KBF Update 4:26:17

Knott's berry Farm Update: Sol Spin, around the park, and R.I.P. Boomerang

We've got a busy week ahead of us, with plenty of local parks content. Today, we're going to actually start things with a trek over to Knott's Berry Farm, which, this past weekend, saw the quiet debut of their 2017 capital improvement, Sol Spin, plus the last weekend of the tasty Boysenberry Festival, and the final operating day ever for the legendary and notorious Boomerang roller coaster. Plus, since I was around the parks, I decided to take some nice golden hour photos to showcase more of the beauty of America's first theme park!

Read the rest at WestCoaster

California Sports was cleared out and walled off last night

As expected, the California Sports gift shop now joins Boomerang behind the construction walls. It was cleared out last night and taken off the website.

Knott’s Berry Farm Photo Update- Spring Turns To Summer

Welcome back to the Farm! We are taking a look at this happy little park just as spring break ends and they prepare for Summer. One thing is for sure, the Boysenberry Festival was a huge hit this year and the park was packed every weekend throughout April. And just to keep things interesting, a new flat ride has opened in Fiesta Village and an old favorite has closed on the Boardwalk.

Read there rest at MiceChat

Boomerang removed from park map

Well Knott's latest park map is online and it shows Boomerang removed. It also has a new design for Boardwalk BBQ but I'm not sure how accurate their horribly stylized map is.

You can check it out at KnottsBerryFarm

Boomerang already being disassembled

Self ordering now available in Coasters Diner

Glass Blower shop at Knott’s Berry Farm closing after 45 years

A longtime fixture at Knott’s Berry Farm is closing its doors. Linda Cole, proprietor of the Glass Blower shop at the theme park, decided it was time to step back from working there every day and close its doors.

“The folks at Knott’s have been absolutely wonderful to us,” she said.

Cole, who spent many years creating miniature figures and more, such as a glass purple boysenberry, has been creating objects like that, along with glass bees, horses and more, since learning the trade from her father.

The shop got started in 1972, when more senior members of her family, including her father, shook hands with Walter Knott to place the shop in the farm. It has been at several locations around the park, before settling into the building that housed the Mill in Ghost Town years ago.

“I was there in Walter Knott’s office when they shook hands,” she said.

Read the rest at the OCRegister

Walls up around Boomerang and Riptide area

Seriously, yesterday was Boomerang's last night and Knott's didn't waste any time. Construction walls have gone up all around the area. Whatever they're building for 2018, they must anticipate needing a little extra time (maybe they've been holding back with going vertical on Boardwalk BBQ until Boomerang is entirely removed). It looks like they're put some kind of signage on the walls. Hopefully its a hint at whats to come and that whatever it is warrants the hype they're creating.

Live webcams of the construction can be seen at KnottsBerryFarm

Long-time Disney talent joins Knott's entertainment team

Eric Nix joins as Producer in Entertainment and Mitch Atkins joins as Director of Productions, all under the leadership of Ken Parks. I honestly can't wait to see what they bring to the table along with all the other talented folks at Knott's.

Knott's Berry Farm pays tribute to flavors from its past in fun new ways with its annual Boysenberry Festival

Visit any retailer this week and you'll discover the remnants of Easter. Half-priced Peeps and the like.

But holidays that are already in the rear mirror don't interest Russ Knibbs. As the Vice President of Food & Beverage at Knott's Berry Farm, he's always more concerned with occasions that are still months away. Take - for example - how America's first theme park plans on celebrating Christmas in 2017.

"We're already talking about Knott's Merry Farm, which runs at our park in November, December and part of January," Knibbs admitted during a recent phone interview. "My culinary team and I are already discussing some fun new seasonal food items that we may offer at this year's event. Likewise Haunt. We always like to be able to spring a new Treat on all those guests who come out for our annual Halloween event."

Read the rest at JimHillMedia

California’s Great America, a Cedar Fair Park, to be Powered by 100% Green Energy

Silicon Valley Power (SVP) is pleased to announce that California’s Great America, Santa Clara’s 100-acre Cedar Fair-owned and operated theme park, will cover 100% of its electricity use with renewable energy through SVP’s Santa Clara Green Power program. Santa Clara Green Power is a renewable energy program that allows Santa Clara residents and businesses to purchase 100% solar and wind energy.

Great America’s commitment to 100% wind energy – 12,810 megawatt-hours (MWhs) annually – makes it one of the largest renewable energy purchasers in the Santa Clara Green Power program and a member of the U.S. EPA’s Green Power Partnership’s Leadership Club. This annual clean energy purchase is similar to the output of four large-scale wind turbines – reducing Great America’s carbon footprint from electricity use by over 7 million pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

“We are thrilled about Great America’s participation in Santa Clara Green Power,” said Larry Owens, SVP Senior Division Manager of Customer Services. “Their renewable energy commitment will place them among the top echelon of Silicon Valley’s environmental leaders and make it the first Northern California amusement park of its kind Ato choose 100% renewable energy.”

Read the rest at InParkMagazine

The new thrill ride in Fiesta Village, Sol Spin is NOW OPEN!

