 Today we're back with another update from a park we haven't had an update from in far too long. Lots of changes going on at Knott's Berry Farm with the addition of the new Flat Ride Sol Spin and the new BBQ restaurant near the Sky Cabin. In addition, some offseason refurbishments are going on with some of the more popular rides in the park. Written by Gregg Condon We'll start off with the Timber Mountain Log Ride which just came back from a refurbishment and looks great.   Love the views from the ride, there's not a better log ride anywhere.  They've got the entire area closed off by the new BBQ restaurant   Mostly just foundation work at this point   Let's put the "Montezooma's Revenge is getting removed" rumors to bed right now. It's not going anywhere and recently got a nice new paint job.  In addition to the new paint job, the ride was running amazing.    Maybe the station is next to be painted?  Right next to Jaguar, work continues on the new Sol Spin flat ride.   You can see the foundation for the loading area and the space chunked out for the actual ride mechanism.  In other refurbishment news, Bigfoot Rapids is closed and looks to be getting a lot of work done.    Remember, if you ever want to make your own rapids, all you need is some metal tubes. =)  Even the dryers are getting refurbed.  Some work going on near Wilderness Lodge as well.  Fun Bun coming soon  Oh look, more offseason refurbishments.   It's great to see so much care being given to the parks attractions.  It was the last weekend for Knott's For The Cure, the merchandise for this year was great.  Alright, that's going to wrap it up for this update. We'll be back at the park next week for a preview tasting event for the Boysenberry Festival and of course for the Boysenberry Festival in April. Moo ...  Related Updates:
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 This past Saturday was the opening day of the Boysenberry Festival so we were of course out at Knott's to partake in all the boysenberry goodness. It was a pretty busy day at the park since along with media day for the festival it was a Saturday, the start of Spring Break and there was some kind of Cheerleader event going on. Even with the crowds we had an amazing time at the park as always. Written by Gregg Condon Welcome to Knott's Berry Farm!!  Knott's always puts on great media events  Did you know that Knott's now has park-wide free WiFi? We used it all day on Saturday and even with the large crowds had no issues at all.  We'll start off the update with a quick look at Ghostrider. We also have a quick video update below. Even from outside the park you can see the difference between the old and new wood. Not too many changes from our tours a few weeks ago. If you missed that update you can see it here.    Inside the park, not a whole lot has changed since our tour a few weeks ago.  As you may have heard last week the opening has been pushed back from Memorial Weekend until sometime in June. As soon as we get a specific date we will let you know.  The MCBR-less turnaround.   Even though it was a Saturday they were still working on the ride to get it ready. You can see below they are starting to put the lighting back on the pre-lift.       The pan for gold is looking great and it will be nice to see this back at the front of the park.  But of course the main reason for our visit was the Boysenberry Festival. If you missed our preview of the festival from last week be sure to check it out here.  Boysenberry Trifle.  Panna Cotta and Cannoli
The Alligator Bites were back this year. And we have to say, these were great the first year but the last two years they just haven't done it for us. I think it's time for them to retire this item after this year.  Of course, no Boysenberry Festival is complete without yummy beer and wine. For a real tasty treat have them mix the Boysenberry Beer with the Berry Cider. Very refreshing.  Also new this year the Cinnamon Chips with Boysenberry Dip. Really nice treat.  Hot Dog with Boysenberry Relish. You can get it on the side too.  The Fun Stick and Boysenberry Flautas.  The Boysenberry Festival runs through April 3 so be sure you check it out. It's a lot of fun. The Calico Saloon also reopened from it's refurb and it looks absolutely fantastic!!!  We'll get back in with the good camera soon to get some better pictures to share.    So much more room up here now which is awesome.     The new chandelier's look great!!!  Just a couple of quick notes: Anybody know what's up with the crane backstage? This was from the Mystery Lodge line.  Love spending the evening in Ghost Town  Until our next Knott's update ... moo.   Tomorrow the Knott's Boyselberry Festival begins it's 3rd year and the other night we were invited out for a preview of this years event to try some of the new food, some of the wine vendors and talk with the people who put on the event. Be sure to check out all of the info on the Festival here. Written by Gregg Condon Pictures by Scott Linder and Gregg Condon  Before we get started we also put together a little video of the chef's talking about the new food for this year, which was all excellent. After a 3 hour drive it was nice to see this sign and know that good food was close. (Stupid LA Traffic)  I think one of the most underrated things about the invention of the Boysenberry Festival has been all of the Berry Market goods that have come along with it. So much stuff to choose from.  The Salsa is new and the Boysenberry Chipotle is amazing.  The Boysenberry Butter and Mustard are new. Will have to try them tomorrow.  