It’s almost Halloween. That means its scary theme park season! Let’s see how Knott’s Scary Farm looks this year…
The brutally fun Ghost Rider.
Emphasis on the word “brutal.” It really is an awesome and terrifying wooden coaster that gets more and more rough with age.
Silver Bullet looks awesome set against creep Scary Farm ambiance.
You do get a different ride experience when the lighting scheme changes.
One of the best suspended coasters on the planet, and a must for any trip to Knott’s.
The innocent Calico Mine Ride transforms into…
“The Witch’s Keep.”
Great theming, Knott’s!
Inside the keep, we encounter the witch, as advertised.
Lots of creepy things here.
That was creepy!
More creepiness in the keep.
True to form, Knott’s delivers great atmosphere as you walk throughout the park.
“Black Magic” maze with Xcelerator in the background.
A good scary shot to leave you with.
So let’s talk the good and the bad of Knott’s Scary Farm this year.
First the good.
The park looked great. Clean, friendly employees. Everything was firing on all cylinders. All the coasters were up and running. Knott’s has completely turned itself around from a little dark period it went through a few years back.
Between Knott’s Scary Farm, Universal Horror Nights, and Six Flag’s Magic Mountain Fright Fest, I still think Knott’s delivers the best overall park immersion. Universal always feels like more of a commercialized concrete jungle, for example. You’ll exit a maze and see a Cinnabon right in front of you. But Ghost Town and the western frontier feel of Knott’s lends itself so perfectly to a scary transformation.
The hidden gem of the evening was Special Ops: Infected. Here, you are given a heavy laser tag assault rifle and are escorted through a course by a couple of military officers. Every so often, a zombie would pop out of a box, which you’d have to shoot, and your score is recorded at the end.
It was a really cool concept and added to the immersion of the maze. This is an idea they need to expand – it wasn’t fully realized as advertised in its current form. Where we were hoping we’d encounter a zone of dozens of zombies out to get you, giving everyone in the group a chance to take out multiple creatures, there were maybe 4 or 5 cast members who popped out at you. When a group of 10 is all firing at one zombie, it does seem kind of pointless. Still, this was a different maze experience than I’ve ever had, so I give them credit for the creativity and the attempt at something new.
Now the bad.
I hate to do it, because I really do love the Scary Farm experience, but I have to call them out. Knott’s was lazy this year. Plain and simple.
My first big question: Where were all the scary cast members in costume who are supposed to be terrorizing you throughout the park? The second you walk into Universal Horror Nights, there are crazy monsters all around you. Knott’s used to be like this.
This was even more apparent in the mazes. Where were the cast members? We did the full compliment of mazes, and where there used to be creatures around every corner scaring you, we would walk through the bulk of these attractions without encountering hardly a soul. It made the mazes feel less scary and more hollow, and made us focus our attention more on the sets, which really didn’t feel all too elaborate.
The Calico Mine Ride conversion into the Witch’s Keep, similarly, was underwhelming. I don’t recall one cast member scaring you in the dark on that ride the way they used to. Without this element, the ride experience was much more passive and far less intense.
The Timber Mountain Log Ride went un-themed for Scary Farm this year, and this is just unacceptable. Part of what makes Knott’s unique amongst the local theme parks is their ability to convert their dark rides into something scary. You don’t get this at Disneyland or Universal Studios or Magic Mountain.
What you do get these days at a place like Universal are much better mazes. Universal has the budget, the technology, and the rights to known movie and television products to make their mazes recognizable, immersive, and scary. Where Knott’s was the gold standard of mazes, Universal right now has taken the crown.
If Knott’s isn’t going to try to raise it’s own bar to top Universal, it needs to be reminded of what makes it unique, and that is with it’s scary dark ride conversions. The Witch’s Keep should have been the must-see attraction at the park this year, especially with the Log Ride going un-themed.
Really, though, there are no excuses for not having both the Log Ride and Mine Ride supremely themed and completely scary.
Overall, it was still an enjoyable evening at the park. It has been much better in years past, there may be more value in the Universal experience this year in particular, but Knott’s has the history and nostalgia going for it, so hopefully they can get back on top of their game for next year. I will be back.