The Knott's Berry Farm (KBF) Discussion Thread

Looks like this is going to be the strongest haunt in a few years, good thing we were already planning on making multiple trips including on Halloween.

Gunslingers Grave sounds like my kind of maze, been waiting for an awesome Ghost Town/Old West maze. I'm assuming this will be where Fallout Shelter was? Maybe a new location in the middle of Ghost Town?

Academy of Villains was really great on AGT last year and I can remember my daughter and I saying they'd be great for Haunt.

The Houdini maze also sounds pretty promising.

This makes me very excited for HAUNT O'13! So happy to hear that Elvira will be back. I loved her show the last time it appeared. Hot wet chicks in thongs! My kinda show!

I have mixed feelings about this lineup...

I think they will make for great mazes, but at the same time I also feel like Knott's is trying too hard to be like HHN and drifting away from what they are best at: being "old fashioned" haunts. Having worked there from 2003-2008, I felt like the strength of Knott's is the talent having freedom to do almost anything with their characters. For example, I was a clown and in the Asylum...which meant I could be scary, fun, crazy, chase people through the maze because I fit in any room, and so on. Now all these mazes are more story based, so that flexibility goes away.

However, major props for Knott's for announcing everything so early and letting the hype build already!

Knott's put on a really great event in there. I think this will be Haunt's best year yet, judging by the line-up. It's great to see all of the lackluster mazes go by the wayside to make room for new ones that all sound like they'll be great.

I noticed that this year will feature two "firsts" for Knott's for the first time in MANY years. 1) There's no 3D mazes, which I find refreshing. They were getting tiring and it's good to see them go from 2 1/2 to zero. 2) This is the first time I've seen Knott's run a maze for only one year (Dominion, but I'm not counting Trapped). I'm really excited for this year and am glad to see Haunt become awesome again.

BTW, it was nice to see you both last night, David and Spears.

@Jew: The thing is, being "old-fashioned" with HHN rapidly gaining popularity would knott (Hehe) make them appealing for the GP or even the haunt fans. I appreciate the fact that they are going more towards a darker and aggressive approach which I feel they should move towards. My first year for Haunt was 2009 and since I've attended (Post-40th), I've noticed the monsters not caring for their roles and not getting into them. Unfortunately, I feel like this is a necessary evil since the monsters I have encountered (Especially from 2011) have abused their freedom to just be lazy and break character; there were a few good ones, but most of the monsters I have encountered just didn't care. Though others may disagree, I welcome this direction.

^I think the not caring is a byproduct of everyone having to "act" instead of being able to go out there and have fun. It's already tough to find so many people willing to do those hours under those working conditions (it's definitely NOT an easy job) for minimum wage, and now Knott's is trying to make their jobs even less interesting.

There was a time it was a requirement you had to work 5 years in a maze before even being considered for streets. Now it's all audition based, so the talent and passion of the monsters seems to vary a lot more.

My personal opinion is they should keep the freedom while also keep increasing the set detail, but that's just me. The things we did back in my time (my favorite: turning an electric wheelchair into a Scion by covering it in cardboard boxes and driving it around harassing/scaring guests on Scion night) have no place at Knott's now.

David, at Knotts the monsters are called Monsters, or talent, not scare actors thats an HHN term.

^ Apologies! I thought it was an industry-wide term. Thanks for the heads up! I just went back and fixed the report.

David, at Knotts the monsters are called Monsters, or talent, not scare actors thats an HHN term.

^

HOLY Crap. . Elvira is ageless.

I met her in Atlanta (at Dragon*con) over 15 years ago, and she looks EXACTLY the same.

simply gorgeous.

HOLY Crap. . Elvira' boobs are ageless.

 

I met her in Atlanta (at Dragon*con) over 15 years ago, and her boobs look EXACTLY the same.

 

Simply Ginormous!

FIXED!

Guy "The miracles of plastic surgery!" Koepp

Knott's must be pumping magic ageless juice into their celebrities because Ed Alonzo didn't ever age either.

Perhaps they're HAUNTed! And not of this earth.

Nothing stops the Mistress of the Dark.

Looks like it'll be a fun year for Knott's. I can't believe how great Elvira looks after all these years!

I enjoyed going to the preview event to find out all the mazes lined up for this year. I guess I'm still just trying to figure out all of the locations, this is what I've come up with.

Slaughterhouse - Camp Snoopy

Trick-or-Treat, Endgames, Dominion, and Delirium - Gypsy Camp

Gunslinger (previously Fallout Shelter) - Silver Bullet Lake

Pinocchio - Dance Hall

Forevermore (previously Terror of London) - Mystery Lodge

Black Magic (previously Uncle Bobo) - Xcelerator

So that leaves Mirror Mirror and Trapped left. We know Dia de los Muertos is not returning, and now I keep hearing mixed opinions on whether Virus Z is coming back. At first I assumed Mirror Mirror would go in the bumper cars, but a Scary Farm Facebook update said it would be placed in Necropolis. And I've heard that Trapped will not be in the Lazer Zone this year. It will be very interesting to see where exactly all the mazes will be placed, I'm really excited for Haunt now!

Trapped is listed as being the Boardwalk Ballroom on their website. I would guess that Mirror Mirror will be in the Peanuts Playhouse.

Quick question from someone from out of state who will be attending KSF for the first time. We will likely be staying at the Radisson on Beach, which I understand is an easy walk to the park during the day. I'm wondering if it would be a safe walk back to the hotel in the middle of the night after the haunt, thanks.

Quick question from someone from out of state who will be attending KSF for the first time. We will likely be staying at the Radisson on Beach, which I understand is an easy walk to the park during the day. I'm wondering if it would be a safe walk back to the hotel in the middle of the night after the haunt, thanks.

The area immediately around Knott's on Beach Blvd. has always appeared to be perfectly safe to me. The family and I have walked a block or 2 to our hotel after Haunt on a few different occasions and I have never felt like we were in any danger.

^This.

There will be a lot of people on the streets at that time, (especially after the park closes) so it will be safe for a walk back to the Radisson. Plus keep in mind most of the people in the surrounding hotels at that time will most likely being staying there while visiting Haunt as well.

It gets sketchier the further south down Beach you go...but between the 5 and KBF, it's fine.

Quick question from someone from out of state who will be attending KSF for the first time. We will likely be staying at the Radisson on Beach, which I understand is an easy walk to the park during the day. I'm wondering if it would be a safe walk back to the hotel in the middle of the night after the haunt, thanks.

You should be fine!

Quick question from someone from out of state who will be attending KSF for the first time. We will likely be staying at the Radisson on Beach, which I understand is an easy walk to the park during the day. I'm wondering if it would be a safe walk back to the hotel in the middle of the night after the haunt, thanks.

You'll be fine. Streets will be busy after Haunt and there should be plenty of security/police present.

Just a quick update on what's happening in the park. Xcelerator is now running two trains so expect more manageable wait times if you visit the park soon. Also, I spotted the Windseeker Evac system inside the ride area today so hopefully that's a sign that they're actually trying to do something.

Just a quick update on what's happening in the park. Xcelerator is now running two trains so expect more manageable wait times if you visit the park soon. Also, I spotted the Windseeker Evac system inside the ride area today so hopefully that's a sign that they're actually trying to do something.

Very nice to hear, I'm heading to Knott's this week, and many rides on Xcel would be wonderful!