Knott's Berry Farm: The Non-Haunt version

[darkfairycthulu]

Got back last night from a Disneyland/Knott's trip, having gone to Knott's in non-Scary Farm form for the first time in I'd say, 12 years. Expect the Disneyland photos and portion sometime this week..but for now, let's get into the Knott's portion!

Got there past opening to find the parking lot looking like this...



Uh oh. Looks like word got out about the unfortunate Boysenberry Pie Massacre incident...



Time for breakfast. What to get...hmmm....



The power of muffins COMPELS YOU!

And then it was on into the park....first stop was the geode/rock store...





Mark Twain disapproves of you.



The Ghost Town streets had far more "peek-in" windows still in place than I expected, all of which had the lovely "Westworld/mannequins are going to come to life and kill me" vibe going on.








I see what you did there.











Watch out for snakes!







The ever popular "leg of the fleeing lady of the night" display.





A morgue and rooms to rent?!? Count me in!

The undertaker's office interior had a pretty good Pepper's Ghost display vignette I wasn't expecting.

From this....



to this.....



Look out Zeke! There's a roller coaster sneakin' up on ya!





Antique fortune telling device, the Grandma model...let's see what she had to say...



"You will have given all your money to a giant cartoon mouse"



I miss you, Doll Factory. Come back soon!

xoxoxo, dark fairy

Next, went for a look inside the old schoolhouse, conveinently located next door to the cemetary.



What kind of school is this, and why wasn't mine the same?





For recess, the children would duct tape the skulls to their faces and go out in the cemetery to play Lord of the Flies.



















Want to go in and take a look around the Western museum? I know I do.



The calls are coming from inside the house!!





Great display of old postcards and Knott's paper goods.



For when the nights got boring on the frontier.



I don't want to talk about this one.








Walter's collection of buttons and pins. Few people know he had them all individually named and never forgot a one. Here you can see Old Shiny, Elsie, Sally Mae, Jethro, One-Legged Carl, and Sparklehorse.





Walter's saucy Victorian lady photo collection.





And out we go again, to the streets of Ghost Town, headed for the old Calico Mine...





The birds have been hitting the booze again.



A show going on inside the old Saloon...





But what's this?



Why, it's Lil Spud and his bestest buddy, the giant ear of corn!

I recall the time Lil Spud and ear of corn ambushed some cattle rustlers out in the Painted Desert. Them rustlers was out to steal the valuable load of fried pickles being brought out by stagecoach from Miss McGee's Ham Sandwich farm. Those rustlers sure did run fast when Lil Spud caught up with them. It makes me so happy just thinking about it, it's like a panda vomited a rainbow into my brain.









What happened, did the magic bus stop by? I'm freakin' out, man!

Thankfully, Knott's has on display not one, but two vintage hearses! Score!





And one even has a dead guy who sits up and stares at the tourists, with the hungry, blank stare of the restless undead!













Knott's Berry Farm: Advocating Cannibalism Since the Forties. Boysenberry pie is people!





Overall, it was good to see the park and Ghost Town looked good, was well kept up and more detailed than I get the sense of at Haunt. That being said...I never really ventured into the other areas of the park, and felt no urge to do so...and certainly the red roller coaster pylons plopped randomly behind the cemetary and around the edges of ghost town don't look good or fit in at all. I am glad I went, and am glad Ghost Town is still around, but don't feel the urge to pay to go in non-Haunt any time soon.

Thanks for reading folks, and hope you enjoyed this report...if so, my name is Fairy Cthulhu and this has been a Knott's trip report. If not, I'm Charlene and this has been It's A Small World.

This has been a recording.

[OldSchoolMickey]

Awesome report!

You captured some of our favorite Ghost Town scenes!

I'm still looking for the hidden Mickey on that muffin. LOL There's gotta be one there somewhere!

Thanks!

