Knott's Scary Farm 2021

[Jerroddragon]

Anyone know which theater they are hosting Puppets up in?

 

[Freak]

Anyone know which theater they are hosting Puppets up in?

Charles Schultz Theater where they had Elvira last time.

 

[DTH]

Anyone have a solid game plan for those doing GA?

 

[Water Bottle]

Anyone have a solid game plan for those doing GA?

get as early as possible, do paranormal, wax works, then depths. then origins, Mesmer, dark ride. Can save dark entities and pumpkin eater for anytime as they have no lines almost always.

Charles Schultz Theater where they had Elvira last time.

um actually its the Walter Knott Theater not Schultz get it right

 

[Clive]

get as early as possible, do paranormal, wax works, then depths. then origins, Mesmer, dark ride. Can save dark entities and pumpkin eater for anytime as they have no lines almost always.


um actually its the Walter Knott Theater not Schultz get it right

Can we do without the rudeness? It used to be called the Schultz Theater until fairly recently. A reminder to everyone to not double post.

 

[Tobias]

Back home safe and sound from my trip, I've definitely got a lot to say since this was my first time and I've been wanting to go for over a decade.

As a pre-face, growing up as a kid I hated anything scary. But one day I came across UltimateHaunt, and something switched from seeing all the photos and whatnot. I got a huge curiosity, which led to discovering ThemeParkAdventure, watching American Werewolf in London for the first time and it spiraled into hobby and fandom choices which I'm still firmly in to this day. So to finally attend the event which really set everything off, needless to say it was pretty darn special!

I was there Friday and Saturday (9/17 & 9/18), did the Pre-Scare Dinner Boo-fet both nights, first at the hotel and then in the park, and that's definitely the way to go for the event. (The spread in the hotel is smaller than the park, but still nice.) The food was good, I definitely got hooked on the Bosenberry Punch and Pie, and the interactions with the monsters were great as well. An with the 30 minute early entry into the backstage mazes you can easily hit up a good chunk or all four mazes and still make it to opening ceremonies in Ghost Town. It's easier to hit up all four on a quieter night, along with Fright Lane which I had.

Speaking of opening ceremonies, that was something else! In HHN Orlando, that type of thing you're better off seeing a video of since in order to see it proper you gotta' be there early outside the gates, and while it's it a nice little thing it's not something I would go outta' the way to experience. Knott's on the other hand, with the whole build up with the Conductor and seeing all the Ghost Town monsters emerge from the fog, that gave me some serious chills....and then came the battleground charge which was pure chaos. One of the first signs where they really don't mess around here, and it's a killer way to start the event.

Covid Procedures

Before I get into the main bulk of things, I figure it's a good spot to mention what stuff was in place since I didn't see many folks commenting on it. For the mazes and indoor shows, Masks are recommended but not required. The monsters were a mix of wearing full masks, facemasks or none at all. The majority of the ones who were wearing a facemask had it dressed up so it blended pretty well with their overall look.

Now as for extra barriers, windows, plexiglass, vinyl etc...there is None, Zip, Zilch, ZERO. The only barriers were the ones that were originally part of the design, so the scares are fully open and the monsters can attack as they please.

I know mileage may and will vary with this sort of thing, so exercise caution with however you prefer things. Personally for me, I was fine with it. I'm fully vaccinated and I was wearing my facemask for all the mazes, indoor shows and through the streets.

-------

Now with that out of the way, time to take on the meat and potatoes of the event, starting with the 8 mazes in the next post.

 

[Tobias]

Part 2 - The Mazes

For this, I'm gonna' go in chronological order when the mazes first came out, starting with a maze which we know is having it's Final Season...

Paranormal Inc. (2015) - When this maze debuted, it was hard to miss the buzz it generated. From it's pre-show which kicks things off with a BANG, to the stunts and eerie effects, this maze felt like the start of a new era for Scary Farm. An from a lurker standpoint at the time, it felt this this was a turning point where Knott's started turning things around and showing they're still the original of theme park haunts. For it's Final Season, it left a nice impression on me! The scares were plentiful, I loved the frantic pace it provides and the curveballs it throws at the end.

