Grimoire just had me asking too many questions, which was distracting. It is a truly great looking maze though, which I suppose may have made me even more curious about the narrative. If in future years they have no preshow I'm sure it would only take a few steps for them to connect the dots. Bloodlines is the one that really needs surgery. Speaking of good looking mazes that could use some extra development, I hope Room 13 gets some finesse next season.

 

[D.Silentu]

Room 13: I really wanted to like this one because I love the Gore-ing 20s zone, but this one really fell flat for numerous reasons. I'm normally not one to mention lines, but the line for this one using the ramp up to the Walter Knott Theater is rough and makes the wait unbearable, so I was already not in a great emotional headspace for this one.

The queue for this was indeed awful. I'm curious if it was handled the same way on your visit, but for ours the line was split in two. The issue was that the merge point was unsupervised, so whatever side that was more ambitious was moving more quickly. Since a team member was directing traffic at the bottom of the ramp anyway, it baffles me that they simply didn't station them where the lines met. It turned the maze into our longest wait of the evening.

 

[Nirya]

The queue for this was indeed awful. I'm curious if it was handled the same way on your visit, but for ours the line was split in two. The issue was that the merge point was unsupervised, so whatever side that was more ambitious was moving more quickly. Since a team member was directing traffic at the bottom of the ramp anyway, it baffles me that they simply didn't station them where the lines met. It turned the maze into our longest wait of the evening.

Oh yeah, that queue split made absolutely 0 sense and I was livid when we got to the merge point and realized it was pointless. If I end up back at Knotts this year I might try to sprint back to that one just to see if less of a wait improves my view of the maze. It probably won't, but still.

 

[Phroobar]

Last year Knotts had video screens turned on explaining what the Grimoire was and it's history. It was a show that reminded me of Ancient Aliens. It played in the queue. They even had commercials that where under the influence of the Grimoire. Not sure why they turned that off. Maybe no one was paying attention to the screens?

 

[Nirya]

Last year Knotts had video screens turned on explaining what the Grimoire was and it's history. It was a show that reminded me of Ancient Aliens. It played in the queue. They even had commercials that where under the influence of the Grimoire. Not sure why they turned that off. Maybe no one was paying attention to the screens?

The video screens are still there and playing the video. I think the volume was turned down a bit but the problem is more they're in a spot that makes it hard to watch. This isn't like with Paranormal Inc which had its video playing high up. I'm not even sure how you rectify the problem without completely rethinking the queue area.

 

[Phroobar]

The video screens are still there and playing the video. I think the volume was turned down a bit but the problem is more they're in a spot that makes it hard to watch. This isn't like with Paranormal Inc which had its video playing high up. I'm not even sure how you rectify the problem without completely rethinking the queue area.

That queue area is never going to change. Personally, I think most people don't care. There is typically no plot at Universal's mazes outside of scenes from the movies. Even their non-IP stuff usually doesn't have a story. Knotts is pretty unique in having story elements in their mazes.

 

[Professortango1]

Last year Knotts had video screens turned on explaining what the Grimoire was and it's history. It was a show that reminded me of Ancient Aliens. It played in the queue. They even had commercials that where under the influence of the Grimoire. Not sure why they turned that off. Maybe no one was paying attention to the screens?

Man, losing the preshow really hurt this maze. Even just by having the crowds pulsed through..

That walkthrough was nothing like what I experienced.

 

[PiratesMansion]

On my day off from Disneyland, it suddenly occured to me that I could use my pass and rental car to get into Knott's, check out the Haunt store, and get some chicken to go. It took longer than expected to get in because I forgot that parking at Knott's is always confusing. They were having us park in the waterpark lot, but had blocked off the entrance from the main Knott's road, with a sign to turn left at the end, but no sign indicating that you needed to take a second left onto Beach Blvd to get into the lot. If I didn't know that Knott's has been inept at communicating which parking lot to go to and how to get there for as long as I've been going, I'd say it was a cynical attempt to get people to spring for the paid parking lot that they have to pass first. If that was their intent, it failed, because most people stopping at the premium lot were clearly stopping for directions to the regular lot.

It was so easy to get chicken to go, and a fair amount cheaper than actually eating in the restaurant (and even though you get less food than you would eating in house, you still get quite a lot of it). Not really any seating options, but because nobody was at Knott's today I was able to get a table by the park exit.

The Haunt store is in the old Emporium and is really, really cool. It's akin to the themed Haunt shops Universal Orlando does for HHN. If Haunt is going on during store operating hours, you need a Haunt ticket to visit it, but if Haunt isn't happening or it's before 4 PM or so, anyone can enter it from the marketplace.

In case anyone is like me and was looking for the 50th Haunt book, my big tip is to enter the park. It was sold out of all the gift shops in the marketplace; then the first store I walked into within the park had a giant display with several copies available.

In contrast to Disneyland bursting at the seems for the last three days, Knott's was completely dead on a Tuesday. Definitely helped that there's no Haunt today. It was so dead that GhostRider was a walk-on, and while I was eating my chicken I saw it cycle with many empty seats several times.

