Knott's boss banks on Halloween Haunt to shore up sagging attendance (The Orange Coun

[PumpkinKing!]

..."The award, a Golden Ticket, recognizes the theme park's annual "Halloween Haunt" as the country's best Halloween event at a theme park. It's the first Golden Ticket given by trade magazine Amusement Today for a Halloween event.

That honor belongs to every monster, maze creator and boysenberry pie maker at the park, but it was earned for performance in the Falfas era. Now it's up to Picon to match that level of excellence.

The 33rd annual Halloween Haunt opens Thursday, with a 25-night run through Oct. 31. It's the park's biggest moneymaker of the year.

"It's our turn to pull the load," Picon said of Knott's, which is open year-round. Most Cedar Fair parks are open only for an extended summer season."

(Full article here)

http://www.hotel-online.com/News/200...127838472.html

[lyd]

They want to bring the attendance back up? How about not turning the park into an extreme park like Magic Mountain or Cedar Fairs and start putting back some family style rides.

[Lore]

I just went to Halloween Haunt for the first time in years. I was shocked at the lack of theme caused by the giant and dull coasters everywhere. I'm a great fan of coasters, but the ones they've put in are just dull, horribly themed, and destroy the look of the park. Just look at the picture on the Knott's home page, horrid. It's neither a park, nor is it themed anymore. It looks like someone puked up their spaghetti.

[PumpkinKing!]

Yeah try working underneath two of them for 8 hrs a nite... YIKES
How did you like Haunt though?

[Professortango]

Yeah, I would like the coasters moved OUT of the park by some miracle. Some of the smaller ones such as Montezuma and boomerang could be saved with some nice theming, but Silver Bullet destorys the feeling of a ghost town. (it also isnt even silver!). If you look at knott's property, they have tons of room where offices now stand as well as several parking lots surrounding the park. If they consoledated these parking spaces into a few structures and somehow made a "coaster island," I would be much happier. All the "routy" teens would be centralized away from the families, and they could create something more exciting than Disney yet more themed than Six Flags. I would love to see some exciting and dark themed dark rides. Bring back the roaring 20's section, expand into the offices. This park could steal a bunch of business if managed properly.