BUENA PARK, CA (February 2015) – This spring, celebrate Knott’s delicious roots during its Boysenberry Festival harvested in the theme park’s historic Ghost Town. The 16-day festival returns with an unforgettable lineup of exquisite Boysenberry Bites, dazzling entertainment, gourmet food and the Wine and Craft Brew Tasting Garden, plus the limited time return of the classic Bear-y Tales characters in a pie making kitchen, and more! 

In the 1930s Walter Knott harvested the boysenberry, a cross between a loganberry, red raspberry and blackberry, and named the new berry after its originator Rudolph Boysen.  Today, all boysenberries in the world can trace their roots back to Knott’s Berry Farm. The Park will once again make delicious history with the debut of its very own farm-made Berry Market™ Boysenberry BBQ Sauce during the widely acclaimed Boysenberry Festival. During the food fest, the tangy, finger lickin’ good sauce will add the perfect flavor to ribs, BBQ chicken, chicken wings, and more. Other must try Boysenberry Bites include fried cheese curds paired with a spicy boysenberry dipping sauce, fish and chips sandwich with boysenberry tartar sauce, Boysenberry ICEE Floats, Boysenberry Frappuccino and Latte (served at the new Gourmet Coffee Hut which proudly serves Starbucks drinks), and more charbroiled treats cooked on open-air barbeques throughout the streets of the festival. Additional fee for tastings. Guests who want to take home the exquisite sauce can do so by stopping by the Berry Market, General Store in Ghost Town or by visiting knotts.com.

In honor of the delectable berry, guests can wine, dine, dance, and buy boysenberry inspired products throughout the winding streets of the Old West.  Festival entrances will feature rustic banners and oversized boysenberries, just ripe for taking that special photo. 

Eat Your Way Through The Boysenberry With:

-          Deep Fried Alligator Pieces & Fries with Boysenberry Aioli
-          Fried Cheese Curds paired with a Spicy Boysenberry Dipping Sauce
-          Craft Beer and Wine Vendors – boysenberry wine and Belgium boysenberry beer
-          Boysenberry Trifle (vanilla cake piece, frozen boysenberry, soft serve ice cream, and whipped cream)
-          Boysenberry Frappuccino & Latte
-          Berry Market™ Boysenberry BBQ Sauce smothered on an assortment of other delectable treats (an original Knott’s Berry Farm creation)
-          And more

The Boysenberry Festival also features an extensive line up of live entertainment from sun up to sun down. At the heart of all of the excitement is Birdcage Square, located in front of the famous Birdcage Theatre. Here, a stage will be set for daily contests like pie eating, a pie walk, and Grandpa’s Boysenberry PJs Contest, where guests will race to stuff the oversized long johns with balloons. In the evening, the Square will have guests kicking up their heels with vine dancing, a down home jug band and dueling fiddlers and banjos!  At night, just inside of the Birdcage Theatre, things get krazy when Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies mount their toe tappin’, knee-slappin’, gut-bustin’ country comedy show that will have audiences clamoring for more! 

New for 2015, right up the road from Birdcage Square, kids can join the classic Bear-y Tales characters in their very own pie making kitchen inside of Ghost Town’s Craft Barn. With the help of Razz Bear-y, Boysen Bear-y and the other Bear-y family members, each beautifully painted scene will follow the world famous boysenberry from field to blue ribbon winning pie! The pint sized chefs can also make their very own delightfully sweet boysenberry tarts complete with a crumble topping. Additional cost applies for tart making.

Festival Entertainment From Sun Up To Sun Down:

-          Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies
-          Daily pie eating contests
-          Dueling Fiddlers
-          Dueling Banjos
-          Peanuts Party in the Park
-          Jammin’ in the Dark (nighttime dance party)
-          Salsa dancing
-          And more

The iconic Charleston Circle fountain transforms into a beautiful floral fountain, adorned with colorful flowers and boysenberries creating an iconic centerpiece for the celebration.  Located in the Boardwalk area, the stunning monument will serve as a dramatic backdrop for two spectacular interactive shows.  Peanuts Party in the Park celebrates spring in a big way with infectious music, vibrant set design, and an invitation for the audience to be a part of the show! After sundown, Jammin’ in the Dark will transform the blooming circle into an immersive dance party complete with illuminated boysenberries, vines and LED lighting effects affixed to the Charleston fountain; DJ HowLy will spin the hottest dance music for all ages. The boysenberry celebration is almost too much fun to stomach!