I also had a very memorable final run. I was near one of the entry doors in the preshow, and the couple in front of me got the message pretty quick to BOOK IT through the maze, leaving me with essentially a solo run as I was trying to keep up with them. That led to a lot of rapid fire scares, leading to encountering the stilt walker who DESTROYED me. Seriously, if I didn't catch myself at the very last possible second, I would've been flat on the ground harder than the infamous candle scene in Graveyard Games laid me out in 2019. That was the hardest hitting scare I got this weekend, so it made for a fantastic Final Season for this maze.

Farewell, Paranormal Inc. Thanks for all the memories and I hope whatever takes your place is just as good, if not better!

Dark Ride (2017) - So as a theme park/haunt fan, this is a DREAM THEME. A dilapidated dark ride going on the fritz with a bunch of clowns/freaks running amuck? Yes please! There's a ton of wonderful details in this maze, with some pretty nice scares and interactions with the monster as well. Now with this maze, I think I had unfortunate timing throughout the whole weekend since out of all the mazes, this one would feel the most sparse with monsters. It's nature of the beast with any haunt which doesn't have the A/B casts like HHN, but I still enjoyed this maze quite a bit.

Pumpkin Eater (2017) - Out of the 8 mazes, this one firmly landed it's place as the Biggest Surprise for me! When it came out, it felt like it was overshadowed by Dark Ride, Trick or Treat: Lights Out, the Log ride overlay etc, and then it stayed in the background when more new stuff came in. So my expectations were pretty low for it, and it ended up being one of the most consistently scary mazes for me! I didn't expect this maze to be so dark and foggy, which led to some killer scares all around. There was some nice surprising set pieces and effects, and I had a memorable run on Saturday which had quite the groups in front of and behind of me all freaked out, leading to the entire run being mass pandemonium screaming. The cast of this maze took full advantage of that which made for a crazy run. All in all, this maze held up nicely with the more showy and grand mazes!

Dark Entities (2018) - I'm always down for a sci-fi/space type of theme, and this one delivered pretty nicely! The set's were nice and there were some neat effects, too! Now I know I said Pumpkin Eater felt overlooked, but I think I can safely say this maze is the most overlooked of the bunch since it really didn't get much of a line at all. First couple run-throughs felt a little hit or miss, but the hit's it delivered were some of the harder ones I took over the weekend. An then I had a solo run in early entry on Saturday and that cast was amped up as they got me really good in there.

The Depths (2018) - I'm just gonna' come out and say it, I love this maze! From the first run-through where I was with either one of the designers/talent coordinators (who happily proclaimed how their monsters still get them), to my 6th run-through where the cast was still giving it to me just as hard, this maze just delivered for me. It's got the sets, the creative scares, the aggro monsters, just...YES, YES, YES, all of it!

Origins: The Curse of Calico (2019) - Just like when Paranormal Inc. turned heads back in 2015, it was also hard to ignore the hype Origins got back in 2019. It's very easy to see why, from the sets which have some serious jaw-dropper moments, to the variety of effects, to the sheer fact this maze is a love letter to both the park and Scary Farm itself, there's a lot to love about this maze! It's perfectly engrained with Ghost Town itself, and let's face it this maze get's serious brownie points for giving us Catawampus. (Who got me really good in a solo run on Saturday.)

Wax Works (2019) - Not to be outdone, Wax Works proudly stands on it's own as a very twisted and disturbing maze. From the creepy queue videos and façade, to the nightmarish works of art inside, this house left quite an impression on me whether I wanted it to or not. My first run-through was something else, since certain mannequins can freak me out. Not every one is gonna' do that, but here...well I was incredibly unnerved going through this for the first time! It got under my skin and wriggled about something fierce, so I was pretty susceptible to every scare. That said, I do honestly enjoy this maze! Without a doubt there's a ton of creepy details to take in, and I loved the touch of the GAT's in a couple scenes! They're nowhere near as obvious at any of those in HHN Orlando, so it was a nice discovery!

Mesmer: Sideshow of the Mind (2021) - At last, the newest maze for the year, and it impressed the heck outta' me! When it was first announced, I was hoping for some kind of cerebral mind-screw of a maze, and it delivered that in ways I never would've expected! It really is an experience, one that lulls you into a trance (which let's face it, that's perfect for the theme) and guides you through this dreamscape both surreal and nightmarish, calming yet unnerving, simple yet deceptive and downright disorienting. I've never been in something which nails that feeling of a trance like this, it stands out nicely amongst the rest due to that and adds variety to the lineup. Now I think this maze is better experienced on a quieter night so you can really take in the sounds, narration and really be pulled in. @deadbydawn really nailed it that many of the rooms here feel like a finale room, but here's it's back to back to back, and it's a nicely sized maze for all the big set pieces it has. All in all, a great new addition to the line up, and one that's gonna' stick with me due to what it pulls off.