Lots of great wine vendors. Being a red wine man myself I didn't try any of the white wine's. I'll have my wife try some of those tomorrow. She'll be heartbroken. =)  Before we get started on the food, I just want to commend Knott's and their entire food team for the amazing culinary turnaround they've made the last few years. For those of you long time fans of the park you'll remember that 5 or 6 years ago most of us would actually leave the park to eat. It was typical "theme park food". And now there are just so many great things to eat whether it's Boysenberry Festival or a Tuesday in October. New for this year ... The Fun Stick!!! Boysenberry Cheesecake dipped in Funnel Cake batter and fried ... on a stick. Amazing.  Wings with "the sauce".  Pulled Pork with "the sauce" and cold slaw. Amazing.  Chicken sandwich with Boysenberry Mayo  The Boysenberry beer is back, or as seen below, Boysenberry Beer mixed with Berry Cider.  Short Ribs!!!   Boysenberry Meatballs. They actually had these at a few media events last year and they are pretty amazing. They'd be great on a sandwich.  Boysenberry Trifle!!!  The Boysenberry Lemonade is VERY tart, but I loved it.  The Alligator Bites are back this year  And lastly the Boysenberry Panna Cotta which was probably my favorite "dessert" thing that was new this year. It's perfectly made and very creamy and delicious.  Next week we'll have our full Boysenberry Festival report including more food, entertainment and more and since we'll be at the park I guess we'll take a look at Ghostrider construction. Don't forget, as the park announced yesterday, Ghostrider will now be opening in June. We do not have a specific date yet. Also don't forget that there will be a Boysenberry Eating Contest tomorrow featuring Joey Chestnut at 2:00pm. Thanks for checking out our Boysenberry Festival preview and if you happen to be going tomorrow let us know, we'd love to say hi.  This past Friday we had the great opportunity to get some great backstage tours at Knott's Berry Farm for their 2016 additions including Ghost Town's 75th Anniversary, the Chicken Dinner Restaurant re-do and of course Ghostrider. Check out all the great pictures and video below. Pictures by Matthew Nelson Videos and Written by Gregg Condon UPDATE:: Ghostrider opening has been pushed back to June. We will update when we have a new opening date. Let's start off with a great tour of Ghostrider. Be sure to check out the video below.  We got to get up close and personal with the ride and take a look at all the great work they are doing on this amazing coaster.    The drop after the mid course brake run has been re-profiled and raised up a bit (you can see the old spot in the below picture)      Under the station     They've removed some of the steel supports they'd been putting up on the ride the last few years because due to re-profiling of the turns (to give them more banking) they simply don't need it.    In addition the Pan for Gold is looking great back in it's original location.  Ghostrider will re-open in June. We can't wait!! Opening on May 27th is Ghost Town Alive. Be sure to check out the video below to hear all the great stuff that's coming. It's going to be a lot of fun.     Is there a more awesome place to get theme park pictures than Ghost Town?     The Barn will feature horses and mules over the summer.   The bank will also be back and interactive!!  The theater is also getting a lengthy refurb.  Moving on, the Calico Saloon is getting a very awesome looking rehab. Again, be sure to check out the video to see and hear all the details on this awesome refurbishment.    A look at some of the things they are planning for the inside.  An all new bar, sound-system and additional seating.   Work is also continuing on the new stage.   Lastly, the Chicken Dinner Restaurant ... you can see how much work is going on below.  There's also a few other things going on at the park. Riptide has been completely removed.    The Flyers are closed for rehab  And we'll leave you with some great pics of Knott's, because we can. Enjoy!!       We hope you enjoyed this update of some fantastic tours the park was great enough to hold. We can't wait to experience all the great things the park has in store for this summer. But don't forget, the Boysenberry Festival begins in just a few weeks on March 19. We hope to see you there!!  Earlier this week we shared our Boysenberry Festival Update so today we're going to continue with Knott's and take a look around the park and a general park update. Lots of updates on Iron Reef as well as a lot of "offseason" refurbishments. Get your Fun Bun and Boysenberry Coffee ready.  Before we get started, the other day we joked with Knott's that we'd LOVE it if the FunBun theme song would be released as a Ring Tone. Well, never ones to disappoint, they put it up in a DropBox yesterday and tweeted it out. So be sure to download it if you want some FunBun love every time your phone rings. We'll start off with Iron Reef, which, as you'll see the old Beary Tales/KOD building is getting a huge facelift. These are supports for the roof which the awesome @ParkandCons tweeted pictures of out yesterday.  Some cool artwork   A peek inside, nothing really to see here.   Some cool chalk artwork is out in the boardwalk. They even tell you where to stand to get the best picture. But we don't play by the rules. =)   From the Sky Cabin  Elsewhere in the Boardwalk the water is drained as it's getting ready to be re-painted. It seems to have faded very quickly.   Xcelerator pieces. :( The FastLane queue is also open on the ride.  There's an awesome new mural in Virginia's but there were a LOT of people checking it out. We'll try to get some nice pictures on a less busy day.  Lastly, how about some ride photo's.  Got a nice pic of Xcelerator from the Sky Cabin.  Some in our group hadn't ridden the new Peanuts train, so I was able to get some Sierra Sidewinder pics.     How about some Zoooooom from the train as well.    That's going to wrap it up for this update. We should have another Knott's update in a week or two as some of our site contributors have yet to get down to the Boysenberry Festival. Have a great weekend everybody!!! |
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