Knott's Berry Farm invited members of the online and other media outlets to the park today for a special behind the scenes tour of both Camp Snoopy and the Calico Mine Ride. In addition, we were told all new details about both additions as well as an anticipated re-opening date for the Mine Ride. Before we continue we want to send a special thanks to the entire staff at Knott's for having us out today. We are still pretty amazed at the generosity bestowed upon us sometimes. For such a new site it's truly an honor to even be included with the group that was there today. The update will contain both pictures taken today and some great photos provided by the park. We'll start off with the Calico Mine Ride. Not only did we get a special treat when Bill and Garner from Garner Holt Productions presented some details about the refurbishment, but we also got a walk-through of a portion of the attraction. Safety first!!! Garner and Bill speaking to the assembled guests Below is some concept art that was provided by the park, truly remarkable. They also provided us with some historical pictures of the mine ride including this one of the ride under construction One of my favorites featuring Bud Hurlbut on one of the trains in 1960 We even got a sneak peek at some of the animatronics Garner Holt Productions is working on. As you'll recall, they did the Timber Mountain Log Ride animatronics last year and we all know how awesome that turned out. Calico Mine Ride Animatronics > The entirety of the new Robocop movie Once the presentation was complete we were led over to the Mine for our tour The work being done both inside and outside the mine is staggering. Portions of the exterior have been completely sandblasted and repainted They also had one of the refurbished and repainted trains out for us to see Time to head into the mine Our tour guide Kelley. Like most people at Knott's you can tell he loves his job. We got to see the first cavern and long time fans of the ride are going to be quite happy. After a long absence, the steam in this room is back. And you can feel it thanks to an all new boiler. A peek down the track towards the maintenance bay And lastly, a look at some of the guys working on the Glory Hole (insert joke here) The tentative date for the Calico Mine Ride is June 14. Once the reopening is officially announced we will be sure to let you know. Next, lets take a look at what's coming to Camp Snoopy. The area is getting a complete overhaul and it's going to look better than ever. The park is taking the time to turn the area back into it's original theme which was High Sierra. So gone are the race cars and giant skateboards because, as the park said, what's so High Sierra about that? Just like with the Mine Ride, the park has provided some great artwork and history of Camp Snoopy. The picture below might be one of my all-time favorite pictures. It's Charles Schulz with Marion and Virginia Knott. And Charles Schulz with Snoopy 30 years ago. There's so much going on in Camp Snoopy right now, hopefully I'll be able to place all the pictures with the proper artwork from Knott's. The first thing that really makes the refurbishment of the area stand out is all new signs for the attractions. Gone are printed signs and in their place are all-new hand made and hand painted ones. I think this one was my favorite. Snoopy looks fat and tired after working out, kind of like me. =) GR8 Sk8 has been removed and in it's place will be a complete meet and greet area for the Peanuts Characters. Great idea!!! In addition to the new rides, the Grizzly Creek Lodge is getting a complete makeover for the first time since it opened. Below is what Grizzly Creek Lodge looked like 30 years ago Let's take a look at the other improvements for Camp Snoopy and the three new rides The biggest news from today was that the Grand Sierra Railroad is going to feature Peanuts characters and will be narrated by none other the Linus. We got to catch a bit of the new narration and there were smiles all around. A look at the Franklin, Sally and Woodstock figures. The big circle things they are holding will be butterfly nets. These are also being created by Garner Holt Productions. Let's take a look at where the three new rides are going, starting with Linus Launcher. I'm going to be 100% honest, I'm not sure what exactly is going where but I think this is a pretty good guess. In addition to the new ride in this area a new ADA ramp is being made for the Balloon Race. The construction area for Pig Pens Mud Buggies and Charlie Brown's Kite Flight Lastly, Lucy's Tugboat has lost it's tugboat theme (because what's so High Sierra about a Tugboat) and has been renamed Rapid River Run. Looks great!! I have to admit, even though my children are far older than the target demographic for Camp Snoopy I'm truly excited about the amount of love and care is going into this project. I can't wait to see everything done this summer!!! Around The ParkJust a couple of pictures completing our Berry Bloom coverage from Monday. We spent so much time eating we missed a couple of things. Great Boysenberry Festival shirts!! A look at some of the other merchandise available. I thought I was buying a magnet, turns out it was a coaster (I thought it seemed kind of heavy). Now I have a new coaster for my desk!!! I wish I could take credit for this, but it's all Dan from Westcoaster. I did ask for permission to steal the idea. ;) Apparently there are giant topiary's at the topiary wine tasting garden. ;) Lastly, the Bumper Cars have been renamed to Bumper Bugs for the spring, cute idea. That's going to wrap it up for this