Sad Day For Knott's Berry Farm

[DisneyFunGuy]

There is an article in the OC Register today that says Cedar Fair will not sell out and they will remain as is. In my opinion, this is NOT good news!



And the following is a part of the article I found most interesting...



Knott has said his family chose to sell the park to Cedar Fair because they believed Cedar Fair would run Knott’s Berry Farm the way the family would have. “I think the best has happened, and we can get back to the business of running a good amusement park.”


The grandson of Mr. & Mrs. Walter Knott made the comment that you see above and I couldn’t disagree with him more!! If his grandparents saw how Knott’s was being run now, they would turn over in their graves!


Ever since Cedar took over, the Park has gone down hill and lost so much of it’s charm it once had. Too many unnecessary roller coasters and the fact they got rid of Reflection Lake, The White Church, The Haunted Shack, Knott’s Bear-y Tales, Soap Box Derby and many other classics. It scares me now that Cedar Fair will remain, cuz I feel they’re only going to make this Park worse, than better!


I’m so sorry this deal did not go through. What a sad day!

[DisneyIPresume]

Who's to say that the prospective buyer (I think their name is Apollo) would have run it any better? I'm not for or against this at this point, as I have no clue what would have happened should the sale had gone through.

[sir clinksalot]

I don't think the new buyers would have ran the park any better than Cedar Fair, you can hope they would, but I doubt it.

What Knott's needs is for a "Theme Park" company to buy the park, like Herschend and return it to it's former glory.

[spunkymonkey]

There is an article in the OC Register today that says Cedar Fair will not sell out and they will remain as is. In my opinion, this is NOT good news!



And the following is a part of the article I found most interesting...



Knott has said his family chose to sell the park to Cedar Fair because they believed Cedar Fair would run Knott’s Berry Farm the way the family would have. “I think the best has happened, and we can get back to the business of running a good amusement park.”


The grandson of Mr. & Mrs. Walter Knott made the comment that you see above and I couldn’t disagree with him more!! If his grandparents saw how Knott’s was being run now, they would turn over in their graves!


Ever since Cedar took over, the Park has gone down hill and lost so much of it’s charm it once had. Too many unnecessary roller coasters and the fact they got rid of Reflection Lake, The White Church, The Haunted Shack, Knott’s Bear-y Tales, Soap Box Derby and many other classics. It scares me now that Cedar Fair will remain, cuz I feel they’re only going to make this Park worse, than better!


I’m so sorry this deal did not go through. What a sad day!

Didn't the Soap Box Derby and Beary Tales go away before Cedar fair bought it?

[MickeyMoose]

Knott's family does own some of Cedar Fair and they voted no on the vote that was called off today. So in away Knott's still owns the park some what.

[Jon Autopsy]

Didn't the Soap Box Derby and Beary Tales go away before Cedar fair bought it?

Bear-y Tales, yes; Soap Box Derby, no. Bear-y Tales made room for Kingdom of The Dinosaurs, which was put in when the family still owned the park. Soap Box Derby (and Gasoline Alley) however, cleared room for Windjammer which was a Cedar Fair plan.

[Jon Autopsy]

Knott's family does own some of Cedar Fair...

The Knott's family has no say in what goes on with Cedar Fair or how they operate Knott's.

[stitchon]

Bear-y Tales, yes; Soap Box Derby, no. Bear-y Tales made room for Kingdom of The Dinosaurs, which was put in when the family still owned the park. Soap Box Derby (and Gasoline Alley) however, cleared room for Windjammer which was a Cedar Fair plan.

False. Cedar Fair bought the park in November of 1997, the Windjammer opened in Spring of 1997.

[Jon Autopsy]

False. Cedar Fair bought the park in November of 1997, the Windjammer opened in Spring of 1997.

My mistake. Knott's sold the jelly rights just prior to everything being torn down. Which is a strange coincidence in itself.

And yes, the family does own a big chunk of Cedar Fair stock but they have no say, aside from voting, on what goes on with the Farm.

[Fishbulb]

False. Cedar Fair bought the park in November of 1997, the Windjammer opened in Spring of 1997.

OMG Windjammer. Should have been called the Hurt-O-Coaster. The yellow track gave me probably the single most painful rollercoaster injury I have ever had. But I digress.

Ok so clearly Cedar Fair knows nothing of maintaining heritage for this park. But we here at Micechat do have a voice. If this is the situation we are stuck with let's continue to let CF know we are not cool with them ripping the heart and soul out of our beloved local park.

[tamasurvivor]

OMG Windjammer. Should have been called the Hurt-O-Coaster. The yellow track gave me probably the single most painful rollercoaster injury I have ever had. But I digress.

Ok so clearly Cedar Fair knows nothing of maintaining heritage for this park. But we here at Micechat do have a voice. If this is the situation we are stuck with let's continue to let CF know we are not cool with them ripping the heart and soul out of our beloved local park.

Does this mean the Micechat Haunt meet is cancelled? If it is thats ok since I will see everyone at Gay Days weekend this year but to me Knotts is like the belly of the beast with Cedar Fair running it!

Or like my love hate relationship with going to the local casinos out here... As in, I know I am walking into the belly of the beast when I get there but I love going and have some part of me that wants to enjoy it, but at the same time the other side of me is disgusted at the fact I am spending so much money or losing a lot more than I bargained for... which is how I feel about Knotts... I love visiting the park and riding Silver Bullet and all but at the same time I feel so guilty riding Silver Bullet knowing what used to be there before it! Xcelerator is ok since anything is better than Windjammer!

On one hand I love the coasters there, I love the thrills from what they have, and I dont ever want to miss Haunt since its like the most amazing event in October

But on the other hand... I hate how they rip out everything traditional there, pave it over with cement, and just turned the park away from the standards it had when I was a kid... And I am sure its worse for others who are older than I am... I only remember the tail end of the park as I was a kid before 1997 but it was a lot different than it is now!

So Fishy, How do you suggest we go about exercising our voices? I know for myself I cant pass up visiting for Haunt this year... We drive out from Phoenix area every year for Haunt!

[DisneyFan28]

i believe the parks turn into a mini Cedar fair park...which is horrible IMO.
Knotts was good in the early 90s before the buy out

[Dutchman]

i believe the parks turn into a mini Cedar fair park...which is horrible IMO.
Knotts was good in the early 90s before the buy out

The park actually started sliding downhill when the Knotts' hired the former general manager of Magic Mountain to run the place in the mid 1980s' (right after Six Flags acquired that park). That's when the plan to remove Bud Hurlbut came into being, and as they say, the rest is history.It was this person (this has been discussed before in these forums, look it up)that started the trend of putting thrill rides in the Farm, long before Cedar Fair came on the scene.

[stitchon]

They brought back the Catawampus, what more do you people want?

[Fishbulb]

Does this mean the Micechat Haunt meet is cancelled?

Uh, Paul, what are you smoking? The MiceChat Haunt meet won't be canceled. Are you kidding? That is one of the few things from Knott's glory days that Cedar Fair hasn't drained the life blood from yet. We will be going.