------

That does it for the mazes, next up I'm gonna' talk about the shows, food, re-themed rides, scare zones and my final thoughts.

 

[Tobias]

Final Part - Shows, Food, Rethemed Rides, Scare Zones and Final Thoughts

Invitation to Terror - So having absolutely no idea what to expect with this show except it takes place in the Mystery Lodge, I was pleasantly surprised by this! From it's amusingly corny-yet-probably-accurate-to-a-trade-show preshow, to it's eerie main show which makes great use of the tech. It's a fun little diversion and another nice bit of variety to the event! Go in with low expectations, and enjoy whatever may happen.

Puppet Up! Uncensored (Saw the first showing on Friday, and the Second on Saturday) - This is without a doubt the most unique and adult headlining show I've ever seen in a theme park, like I have no idea how the hell they got this show, let alone uncensored, but I'm very glad they did since this show is a total riot! I've been looking forward to seeing this show for a while since I've known about it well before it ever came to haunt, and it didn't disappoint one bit. An it's so worth seeing multiple shows due to how wildly unpredictable in nature the show is. That and different skits are performed as well, be it improve-wise and Classic Jim Henson/Frank Oz puppet skits which get just as much laughs from the improv skits!

So just for a little taste of some of the suggestions that were performed on stage, we had Cooking Meth, a employee training video for Condom Testers, a game-show about Grandma's, a getaway from a Sperm Bank which led to some existential meta-shenanigan's over one puppeteer forgetting what was said a couple lines back, and a news flash report of Florida Man attacking a Puppeteer at the Magic Kingdom. Overall, you never know what's gonna' be in store, and it's well worth seeing!

Food

So besides the tasty offerings at the Boo-fet, I was able to try multiple things during the event. The three main things were the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Churro which was a wonderful dessert, the Freaky Frog legs which also made for a nice snack. An the big surprise for me was the Petrified Pizza Burger (a burger where the top "bun" is a mini pepperoni pizza), which worked really well for me!

Rethemed Rides

For the two rides, I really enjoyed the Timber Mountain Log Ride: Halloween Hootenanny! By itself that log ride is great, with some nice theming and a surprisingly quick pace, the additional stuff for the overlay is really nice and makes for a fun diversion from everything else.

As for the Calico Mine Ride (Or Calico Candy Mine), I did enjoy the ride itself, though the overlay is pretty sparse. The main differences being lighting and audio, complete with a lil lightshow moment which I wasn't expecting...which makes me wish there was more than just the lights changing since a projection or something could've given it a bigger punch than a "WTF" one it gives.

That should do it for that, lastly is something the event is known for, plus my final thoughts.

Scare Zones

Instead of talking about each one individually, I figure I can talk about them as a group. Learning about the event, it's easy to see that Knott's is known for their scare zones. Where one fateful night of missing key's to the Ghost Town peek-in's led to turning the monsters loose on the streets and creating the infamous zones. As the years went by zones have come and gone, or grown and grown. Each one with their own different vibe, setting and cast of monsters. Now before I attended this event, any Scare Zone I've encountered at local parks or HHN Orlando has been...well anything but. They're fun atmospheric places to walk through, but I've never really found them scary. Sure, there would be one or two monsters who can get a little jolt out of me, but that's about it.

So how did Knott's fare? Well they're the Grand-Daddy of Haunts for a multitude of reasons, and Scare Zones live up to the name here! Traversing the park was a minefield, never knowing who or what was gonna' get me next. From the fog-choked streets of Ghost Town and Forsaken Lake, to the darkness of the Hallow, to the candy-colored gauntlet of Carnevil to a stroll down Memory Lane of the Gore-ing 20's, where a gaze up at the swingin' band might lead to dodging a wrench or two.

My hat's off to the Men and Women working the streets, both nights they were just aggressive as all heck and made the journey through the park all the better.

