 Yesterday we were invited out to Knott's Berry Farm for the Calico River Rapids Media Night. The latest "plussed" ride at Knott's definitely does not disappoint. And just like they did with the Mine Train, Log Ride and Peanut's Train, they've kicked up the rapids ride to the next level. Let's head in and have some fun!! Written by Gregg Condon As we usually do when there is an evening media night at Knott's, I took a half-day of work so we could at least beat "some" of the traffic down. And of course, have some fun in the park.  While we were trying to figure out what to have for a late lunch, we headed over to the ride to get some daytime pics (we ended up having a fabulous meal at Boardwalk BBQ).   The ride looks amazing!!   Hi Walter The Salmon!!! (there is a story here, but that comes later)   More on these later as well. =)  After a quick lunch we decided to ride a few things since the park was pretty empty.  We took a LOT of video during the day, the first was a slo-mo of HangTime. Because why the heck not. Hadn't done the Dragon Swing in a LOT of years, so decided to give it a spin. Great ride.  The stage is set for the opening of the ride!!    Before you even get to the ride, the queue is simply spectacular. So much to see. There were some questions about the height requirement, so here you go. 46". Not sure if this is the same as Bigfoot Rapids. Can anybody confirm?  We did a walk-through of the queue of course.  The detail is amazing, and the smell of fresh wood is everywhere.    Bear Cub  Campground   Hey little guy!!  Arooooooooooo!!!  Remember the old switchbacks from Bigfoot Rapids?   Well, this is them now.  The cabin looks amazing    So much detail to take in   How much wood could a woodchuck chuck ... oh, woodpecker!! =)   For when you need to take a nap (totally don't take a nap here)   Even the ride loading area got some love    Armed and ready to go for our POV's!!   The ride is seriously so much fun. I think it's evident by our video that it is. We've never been one for ultra super duper 5000k versions of videos, it's just not us. But we've always liked to show just how fun stuff is. And as you can see from the video, with each subsequent ride, we got a bit sillier. So the story behind Walter the Fish. The Citizens of Calico were out and about the entire night, showing off their new adventure and having fun with the media. Note, can't wait to see the interactions in this area for Ghost Town Alive. One of the interactive parts is exploding of "dynamite" (as you'll see in the video below). In talking to one of the citizens, they asked if we lost anybody on our voyage. And we of course said yes. Gabe (from Theme Park Duo) said his name was Walter and that he ended up in the mouth of a bear. And then, without missing a beat, the citizen asked if it was a Salmon. And thus, Walter The Salmon was born.  Sadly, we didn't get this interaction on video, but as you can see below, we had a great time blasting people on the ride. As I'm sure you will all have as well!!  They also had Pony Express open for us, and because it was Media Night, we were able to get a POV of this as well. Score!!  As the sun went down we were able to get some nice night shots of the ride.  As well as a quick interview with Garner Holt who talked about the ride and the other creations he's done for Knott's.       To say we were impressed and blown away with the updates to the ride would be an understatement. I think with this one, the upgrades are definitely more jarring than they were with the Log or Mine Ride (because, let's face it, those rides have always had a great story). Bigfoot Rapids was always fun, but it's story was that it was just a Rapids Ride. Now? The ride fits squarely in with the rest of Calico and has a great story and theme. And it's still the fun rapids ride you remember. Lastly, we'll leave you with our Nighttime POV. Sure it's kind of hard to see, it's night and we're using GoPro's with no lighting. But SO fun to ride at night. We seriously can't wait to ride this on those warm summer nights. Or those scorching Knott's Scary Farm nights. Thanks again to Knott's for having us out, we had a blast as usual. We can't wait for Ghost Town Alive in a couple of weeks. Make sure you head out and ride Calico River Rapids!! Related Videos:
Related Updates:  Last weekend we were invited out to the Knott's Berry Farm Boysenberry Festival to take in the festivities and of course the food. The event is growing each year and is definitely popular. We of course had an amazing time, but we also do have a few things we'd like to see updated since the event is growing so much, things to alleviate some of the growing pains. Written by Gregg Condon I think this is the right place  Let's get to eating!!  Our first stop was for a waffle and chips with ice cream. You know, for Breakfast. Both were good, although the Waffle needed something, and that something is the ice cream. We got the chips later in the day and they were just as good. Both are found at the Ghost Town Bakery.  Three things we got to try at the tasting preview, and they were just as good, if not better than they were then. All Three are available at Wagon Wheel Pizza across from Ghostrider.  Something that we didn't know was coming, and isn't on your tasting card, but is delicious, found in Spurs Chop House.  They are made to order, which is nice. I will say though, if we got this again we'd get it without the Hummus. I think that's part of the Shawarma, but I think we would have preferred a bit less of it.  After eating all that food, it was time to take in some of the sights.  Spring has sprung    Goatses  The merch game was on point  Definitely my philosophy  Cannot recommend the Boysenberry Cobbler enough. It's super easy and super good.  Yo, Yo, Yo ... that's my jam  Our faces all day  You can smell the boysenberries as you approach, so if you want to smell like boysenberries after a bath, get all this stuff.  And then of course, wrap yourself in your boysenberry towel  The wine and Beer tasting was back, although we have to say the "pours" you'd get with the tasting card were very inconsistent. By the end of the day you'd pretty much get a "shot" of Boysenberry beer.  The chili was a hit in our group (Outside Wilderness Dance Hall)  As was the sausage (also found Outside Wilderness Dance Hall)   It's not very often you could spend all day at a theme park, only ride 2 rides and feel like you had a full day, but you can at the Boysenberry Festival    Green Frog, Blue Frog, Green Frog ...