@mickEblu if you're looking to make your Knott's redemption visit, weekdays right now are a good time to go, and if you're off Tuesday, that's my top recommendation. Entertainment is nonexistent, but almost all of the rides are open and since Tuesday neither borders a weekend nor has a Haunt later in the day, no one is there (for what it's worth, there are also some restaurants in the marketplace that are also closed on Monday but no other day, so perhaps Monday isn't as different from Tuesday as I might be imagining). If you wait until Thursday, they have Spooky Farm running with some entertainment and things for the kids.

 

[mickEblu]

On my day off from Disneyland, it suddenly occured to me that I could use my pass and rental car to get into Knott's, check out the Haunt store, and get some chicken to go. It took longer than expected to get in because I forgot that parking at Knott's is always confusing. They were having us park in the waterpark lot, but had blocked off the entrance from the main Knott's road, with a sign to turn left at the end, but no sign indicating that you needed to take a second left onto Beach Blvd to get into the lot. If I didn't know that Knott's has been inept at communicating which parking lot to go to and how to get there for as long as I've been going, I'd say it was a cynical attempt to get people to spring for the paid parking lot that they have to pass first. If that was their intent, it failed, because most people stopping at the premium lot were clearly stopping for directions to the regular lot.

It was so easy to get chicken to go, and a fair amount cheaper than actually eating in the restaurant (and even though you get less food, you still get quite a lot of it). Not really any seating options, but because nobody was at Knott's today I was able to get a table by the park exit.

The Haunt store is in the old Emporium and is really, really cool. It's akin to the themed Haunt shops Universal Orlando does for HHN. If Haunt is going on during store operating hours, you need a Haunt ticket to visit it, but if Haunt isn't happening or it's before 4 PM or so, anyone can enter it from the marketplace.

In case anyone is like me and was looking for the 50th Haunt book, my big tip is to enter the park. It was sold out of all the gift shops in the marketplace; then the first store I walked into within the park had a giant display with several copies available.

In contrast to Disneyland bursting at the seems for the last three days, Knott's was completely dead on a Tuesday. Definitely helped that there's no Haunt today. It was so dead that GhostRider was a walk-on, and while I was eating my chicken I saw it cycle with many empty seats several times.

@mickEblu if you're looking to make your Knott's redemption visit, weekdays right now are a good time to go, and you're off Tuesday, that's my top recommendation. Entertainment is nonexistent, but almost all of the rides are open and since Tuesday neither borders a weekend nor has a Haunt later in the day, no one is there (for what it's worth, there are also some restaurants in the marketplace that are also closed on Monday but no other day, so I imagine Monday isn't much different from Tuesday as I might be imagining. If you wait until Thursday, they have Spooky Farm running with some entertainment and things for the kids.

Thanks for the tip! That sounds like the move.

 

[mickEblu]

On my day off from Disneyland, it suddenly occured to me that I could use my pass and rental car to get into Knott's, check out the Haunt store, and get some chicken to go. It took longer than expected to get in because I forgot that parking at Knott's is always confusing. They were having us park in the waterpark lot, but had blocked off the entrance from the main Knott's road, with a sign to turn left at the end, but no sign indicating that you needed to take a second left onto Beach Blvd to get into the lot. If I didn't know that Knott's has been inept at communicating which parking lot to go to and how to get there for as long as I've been going, I'd say it was a cynical attempt to get people to spring for the paid parking lot that they have to pass first. If that was their intent, it failed, because most people stopping at the premium lot were clearly stopping for directions to the regular lot.

It was so easy to get chicken to go, and a fair amount cheaper than actually eating in the restaurant (and even though you get less food than you would eating in house, you still get quite a lot of it). Not really any seating options, but because nobody was at Knott's today I was able to get a table by the park exit.

The Haunt store is in the old Emporium and is really, really cool. It's akin to the themed Haunt shops Universal Orlando does for HHN. If Haunt is going on during store operating hours, you need a Haunt ticket to visit it, but if Haunt isn't happening or it's before 4 PM or so, anyone can enter it from the marketplace.

In case anyone is like me and was looking for the 50th Haunt book, my big tip is to enter the park. It was sold out of all the gift shops in the marketplace; then the first store I walked into within the park had a giant display with several copies available.

In contrast to Disneyland bursting at the seems for the last three days, Knott's was completely dead on a Tuesday. Definitely helped that there's no Haunt today. It was so dead that GhostRider was a walk-on, and while I was eating my chicken I saw it cycle with many empty seats several times.

@mickEblu if you're looking to make your Knott's redemption visit, weekdays right now are a good time to go, and if you're off Tuesday, that's my top recommendation. Entertainment is nonexistent, but almost all of the rides are open and since Tuesday neither borders a weekend nor has a Haunt later in the day, no one is there (for what it's worth, there are also some restaurants in the marketplace that are also closed on Monday but no other day, so perhaps Monday isn't as different from Tuesday as I might be imagining). If you wait until Thursday, they have Spooky Farm running with some entertainment and things for the kids.

