All things Knotts Berry Farm

Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Ismael Flores said:
if the info about 45 minute wait lines for food items is true i really do not see how enjoyable can be especially since the event is only for a few hours. They really need to either maintain shorter food lines so it doesn't start creating issues or keep number of tickets sold to a minimum. Is the area being used for the festival of good size? Calico area in Knotts is not extremely large and some of those walkways are pretty narrow. The only really spacious area is where the open stage is
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Well, the lines moved quickly. We avoid the Ice Cream treats line, which was the longest.

The limit is about 3,500 tickets, 15% of capacity.

It is an expanded Calico are, so about Half of the park. They brought every table from the closed areas, plus added a lot of wooden picnic tables in the stage viewing area.

Knott's did a bit of Project Stardust, removing some trees and planters, opening up the pathways.

Never felt compacted.
 
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cmwade77

Well-Known Member
Ismael Flores said:
if the info about 45 minute wait lines for food items is true i really do not see how enjoyable can be especially since the event is only for a few hours. They really need to either maintain shorter food lines so it doesn't start creating issues or keep number of tickets sold to a minimum. Is the area being used for the festival of good size? Calico area in Knotts is not extremely large and some of those walkways are pretty narrow. The only really spacious area is where the open stage is
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Honestly, they did a very good job at social distancing, even with the long lines. I imagine adding additional hours is going to help with the long lines, but I also suspect they will continue to make other tweaks like perhaps opening beverage stations for those that just want to buy a drink.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
cmwade77 said:
Honestly, they did a very good job at social distancing, even with the long lines. I imagine adding additional hours is going to help with the long lines, but I also suspect they will continue to make other tweaks like perhaps opening beverage stations for those that just want to buy a drink.
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That would help. They should have never stuck the gumbo with the alcohol. You got people just wanting to get plastered and all I wanted was a small bowl of gumbo.
 
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cmwade77

Well-Known Member
Phroobar said:
That would help. They should have never stuck the gumbo with the alcohol. You got people just wanting to get plastered and all I wanted was a small bowl of gumbo.
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Well, since I don't eat Seafood, I wasn't worried about the gumbo and since I don't drink alcohol, that didn't bother me either. But they did open the Saloon on Saturday for those that just wanted Alcohol, I was referring to fountain drinks.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
cmwade77 said:
Well, since I don't eat Seafood, I wasn't worried about the gumbo and since I don't drink alcohol, that didn't bother me either. But they did open the Saloon on Saturday for those that just wanted Alcohol, I was referring to fountain drinks.
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I noticed that too. I was a good idea. The popcorn cart next to the Calico Mine was open if you wanted popcorn or drinks.
 
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cmwade77

Well-Known Member
Phroobar said:
I noticed that too. I was a good idea. The popcorn cart next to the Calico Mine was open if you wanted popcorn or drinks.
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If you wanted bottled water, but a lot of people wanted fountain drinks, particularly Boysenberry punch and ended up having to wait.in long lines to get just a drink. Hopefully that is fixed over the next few weeks.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
cmwade77 said:
If you wanted bottled water, but a lot of people wanted fountain drinks, particularly Boysenberry punch and ended up having to wait.in long lines to get just a drink. Hopefully that is fixed over the next few weeks.
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Wilderness Broiler was handing out Cups of Ice Water for Free, most folks got one when they got their Pastrami. Whoever decided to do it, it was much appreciated.

Lisa and I usually bring our own water, Lisa brings Arrowhead, I being Costco's Vitarain Zero. But they aren't cold.

So Ice Water was great for a hot day.
 
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cmwade77

Well-Known Member
Now that Universal Studios has officially cancelled Horror Nights for this year, how long do you think it will be before Knott's cancels Haunt for this year?

Although, I do wonder if Taste of Calico is also a way to test trying to figure out a modified replacement somehow.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
cmwade77 said:
Now that Universal Studios has officially cancelled Horror Nights for this year, how long do you think it will be before Knott's cancels Haunt for this year?

Although, I do wonder if Taste of Calico is also a way to test trying to figure out a modified replacement somehow.
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Universal, like Disney, is far to corporate to figure out a creative solution. Too many lawyers involved.

However for Knotts, I think it is doable. They could decrease the number of tickets sold but increase the number of days it is done. They could run it six days a week instead of four. Since the park is closed during the day anyway they won't have to worry about shutting down the park or reducing staffing. Since the lines for the mazes will be long due to social distancing, they could include the food festival and halloween craft booths. That will distribute people better. They would need to modify a few of the mazes like The Depths and Paranormal to remove their preshows. A lot of the mazes could be outdoors and more masks will be used instead of makeup. They could rely on atmosphere more than scares. Scare Zones might a little hard but I think that is doable with monsters in makeup and masks on. I'm not sure what they can do about shows since the Hanging is gone. Maybe a monster rock band outside?

