Park Journey
Menu

Holiday fun at the first WinterFest at California's Great America

12/2/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Last week the inaugural WinterFest at California's Great America kicked off and from all indications it was a great openining for what will hopefully become an amazing annual holiday event in the Bay Area. 

Be sure to check out all of the amaznig pictures below and let us know what you think. Click here for more information on WinterFest 2016. 

Written by Andrew Cunningham 
​California’s Great America rolled out their very first WinterFest event last week, and we happily showed up to experience this great seasonal addition to the park.
Picture
​WinterFest includes a huge variety of holiday lights, some special activities that are exclusive to the event, and limited rides and attractions. Overall, there are nine uniquely themed areas throughout the park: Snowflake Lake, Celebration Plaza, Orleans Plaza, Coca-Cola Polar Bear Plaza, Crafter’s Corner, Planet Snoopy, Candy Cane Lane, Toyland, and Hometown Square.
Picture
Picture
​When you enter the park, you immediately find yourself at Snowflake Lake. The park’s iconic front entrance has been converted into an ice skating rink, and the neighboring observation tower has taken on a new theme as The North Pole.
Picture
Immediately behind Snowflake Lake and The Carousel Columbia is the park’s enormous Christmas tree. The tree anchors Celebration Plaza and is one of the most popular photo spots of the event.
Picture
​To fit the new holiday theme of Celebration Plaza, the nearby Gold Striker gift shop was rethemed into a Christmas shop, complete with some (awesome) unique park merchandise and holiday displays.
Picture
Picture
​Moving on from Celebration Plaza, Orleans Square was completely covered with very colorful lights.
One thing worth mentioning: Flight Deck and Gold Striker are the only two major thrill rides operating at WinterFest, and both had very long queues. I hope that Patriot will be added to the lineup next year to help spread out the crowds :-)
Picture
Coca-Cola Polar Bear Plaza takes up the area in front of FireFall. This area was featured a variety of nostalgic Coke advertisements, a meet-and-greet with a Coca-Cola Polar Bear, and a ton of red and white lights.
Picture
Picture
​Sitting just beyond the Coke Plaza is Crafter’s Corner, an area dedicated to local Bay Area merchants. There are a series of booths set up in front of Mass Effect, each selling uniques gift items. We took a look at some grilling spices, soaps that look and smell like desserts, and some funny drink coasters.
Picture
Picture
Picture
​The park has a backstage corridor, Candy Cane Lane, setup to connect Crafter’s Corner to Toyland, since the back loop of the park is not open past Planet Snoopy. This was a fun little area with cool gingerbread displays.
Picture
Picture
Closing the loop back to the front of the park, Hometown Square was covered with more traditional Christmas decorations.
Picture
Picture
Underneath Patriot, the park had live Reindeer for guests to interact with. This seemed like a very popular attraction for the kids in attendance!
Picture
Picture
​That just about does it for my trip around WinterFest at California’s Great America! Many thanks to the park for inviting us out to check out the event. The event is off to a great start and I definitely recommend checking it out!
Picture

Related Updates: 
  • Merry Farm 2016 at Knott's Berry Farm 
  • Carowinds County Fair Construction Update
  • Knott's announces new additions and events for 2017 
  • Opening Night of Halloween Haunt at California's Great America 
  • ​Kings Island announces Mystic Timbers for 2017


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

If you have any comments, please share them below
0 Comments

Knott's Merry Farm 2016 at Knott's Berry Farm

12/1/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Today we have our update from the always amazing "Knott's Merry Farm". This year the event is back and better than ever with a plethora of amazing shows, the always amazing food and of course everything else that makes Knott's Berry Farm one of the best theme parks in the country. 
Unfortunately on the day we visited it was a bit rainy so we opted to not ruin the DSLR so these are all iPhone pics, but we will be back soon and will get more pictures and see more of the shows. 

Written by Gregg Condon
Welcome to Knott's Merry Farm!! 