Final Thoughts

So after a decade of waiting, I can happily say Knott's lived up to my personal hype and then some. With great atmosphere throughout the park, fun shows, good food, creativity out the wazoo with the mazes and killer scare zones, Knott's Scary Farm stands proudly as the Grand-Daddy of Theme Park Haunts. It's been around for quite a while, and it clearly still has it! I look forward to returning, and depending how my year goes it could lead to some fun opportunities...

Either way, I'll leave my report with a couple memorable moments from the zones.

Where the HECK did you come from?! - Carnevil definitely has one of the more unique challenges when it comes to zones, since a major strip is brightly lit. That doesn't stop them from going all out, and it made one moment all the more impressive. I was going down the main boardwalk and there was no one ahead of me, I glance over to the side where a clown was hanging over doing the usual clown stuff. I then look back forward and there's One. Single. Clown. running full speed straight at me. (Had like a greasy black chin/neck, t'was often seen with a trombone, too.) I don't know where on earth he came from, but holy heck that got me good! Easily one of the biggest scare zone scares I've gotten.

I knew Bo' looked tall in pictures, but... - So on Saturday night, I came across Bo' who looked quite a bit taller then from what I've seen in pics since they were on stilts. I called out to them and mentioned they looked quite a bit taller than before, and I wasn't prepared for them to stomp on over, loom right over me and crouch way down in a stare down where I had to lean waaay back without falling. T'was a pretty awesome yet intimidating moment!

The MVP of Fog Alley - Not surprisingly, Fog Alley in GTS was a good source of very unnerving trips. You never knew what was lurking inside and one trip on Friday led to a series of memorable moments for both nights. I was going through Fog Alley and the fog cleared enough where I could see clearly at head level (but not below that.) I turn my head and in the distance I see a tall skeleton wearing what looked like a bowler hat, we locked eyes for a second, and they immediately lunge in my direction and ducked into the thick fog to disappear completely. Mentally I had the biggest "OH SH!T", but that's all I could think before they popped right back up in front of me. That right there was the best scare zone scare I've gotten so far, and after that they had a knack for getting the best of me anytime we came across each other in Fog Alley. My hat's off to them since they were a highlight of the trip, and one of the many monsters who made Scary Farm such a blast.

-Tobias

 

[HHNManics]

Puppet Up! Uncensored (Saw the first showing on Friday, and the Second on Saturday) - This is without a doubt the most unique and adult headlining show I've ever seen in a theme park, like I have no idea how the hell they got this show, let alone uncensored, but I'm very glad they did since this show is a total riot! I've been looking forward to seeing this show for a while since I've known about it well before it ever came to haunt, and it didn't disappoint one bit. An it's so worth seeing multiple shows due to how wildly unpredictable in nature the show is. That and different skits are performed as well, be it improve-wise and Classic Jim Henson/Frank Oz puppet skits which get just as much laughs from the improv skits!

So just for a little taste of some of the suggestions that were performed on stage, we had Cooking Meth, a employee training video for Condom Testers, a game-show about Grandma's, a getaway from a Sperm Bank which led to some existential meta-shenanigan's over one puppeteer forgetting what was said a couple lines back, and a news flash report of Florida Man attacking a Puppeteer at the Magic Kingdom. Overall, you never know what's gonna' be in store, and it's well worth seeing!

Pretty sure we were at the Same Showing on Friday haha. But glad to hear you had a great time. I thought Knotts was pretty excellent this year.

Anyone have a solid game plan for those doing GA?

Honestly it's kinda hard for me to say since I did Boofet both days I was there (9/16 and 9/17) but your best bet would do Origins first and then haul over to Mesmer. Those 2 were very popular when I went that and Paranormal Inc (Which you should save for last when most people have done it).

Definitely do Origins and Mesmer first and do the others in any order.

 

[Stryker]

I tried most of the Scary Farm food items during the day yesterday that were dining plan eligible so no desserts or drink options. They're supposed to be offered 7 days a week during the day as well, but it seems some locations didn't have it set up in the register to have it meal plan eligible. Maybe things will get ironed out in the coming days.

Fried Pickle Spears - This was an item that had the dining plan sticker next to it, yet the cashier said the register wouldn't allow her to ring it up on the dining plan, so I wasn't able to get it. Maybe next time.

