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Knott's Scary Farm 2016 Opening Night Report!


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Thursday was the opening night of Knott’s Scary Farm 2016, and TPR was there to check it out! Scary Farm is always one of our favorite Halloween events and one of So Cal’s largest with lots of mazes, scare zones, and entertainment. It’s always a well-rounded event with something for everyone! Check out our report below to see the highlights from this year’s event. If you want to see everything for yourself (and you should!), Scary Farm runs select nights through October 31! On with the report...

 

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We’re at Knott’s for the opening night of Scary Farm 2016!

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We’re all checked in - let’s go!

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The Headless Horseman loomed over guests as the park opened.

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Monsters were ready and waiting to scare guests as they entered.

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Knott’s threw a great media reception (as always!)

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There was an ice sculpture...

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And all the food you could ever want.

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The reception was Día de los Muertos themed.

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Selfie time!

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Mmm, Sangria!

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But enough with the reception, we’re here for the mazes! First we checked out Dead of Winter.

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It’s bloody, icy fun.

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There were lots of improvements throughout the maze this year.

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But this guy is still the coolest part!

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Now for a new maze, here’s Shadow Lands!

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We loved this maze! Lots of demon samurai goodness.

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After a quick pre-show, you walk through a Japanese garden before entering the temple.

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This maze has a great immersive environment like Voodoo, but has more scares and some cool effects.

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Watch out, some creatures get very close!

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This samurai sword scene was great!

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Check out the video to see it in action...

 

Here's our walkthrough video of Shadow Lands:

 

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Next we checked out The Red Barn.

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This is another one of the new mazes this year.

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It’s a a creepy barn filled with carnivorous animals and disturbing people.

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People are imprisoned amongst the dead chickens and blood spattered walls.

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No thank you!

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This horse animatronic was pretty neat!

 

Here's our walkthrough video of Red Barn:

 

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Scary Farm always has great entertainment too! This year’s Hanging was no exception!

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There are tons of pop culture jokes as always.

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Trump appears a bunch in this year's show - no surprise there!

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We won’t spoil the surprise, but we loved who they hung this year!

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Here are this year’s Scary Farm T-shirts! Everyone seemed to really like the women’s Ouija t-shirt.

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Watch out, you never know what’s lurking in the fog!

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Moving on, Special Ops: Infected is all-new this year and way better than before!

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While Infected will always be lower capacity due to the nature of a shooting maze, they were very efficient with keeping things moving this year. They were dispatching groups very quickly into the maze, but even then we never saw the other groups and it felt like we were the only ones there. This was great!

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This year Infected was moved out of Camp Snoopy and took on a more traditional maze format with everything in close quarters - this was a GREAT decision! It felt more in-your-face and the sets and theming were awesome!

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We loved all the sets, but the subway was especially cool!

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Don’t miss Infected! This was our favorite maze at Scary Farm this year.

 

Here's our walkthrough video of Special Ops: Infected:

 

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Time for Elvira’s Danse Macabre!

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Starring the one-and-only Elvira: Mistress of the Dark!

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The Elvira show is always fun and has lots of variety.

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There’s fire eating...

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Comedy...

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Dancing...

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Audience participation...

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And neat acrobatic acts!

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I’ve heard rumors that Elvira may be retiring soon, so if you’re an Elvira fan be sure to check this out!

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Back to the mazes, here’s Trick or Treat.

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These ghost characters were great!

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I’ll pass on dinner.

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Spears stirred up the Witch’s brew.

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The Green Witch was not happy about this!

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Moving on, here’s Tooth Fairy!

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Creepy!

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That drill seems a little excessive for teeth.

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They’re coming for your teeth, and they won’t take “no” for an answer!

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Spears says, “No, take his!”

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If The Tooth Fairy were really like this, kids would just throw out their teeth and forget about the whole money-under-the-pillow thing.

 

Here's our walkthrough video of Tooth Fairy:

 

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Finally, here’s Voodoo.

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Eh, I’m not hungry.

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I’ve always loved the atmosphere of Voodoo, and this year is no exception!

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It’s not the scariest maze but it’s just a neat one to experience.

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Aww, is the night over already? We had a blast this year and loved all the new additions! Recommending Scary Farm is always a no-brainer - it has creative, home-grown mazes and entertainment at a price that offers some of the best value-for-money in the industry. The creative team at Knott’s is clearly passionate about their work, and that passion combined with a rich history give Scary Farm character that sets it apart. We look forward to Scary Farm every year, and hope all of you reading will get the chance to check it out! Thanks Knott’s for putting on such a great event, and thanks to you for reading our report!

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Who they hung this year was seriously disappointing. Like, I almost thought it was a joke. At first, I thought there was a second celebrity waiting to be hung in the wings. Never really been a fan of Elvira either, but I know most people love her. Just not my taste.

 

Other than that, Scary Farm looks fantastic this year. Really glad they nailed Dead of Winter.

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Awesome TR! Thanks for sharing!

 

I experienced Scary Farm for the first time last year and it did NOT disappoint! It's really amazing how talented they are, and the new mazes this year just look even better with the amount of detail and effects in each one.

 

Also, I'm glad I'm not the only TPR member to walk around as a "target" for scare actors. It makes things more exciting though (as opposed to not being a target), and it's always entertaining to my friends, who notice the scare actors and wait for them to scare me.

 

I can't wait until I can make it back for Scary Farm again!

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Who they hung this year was seriously disappointing. Like, I almost thought it was a joke. At first, I thought there was a second celebrity waiting to be hung in the wings. Never really been a fan of Elvira either, but I know most people love her. Just not my taste.

 

Other than that, Scary Farm looks fantastic this year. Really glad they nailed Dead of Winter.

 

Not only was who they hung disappointing, but where were the killings?! I think only 3-4 people flipped off the stage. The whole story line was pretty weal.

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did you go on that? didn't notice it in your report?

 

We did it the night before opening night. They invited a small group of media outlets to come check it out. They didn't allow any photos or video of the experience though.

 

Honestly, I'm shocked and disappointed that they cancelled it. It wasn't offensive at all.

 

Now, as for the experience, it was okay. Worth the $10, but it didn't blow us away. I'm more disappointed about them caving in to the (IMO unfounded) complaints than I am about actually losing the attraction. It was a good attempt, and there were elements we liked, but the tech just isn't quite there yet and it would need a higher budget and some outside-the-box thinking to really turn it into a "must see" attraction.

 

Personally, I'd rather see them bring back Trapped.

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