The new thrill ride in Fiesta Village, #SolSpin is NOW OPEN! Spin 6 stories high in all directions at #KnottsBerryFarm pic.twitter.com/QMJJxXQuf7

— Knott's Berry Farm (@knotts) April 21, 2017

Fun stuff for Cedar Fair as new all-time high struck

Shares of Cedar Fair crossed $70 for the first time ever today, topping out at $70.41 within the last hour. Even with the extended rally for FUN, the dividend yield is at 4.86% for new investors.

Read the rest at SeekingAlpha

Knott’s Berry Farm gives $108,000 to help Susan G. Komen provide mammograms, raise cancer awareness

It was a big check with a big dollar figure that Jessica Rhee was handed by a couple of Knott’s Berry Farm’s characters for Susan G. Komen Orange County.

Rhee, a member of the nonprofit’s board, was at the theme park to receive the check for $108,867 from Knott’s officials, bringing the total donated to Komen to more than $468,000.

Read the rest at the OCRegister

Knott's Boysenberry Festival 2017: April 1 - April 23

Knott's adds more missions

A Look at the 2017 Boysenberry Festival at Knott's Berry Farm

Running now through April 23, the Boysenberry Festival is a seasonal food and entertainment festival at Knott’s Berry Farm that centers around the park’s long lineage with the boysenberry plant. While the event primarily focuses on a variety of boysenberry treats (such as boysenberry buffalo wings, boysenberry meatballs, and boysenberry fry bread among many others), the seasonal event also offers a hearty selection of entertainment across the park.

Knott’s was kind enough to invite Inside Universal for a special look at their annual festival, and today, we’re going to take a look at this unique seasonal event.

Read the rest at InsideUniversal

How successful was Voyage to the Iron Reef and just how happy is Cedar Fair with TrioTech?

These are questions I've been asking lately as Cedar Fair has gone dark on their Amusement Dark initiative and partnership with TrioTech. Back in 2015 before Voyage to the Iron Reef opened, Matt Ouimet outlined his Amusement Dark initiative, which included plans for adding media-based dark rides to all 11 Cedar Fair parks. Flash forward to 2017 and we haven't seen nor heard anything about Amusement Dark since then (unless they count the Plants vs Zombies and Mass Effect theater-based experiences). We haven't even gotten a Halloween overlay for Iron Reef, which suggests an unwillingness to invest further or an end in partnership with TrioTech.

So I have to ask:

What has guest reception been like overall for Voyage to the Iron Reef and is Cedar Fair happy with Triotech’s interactive gaming system now that they've had time to sit with it? 

I know there has been some concerns about the low capacity ride systems (something Matt himself claimed was holding back it's implementation at Cedar Point) and technical issues found at both Canada's Wonderland and Knott's TrioTech dark rides but that can be overlooked if guest satisfaction is high enough. So is it? If it isn't, things are only going to get worse when Magic Mountain opens their Justice League dark ride and direct comparisons are made, as it's sure to blow Iron Reef out of the water. It seems to me Knott's has tried to position itself as being above Six Flags but below Disney in caliber, so to have their dark ride look cheap by comparison has got to sting.

The Bear-y Tales gang will not be returning for this years Boysenberry Festival

To the delight of Knott's fans everywhere, 2015 saw the re-introduction of the beloved Knott's Bear-y Tales cast of characters into Knott's Berry Farm. As part of the annual Boysenberry Festival, Knott's Berry Farm debuted the Bear-y Tales Pie Kitchen in the old Ghost Town Toy Barn (where several of the classic ride’s figures still performed), a place where kids could join the Bear-y Tales gang to learn about the process of how boysenberries become award-winning pies and bake their very own delightfully sweet boysenberry tarts complete with a crumble topping (appropriately tying to the theme of the original attraction). The interactive-storybook pie kitchen took inspiration from the old Knott's Bear-y Tales: Journey to the Fair storybook and truly brought the pages to life. Knott's also had 2 limited-edition Knott's Bear-y Tales t-shirts on sale as part of this celebration. It must've been popular enough, as Knott's brought back the Bear-y Tales Pie Kitchen for the 2016 Boysenberry Festival and sold a limited edition re-print of the Knott's Bear-y Tales: Journey to the Fair book that inspired it.

So flash forward to 2017 and the Bear-y Tales gang is nowhere to be seen. Of course, a few things have changed since last year. During the 75th anniversary of Ghost Town, The Barn was renovated to house livestock and more recently, the remaining Bear-y Tales animatronics were sold off during last week's Heritage Auction. With that said, the interactive pie-making did return but without the Bear-y Tales gang. It is now Cordelia’s Pie Kitchen (NOT the Bear-y Tales Pie Kitchen) and while its equally as appropriate, it does feel like a missed opportunity to utilize the Bear-y Tales IP (after all, Mrs. Knott's has her own restaurant we can visit anytime).