While strolling the bustling streets of Ghost Town, guests can capture the moment and the memories at boysenberry themed stand-in cutouts, like wanted posters, a boysenberry farming family and more.  Festivalgoers can also watch special demonstrations including a chainsaw wood sculpting, glass blowing and blacksmithing.  While enjoying the festival, guests may meet Ghost Town’s mayor, Mayor Desmond Ryder and his lovely wife, Josephine.  From day to night, Ghost Town has never looked so lively.

Springtime fun has also taken root in Camp Snoopy, Fiesta Village and Boardwalk. During the limited-time event, the whole family can meet the Easter Beagle in his new home, blooming with colorful springtime décor, nestled inside of the recently rejuvenated Camp Snoopy area. The meet and greet location is the perfect place for shareable moments with the boisterous beagle and his friends – Charlie Brown, Lucy, Sally and Linus. In Camp Snoopy Theatre, Lucy’s Really BIG Spring Show will showcase the Peanuts pals singing, dancing, and celebrating springtime. The theater will be filled with the sweet sound of little ones as they singing-along to the to the show’s cheerful tunes! Guests don’t have to be experts at the cha-cha-cha to enjoy Salsa Dancing in Fiesta Village, where everyone can to take to the floor to the rhythmic beat of popular Latin dance music. 

The Boysenberry Festival is included with admission to Knott’s Berry Farm, additional cost for food tasting experiences within the event, which also offers a full day of thrilling coasters and family fun rides, like the beautifully restored Calico Mine ride and the rejuvenated six-acre Camp Snoopy featuring three new rides.  Knott’s has extended hours from 10am to 10pm during the Festival March 28 – April 12, 2015 allowing guests extra time to take advantage of all of the limited-time offerings. For affordable year-round fun for everyone and to explore the all the Festival fun, Season Passes can be purchased online at knotts.com starting at $84 or with six easy installment payments of $14 now until April 12, 2015.

Join the conversation and share your day of boysenberry fun by using #KnottsSpring on Twitter and Instagram. For information about the day you plan to visit and available discounts, visit www.knotts.com, call (714) 220-5200, or download the Knott’s Berry Farm mobile app for your smartphone.

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Starting with this post, every now and again I'll be taking a look at existing parks, and how I'd run them if I were the GM. To that end, I'll be using the park's own financial data, layouts, etc. to keep it within a reasonable window of actual financial & operational means - that is, I'd be running the park, but not in 'sandbox mode'. 

This week, I decided to use Cedar Point as if I were GM. To start, I looked carefully at my past visits, as well as to what the park has done over the past 15 years. I looked at their financial records, attendence records & other factors, and then put myself in the position of GM. 

As I look at the park currently, it is in relatively good shape. Most of the park is kept up with, with some areas needing more attention than others. I'm also discouraged with how I see the park has neglected certain areas. CP has some of the tallest rides on earth, as well as basic collection of coasters of different shapes & sizes. Flat rides are a relatively good balance, again different shapes & sizes. Food outlets tend to be placed in somewhat prominent areas, but in some cases necessary facilities such as restrooms & guest service areas are quite a distance from each other. Landscaping is pretty, but could use a few touch-ups. 

First, let's address the coaster collection: CP has a broad base of coaster technologies. However, looking at the past 15 years, no real strides forward have been made in the balance of the collection. I see a huge problem in this, especially with the neglect of older attractions that have lost their lustre & their glory. Of note:

• Mean Streak - once the world's tallest wooden coaster, this ride has been in a steady decline since, and now provides a rough ride, partly due to years of operating heavy trains & near constant replacement of track pieces due to that stress. Trim brakes now dot the tracks to slow the trains down, and in the end the ride has ended up being a shadow of its former self. 
  
• Cedar Creek Mine Ride - One of the world's first mine coasters, this ride has aged with grace, but not in the way it should. 
  