Do you have any reason to believe Tuesdays in November would be any busier?

How would you compre the G forces on Ghostrider to Incredicoaster?

 

[PiratesMansion]

Do you have any reason to believe Tuesdays in November would be any busier?

How would you compre the G forces on Ghostrider to Incredicoaster?

No, but I also have never visited Knott's outside of the months of June, July, or October, so I'm probably not the most definitive person to ask.

GhostRider is definitely more aggressive than Incredicoaster in every respect (though no inversions on GhostRider), and the ride absolutely rips through its course in a way that makes Incredicoaster seem like a scenic drive by comparison. But in my view GhostRider's also a much, much better ride, perhaps my favorite wooden coaster ever. It's absolutely a must do.

 

[celluloid]

To hear Ghostrider dead is quite the anamoly. That ride often has one train ops that creates terrible capacity to where I am shocked it is a Cedar Fair operation.

Jealous of a friend who gets to go to Scary Farm. It would be a heck of a year for a first and it will be his, would have been mine if I could have swung it.

 

[mickEblu]

No, but I also have never visited Knott's outside of the months of June, July, or October, so I'm probably not the most definitive person to ask.

GhostRider is definitely more aggressive than Incredicoaster in every respect (though no inversions on GhostRider), and the ride absolutely rips through its course in a way that makes Incredicoaster seem like a scenic drive by comparison. But in my view GhostRider's also a much, much better ride, perhaps my favorite wooden coaster ever. It's absolutely a must do.

Ok not what I wanted to hear. Lol. Still have a (perhaps irrational) fear from thrill rides due to being somewhat of a hypochondriac and what happened to me after riding Supreme Scream in my early 20’s. It’s worth noting I do all the “thrill rides” at DLR easily with the exception of the way down from that initial shot up on Mission Breakout that does something in my nether regions (just one more reason I miss TOT). I also did pretty much all the thrill rides at Magic Mountain about 10 years ago but that’s a long time ago at this point.

 

[D.Silentu]

But in my view GhostRider's also a much, much better ride, perhaps my favorite wooden coaster ever. It's absolutely a must do.

I would probably call it my favorite too! MickEblu, I urge you to try it at least once.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Ok not what I wanted to hear. Lol. Still have a (perhaps irrational) fear from thrill rides due to being somewhat of a hypochondriac and what happened to me after riding Supreme Scream in my early 20’s. It’s worth noting I do all the “thrill rides” at DLR easily with the exception of the way down from that initial shot up on Mission Breakout that does something in my nether regions (just one more reason I miss TOT). I also did pretty much all the thrill rides at Magic Mountain about 10 years ago but that’s a long time ago at this point.

There are many coasters at Magic Mountain I'd consider to be more intense than GhostRider. Not sure if that helps at all or makes the situation worse, but that's how I feel.

You can always work your way up to GhostRider by doing some of the tamer coasters at Knott's, like Jaguar or Pony Express, though I should emphasize that what I experienced today (where GR truly had no wait to speak of during a normal operating day) almost never happens, and I've been at the park on days where everything is pretty reasonable except GhostRider, which is why I'd pretty much always recommend doing it first thing. But I'd encourage you to try it at some point at least once, because I'd say it's the best coaster in the state.

 

[mickEblu]

There are many coasters at Magic Mountain I'd consider to be more intense than GhostRider. Not sure if that helps at all or makes the situation worse, but that's how I feel.

You can always work your way up to GhostRider by doing some of the tamer coasters at Knott's, like Jaguar or Pony Express, though I should emphasize that what I experienced today (where GR truly had no wait to speak of during a normal operating day) almost never happens, and I've been at the park on days where everything is pretty reasonable except GhostRider, which is why I'd pretty much always recommend doing it first thing. But I'd encourage you to try it at some point at least once, because I'd say it's the best coaster in the state.

Looks like GhostRider is a 3.3 G force and Incredicoaster is about 4G’s (probably due to the loop).

Yeah I’m going to have to do it. I’m sure I’ll love it. Might to do the middle of the train to start though.

Riddlers Revenge was my favorite coaster back in the late 90s / early 2000s when it was buttery smooth. Until this day my best coaster experience.

 

[Phroobar]

November weekdays are always dead at Knotts until Thanksgiving week when kids are off. Granted they are taking down Halloween stuff for two weeks and there is very little live entertainment going on. They are mostly switching over to Knotts Merry Farm with the craft booths, Christmas tree, carolers, A Christmas Carol & it's "sequel" in the Bird Cage theater and turning the Red Barn into a Santa meet & greet. Knotts Merry Farm is a fun time to go. They usually have Snoopy on Ice show in the Walter Knott theater.

 

[Nirya]

Do note on Ghostrider that thanks to roller coaster science the ride will likely be tamer during the day and early morning and more intense the later in the day you go. Doing it at night is so good.