Knott's Scary Farm 2019 Announcement Event!

Last night TPR attended the Knott's Scary Farm 2019 Announcement Event where we learned everything that's in store for Scary Farm 2019! They announced so much! Here are the highlights:

 

NEW MAZES:

- Wax Works

- Origins: The Curse of Calico

 

NEW SHOW:

- Puppet Up! Uncensored

 

RETURNING MAZES:

- The Depths (There's a new elevator show scene.)

- Shadowlands (This will be the last year for Shadowlands.)

- Dark Entities

- Dark Ride (A surveillance room and a gift shop exit scene will be added this year.)

- Pumpkin Eater

- Paranormal Inc.

- Special Ops: Infected (This will be the last year for Special Ops. A convenience store scene and a meatpacking warehouse scene will be added this year.)

 

RETURNING SHOWS:

- The Hanging

- Conjurers: Magic and Mirth

- "Awaken the Dead" dance party

- "Halloween Hootenanny" ride overlay for Timber Mountain Log Ride

 

SCARE ZONES:

- Ghost Town Streets

- Carnevil

- Forsaken Lake (Larger footprint this year)

- The Hollow

 

NEW PINS:

- There are special pins to commemorate the mazes that are retiring this year.

 

ART SHOW:

- "Into the Fog" art show featuring Scary Farm themed art.

 

SCARY FARM SEASON PASS:

- $100 + tax/fees.

- $90 + tax/fees if you have an annual pass.

(Prices valid through Sept. 15 or while supplies last)

 

For all the photos and more details, check out our full report below! And be sure to leave a comment with what you're most excited about for Scary Farm 2019! On with the report...

We're at Knott's Berry Farm to find out all the details for Knott's Scary Farm 2019!

Scary Farm fans who were lucky enough to get a ticket began filling the theater.

The always-hilarious Jeff Tucker came on stage and welcomed everyone to the event! He quickly ran through the returning mazes and shows (posted above) before getting to what's new for 2019!

New for 2019: Wax Works!

Knott's even did performances for each of the announcements! Wax Works will be based in an abandoned wax museum where former plastic surgeon, Dr. Augustus Scratch, will show off his life-like creations. Perhaps they're a little too lifelike...

Puppetteers from the Jim Henson Company will bring to life the all-new show, "Puppet Up! Uncensored" in the Charles M. Schulz Theatre.

Puppeteers will mix puppetry and improv comedy on-stage while screens on either side of the stage will show the hilarious results!

This audience-suggestion driven show should be neat! It's like "Whose Line is it Anyway?" meets "Sesame Street," with a little bit of mature humor thrown in for good measure!

The final new maze announcement is Origins: The Curse of Calico!

We love that this maze ties in to the Ghost Town history of the park! After Sarah Marshall is found guilty of witchcraft she's brought to the gallows, but just before she's hung she casts a spell that puts a curse on the whole town!

This maze keeps the character of the Green Witch alive, and there will be a new flying effect in the maze that they promised will blow people away!

The show is over, so now it's time to party!

They had tons of yummy food.

And creepy desserts!

Check out this cake! Can you believe that's a cake?

Knott's always has a cool ice-sculpture too! It's tradition!

We got a preview of some of the 2019 merchandise!

Here's the "Wax Works" shirt.

A shirt for the new "Origins" maze.

Or maybe cockroaches are more your thing?

Pumpkin purses for the ladies! (Or men, we don't judge!)

We also got a preview of the "Into the Fog" art show!

There are lots of neat pieces. The originals and prints will be for sale at the event!

How cool is this Hanging diorama?

Knott's Scary Farm 2019 promises to be an amazing event! An impressive roster of returning favorites joins two new mazes (Wax Works and Origins: The Curse of Calico) and a new show (Puppet Up! Uncensored). As usual, it's looking like Scary Farm 2019 will be a "can't miss" event! Thanks to Knott's for inviting us to this announcement event, and thanks to you for checking out our report! Scary Farm runs select nights from Sept. 19 - Nov. 2. What are you most excited for?

The two new haunts look like they're going to be a lot of fun. Origins is taking over The Red Barn, I believe. Wax Works must be going into Trick Or Treat's building.

 

I love that they're adding an elevator to The Depths so you'll "actually" go into a deep mine rather than just sauntering into a random mine in a parking lot like last year, haha. It'll also act a a nice way to separate the groups, hopefully that will translate to no backups halfway through. I recall being stuck in the laser fog room nearly every time and then moving super slow through the rest.

