We were invited to Knott's last night to attend their annual Scare School for the Dominion of the Damned and Pinnochio Unstrung mazes. If you are wondering what Scare School is, well, it's just what it sounds like. 
Monsters come and learn about the mazes they are working in, work on their characters and then get a chance to scare the media walking through the maze. It really is cool to see it all come together. 



In addition we got a behind the scenes look at the Costuming/Make-Up warehouse, the all-new Knott's Food Truck and a special History of Haunt tour. 

Before we get started, Knott's released the map for this years Haunt which starts next Thursday, October 25. We will be there, hope to see you there. 

Prior to Scare School I made my way into the park to take a look at preparations for Haunt. 

Gunslingers Grave, one of only two "On-Stage" mazes. 

Preparations are also underway for Camp Spooky

It was probably about 100 degrees, but Snoopy is always in a good mood. 

Light towers in Camp Snoopy, possibly for Infected. 

Dia De Los Muertos is in Fiesta Village

La Revolucion' has gone to rehab

Looks like some new planters are being made as well. 

Moving over to the Boardwalk, CarnEVIL is coming. 

The hearse is out

Xcelerator was closed so no ride for me. =(

There are definitely less decorations out than in years past, at least for now. 

Getting ready for The Hanging. Can't wait to see who get's it this year, there are so many people to choose from. 

Black Magic

Bet you didn't know Flava Flave was a Haunt character

A quick look at the work being done on the 2015 attraction. We don't know what it's going to be yet (other than a dark ride) but the park has hinted that an announcement will be coming after Haunt. 

Really hope they find a way to incorporate the Roaring 20's sign. It's a piece of Knott's History that we'd love to see saved. 

Ghouls near Bigfoot Rapids

Wilderness Dance Hall, home to so many iconic Haunt mazes, this year it will be Pinnochio Unstrung. 

The Haunt Museum is getting decked out for Halloween

Moo

This picture has an extreme lack of Haunt Fog ... soon ... very soon. 

Ghostrider is still closed but should be back open in time for Haunt

Pro-Tip ... Pre Scare Dinner is your friend. Do it!!! 

She spent a little too much time at the saloon show. 

Pink's is set to close within the next few weeks. I've hard somewhere around Oct 4th but not 100% sure. Guess it's back to waiting in long lines at the one in Hollywood. 

The main reason for our visit was for Scare School. Which is basically the Haunt designers helping the talent become their character so they can scare the hell out of the rest of us. 

It's a very interesting process where you have multiple people playing the same character (so they can take breaks). They will introduce themselves, as their character, do some non-speaking sounds and practice the motion of their character. 

Brooke Walters sharing some tips with the talent, we were simple observers. 

A quick video outlining the process. This is by no means the entire process. After this point they spent a good 30-45 minutes in the maze developing their characters before we walked through the maze. And they will continue to rehearse for the next week. 

A couple of pictures from inside the maze. I had taken video but it didn't come out well. Plus, you want to be surprised right? 

After our walk through we were invited to take a tour of the Costume/Make-Up warehouse which is always a treat. 

Tim Barham explaining just how much effort it takes to put on the event, and how much laundry they actually have to do. Hint ... it's A LOT!! 

Bill Meier explains the Make-Up/Prosthetic process. Did you know that Knott's does all of the Prosthetics for every Cedar Fair Haunt event? Now you do. 

A few examples of the Prosthetics. These will not last throughout the entire event and are usually replaced every weekend. 

The new Knott's Food Truck was also out and we were able to try some great food. 

The menu will constantly change, this was what was on the menu last night. 

The Food Truck will be located in Gypsy Camp during Haunt since there aren't any food locations in that area. Great idea!! 

Both the Po Boy (seen below) and the Fish Taco's were great. 

Next was a nice little Haunt History walk through by Ted Dougherty. Most of the info wasn't new to us, but it's always nice to hear great stories. 

You can buy Ted's book here, it's definitely worth checking out if you love Haunt History. 

I figured there were spiders in these old Ghost Town buildings, but this is pushing it a bit. =)

Lastly, we had Scare School for Pinocchio Unstrung. Obviously it was a bit darker, but here you can see the maze talent doing their character walks. 

Gus Krueger telling us a bit about the maze that he took over this year. It's going to be awesome. 

That's going to wrap it up for this behind the scenes look at how Haunt is done. We'll be at opening night next Thursday. Looking forward to another year of Scary Farm. 

See You In The Fog ... 

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

If you have any comments, please share them below. 

We were invited back out to Knott's on Saturday for the official grand opening of the Mine Ride and Camp Snoopy. 
We originally thought Saturday's event was another "blogger" event but it turns out it was for the people who worked on the ride and their families. Knott's was kind enough to invite me out since I couldn't attend on Media Day. 

Click the link if you missed our Media Day coverage. 

We'll start off our report with a very detailed look at the exterior of the Mine Ride. 

The new rock work goes all the way around the mine. 

A look at one of the trains, beautifully renovated. 

Kaboom 

One of the trains going through the mine

Only open a few days, already some gold in the water. 