update. Thanks again to Knott's for inviting us to their event. We are hoping to make it out to Berry Bloom one last time before the even is over, but don't forget, the event runs only until April 27, so make sure you go!!! This past weekend the online community was invited out to Knott's Berry Farm to check out this years version of "Berry Bloom". The event has expanded in it's second year and features a great mix of entertainment, food and even a great wine tasting event in the Wilderness Dance hall. We arrived in the early afternoon and checked in at the front of the park. The park provided us with coupons to check out some of the food options and the wine tasting event. The decorations added for the event are great. There was so much to see we actually missed some even though we were at the park for over 9 hours. We'll be sure to report on the rest when we get back to the park soon. Colossal Carrots!!! Over in the Boardwalk area the park has placed some oversized flowers and some fun games for kids to play. Is it just me or does this look like a Schwarzkopf coaster? Sally playing some "Big Boardwalk Games" seemed to be a very popular thing. Charleston Fountain has also been converted into a stage for the "Bloomination Dance Party" that begins after sunset. Most of the Berry Bloom activities take place in Ghost Town and you can spend hours eating your way through the area. The park has also recreated the original Berry Stand where you can buy and take home your own Boysenberry plant. Let's take a look at some of the food options that are available for Berry Bloom. This isn't all the food the park has to offer and we'll be sure to try the rest when we are back at the event. You can only eat so much in one day. =) We'll start off in the Calico Saloon The absolute best value is the "Boysenberry Festival Tasting Card" which allows you to try 6 of the special treats for only $20. Events like these give you a chance to try some food you wouldn't normally try and I'm happy to announce that all of the treats at Knott's were a hit!!! Below some Chocolate covered Boysenberry Glazed bacon and a Chocolate Covered Jalapeño stuffed with Boysenberry Cream Cheese. Both were excellent and the Jalapeño was an unexpected treat. Next we tried the "Deep Fried Boysenberry Ice Cream" balls. We were thinking they were going to be the size of a golf ball. As you can see they were the size of a softball and were absolutely delicious. Flank Steak with Boysenberry Sauce This was our first opportunity to taste the specially made Boysenberry Glaze that is on many of the food options at the event. I've had a lot of good BBQ sauces, I've tried to make homemade BBQ sauce, but this sauce is honestly one of the best I've ever tried. Everything we tried with "The Sauce" was absolutely amazing. I'm generally not a fan of things smothered in sauce but I didn't mind at all. The employees working the food booths not only did a great job preparing the food but also were very outgoing and actually knew a lot of the history of the Boysenberry. They added a lot to the experience. Wings smothered in "The Sauce". This was probably my son's favorite thing of the day. Corn on the Cob with Boysenberry Butter. It really brought out the sweetness in the corn. Waffle on a Stick. This was VERY good but turned out to be the longest line of the day (almost 40 minutes). The process they were using to make them "fresh" was appreciated, but when you have a line of 15 people, making 1 waffle instead of 4 at a time (which they can do) isn't worth it. Being the first day of the event we're willing to give them a pass here but hopefully they'll come up with a better process for these. One of the things we were most interested to try was the Deep Fried Alligator Bites with Boysenberry Aioli from the Calico Fry Co. It was actually VERY good and tasted a lot like Fried Calamari. My son actually wanted more. This was one of the very few things at the event that you could walk around or wait in line while eating it. We had ours while in line for Ghostrider. The last thing on our list was the Turkey Leg with "The Sauce". You could either get the sauce on the side or over the top of the Turkey Leg. After all that food what's one to do except head over for some wine tasting. The set-up inside is great and has about 9 different wineries each with about 4 or 5 different types of wines. This is one of those things were you need multiple visits to try everything. The price for the tasting also includes an appetizer plate that includes crackers, cheeses, olives, strawberries, pecans and of course boysenberries. After you purchase your card you are allowed 6 tastings and you get to pick which ones you'd like to try. For those that don't drink wine there is also a beer booth outside that is included as well. You can also bring your kids in as they have lemonade, soda's and berry punch. As the sun starts to set the event is still going strong as some of the entertainment kicks into gear including Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies. I can't think of another park that looks so great at sunset. Signature Shot!! Coast Rider at Sunset Even Boomerang looks good at sunset. =) Still the best log ride anywhere After the sun goes down the Bloomination dance party kicks into gear The Boardwalk area looks great at night Thank you to Knott's for inviting us out to Berry Bloom, we had a great time and we will definitely be back soon. For more information on Berry Bloom check out www.knotts.com Berry Bloom runs until April 27. We'll have a general update from Knott's later this week. Stay tuned!! Knott's is continuing