• Raptor - When Raptor ruled the skies in 1994, it was a great success, but has suffered in her glory since the addition of taller & larger rides throughout the park. While still thrilling, there is a lot that could be done here. 
  
• Iron Dragon: "Dragging Iron" is a suspended coaster which has had the fun engineered out of it. Sluggish performance, very little sway & a rather bland layout make this ride a past-tense ride. 
  

So, looking at these rides, I've come up with this:

• Mean Streak - After 25 seasons, it is time to retire. The land underneath Mean Streak is good property, and could be used for better utility. To gut & restore Mean Streak would be expensive, especially with a structure exposed to many years of harsh weather & water exposure; to replace it with a steel track would negate the purpose of the ride. So instead, I choose to remove it. 
  
• Cedar Creek Mine Ride - CCMR would get a massive overhaul, not entirely unlike what other parks have done with their own mine rides. First, addition of special effects & show scenes within the confines of the ride to give a new visual experience to a good basic ride. 
  
• Raptor - A new coat of paint, a new set of scenery & addition of special effects along the course to give a new level of thrill to a good, reliable classic coaster. 
  
• Iron Dragon - R.I.P.  It is time to put this one out to pasture. As much as I love suspended coasters, it is eating up space in the middle of the park, space that could be used better for future attractions.
  

As for the rest of the coasters, this is a hard picture to settle out. While many of the coasters are in good condition, some have outlasted more than they should. In this, there are a few that I would consider either retooling or replacing entirely with newer technology. The issue is, of course, space & placement. Some rides are squeezed into locations that would make efficient replacement nearly impossible. 

Flat rides: Most of CP's flat rides are in good condition, but much like many parks around the world could always use a boost. The critical issue with most flat rides is capacity, something that CP has tended to try and boost as much as possible. To this end, there are holes in their lineup which could be easily filled with good, thrilling rides. Gerstlauer, MACK, Zamperla & many others offer new-generation thrills in a small space, some of which would be exceptional additions to CP's lineup. A SkyRoller from Gerstlauer, for example, would give a great new visual to the existing skyline, as well as giving a totally new concept in thrill rides at the same time.

Water rides: This is an area where CP, much like their sister parks in the chain, has pretty much turned over to their water parks. I find this to be a HUGE mistake, and one I'd rectify as a priority. While rides such as Shoot The Rapids have been added, classic rides are missing, including a standard Log Flume. What parks don't realize as these rides may not be top-ten thrillers, they do draw an audience, and on a warm day they are well worth the audience. River Rapids rides (Such as Thunder Canyon) do a good job - but some people don't want to get that wet, especially if walking around a theme park all day. Smaller water rides & other such attractions would work.

Family/Junior rides: This is an area where CP is failing at, particularly in the nature of additions & upgrades. While CP has added smaller flat rides over the past 15 years, the key focus on the total demograpic has been forgotten about. None of the coasters added in the past 15 years have addressed the family audience, and two family attractions were removed. This is a huge mistake, especially as there is a major demographic change going on throughout the USA. while families are getting smaller, parks are only focusing on the thrill audience (at high expense no less) who will soon want more middle-of-the-road experiences. Having a good, well maintained allotment of family rides & coasters will pay large dividends in attracting a slowly shrinking demographic to the park. Building a good audience base here is critical in a changing era of park operations.  

Food & dining: This is an area where Cdear Point does a decent job of offering a broad base variety, as well as having plenty of options throughout the park. But there is always room for improvement, as well as differentiation of dining experiences. Having additional options is always a plus in a park, particularly a park as large as CP. 

Shows: CP has a broad variety of stage shows & other related attraction areas. However, the removal this year of the CP theater (Formerly the Charles Schultz theater) is a step backwards. Every park needs a good air-conditioned theater where guests can rest & cool-off prior to heading out into the park again, and having one less theater is going to make that more difficult. 

So, let's look at what I'd do specifically, year by year, starting in 2016:

• 2016: Mean Streak gives its final rides, as Sky Flight (Gerstlauer Sky Roller) takes to the air. Dinosaurs Alive is reconfigured & realigned for future land use.
  
