My Knott's Haunt Review 9-22-12

[madmonkeygirl]

I agree. That's why we are fitting two more trips into Haunt this year as opposed to only one more (Halloween night).

[spankyourstank]

---------- Post added 09-26-2012 at 01:30 PM ----------

Sportdavid, I'm glad you asked about dissatisfaction with The Hanging. I did like it overall, but three years ago there was a funny bit with the Fantasmic dragon not working, and two years ago there was my favorite bit (out of four shows I've now seen in different years) where they parodied DCA's World of Color with garden sprinklers. They sang that Fantasmic was much better, so it was good natured. This year I wanted a Luigi's Tire drive by.

Missed opportunities: I liked Techskip's suggestions of lampooning the occupy movement & Prince Harry in Vegas. they could have added William's wife, Lance Armstrong, and Rick Perry forgetting his third point (which could have killed him) and the new North Korean leader. And how about making fun of this summer's early music selections in Knott's own Ghost Town and then killing Raffi himself. At least for the show that 200 micechatters were attending. And would it kill CEO Matt O. to appear in one show and be "killed" while he is introducing himself?

Last year was my favorite show overall.

This year the writers seemed to be dumbing it down and they seemed less ambitious. (I enjoy raunchy humor, btw.) For example, the Avengers show up (bad costumes, no green Hulk) and they fight, but there were no funny jokes here that I remember. And then there is a medley of the years hits lip synched by actors pretending to be the artists and (predictably and unimaginatively) getting executed. Booooorrrrrrring. It seemed like they felt like they had to do this, and that no one in the cast doing this actually found it amusing. I didn't.

I liked just about everything else in the show, so I still give it an enthusiastic thumbs up, but I'm concerned that it's not as fresh as it used to be.

I thought the best stunt man last year was that shorter guy who appeared regularly in the cowboy stunt shows. I'd guess he's moved in to higher falls and more incendiary explosions.

are you talking about the guy who played the Lawman regularly every year? If you are, he actually broke his hand doing outside work do they needed to fill his spot. Was that the guy you were talking about?

[darkamor]

"Fangs" for the update .... I will go going October 4th when ELVIRA makes her only appearance (a shame they didn't give her the Theatre) - nobody go to Ed Alonzo's Psycho Fun House Show? Its been the most consistent live show @ Knotts since Elvira's contract wasn't renewed. I get the impression I'll be better off seeing his show only vs. trying to squeeze in The Hanging (a shame, as The Hanging while consistently funny? has been dumb down by the lack of grand guignol it used to have). Did anyone ride the Calico Mine Ride? (was it themed?). What about the other Live Entertainment (Gypsy Camp? Torture King?). I'm guessing if you decide to do Trapped with a group it does take up a chunk of your time @ Knott's ...

I <3 the Boo-fet, I wonder what Knott's reasons were for no longer including those fantastic cups? (a refill of boysenberry punch always hit the spot while walking through Knott's). Judging from the reviews of the Mazes, I know which ones to avoid (those which have been @ Knott's for too long & need to be replaced by something new). I would <3 to get my hands on a trick-or-treat bag, however since these are limited edition, you know they're going to end up on eBay @ inflated prices (rolls eyes) ....

Not being allowed to take pictures, or shoot video, doesn't seem fun (unless Knott's is attempting to keep footage from being posted online until 1/3 of the way through Knott's Scary Farm's run?) as I <3 to document my theme park fun (I hope they change their minds). I'm curious if most feel bringing back the Green Witch was worth it .... should Knott's look further into it's past .... or come up with a new Character (or Characters) to MC the event? At least the dark foggy Ghost Town has returned (& that's the way it should be during the Halloween Haunt) ...


C J


when you go to Knotts, don't forget to eat the funnel cake -

[jcruise86]

. . . I'm curious if most feel bringing back the Green Witch was worth it .... should Knott's look further into it's past .... or come up with a new Character (or Characters) to MC the event? At least the dark foggy Ghost Town has returned (& that's the way it should be during the Halloween Haunt) ...

Knott's looking even further into its past? Unless the Knott's family is no longer a consideration (or if they have a sense of humor), conservative ol' Walter Knott could be furious that his church has been removed from his park and that they even played 80s music in his Ghost Town last year. Walther Knott wants revenge upon every guest who may have visited the perversion of his dream, and if they want evil, they'll get evil! This religious theme park pioneer wants to literally scare the hell out of people so they'll turn to the good side.

Disney has their Walt & on T-shirts and on orange caps. Maybe Knott's could top this!

Or get a great Wolfman Jack imitator (Good luck finding anyone who can do that voice two two nights in a row!) to play his ghost and maybe have an Elvira impersonator too. ("Technically, I'm not dead yet. Just mostly artificial.")

***

And Spankyourtank (Is that name on your diplomas---just curious?), the great stunt man I'm referring to was probably about 5 foot seven, he may have been half Latino or--who knows. Good luck guessing my national origin. In the western stunt shows in 2011 he was the shortest of the stuntmen and could do flips well. He was put in charge of two other western soldiers who weren't eager to follow his orders. Wacky hijinks ensued.

[sir clinksalot]

darkamor, Mine Train is NOT themed. In fact, they do the same spiel they always do. Took me totally out of "Haunt" when we rode.

[madmonkeygirl]

Well I didn't even think but I've in the past filmed while walking thru Ghost Town later in the evening. That's the only time I've ever filmed anything. Ya funny because at Universal we went on media night and were able to ale pictures (no flash) in the mazes as well as employee preview night it seemed quite a few were actually taking video of the mazes which ruins it for those behind them.