it's upswing that has been taking place over the last few years with some offseason refurbishments and a full re-do of Camp Snoopy for it's 30th Anniversary. The Calico Mine Ride is receiving a complete refurbishment with the help of Garner Holt similar to what the Timber Mountain Log Ride received last year, so we know it will be great. Ghostrider is also receiving a lot of work this offseason and hopefully it will return this ride to some of it's former glory. Calico Mine RideUnfortunately we can only see what is going on outside of the ride, but if the amount of work being done outside is any indication, the ride is going to be fantastic when it re-opens this spring. Lots or rock work being done at the front of the ride. Camp Snoopy 30th Anniversary re-doCamp Snoopy is being fully re-done in celebration of it's 30th Anniversary. The amount of work being done in this area of the park is staggering. Due to all the work being done on the pathways, the entire space in front of Sierra Sidewinder is closed off. The queue for the ride is temporarily located near the FastLane entrance. A look from the other side of Camp Snoopy. During this portion of the work being done there is only 1 entrance and exit for Camp Snoopy. On the other side of Camp Snoopy, the area near Timberline Twister is getting the most amount of work in preparation for it's refurb and the new rides that will be coming to the area this spring. The queue and station for the coaster is being completely replaced to fit the new theme. It's nice to see the park taking the time to preserve so much of the natural setting unlike some other parks that find it easier to build over trees instead of preserving them. This really is a change in the way Knott's would have done things a few years ago and it's great to see. Work continues on the other side near Lucy's Tugboat . Lucy's Tugboat was open during our visit (2/1) but was closed as of Monday. Be sure you are following the park on Twitter as they list all of their closed rides every morning before the park opens. It's a great resource. Snoopy's Bounce House is still open ... for now. The entire area should look brand new when construction is done later this spring. We look forward to bringing more updates on it's progress in the months ahead. Ghostrider RefurbishmentGhostrider is closed for it's yearly refurbishment but the amount of work being done on the track seems to be more extensive than in years past. Lots of work being done on the turn around area and the section heading over Grand Ave. Hopefully the ride will be rideable again when it reopens. Grand Avenue ParkingAs we first shared with you on our Facebook and Twitter pages last week, the parking in front of the Marketplace stores has been removed and it looks like planters are taking their place. While we think minimizing traffic on Grand Ave. is a good thing, one consequence of losing these parking spots is less 3-hour parking. Beginning March 1st the park will only have a 1-hour parking area (in the lot between TGIFridays and Ghostrider) with guests being able to validate in the Marketplace to get 3-hours of Free Parking. What this means is that the loophole that many Season Passholders would use to spend a couple of hours in the park is now gone. Park guests will now have to pay the $15 to park, upgrade to the parking pass for $55 or make sure you get validation at one of the Marketplace restaurants or shops to get your free 3-hours. The strangest part is if you miss your 3-hour window by even 1 minute you will have to pay $25 to park. While I think much of this is a good idea (passholders should have to pay for parking to enter the park) being so strict and going from $0-$25 in a minute is a bit harsh. I think a happy compromise would be to have a 2-hour Free Parking window, 4-hours with Validation and then an incremental fee (say $5 an hour) for hours 4-6. Then the park can feel free to charge $25 after that. It would seem to make the most sense especially when the wait for the Chicken Dinner Restaurant can exceed an hour on some days. Maybe offering another level of pass that includes parking would help as well. Currently only the Platinum Pass includes Free Parking. It will be interesting to see how this is implemented in March and how much flack the park will get or if it will just become the norm. Around the ParkIt was truly a beautiful day to be out at the park. Even though it's early February it was like an early spring day. One of the benefits of being at the park for early morning events is Ghost Town pictures with great light and no people. For those that don't know, Windseeker is now fully gone and replaced by a planter. The fences and queue are still there so I'd guess that this area won't be empty for long, especially considering all the work that had to be done on the nearby rides in order to fit Windseeker in this spot. Jaguar had recently been closed for some work, not sure exactly what was done but I'm guessing it was just offseason refurbishments. I didn't ride because after a few years of Coasting for Kids with Give Kids The World I don't ever need to ride Jaguar again. =) Silver Bullet and Xcelerator looking great on a beautiful Southern California day. That's going to wrap it up for this update. If you missed our coverage of the "Knott's For The Cure" event yesterday you can find that update here. We are hoping to get back to the park sometime in early March to check the progress on the Mine Ride and Camp Snoopy refurbishments. We'll also have a Universal Studios Hollywood update for you tomorrow. |
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