Goulie Goulash Mac n Cheese w/Hamburger Meat - This was probably the best thing they offered that I've tried so far. However, there isn't much ground beef. You had to really dig around to find any. Could've been much better with more beef.

Mummy Dog - Exactly what I expected. A hot dog in puff pastry. Not bad, but nothing special.

Carnage Chupacabra Burger - Another thing that's not hard to imagine what it tastes like - a cheeseburger with a split hot dog in it. The bun was kinda dry even after adding mayo so I ended up removing the hot dog and bun and just lettuce-wrapped the patty. Would've preferred a nice brioche or pretzel bun instead. Oh well. At least it's worthy of an Instagram shot.

Chorizo Pizza - Not bad if you like chorizo.

Petrified Pizza Burger - Again, not hard to imagine what it tastes like. Think taking a bit of a pepperoni pizza and cheeseburger patty at the same time. Not bad, but I ended up eating the pizza and burger patty separately.

Spaghetti & Spicy Meatball - This was the worst item I tried. The meatball is not spicy at all. All I tasted was vinegar. Even after wiping the sauce off the meatballs, all I tasted was vinegar so it's baked into the meatballs and not just the sauce. The spaghetti and sauce was not good either. Won't be getting this again.

I don't do frog legs so I won't be trying that. Some say it tastes like chicken. No thanks. I'll stick to chicken.

There's still a few more items to try on my next visit. Overall, everything was fun to try, but most was just ok. Nothing really was a must try, but at least the theming was there.

 

[Water Bottle]

Can we do without the rudeness? It used to be called the Schultz Theater until fairly recently. A reminder to everyone to not double post.

Lol bruh I was being sarcastic

 

[Clive]

Lol bruh I was being sarcastic

Frankly, it doesn’t matter. The way it was written was unnecessary.

Moving on.

 

[Water Bottle]

Frankly, it doesn’t matter. The way it was written was unnecessary.

Moving on.

BruhI can't make a joke even when I clarify? Didn't harass or bully the person. Didn't cuss or anything.

 

[Clive]

BruhI can't make a joke even when I clarify? Didn't harass or bully the person. Didn't cuss or anything.

It didn’t read as a joke, and I just asked you to move on. Drop it.

 

[DTH]

Definitely do Origins and Mesmer first and do the others in any order.

Do either of those suffer bad from lightbleed? I was thinking of doing the backstage mazes behind Ghostrider first since they're inside to avoid light issues. Either that, or working around the park from the back to the front.

 

[HHNManics]

Do either of those suffer bad from lightbleed? I was thinking of doing the backstage mazes behind Ghostrider first since they're inside to avoid light issues. Either that, or working around the park from the back to the front.

Mesmer has 1 or 2 scenes that suffer. Origins has the same amount as well. I would say this applies to Wax Works and Depths as well.

 

[Tobias]

Do either of those suffer bad from lightbleed? I was thinking of doing the backstage mazes behind Ghostrider first since they're inside to avoid light issues. Either that, or working around the park from the back to the front.

I think the only maze which doesn't have any sort of lightbleed is Dark Ride. All the other ones go outside of their buildings at some point, and in the case of the GT backstage mazes the buildings themselves have translucent sections of the roof so there's gonna' be some form of lightbleed. Personally it didn't bother me, but mileage may vary on that.

 

[deadbydawn]

Not having a pass for Scary Farm this year is still a bummer. I wish they would have at least offered multi-day tickets or something. Hoping to make it back at least one more time before the season is over.

 

[DTH]

Mesmer has 1 or 2 scenes that suffer. Origins has the same amount as well. I would say this applies to Wax Works and Depths as well.

I don't think I'll mind the lightbleed on Depths since I've done it before and Wax Works I have little interest in, but if I hit backstage mazes first, maybe I can save that for the last of the bunch. Mesmer is new, so I want to see it in tip top shape and Origins will also be new to me and highly anticipated, so I wanna see it at its best!

 

[deadbydawn]

I don't think I'll mind the lightbleed on Depths since I've done it before and Wax Works I have little interest in, but if I hit backstage mazes first, maybe I can save that for the last of the bunch. Mesmer is new, so I want to see it in tip top shape and Origins will also be new to me and highly anticipated, so I wanna see it at its best!

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them both! They are top tier Knott's mazes IMO.