Purple Fly?  We didn't catch the Jam-Boree, but I'm sure it's great for those who are into that kind of thing   BOBA!!! (Starbucks inside the park)  Let's get back to the food, skirt steak skewer (also towards the front of the park)  Chicken Wings (by Ghostrider)  Chicken Skewer (Indian Trails)  Pulled Pork Fries (Calico Fry Co)  This brings us to one of the things we'd like to see changed. All of the food we just shared above other than the Chili, Boba and Sausage was at the very front of the park, mostly along the path to Ghostrider. That's a lot of food in a very small area, and an area with not a lot of seating (although you could sit in Spurs Chop House, which was nice). We'd really like to see them spread this out to the rest of the park. 95% of everything was in Ghost Town. Things like the Tostada could have easily been put in Fiesta Village to give the festival more room to spread out among the park. It also would have helped with seating and food lines. Just a suggestion. We also heard from some others that food locations and the Dance Hall closed early on Sunday. The park was PACKED. Not sure if that's a scheduling issue or what, but hopefully that's something they address. Alright, we have a bit of a Rapids Construction update below, but before we get to that, we also have our top 5 food items to share:
Let's take a look at the Rapids construction, there are finally a few walls up  Not a whole lot of visible work in this area     They are definitely doing some work in the queue   Alrighty, that's gonna wrap it up. We will probably head back to the park for more Boysenberry food at least once more during the Boysenberry Festival, probably in a few weeks. Be sure you head out to the park to check it out. You won't be disappointed. More details about the Boysenberry Festival can be found here. Related Videos:
Related Updates:  The Holiday Season is here, and last night we were out at Knott's Merry Farm for our first holiday event of the season. It's another amazing year at Merry Farm, lots of great new things to see, holiday food and the parks merchandise game continues to improve. Let's head in and see!! Written by Gregg Condon Welcome to Knott's Merry Farm!! Sure, it's only November, and I'm usually a Grinch when it comes to Holiday stuff so early in the year. But as I said on our social media during the event, I didn't seem to mind this year. There's been so much bad stuff going on lately that a bit of Holiday Cheer was exactly what we needed. We hope you feel the same.   No fog, but lots of pretty lights.   And snow  No more Dark Ride for 2018. Maybe next year they should have a holiday overlay to the Dark Ride for Merry Farm? =)  Lots of great new decorations in The Boardwalk   Obligatory construction update  Really loved the decorations in Fiesta Village     Be sure to check out our video from our visit featuring Snow and Glow and more around the park. We'll cover the shows the next time we visit.  They also had a great opening night tree lighting ceremony.  The park truly does look amazing all times of the year, but especially during Merry Farm  Camp Snoopy was very colorful   These swans got stuck  Santa's Christmas Cabin is back where you can try a variety of holiday treats, and of course, hang out with the big guy.    Speaking of Santa's Cabin ... let's check out some of the food  Amazing    Elote is always awesome   This was interesting. I'm not a fan of sweet potato so I didn't enjoy it as much as others did.  If you get one treat at Knott's Merry Farm, make it this. I need this recipe.   Yule log. Not a log, I don't have a log. If I had a log not in the sense that you think I said I did.  Some awesome Merry Farm merch available this year as well. May have to expand my closet beyond Halloween shirts. =)    Thanks for checking out our Knotts Merry Farm Update. We wish you all the best.  Don't forget, if you get cold, be sure to put your lamb over your shoulders. =)  Related Videos:
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