• 2017: Cedar Mill Splash, a MACK log flume is added. This new log flume occupies part of the former Mean Streak site, and is the cornerstone of a new area in the park, dedicated to the family & to classic rides & stories. Alongside Cedar Mill Splash is a new eating facility, air conditioned & with a stage show, similar to what Disney has in the Golden Horseshoe Revue, providing a place to sit, cool off & be entertained. 
  
• 2018: New wooden coaster - with the advances of both GCI & RMC, a new wooden coaster is built partially on the old Mean Streak site, featuring 21st century thrills. Alongside the new wooden coaster, classic rides from throughout the park are relocated here, restored & placed to maximize space, and to fully flesh out the area surrounding. 
  
• 2019: Restoration & rebuilding of both Raptor & Cedar Creek Mine Ride is done, featuring new effects & scenery on both. Corkscrew, Gemini, Blue Streak & Magnum all get facelifts as well. New green areas are installed along many midway areas, including more trees & sitting areas. Pop-up shows are added throughout the park to give guests a welcome distraction. Iron Dragon give its final rides, and closes at the end of the 2019 season. 
  
• 2020: Working with MACK, a new building begins to take shape where once stood Iron Dragon. Built in-between Rougarou & Top Thrill Dragster, this new coaster will feature an mostly enclosed layout, special effects & a high capacity ride system. Children are pleased with the addition of a new Gerstlauer junior coaster - The Flying Beagle - to Planet Snoopy, which is expanded & canopy-covered in part for comfort. Iron Dragon's platform is converted into a new two-story dining facility, replacing the existing food structure entirely, and allowing for a new bridge to the future attraction in its place. 
  
• 2021: IMPULSE, a MACK Blue Fire Custom opens to the public. Featuring multiple launches, several inversions & a fully enclosed theme building, the ride caters to the thrill audience by interacting with Millenium Force, as well as other attractions. Along side IMPULSE, a new night time fountain show is built where Iron Dragon's pretzel formerly was, featuring water effects & show scale water screens. 
  

So there it is, folks. My vision if I were running Cedar Point. Not too extreme, but in my opinion choices that are not only necessary, but would allow CP to flesh out the future very nicely, and keeping the feel & look of the park well into the future. 

So what do you think of RD's plan? Are you on board? Anything you'd like to change or add? Feel free to let us know in the comments below. 

If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter and Instagram. 

If you have any comments, please share them below. 

If you enjoyed this update please share with your friends and make sure you "like" us on Facebook and "follow" us on Twitter and Instagram. 

If you have any comments, please share them below. 

The "High Five" is done, the Blue Track is dropping steep and the Green Track will go into it's Double-Down/Top Gun Stall Double whammy next. 

More track and wood ready to be placed on the structure. 

The High Five, can't wait to get into Hurricane Harbor to get some shots of this. 

Heading out to the back part of the ride (or the front part if you are watching from the parking lot) =)

Signature Shot!! 

On the other turnaround, not really a whole lot different, but they are working away in there. 

An overview of the completed parts of the ride

Inside, they are working away on the Screampunk District area, so additional fencing to keep employees out has gone up. 

Whatever changes are coming to the concrete inside will begin on this side of the wall apparently. 

The directional signs and the mural wall still show classic colossus for now. Hopefully they'll find a way to incorporate the new and the old into this. 

Moving over to Scream, the new colors really "pop" against the backdrop of the Southern California Sky (sorry rest of the country). 

Most of the ride is painted

They were working on the brake run while we were there

The Cobra Roll is one of the last elements to get painted

As you can see below, work on the station hasn't begun yet, or been painted at this point. Hopefully this is coming. 

Back inside the park, not sure why but the Tidal Wave sign below looked "new" to me. I'm 99% sure I just hadn't noticed it before. =)

Speaking of Tidal Wave, doesn't look like any work is being done on it while it's closed. Maybe they can send the paint crew that's working on Scream over here when they are done. =)

Bathroom queue ... this is definitely new. 

Looks like they were doing some painting of the Midway here. 

Uhhh ... just gonna leave this here. =)

This too. =)

It was an absolutely beautiful day in the park. 