The ride features new air gates, they don't interfere with capacity or themeing at all.

Looking down at Ghost Town from the mine

We got to ride with Bill Reyes, who re-created the fantastic music inside the mine. It was truly a treat to ride with him and his family as it was their first time through the mine. 
Hopefully we'll have more from Bill soon. Stay Tuned!!! 

My review of the updated Calico Mine Ride: 
Truly amazing in every way. From the outside to the inside everything is fantastic. I was a bit worried about the new animated spiels, but they actually add to the ride and we were able to hear two of the three spiels. Looking forward to hearing the 3rd one on our next visit. 
The new finale is simply fantastic and your family will absolutely love it. 

The other new addition for 2014 are the Camp Snoopy enhancements for the 30th anniversary. This isn't just about the 3 new rides (although they are great) but the entire land has been redone and it looks amazing. Although my kids are no longer in the target Camp Snoopy age group, we had a great time exploring the land. 

All of the walkways in Camp Snoopy have also been redone

Every single ride side in Camp Snoopy has a new hand-painted sign and they look great!! 

Pig Pen's  Mud Buggies ... we had a blast on this!! 

Charlie Brown's Kite Flyer

Linus Launcher

We also took a ride on the updated Grand Sierra Railroad and we all loved it. The new spiel and Peanuts Characters really bring this ride back. 

Loved this tribute ... 

A look at some of the other great work that has been done in the area. There's lots to see. 

Chuck just rockin' out. 

I was tempted, but didn't want to be "that guy". =)

Really nice seating area. The new fresh fruit truck was added on Sunday (or we didn't see it on Saturday) and this looks like a really nice area to sit and have a snack. 

Grizzly Creek Lodge also received an extensive remodel. 

Looks great

Lastly, the clock has been rehabbed. Looks great. 

During Media Day, Knott's President Raffi Kaprelyan mentioned that a new Interactive Dark Ride is going to be coming to the Boardwalk in 2015. Other than the Boardwalk Ballroom (which is used a lot during the year) the logical place to put the ride is in the former location of Kingdom of the Dinosaurs. 

If the ride is going in this area and will have a Boardwalk theme would the Boardwalk area be extended to this area of the park? 

We'll have to see what is announced in the next few months. 

That's going to wrap it up for this update, we hope you enjoyed this look at the new Mine Ride and Camp Snoopy. 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. 

If you have any comments, please share them below. 

We were invited up to Knott's Berry Farm yesterday to get a look at the new offerings for the Summer of 2014. Included are the newly redesigned Calico Mine Ride, completely re-done Camp Snoopy, the summer ice show and more. 

Special thanks to Matthew Nelson for covering the event, look for much more from Matt in the future. You can also check out Matt's Flickr page for more of his amazing pictures. 

The 30 years of Camp Snoopy sign ... as well as a plethora of awesome coasters in the background. 

The event kicked off in Camp Snoopy where the Peanuts Gang welcomed us to the all new land!! 

Matt's review of the new Camp Snoopy: 
Camp Snoopy has been rejuvenated beautifully- it feels a lot more like I remember it when I was 9 and it was shiny and new. Kids and parents were having a blast on the new rides, and in the new 'park' area for the littlest ones, there's a nice gazebo and benches to relax a bit. 
It was amazing to see kids enjoying Camp Snoopy, much the way I did when it was new.

Let's take a look at the new Peanuts characters on the High Sierra RailRoad

We'll have lots more Camp Snoopy pictures for you soon, but in the meantime, here's a look at Linus' Launcher. 

Next, we'll move on over to the Calico Mine Ride, which has received an extensive rehab similar to what the Timber Mountain Log Ride received last year. 

Matt's Review: 
This has long been my favorite non-coaster attraction at Knott's. Yes, even though the wonderful Timber Mountain Log Ride is right across the way, I've always loved going into the dark old Mine Ride. When the Log Ride was lovingly redone last year, it gave many of us great hope that the Mine Ride would get a similiar treatment. I was shocked this morning to see for myself, that it actually got an even better redo than the Log Ride. THere's now a recorded spiel for the ride, actually a few different ones so there is some variety in that regard, and while I'm sure some purists will be upset at that, it allows the ride to have several miners in the ride speak up to the riders. The whole mine is just so alive now! 

The Mine Ride opening ceremony

Let's move inside the mine shall we ... 

As you can see, the ride looks more vibrant than ever. 

Inside the Glory Hole

The outside portion of the ride before the grand finale'. 

We hope to have some pictures and video of the finale' soon. 

Knott's also has a couple of shows for you to enjoy this summer. First up is Boomtown which is kind of a western Cirque show. 

Oooh La La ... 

And lastly, what would a summer be like without the Snoopy Ice Show? 

That's going to wrap it up for our Media Day coverage. We'll have MUCH more for you in the days ahead as we're headed back to Knott's tomorrow for the "official" re-opening of the Mine Ride and Camp Snoopy. 

We hope you enjoyed this update!!! Please Share!!!

Photo's by Matthew Nelson
Words by Gregg Condon

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

If you have any comments, please share them below.