The tree looks great in it's new location where the stage used to be. 
Picture
Merry Moo
Picture
It was my daughters boyfriends first visit to Knott's (yes, ever) so we had to have some fun with Sad Eye Joe, who was pretty surprised it was his first visit too. 
Picture
Which obviously meant experiencing some of the classic Knott's attractions (shucks). ;) 
Picture
Christmas on the Calico Railroad is always fun
Picture
Love the cold rainy weather
Picture
Picture
We also had to check out Santa, who was on a break the first time we stopped by. You can get lots of yummy snacks too that were left behind by those Red Barn folks. ;) 
Picture
Picture

Brief interlude for a construction update 
Picture
Ooooooh ... Aaaaaaah ... New Boardwalk BBQ coming in 2017. 
Picture

No trip to Knott's Merry Farm is complete without seeing "Merry Christmas, Snoopy" ... On Ice. 
Picture
Feel free to check out the slide show from this amazing performance. It gets better every year. 
Unfortunately due to the rain "It's the Merriest Christmas Charlie Brown" wasn't showing that night. We'll be back soon to check it out. 
Picture
Rain at Knott's means that pretty much every ride was shut down, but it was awesome just walking around and enjoying the park. Would have made for some nice DSLR pics if I wanted to get it wet. ;) 
Picture
We checked out the caves in Camp Snoopy, I remember them being bigger. ;) 
Picture
Back in Ghost Town, all the lights are on. (we sadly missed the snow too) 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
SANTA!! I KNOW HIM!! 
Picture
Love the tree, it really fits in this spot. 
Picture
Picture
Thanks to Knott's for having us out for Merry Farm, we will be back at some point over the next two weekends for more holiday fun, more shows, better pics, and obviously more food. 

For more info on Knott's Merry Farm click here. 

​Related Updates: 
  • Carowinds County Fair Construction Update
  • Knott's announces new additions and events for 2017 
  • Opening Night of Halloween Haunt at California's Great America 
  • Knott's Scary Farm Opening Night 2016
  • ​Kings Island announces Mystic Timbers for 2017


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

If you have any comments, please share them below
0 Comments

    Categories

    All
    2014 Attractions
    2015 Attractions
    2016 Attractions
    2017 Attractions
    2018 Attractions
    2019 Attractions
    2020 Attractions
    2021 Attractions
    Bear Y Tales
    Bear-y Tales
    Berry Bloom
    Boysenberry Festival
    Calico Mine Ride
    Calico River Rapids
    California's Great America
    Camp Snoopy
    Canada's Wonderland
    Carowinds
    Cedar Fair
    Cedar Point
    Coasting For Kids
    Dorney Park
    Fear VR
    Fury 325
    Ghostrider
    Ghost Town
    Ghost Town Alive
    Gilroy Gardens
    Give Kids The World
    Halloween Haunt
    HangTime
    Kings Dominion
    Kings Island
    Knott's Berry Farm
    Knott's Merry Farm
    Knott's Peanuts Celebration
    Knott's Scary Farm
    Knott's Soak City
    Knott's Spooky Farm
    Komen OC
    Mass Effect New Earth
    Merry Farm
    Michigan's Adventure
    Military Days
    Mystic Timbers
    New Years Eve
    Patriot
    RailBlazer
    Red
    South Bay Shores
    Steel Vengeance
    Valleyfair
    White And Brews
    Winterfest
    Worlds Of Fun

    Archives

    February 2021
    December 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Six Flags
  • Cedar Fair
  • Universal Studios
  • Disney Parks
  • SeaWorld Parks
  • Other Parks
  • Beyond The Parks
  • The Other Side of the Tracks
  • Industry News
  • Cruise Journey
  • Park Journey Shop
  • Theme Park Art
  • Past Updates
    • 2019 Updates
    • 2018 Updates
    • 2017 Updates
    • 2016 Updates
    • 2015 Updates
    • 2013 and 2014 Updates
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Six Flags
  • Cedar Fair
  • Universal Studios
  • Disney Parks
  • SeaWorld Parks
  • Other Parks
  • Beyond The Parks
  • The Other Side of the Tracks
  • Industry News
  • Cruise Journey
  • Park Journey Shop
  • Theme Park Art
  • Past Updates
    • 2019 Updates
    • 2018 Updates
    • 2017 Updates
    • 2016 Updates
    • 2015 Updates
    • 2013 and 2014 Updates
  • Contact Us