[tamasurvivor]

aww.... its nice to see they kept a lot of the ghost town as is... It did not look too packed in the park... were you just there in the morning or was it seeming to pick up... I know they advertised the discounted admission the other day but anyhow I am going to be taking a Knotts trip myself on the 24th of this month either crowded or not [the key is getting there first thing in the morning and rushing to Ghostrider, then Xcelerator in the back of the park to get the big rides out of the way before it gets packed in]! Whether its crowded or not though, it should be fun either way! Great pictures, and yes we always have to walk through the Ghost Town area looking at all the older stuff since its not a trip to Knotts without going through Ghost Town... awesome pictures!

On a side note I just hope Cedar fair doesnt touch the ghost town... thats the prime section of the park... they can build steel all over the rest of the park but touching those classic buildings in Ghost town is asking for trouble!

[darkfairycthulu]

Originally Posted by tamasurvivor

aww.... its nice to see they kept a lot of the ghost town as is... It did not look too packed in the park... were you just there in the morning or was it seeming to pick up... I know they advertised the discounted admission the other day but anyhow I am going to be taking a Knotts trip myself on the 24th of this month either crowded or not [the key is getting there first thing in the morning and rushing to Ghostrider, then Xcelerator in the back of the park to get the big rides out of the way before it gets packed in]! Whether its crowded or not though, it should be fun either way! Great pictures, and yes we always have to walk through the Ghost Town area looking at all the older stuff since its not a trip to Knotts without going through Ghost Town... awesome pictures!

On a side note I just hope Cedar fair doesnt touch the ghost town... thats the prime section of the park... they can build steel all over the rest of the park but touching those classic buildings in Ghost town is asking for trouble!

At the end when leaving, it seemed to be picking up slightly, but Ghost Town was pretty much empty, just people walking through and such....it didn't seem very crowded overall, though it's likely the coasters had more crowds then where I was. Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[JesterMn]

You captured a terrific level of detail and theming that many nay-sayers here claim Knott's doesn't have. A few new details for me, even, and I thought I knew many of them!

Shame you didn't head out for the rest of the park, or seemingly the Log Ride at least? And while it's not real scenic, you can still ring the bell to the "Private Club" (though it doesn't have the same effect, admittedly) just across from the bumper cars. Camp Snoopy still has it's charms, as well.

BTW, I don't think that was the school house you were in. That's where they relocated the Nature Center. The schoolhouse is near the birdcage theater, near the entrance to Big Foot Rapids, Mystery Lodge, and the Barn where Doll Factory is located.

[darkfairycthulu]

Originally Posted by JesterMn

You captured a terrific level of detail and theming that many nay-sayers here claim Knott's doesn't have. A few new details for me, even, and I thought I knew many of them!

Shame you didn't head out for the rest of the park, or seemingly the Log Ride at least? And while it's not real scenic, you can still ring the bell to the "Private Club" (though it doesn't have the same effect, admittedly) just across from the bumper cars. Camp Snoopy still has it's charms, as well.

BTW, I don't think that was the school house you were in. That's where they relocated the Nature Center too. The schoolhouse is near the birdcage theater, near the entrance to Big Foot Rapids, Mystery Lodge, and the Barn where Doll Factory is located.

The Log Ride was actually closed, it was on the to-do list as well heh. And my bad about the schoolhouse bit..the lady was confused inside then I think, as she said when we went in something about it being the schoolhouse...she must have been new. Oh well. And yes, the overall level of theming was very good in that area.

[tamasurvivor]

Yeah thats going to be the one bummer on my trip... Sadly no log ride when we go since it doesnt open until after January 25th according to Knotts website... our trip is the 24th but after doing haunt for the first time and the scary version of the log ride I cant imagine the log ride anymore without having crazy things jumping out at you or trying to grab you in the log.

normal log ride just doesnt feel the same anymore but the saw sounds and the theme inside the mountain make it better than most other log rides [and the christmas decorations they do for the log ride during the holiday time are really nice and probably why its closed until the end of this month]

But the mine train and stagecoach should be open and hopefully the steam train... along with all the big coasters... yay for that! And obviously funnel cakes and boysenberry punch ftw!

