Today we're back with more holiday fun, this time at Knott's Merry Farm. There is so much packed into a day at the Farm that you may even need two days just to see it all, which is amazing. Written by Gregg Condon Pictures by Matt Nelson and Gregg Condon During our visit of about 10 hours we spent time enjoying Ghost Town, a few of the shows, relaxing in Santa's Cabin and only rode 1 actual ride (Christmas on Engine 41) and we still didn't manage to see everything. There's simply that much to do. The Chicken Dinner Restaurant, which is undergoing some major changes over the next few months Obligatory Ghostrider Construction shot ... Engine 41 is all decked out for the holidays. Be sure to get a seat inside one of the cars, we sat on the outside and there really wasn't much that was "Christmas" about it. Future stage location Current stage location The Christmas Snoopy on Ice show is back and is absolutely fantastic as always. This is always a crowd pleaser. Sup man ... Toy Soldiers Snoopy!!!! The Calico Saloon show, always a treat and great fun. The Christmas show is pretty much a variation on the normal show, but still great fun. Obligatory Coaster shot ... The Tree Lighting show is a bit long, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it and we certainly aren't the target demographic for this. We kept waiting for the Hangman, err, hang person, err, Shannon to show up. =) Knott's looks beautiful all the time, but nighttime during the holidays really brings out the beauty in this park. Absolutely perfect shot of Ghost Town by Matt ... Thanks once again to Knott's for an amazing day in the park, we had an unbelievable time and can't wait to head back for more Merry Farm!! Knott's Merry Farm kicked off a few weeks ago so we are a bit behind in bringing you pictures from the event, but since it's not even half over yet you've still got plenty of time to head down and enjoy all of the holiday fun. Below are some pictures of the event, but there's much more including treats and shows that you should definitely check out. * All photos by CoasterMatt The front of the park, welcoming us to Merry Farm Lets check out Ghost Town and the Christmas Craft Fair Very understated and pleasant. Perfect for Ghost Town. The Blacksmith, one of the classic buildings in Ghost Town Looks beautiful Snow in Ghost Town Jingle Moo ... Looking down on Calico Square Calico Courthouse is very Christmassy I still see Bacon spelled out here. Ta Daaaaaa!!! SANTAAAAAA!!!! A quick look at Camp Snoopy Santa's Christmas Cabin looks very cool And just because ... That's going to wrap it up for our look at Merry Farm. The event runs through January 4th and you can find more information at the Knott's Berry Farm website. It's been awhile since we've taken a look at "Non-Haunt" Knott's Berry Farm so we stopped by to take a look at preparations for the annual Merry Farm event as well as to look at offseason work being done and progress on the new dark ride. If you missed all of the info on this years Merry Farm event, click the link. Knott's Merry FarmIt seems that haunt just ended, in fact it had ended a mere 5 days prior to our visit, but the park was already in full swing getting ready for Christmas. For the most part it seemed much of the work is simple decorations like wreaths, but I'm sure there are even more decorations on the way prior to Merry Farm opening on November 22. As far as Ghost Town is concerned, simple is the way to go. No more hanging. =( More wreaths Ain't she purty? Even Panda Express is getting decorations. This is still the one food location in Ghost Town that sticks out. Would be a much better fit in the Boardwalk IMO. But the food here is actually decent. No trip to Knott's is complete without a ride on the Timber Mountain Log Ride. The Bird Cage Theatre is getting decked out and will once again host the Gift of the Magi. 2015 AttractionAs of this report we still don't know what the new attraction is going to be, only that Cedar Fair and Triotech will be announcing something next Tuesday at IAAPA. So we'll be sure to be on the lookout for that. Still not a whole lot of visible work going on, but they are definitely working on the inside. Some holes in the side of the building, you could hear them hammering away inside Hoping that the Roaring 20's sign still being here is a good sign that it's not going anywhere. Offseason RefurbishmentsI know we are lucky here in Southern California that we don't really get an "off-season" when it comes to theme parks, still, this is the time of year when parks will rehab trains and rides to get them ready for next years busy time. Montezooma's Revenge is closed. This is still my favorite coaster in the park and it's great to see Knott's giving this classic the love and care it deserves. It's a dying breed but I love that the park has committed to keeping the ride and keeping it running great. La Revolucion is still closed but the refurb they've been doing on this looks great. It appears to be very close to reopening. The new gardens look very nice and I sat here for awhile buying Season Passes for the rest of the family since it was the last day of the sale. Isn't technology awesome? =) Xcelerator was running 1 train. Seriously, when is the last time this actually ran 2 trains? It's been years since I've seen 2 trains running on it. There have been a LOT of rumors going around regarding Xcelerator and it moving to another park. While I love this ride (it's in my top 20) I don't think I'd be heartbroken if it got moved. Just depends on what would end up in this spot. Maybe a modern re-make of the Soap Box Racers? I don't think any Knott's fan would be mad at that. Not really a refurb, but Black Magic is still standing, as were quite a few of the other Haunt mazes. I saw Daniel Miller walking around and was going to ask him if I could go through. But he seemed busy. =) Riptide is closed again. It went through a pretty major rehab, opened for a bit and then closed again. Pony Express is running 1 train Some work is going on near the Schoolhouse. Not sure what, but they are building "something". Ghostrider is also running 1 train. I took a ride and it was probably the best ride I've had on Ghostrider in 5 or 6 years. It's still not "1998 Ghostrider", but it's probably the best woodie in Southern California at this point. New Sandwich ShopLastly, with very little fanfare, the popular Pink's hot dogs was replaced with an all new sandwich shop. While I really do like Pink's, it's hard to argue with the results of the new shop, I was very impressed. It actually does fit the market place quite a bit better than Pink's did. A look at the menu, it all sounds good. It was rather warm so I opted for a cold sub, The Boardwalk Sub. It was very good and very filling. While the prices may seem high, with the Cedar Fair Platinum discount my sandwich was around $7. Pretty good for "theme park" prices. And even without chips or a side, it was enough to fill me up. That's going to wrap it up for today's update, we'll have another Knott's update in a couple of weeks when Merry Farm kicks off. We are trying to finalize our Holiday schedule now, it seems there are as many events for Christmas as there was for Halloween. Which is great!! |
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