Gregg I just don't get that it is a big year the 40th yet theydid NOT do anything with the mine train nor have souvineer cups which quite a few voiced their opinions on. It wouldn't hurt Knott's to keep the cups. After all they were selling quite a few of the regular ones.

The Trick or Treat bags are cute and definitely worth the price. I'm glad I got one. Let's see how well they do because I did NOT see awhole bunch being sold the other night.

[sir clinksalot]

^ Yeah, I didn't see a whole lot of the Trick or Treat bags other than our group either.

I'm torn on the Mine Train. Every year people complain that the Mine Train is lame, because it usually is. But I guess you never realize what you have until it's gone.

[madmonkeygirl]

I agree Gregg. I'd give anything to either have Curse of the Spiderwoods back or the Unleashed one on the mine train. As lame as those were at least it was something. To not have anything at all is just I feel like something is missing from Haunt. Don't get me wrong at least the log ride is themed and we had a great ride on it on Saturday. I liked it more than prior years (ducks and covers).

[jcruise86]

I agree Gregg. I'd give anything to either have Curse of the Spiderwoods back or the Unleashed one on the mine train. As lame as those were at least it was something. To not have anything at all is just I feel like something is missing from Haunt. . . (ducks and covers).

I think it was so weak last year (I went on one of the first nights) that it would have been better to have not opened it.

It would cost A LOT in rails and in floors over the tracks, but if Knott's had a million $, a very long hike-through maze on the mine tracks could be extraordinary.

OK, now back to reality.

[sir clinksalot]

The rumors are that the Mine Train and Log Ride are going to get very extensive rehabs that will include provisions for installing Haunt Overlays. If this is true it could come back better than ever.

[madmonkeygirl]

I really hope that is true. It's not a visit to Haunt without both the Mine Ride and Log Ride overlays. I did NOT like last Year's Mine Ride. It was stupid army men with guns doing nothing more than yelling and shooting. To me it would have been better if they hadn't even had the Mine Ride period. I would LOVE LOVE to have a hike/maze or something in the Mine Ride for Haunt. Imagine how long that would take ha ha one can dream.

This year is the BIG 40 yet that's what was lacking if you ask me. For a milestone year it's almost like everything else is on par except for that. Here's hoping the 50th they pull out all the stops and not go half *** like they did this year on the Log Ride and nothing for the Mine Ride.

[aashee]

Seeing it's their big 40th anniversary and it was the Mine Ride and Log Ride that were the first Halloween themed attractions....having nothing for the Mine Ride and a bad overlay for the Log Ride was really bad form.

[RegionsBeyond]

People saying there's no photography/video allowed: official policy is now that monsters won't pose with guests for photos per Knotts, but is it more than hearsay that none allowed at all in general? No other sources been saying that and been photos taken by other websites and instagram users, for instance and posted.

So wondering if this is in fact being reported rather 'muddled' or they're literally asking guests to not take any photos just out on the street (not just flash photos in mazes and things like that). As that would make customers rather unhappy.

[addiction41999]

I actually went to Knotts Halloween Haunt on Friday (sorry couldn't go to the micechat meet up), and Universal Halloween Horror Nights on Saturday for my birthday. I have to say, in direct comparison, Knotts blows Universal out of the water for Halloween scares.

Knotts was a lot of fun with plenty of scares and an overall ambiance of "you could be frightened at any time" at all times. The Hanging wasn't very good this year (I've gone every year for the last 10-15 years), but the Midnight Green Witch hanging was moody and extraordinary. Made me feel like that's what the hanging should be all the time. Zamora the torture king show was wonderful, the Zombie drumming show was fun entertainment, and the mazes were all filled with actors and plenty of scares.

Universal on the other hand was pretty underwhelming. There were plenty of "Scare Zones", but walking out of these zones took me out of the scaring mood very quickly. It just seems like universal is just too spread out to keep the scare level up in all areas. The Bill and Ted show was much better than the hanging [my wifey really enjoyed it ], but I really think they need better characters than Bill and Ted....just seems a little outdated to me. I have to say though that as far as set designs go, it's really hard to top a movie studio. The walking dead mazes were amazing and the Tram Ride was fun, there just didn't seem to be as much scare in them as there was in Knotts. For overall scare and atmosphere...I will definitely be returning to Knotts next year and pass up Universal.

Love the review by the way and I hope more people continue to put up their reviews and trip reports as they go. Absolutely love them!

[madmonkeygirl]

I wish I had pictures to go with my trip report but we were told with the Mice Chat backstage tour of two mazes no pictures (unlike last year when we were allowed to). A friend of ours is a monster actually the Ghost Town Sherrif and met hi on Saturday night. We are going back and getting our picture taken with him. This is his last year doing it after 13 years . I can see no pictures especially flash in the mazes and walking around. I did take a few non flash pictures but was so dark. I used to film video as I would walk in every year. Also when we go back I'm thinking of videoing Ghost Town with the fog and darkness.

Universal on preview not as well as media night was very upsetting because the media and employees were encouraged to film and take pictures inside the mazes which if you are behind them draw your attention away from the maze.

I know the mazes have rules posted outside them including NO flash pictures and video. However nothing about no flash pictures. It is interesting that at Universal it's rather easy to photograph monsters in scare zones and the chainsaw chase out. I am heading back on Saturday and plan on getting what I missed.