Knott’s Scary Farm 2025

[Rideguy70]

I heard Log Ride is having a haunt overly (I'm assuming only props, not live scareactors). Figuring that would also be available during the day?

Also, nothing for Calico Mine Train?

 

[Viator]

I heard Log Ride is having a haunt overly (I'm assuming only props, not live scareactors). Figuring that would also be available during the day?

Also, nothing for Calico Mine Train?

Haunted Hootenanny is back, I'd presume as it has for the past few years but considering entertainment cuts with the Walter Knott Theater not getting anything (they seriously couldn't try getting Puppet Up back?), I think I wouldn't be surprised if they cut corners on eliminating actors from the equation.

 

[Tobias]

I heard Log Ride is having a haunt overly (I'm assuming only props, not live scareactors). Figuring that would also be available during the day?

Also, nothing for Calico Mine Train?

Correct, the Halloween Hootenanny overlay is available during the day.

As for the Mine Train, no word on the return of the Candy Mine Train overlay. While that overlay was quite the fever dream, I think it's run its course.

 

[cdogsumo]

Everything Announced at Knott's Scary Farm Nightmares Revealed 2025 | All Hallows Geek

The zoo seems very unique and Mary kind of bland. Very excited for them to bring back the flashlight gimmick, although doing it only for an hour or two each night is interesting logistically.

Haunted Hootenanny is back, I'd presume as it has for the past few years but considering entertainment cuts with the Walter Knott Theater not getting anything (they seriously couldn't try getting Puppet Up back?), I think I wouldn't be surprised if they cut corners on eliminating actors from the equation.

Have the Hootenanny and The Candy Mine Train ever had live actors? I thought they eliminated them after the Sleepy Hollow overlay in the 2010’s…

 

[Viator]

Everything Announced at Knott's Scary Farm Nightmares Revealed 2025 | All Hallows Geek

The zoo seems very unique and Mary kind of bland. Very excited for them to bring back the flashlight gimmick, although doing it only for an hour or two each night is interesting logistically.


Have the Hootenanny and The Candy Mine Train ever had live actors? I thought they eliminated them after the Sleepy Hollow overlay in the 2010’s…

I believe they did get them back, Hootenanny specifically had them in the late 2010's if my memory is serving me right.

As for the Arkham house--I had been on the train since the start that it didn't make sense logistically.

I genuinely think the only reason why there are IP's from WBD for SF Fright Fest, is likely out of a legal contractual element of the licensing that'd come from a multi-year contract. Once that ends, which I have to think is coming near; they will remove WBD from the equation of Fright Fest for the sake of The Conjuring.

I never understood the rationale of Knotts going for Arkham. And while I was off on the idea of it being a "Prison/Asylum" house; I think The Zoo hits a certain note that has been missing for a while from the haunt scene.

Hybrid concepts are cool, and i'm down to see what Knotts thought of (especially with the op element of the change-over to a flashlight only house after x amount of time).

Forgot to add in some thoughts on Mary.

I wonder what was the legal discussions with Mary. Surely they would've known that if they did this, they would need to get licensing agreements for "X" amount of years with Bobbie Weiner; and surely they wouldn't be flying it under the attempt to not alert Weiner. Makes me genuinely wonder what will happen if they did try to fly it under the radar, and what will happen now.

Kind of have to wonder if it might actually force a "Last Minute" change if it gets ugly. Really don't know why KSF chose to do this specific theme.

 

[DTH]

I guess I'll be first to say I'm mixed on The Zoo, seems like a concept that could be really corny. I'm also not a fan of the "after 11pm" angle because that encourages hitting the maze twice when usually that area becomes a ghost town (hehe) at that time. Logistically, smart on their part to keep people over there, but selfishly, it sucks for those with a game plan. I might only do one version and call it a day.

I love Bloody Mary, while typical, I just think it's such a fun concept to pull off at a Haunt. I already know the ending will be something insanely over the top like going into a mirror realm. I didn't realize Bloody Mary was under copyright, that's interesting. Maybe the rights are specifically the name, but they can use whatever lore they want, including the use of the name in the attraction, just not as the name of the attraction itself. Rights can be tricky like that.

 

[Tobias]

I love Bloody Mary, while typical, I just think it's such a fun concept to pull off at a Haunt. I already know the ending will be something insanely over the top like going into a mirror realm. I didn't realize Bloody Mary was under copyright, that's interesting. Maybe the rights are specifically the name, but they can use whatever lore they want, including the use of the name in the attraction, just not as the name of the attraction itself. Rights can be tricky like that.

Bloody Mary's history is a tad complicated as someone actually does have Bloody Mary under trademark for entertainment purposes. Universal Orlando did have to pay them in 2008 so they could have Bloody Mary. (Though Universal also created Dr. Mary Agana who does belong to them.)