 

Super excited to see Paranormal Inc, Dark Entities, and Dark Ride are back again! Dark Entities suffered last year due to location, I would say. For some stupid reason Knott's decided to put the start of the queue, as well as the main friggin sign, back and around the corner from The Depths and Paranormal's entrances, so I know a ton of people just weren't aware it existed. Damn shame, because it was my second favorite haunt last year. It's very long and has some great effects, the only complaint I had was that it needed more actors in it as there were a few long hallways with nothing. Dark Ride is always great, can't wait to see the new scenes! Paranormal was rumored to get the Lights Out treatment this year, looks like that never happened. No worries, though, because Paranormal has been the top haunt for the event since it premiered!

 

Pumpkin Eater's return was expected, but I really don't care about this haunt. Yes, it's long and mostly outdoors. Yes, I'll go through it a few times. Yes, it has good atmosphere in a few scenes. However, there is a woeful lack of actors for how massive a haunt it is and it is very easy to get turned around or end up backstage in certain scenes. Knott's, please, let this one die next season.

 

Shadowlands' exit is kinda sad. It was a very unique haunt and I enjoy it a lot. The building that houses it usually has some of the best gags of the event, so I'm very excited to see how they theme it next year.

 

Special Ops should have been cancelled after the second year. The first year when they used the entirety of Camp Snoopy was MIND BLOWING! I know the reservation system was absolute crap and led to countless headaches, I get it, I know why they had to make the severe changes. However, in doing so they neutered the experience in the second year. It went from being a fully immersive, high-energy experience to being kinda-sorta immersive, slow and boring. Then they really jumped the shark when it morphed into the current version behind Mystery Lodge. Ugh, it's awful. TAER IT DOWN and burn what's left.

 

Puppet Up! could be a good time. I'm glad that it's improv because if they're relying on the writers from last year's abysmal "The Hanging" then we'd be in serious trouble. Speaking of which, I hope so so so so much they got all new writers for this year's The Hanging. What the hell happened last year, Knott's?!

 

Overall, I'm very excited for this event, like I always am, and I can't wait to visit a few times!

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I love that they're adding an elevator to The Depths so you'll "actually" go into a deep mine rather than just sauntering into a random mine in a parking lot like last year, haha. It'll also act a a nice way to separate the groups, hopefully that will translate to no backups halfway through. I recall being stuck in the laser fog room nearly every time and then moving super slow through the rest.

 

Super excited to see Paranormal Inc, Dark Entities, and Dark Ride are back again! Dark Entities suffered last year due to location, I would say. For some stupid reason Knott's decided to put the start of the queue, as well as the main friggin sign, back and around the corner from The Depths and Paranormal's entrances, so I know a ton of people just weren't aware it existed. Damn shame, because it was my second favorite haunt last year. It's very long and has some great effects, the only complaint I had was that it needed more actors in it as there were a few long hallways with nothing.

...

The Elevator scene was actually supposed to be in The Depths last year however it was never finished. It's after you enter the maze so you'll still be entering the mine from a parking lot however going 'deeper' into the mine will make more sense now. I'm glad they're actually finishing it for this year as it will space out groups and give it more of a story.

 

I totally agree about Dark Entities, however once again a lot of the extra effects that were supposed to be in the maze last year never got finished. Ex: All of the 'handprint scanners' were supposed to trigger different things throughout the maze. it sounds like this year they will be finishing that up as well.

 

 

Overall I really like and appreciate Scary Farm. It's incredible to me that almost everything is done in house and isn't vendored out like Horror Nights is. I'm a bit biased because I did help build it last year, however I really do think Scary Farm is the best 'big' event in SoCal. While the mazes might not enjoy the huge budgets of Universal I enjoy all of the original stories and lack of black walls. Perhaps I'm in the minority, but again I just feel like with all of the scare zones that encompass the park (especially Calico which is amazing) and the whole park being decorated/lit for Halloween, Knott's is such a cohesive event that totally envelopes you in the experience.

Puppet Up > Elvira

 

Super excited for that. And Origins sounds awesome! It will be another Jon Cooke maze (he still consults with Knotts even though he is now own his own with his own production company).

Way excited for this year. Like Kyle said, it was a little let down last year, but I am already planning a trip to the farm in about a month.

only 2 new mazes?

only 2 new mazes?

 

I believe thats been the norm for a long time now.