There is lots money to be made and like life, Knotts will find a way.
 
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cmwade77

Well-Known Member
Phroobar said:
Universal, like Disney, is far to corporate to figure out a creative solution. Too many lawyers involved.

However for Knotts, I think it is doable. They could decrease the number of tickets sold but increase the number of days it is done. They could run it six days a week instead of four. Since the park is closed during the day anyway they won't have to worry about shutting down the park or reducing staffing. Since the lines for the mazes will be long due to social distancing, they could include the food festival and halloween craft booths. That will distribute people better. They would need to modify a few of the mazes like The Depths and Paranormal to remove their preshows. A lot of the mazes could be outdoors and more masks will be used instead of makeup. They could rely on atmosphere more than scares. Scare Zones might a little hard but I think that is doable with monsters in makeup and masks on. I'm not sure what they can do about shows since the Hanging is gone. Maybe a monster rock band outside?

There is lots money to be made and like life, Knotts will find a way.
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I would imagine the park will be open by the time Haunt would start, my guess is theme parks will be open by mid-August or early September at the latest. So shutting down park or reducing staffing will be an issue. But you may indeed be correct or as I said Taste of Calico is exploring other ways to come up with alternatives.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
cmwade77 said:
I would imagine the park will be open by the time Haunt would start, my guess is theme parks will be open by mid-August or early September at the latest. So shutting down park or reducing staffing will be an issue. But you may indeed be correct or as I said Taste of Calico is exploring other ways to come up with alternatives.
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I hope it opens by then but if it doesn't they need something to replace the closed rides. A food festival is a good replacement. It's pretty fun to ride Silver Bullet in the dark at 1am or the Halloween version of the log ride.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Phroobar said:
I hope it opens by then but if it doesn't they need something to replace the closed rides. A food festival is a good replacement. It's pretty fun to ride Silver Bullet in the dark at 1am or the Halloween version of the log ride.
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Ghostrider in the dark, with the lights off is an AMAZING ride!
 
Professortango1

Professortango1

Well-Known Member
Phroobar said:
Universal, like Disney, is far to corporate to figure out a creative solution. Too many lawyers involved.

However for Knotts, I think it is doable. They could decrease the number of tickets sold but increase the number of days it is done. They could run it six days a week instead of four. Since the park is closed during the day anyway they won't have to worry about shutting down the park or reducing staffing. Since the lines for the mazes will be long due to social distancing, they could include the food festival and halloween craft booths. That will distribute people better. They would need to modify a few of the mazes like The Depths and Paranormal to remove their preshows. A lot of the mazes could be outdoors and more masks will be used instead of makeup. They could rely on atmosphere more than scares. Scare Zones might a little hard but I think that is doable with monsters in makeup and masks on. I'm not sure what they can do about shows since the Hanging is gone. Maybe a monster rock band outside?

There is lots money to be made and like life, Knotts will find a way.
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It would be incredibly risky to continue on with Scary Farm this year. Movie studios learned how they can spend millions advertising and promoting a film only to have theatres shut back down without notice. For Cedar Fair to put money into building mazes, hiring staff, training staff, and promoting the event only to have it possibly shut down without notice at any point would be extremely unwise. Any Haunt moving forward should be prepared to operate at a total loss this year. It might not be the case, but it certainly is a very real possibility. It would be smarter for them to put the same amount of money into lotto tickets.
 
Darkbeer1

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Professortango1 said:
It would be incredibly risky to continue on with Scary Farm this year. Movie studios learned how they can spend millions advertising and promoting a film only to have theatres shut back down without notice. For Cedar Fair to put money into building mazes, hiring staff, training staff, and promoting the event only to have it possibly shut down without notice at any point would be extremely unwise. Any Haunt moving forward should be prepared to operate at a total loss this year. It might not be the case, but it certainly is a very real possibility. It would be smarter for them to put the same amount of money into lotto tickets.
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Knott's is working on mazes, along with other park projects, using the staff on hand, keeping them on a regular working schedule. Knott's did not layoff their full time employees.

As far as I know, the auditions are being done with recorded video for the initial part, and still being accepted.

Since Knott's owns the land, and has already sold season passes to Haunt specifically, Haunt could operate and break even, or even make a profit, similar to what WDW is doing with its parks.

Having some guests are better than no guests.

Knott's management said they could wait until mid-August to make a final decision, but my guess, they will do it closer to early August.
 

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