From what I understand, the general myth of Bloody Mary is under public domain, but the friggin' name is where things will get dicey, and it's probably why the house is called "Mary: The Haunting of Worth Home", with no mention of Bloody Mary.

 

[Viator]

Bloody Mary's history is a tad complicated as someone actually does have Bloody Mary under trademark for entertainment purposes. Universal Orlando did have to pay them in 2008 so they could have Bloody Mary. (Though Universal also created Dr. Mary Agana who does belong to them.)

From what I understand, the general myth of Bloody Mary is under public domain, but the friggin' name is where things will get dicey, and it's probably why the house is called "Mary: The Haunting of Worth Home", with no mention of Bloody Mary.

To that end then--wouldn't they of reduced the name down when it came to the promotional in the trailer? I wonder where the thin line would be with that.

 

[Tobias]

To that end then--wouldn't they of reduced the name down when it came to the promotional in the trailer? I wonder where the thin line would be with that.

That I am not 100% sure of, but I feel saying her name three times falls under the general myth which is public domain. I could be totally wrong, but once again this whole thing with Blood Mary is complicated.

 

[DTH]

From what I just researched on Bloody Mary, the name must be licensed in order to be used solely for the name of a project. However, Bloody Mary as a character falls under public domain along with the rest of the lore. So you can have an entire movie about Bloody Mary, show her, say her name, have it written in various places within the movie, etc. -- but the movie itself cannot be named Bloody Mary. I assume anything derivative like Crimson Mary or Mary Bloody or Bloody Marie would result in a cease and desist for trying to infringe on the Bloody Mary name. Meanwhile, Mary is just a name.

Honestly, they should've just come up with their own legend, Candyman style.

 

[deadbydawn]

The event last night was fun, but I am seeing a lot of discourse online (not here) about it from what seems like people who weren't there. The main live show always runs a little after 7 PM and honestly, the stage lighting looked much better once the sun had set a little bit. I think the Boulet Brothers were a good addition as well, although I think they forgot to mention the dates they'd be appearing at the Legacy Store!

All in all, I am not sure if the price of the event now justifies what they are offering but that will come down to personal preference.

As for Scary Farm itself, I am always optimistic about the new mazes. The Zoo sounds like a really fun concept. Hearing that the flashlights will be coming back for the 11 PM lights off treatment is exciting, so I hope it lasts. Mary: The Haunting of Worth Home has the potential to be very scary as well.

I am a little baffled as to why there is no "main" show in the Walter Knott Theater. I can't remember the last time the theater was dark for the entire season.

 

[Wishmaster]

This was first time attending NR. We got there right before the announcements started. The presentation was fun. I’m excited for The Zoo and Mary. Mesmer and Widows will still be great mazes to look forward to this year. I don’t like the limited food options that were available. I had 2 BBQ burgers that were mid but SPICY. I dumped as much ranch as I could. The strawberry lemonade was the best item I bought. Grimoire (which I don’t like) was fun to see with the lights on. I hate the Grimoire queue so much and will celebrate this maze leaving KSF. The scare actors were good as always. I hope they bring back late night breakfast. Overall, I enjoyed my first trip to NR.

 

[Clive]

I am a little baffled as to why there is no "main" show in the Walter Knott Theater. I can't remember the last time the theater was dark for the entire season.

Thanks, Six Flags!

 

[deadbydawn]

Thanks, Six Flags!

Unfortunately, my first thought.

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

Two new mazes: The Zoo and Mary.

The houses sound better than last year for sure! Looks like those IP rumors were false though. I love the feature of having the Zoo turn out all the lights at 11!

I may be in the minority, but I absolutely loved Trick or Treat Lights Out, so hearing that format was returning in any capacity shot the zoo way up on my radar. It's probably still gonna be an operational nightmare, and frankly starting at 11 pm feels like a pretty limited window to check it out compounded with that, but the Lights Out format added a dose of creepy urbex realism I haven't been able to recapture the feeling of since.

 

[Clive]

I may be in the minority, but I absolutely loved Trick or Treat Lights Out, so hearing that format was returning in any capacity shot the zoo way up on my radar. It's probably still gonna be an operational nightmare, and frankly starting at 11 pm feels like a pretty limited window to check it out compounded with that, but the Lights Out format added a dose of creepy urbex realism I haven't been able to recapture the feeling of since.

I received some of my best scares in SoCal in Trick or Treat Lights Out. It's an underrated gimmick when everything's working as designed.

I'm concerned about the crowds, but as @DTH pointed out, this also serves to encourage crowds to circle back to the Ghostrider maze cul-de-sac toward the end of the night. We'll see what happens!