And we'll leave you with this great picture of Tatsu ... another ride that could use a repaint. 

Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update. We most likely won't have a SFMM update next week as we're going to have a pretty busy week elsewhere. 

Thanks again for all of the support of the site and our various pages. We've been absolutely overwhelmed with the amount of support, love and messages we've received appreciating the work. 

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As always, it's important to remember, the biggest change is going to be to your 1-day 1-park prices, because that is what everybody is going to focus on. Us, we're happy to give you the whole story and show you a few ways that you can save a few bucks (especially when it comes to WDW). Because while the 1-day price is a lot (and it is) the fact is, WDW is a "Resort". 

Where these price increases really hurt is the family that makes a 1-day trip to either resort once a year. Gone are the days of a family being able to wake up and say "Hey, let's go to Disney(land/world) for the day" and have it be spontaneous. 

It seems that Disneyland is quite happy to keep their AP numbers high and WDW just wants vacationers. 

Disneyland Ticket Prices:

So let's take a closer look at those numbers, we'll start off with Disneyland 

Park-Hopper Upgrade = $40 per ticket

Annual Passes  

• Premier = $1099 (was $1029)
  
• Premium  = $779 (was $699)
  
• Deluxe = $549 (was $519)
  
• SoCal = $389 (available for renewal only)
  
• SoCal Select = $299 (was $289)
  

If you have the Payment Plan for your Disneyland AP, the difference in cost per month when you renew: 

• Premium: $6.66 per month 
  
• Deluxe: $2.50 per month 
  
• Socal Select: $0.83 per month
  

And that's how they are going to keep the AP numbers high. 

Annual Passholder Parking: 
One other tidbit, and this is actually the biggest news coming out of these announcements, Parking will ONLY be included with the Premier/Premium pass from now on. If you have the Deluxe, SoCal or SoCal Select, you will no longer be able to add parking to your pass. 

What does this mean? Everybody pays $17. What this ACTUALLY means? People are  going to park at DtD and spend their 3 hours in the park and leave. 

If Disney REALLY wants to fix the parking situation, they need to drop the free DtD parking from 3 to 2 hours and require a purchase of more than $15 to get free parking for 3 hours. And the purchase MUST be in DtD. 

Other Southern California Annual Pass options: 

While we know that not everybody ventures outside of Disneyland (yes, there are people who won't go to any other parks) for those of you looking for some other theme park options in Southern California, we've got you covered. And you may actually be surprised at the results below. 

Just a reminder when looking at these numbers, a Premium Disneyland Pass is $779. So we'll be comparing similar passes at other parks (that have no blackout days, etc). Click the links below to compare the prices we've laid out and the lower-tier ones as well. 

• Universal Studios Hollywood 12 Month Premium Star Pass = $179 (Pass includes Free Parking, No Blackout Days and Priority Boarding to Studio Tour)
  
• Knott's Berry Farm Season Pass= $84 (No Blackout Days ... Pass is $139 if you'd like to add parking)
• Six Flags Season Pass (Good at ALL Six Flags Parks) = $74.99 (Buy 4 passes and get upgraded to the Gold Pass which includes Free Parking, Hurricane Harbor)
• Legoland California Membership Merlin Annual Pass Premium = $269 (Includes Free parking, Admission to Sea Life Aquarium, Admission to Legoland Waterpark and a FREE Legoland Admission Ticket)                                                                                                                      *Note: There is also the Merlin Annual Pass for $169 which does include Blackout Days for the Waterpark, so in the interest of fairness, we've included the top-tier pass.  
• Sea World San Diego Membership = $155 (includes Free Parking, 3 guest tickets and is good for 2 years)

So for $761.99 you get access to 5 theme parks, at least 1 waterpark, Sea Life Aquarium, free parking at all but Six Flags and Knott's. While again, yes, some will argue the "quality vs quantity" thing, for most people this would be a great alternative for your family. It includes thrill parks (Six Flags), family parks, great rides for the kids, animal encounters and much more. And obviously if you look at other lower tier passes the the price will be even lower. 

Also, of note, all passes above with the exception of Universal Studios Hollywood offer payment options. 