Please tell me you got on the big steam train and got robbed... thats always the best part when the train robbers get on and rob everyone on the train... its all in good fun... my sister played along a few times and even once gave the train robbers a penny and said "this is for a new house... enjoy"... I was cracking up so hard and then they assumed I was her boyfriend and I said "no thats my sister" and then they cracked some joke about it... all in good fun!

[Kritter]

wait... Knott's has the park open when Haunt ISN'T running?


weird.

[tamasurvivor]

Originally Posted by Kritter

wait... Knott's has the park open when Haunt ISN'T running?


weird.

Well its obviously open the rest of the year.... LOL! The spirits from the grave only come out 5 nights a week in October [but you also obviously know that... so it was a good joke... I LOL'ed so hard!]

With Haunt you kinda have to go for the mazes and scare zones... at least thats what we stuck to when we went [unless any rides were walk ons which in the case of silver bullet at opening and Bigfoot rapids]... Plus at Knotts they have Xcelerator, Silver Bullet, Ghostrider, Boomerang, Montezoomas revenge, Jaguar and I have yet to do Sierra Sidewinder and Pony Express since we didnt do them at Haunt. This time I hope we are able to do every coaster and hit the classic stuff in Ghost Town along with it [oh and a visit isnt complete without riding Riptide provided they have the fountains going to get you all soaked]

But I will do everything in the park except for the Screamin Swing [since I refuse to pay $5.00 extra for the "privilige" of riding it] and Supreme Scream, yet I have a feeling my one friend we are meeting again when we get to Cali this time is going to make us do Supreme Scream since its her favorite ride [Supreme Scream is way too extreme for me IMO but I already see myself getting dragged on it]

Well if you are free on Saturday the 24th, you are welcome to join my sister and I and a few of our friends from Cali and we will all show you what non-Haunt Knotts is like [and its like only 22.99 with canned donation]... LOL! We will be making sure to try and hit up all the coasters and thrill rides more than likely and then balancing it out with all the classic stuff in Ghost Town, Including Mrs. Knotts for lunch and of course we all have to go get robbed on the steam train at least once... [as soon as we mentioned including Knotts on this trip to our friend Denise she was like "Danielle omg do you remember when we went to Knotts years ago together and played along with the people robbing the steam train"... LOL... And this is going to be the first time we have been there with her in about 7 years [The last few times were just us]! And of course she will also be joining us this time for Haunt too later this year... She was kinda bummed we didnt message her before our last haunt trip because she would have joined us but she joined us for DL and DCA one of the days we were there!

[whitealexander]

wow cool.. but its still make my hair raise when i see that place.. and all those mannequins..

[tamasurvivor]

Originally Posted by darkfairycthulu

Uh oh. Looks like word got out about the unfortunate Boysenberry Pie Massacre incident...



Time for breakfast. What to get...hmmm....



The power of muffins COMPELS YOU!

I also see you hit the bakery outside by Mrs. Knotts... Good stuff in there because on our Haunt trip before park opening we were so tempted to walk in for a quick snack before waiting for everything to clear out and open... I told myself on my next visit I would stop in and grab something... And do you know if those turnovers in the bottom of the picture happened to be Boysenberry filled? I have a feeling at least some of them have to be

[sir clinksalot]

Wow, thanks for the trip through Ghost Town.

[darkfairycthulu]

Originally Posted by tamasurvivor

And do you know if those turnovers in the bottom of the picture happened to be Boysenberry filled? I have a feeling at least some of them have to be

The answer to that is a resounding yes, there was definitely boysenberry involved.

[darkfairycthulu]

Originally Posted by sir clinksalot

Wow, thanks for the trip through Ghost Town.

My pleasure indeed, and hope you enjoyed.

[darkfairycthulu]

Originally Posted by Kritter

wait... Knott's has the park open when Haunt ISN'T running?


weird.

Heh, I know...bends your mind a little doesn't it?