 

[DTH]

I'm also curious from an operational standpoint. If the line is an hour at 10pm and you're walking in 11pm wanting to see the original version, is it just tough luck? I can't imagine they'd close out the line so they can restart operations at 11pm. Next thought, will there be a stall of guests at 10:50pm? Sometimes going through a maze can legit take 10 minutes. They're not gonna just shut the lights off on people with no flashlights who are still in there. Or do they just give them flashlights pre-emptively, and they get out of the maze at 10:57pm, missing out on the entire effect just walking through with a flashlight for no reason? LOL surely all these questions will be answered opening weekend, but I do wonder these answers ahead of time as it could change how I decide to gameplan.

I feel like most people are going to not know about the lights off version or won't care and just do the maze one, depending on when they naturally get there. Maybe it won't be a cluster at 11pm afterall, but that's me just hoping.

 

[Clive]

I'm also curious from an operational standpoint. If the line is an hour at 10pm and you're walking in 11pm wanting to see the original version, is it just tough luck? I can't imagine they'd close out the line so they can restart operations at 11pm. Next thought, will there be a stall of guests at 10:50pm? Sometimes going through a maze can legit take 10 minutes. They're not gonna just shut the lights off on people with no flashlights who are still in there. Or do they just give them flashlights pre-emptively, and they get out of the maze at 10:57pm, missing out on the entire effect just walking through with a flashlight for no reason? LOL surely all these questions will be answered opening weekend, but I do wonder these answers ahead of time as it could change how I decide to gameplan.

I feel like most people are going to not know about the lights off version or won't care and just do the maze one, depending on when they naturally get there. Maybe it won't be a cluster at 11pm afterall, but that's me just hoping.

My guess is most people won't care or even realize there are two distinct experiences. They'll probably stop people from entering around 10:55, let anyone still inside move through, flip the switch, and start handing out flashlights.

 

[Freak]

I'm also curious from an operational standpoint. If the line is an hour at 10pm and you're walking in 11pm wanting to see the original version, is it just tough luck? I can't imagine they'd close out the line so they can restart operations at 11pm. Next thought, will there be a stall of guests at 10:50pm? Sometimes going through a maze can legit take 10 minutes. They're not gonna just shut the lights off on people with no flashlights who are still in there. Or do they just give them flashlights pre-emptively, and they get out of the maze at 10:57pm, missing out on the entire effect just walking through with a flashlight for no reason? LOL surely all these questions will be answered opening weekend, but I do wonder these answers ahead of time as it could change how I decide to gameplan.

I feel like most people are going to not know about the lights off version or won't care and just do the maze one, depending on when they naturally get there. Maybe it won't be a cluster at 11pm afterall, but that's me just hoping.

My guess is most people won't care or even realize there are two distinct experiences. They'll probably stop people from entering around 10:55, let anyone still inside move through, flip the switch, and start handing out flashlights.

This was back when they just started doing this but what I could see them do is do something similar to what they did for Monsters After Dark for Guardians at DCA: Have an employee hold up a sign in line where the cutoff point is where they will have the lights-out experience.

 

[Tobias]

I may be in the minority, but I absolutely loved Trick or Treat Lights Out, so hearing that format was returning in any capacity shot the zoo way up on my radar. It's probably still gonna be an operational nightmare, and frankly starting at 11 pm feels like a pretty limited window to check it out compounded with that, but the Lights Out format added a dose of creepy urbex realism I haven't been able to recapture the feeling of since.

I received some of my best scares in SoCal in Trick or Treat Lights Out. It's an underrated gimmick when everything's working as designed.

I'm concerned about the crowds, but as @DTH pointed out, this also serves to encourage crowds to circle back to the Ghostrider maze cul-de-sac toward the end of the night. We'll see what happens!

While I never got to experience Trick or Treat: Lights Out, it honestly looked really cool and creepy. Plus, I find the flashlight gimmick way more intriguing than a lazer gun, especially since the flashlights aid in ratcheting tension and providing scares. Where as the guns, you're more focused on shooting things and you can honestly miss a lot in the action.

And I think the Zoo is a great theme to bring the lights out/flashlight gimmick back. Anything abandoned (such as a zoo), or a facility where things have gone horribly wrong (such as the military base/lab in said zoo!) is pretty fitting. Especially when you're dealing with human animal hybrids who can probably see in the dark very well.

I too, am very curious to see how ops shakes out with the changeover. But I think a factor of them doing it this way is because it'll allow us to see what the house looks like normally beforehand, and then we'll see the sinister juxtaposition of going through it in the dark. Meanwhile Trick or Treat was lit up for years before going dark, so most folks could remember what it was before the notable change.