So why didn't they return? The honest (and probably obvious) answer is that I simply don't know. Besides the aforementioned changes since last year, there just isn't really any reason they shouldn't have. One would think the Bear-y Tales theme (or even Peanuts) would be more appealing to children than Mrs. Knott's but who am I to say. I may be delusional, but I choose to believe that Crafty Coyote is pulling one over us and that the Bear-y Tales re-introduction during past Boysenberry Festivals was soo successful that there is now something BIG (and more permanent) in the works for the Bear-y Tales gang outside of simply events. Only time will tell...

Have a Berry Good Time at Knott’s Boysenberry Festival

Knott’s Berry Farm has launched its popular Boysenberry Festival and it’s berry good this year. The flowers are in bloom, the food is a dark purple color, and there’s a renewed nostalgia down on the farm. Let’s take a look at the flavor of this year’s event.

The Festival had a huge kick off on April 1st and a massive crowd showed up to partake in the festivities. The growing popularity of this event is evident.

Read the rest at MiceChat

Knott's Berry Tales episode 12 boysenberry festival April 1st-23rd 2017

Knott's Berry Farm joins the groundswell of theme parks adding metal detectors

Knott's Berry Farm has begun using metal detectors to screen park guests, becoming the latest Southern California theme park to upgrade it's security measures.

Knott's officials describe the metal detectors, which began getting installed a couple of weeks ago at the entrance to the park, as part of a larger security program.

Similar measures are also deployed at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Universal Studio's and Six Flags Magic Mountain.

"The installation of metal detectors at our park is part of the ongoing evolution of our security practices," said Cherie Whyte, a Knott's spokeswoman, in a statement. "(It) is just one segment of a multi-layer security program, which is developed in coordination with local authorities."

Read the rest at the OCRegister

RUMOR: Screamscape says 2018 will be BIG

Rumor - (4/5/17) With Boomerang ready to go away forever very soon, the coaster fans out there have been wondering about what is next for Knott's. After all, you don't usually remove one of your park's major coasters without having something new to replace it at least in the design phase. From what we are hearing, Knott's does have something in the works, though they still need to dot the I's and cross the T's on it, but whatever it is, I'm hearing is it BIG and likely looking to open sometime in 2018 if possible because Knott's want this thing up, open and to have a serious reputation already in the public knowledgebase in time for Star Wars Land to open at Disneyland in 2019, so they can borrow all those incoming Disney guests for a day at The Farm.

Knotts News: Well friends, what to make of this? No real info here, just hype. Is 2018's new attraction BIG in size, like a rollercoaster or BIG in scope, like a dark ride. Maybe its BIG in it's significance to fans, like the return of a classic attraction. He honestly couldn't be anymore vague. With Matt Ouimet reiterating that they will NOT be competing with Universal or Disney, and that micro-investments has been extremely successful for them at Knott's, one must wonder what BIG can mean for 2018.

Anyone who follows this blog knows what I'm pulling for. The land isn't really big enough for any kind of coaster, especially a BIG one, without it traveling all over the park destroying it's atmosphere. On the other hand, its plenty of space for a dark ride...

VIDEO: Fascinating animatronics panel from at WonderCon 2017 features Disney Legend Bob Gurr

The legacy of animatronics in the entertainment industry stretches back hundreds of years, to when crude automata amused Euopean royalty, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that Walt Disney Enterprises accelerated development of the form in leaps and bounds for Disneyland.

This past weekend at the WonderCon 2017 convention in Anaheim (just across Katella Avenue from the Disneyland Resort), Disney Legend Bob Gurr— designer for many of the original park’s most famous attractions including the Haunted Mansion, the Disneyland Monorail, the Submarine Voyage, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds– appeared on a panel discussing the history of animatronics in Orange County, at Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, and beyond.

Read the rest at InsideTheMagic

Historic locomotive, other treasures sold at Knott's Berry Farm auction

When the final gavel fell on the auction for a wide variety of Knott’s Berry Farm relics and memorabilia, the total bids came to $788,892.

More than 400 people attended in person to bid on the more than 200 lots at the live auction held in the Charles M. Schulz Theatre on Friday at the farm, with more participants via phone and online.

Read the rest at MiceChat

Alien robots invade Knott’s in shoot-em-up VR game. Your mission: Eliminate 'em all

I crouched behind a wooden barrel and blasted the alien robots emerging from the Knott’s Berry Farm blacksmith shop with my six-shooter laser revolver. Just as I beat back the time-traveling horde, their extraterrestrial mothership landed in the middle of the Ghost Town section of the Buena Park theme park. Time to power up to rapid-fire mode and save the Wild West town from the relentless alien invasion.

When the computer-generated simulated battle concluded, I pulled off my virtual reality headset and once again found myself in a dimly-lit 20-foot-square room, void of any frontier town or marauding robots.

The new VR Showdown in Ghost Town shoot-em-up virtual reality video game debuts Saturday at Knott’s. If the year-long test run proves successful, Knott’s parent company Cedar Fair plans to expand the interactive experience to other locations in its 11-park chain. The price of the $6 upcharge will vary based on demand. I tested out the new game this week during a media preview.

Read the rest at the LATimes