We certainly aren't endorsing one or the other, just giving you options. =)

Ok, so lets take a closer look at these numbers. Disney knows that if a family has only 1 day to spend at WDW and they have small children, chances are they are spending it at the Magic Kingdom. Which is why that park costs more than the rest. It makes sense. 

And yes, while there's the option for Park Hopping, Waterparks and Waterparks with Park Hopping how many people are REALLY going to try and do all that in 1 day? Even park hopping for most people if they only have 1 day is likely out of the question. Only us crazy people try to hit all 4 parks in one day. 

Let's look at multiple day tickets below the awesome castle picture. =)

Walt Disney World Vacation 

So last year we also took a look at the way most people book their WDW vacation, including hotel and park tickets. Because really, that's the way WDW wants you to book it and it really minimizes the "1-day theme park price" that everybody is talking about. 

The Reservation system at WDW has been down for the last 3 days, we're guessing they are still updating with the pricing structure. We will update with this information and different hotel options when they are available. 

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Today we'll start off with a look at Springfield, because really, that's the part of the park that really has taken shape since our last update. We are so excited for this new addition. 

A great new sign is up on the construction walls promoting Springfield. 

Not sure what the insides of the buildings currently look like, but the outsides appear to be almost done. Just a few more signs and themed elements to go. 

We are super excited to see this all completed. 

A little bit of an aerial view, you can see some of the signs that have been added. 

It was kind of hard to see the "SPRINGFIELD" on Mount Springfield with the overcast skies. 

Springfield!! 

Mmmm, Flaming Moe. 

I'll take a Clogger Burger please. 

While Springfield might look to be close to being done remember that these aren't just facades, but all of the yummy food stuff will be inside. We simply can't wait to try all of our favorite Springfield foods. 

Moving over to the other major upper lot construction area, Wizarding World continues to chug along. 

Trees have been added so they can start growing prior to next years opening. 

The outsides of the buildings are really looking great. 

It's going to be pretty awesome to walk through those arches. 

This is where Springfield meets Hogsmeade. Really hoping they do "something" with this. 

The other side of Springfield/Hogsmeade. 

More pointy things have been added to Hogwarts. 

A closer look, you can really start to see the towers taking their shape. 

Still a lot of work to be done. 

The backside of Forbidden Journey. Really wish they were doing something with this. 

As you approach the new Studio Tour, signs are already up promoting the Nighttime Tours and of course, Fast and Furious. 

The new entry plaza for the Studio Tour looks REALLY nice. They did a great job on this. 

The entry heading towards the bridge. 

The exit is now completely walled off from the entrance. This should REALLY help with crowding in this area, especially once Fast and Furious opens. 

Speaking of Fast and Furious, they are continuing work on the entry facade. 

As you can see, there are two show areas. 

Is that a tram I see? Perhaps for testing? 

Hopefully this will put to rest any doubt that Fast and Furious is indeed a part of the tram tour. =)

A look from outside the park

There are a few new video features on the tour promoting the 50th. They were actually pretty clever. We'll try and get video next time we are at the park. 

Repainted tram? 

Psycho house is currently undergoing a "restoration", not refurbishment. So nice to see this part of cinematic history getting some love. 

Jurassic Park is also closed for Refurb. 

Outside the park, the new parking structure is really coming along nicely. Imagine that, taking care of parking issues BEFORE adding all kinds of new things. =)

On the other side, the hill coming up to the park from Lankershim is continuing it's "EPIC" transformation. 

Last, but certainly not least, let's take a look at the great Lunar New Year Celebration the park put on. 

Universal Plaza looked really beautiful. 

Lots of fun stuff to do

Mandarin Speaking Megatron was very popular. Be sure to check out the video below as well. 

I'm guessing most kids don't know who Woody and Winnie Woodpecker are, but it's always nice to see them out. 

And of course, what kind of special event would it be without food. 

We tried the red cinnamon donuts and they were really tasty and not too heavy. 

Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update, we know it was long, but there are so many changes going on at Universal Hollywood. 

Once we get some firm opening dates for Fast and Furious and Springfield we'll be sure to pass them on. 

Also, thanks to Scott for the additional pictures. It's always much appreciated. 

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