Sunday, July 30, 2017

ScaryFarm returns for another season of scares on select nights from Sept. 21 - Oct. 31 Tickets are now on sale!

Knott’s Scary Farm Announces New Attractions for 2017 Season

Knott’s Scary Farm announced its new attractions on Saturday during the Midsummer Scream Halloween festival in Long Beach.

Jeff Tucker, the theme park’s show writer, announced the arrival of 13 haunted attractions and mazes along with 1000 monsters that will be lurking in the fog. Additionally, Tucker announced the new ‘Fright Fast Lane,’ where visitors can go to the front of the line for all the major rides and mazes for the price of one.

Read the rest at SoCalMuse

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Knott’s Berry Farm Update: Boardwalk Starts A New Beat

Welcome back to America’s First Theme Park, where the townsfolk are just waiting to take you on an adventure. Knott’s has cooked up some great entertainment this year that can compete with any of the bigger parks but with a down home quaint charm. And stick around till the end to hear about our huge MiceChat Halloween Spooktacular event!

Read the rest at
MiceChat

The Boardwalk BBQ

Friday, July 28, 2017

OC Fair, Knott’s Berry Farm Shut Down ‘Fire Ball’ After Deadly Accident In Ohio

The Orange County Fair and Knott’s Berry Farm have voluntarily shut down a ride similar to one that malfunctioned at the Ohio State Fair with deadly results.

A man was killed and seven other people were injured at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus when they were thrown Wednesday night from “The Fire Ball,” a ride that swings back and forth like a pendulum and spins in the air.

Bystanders captured video of the ride just as it broke apart and passengers were heard screaming as they were thrown to the ground.

Ohio officials say they did not know what caused the ride to break apart and that the investigation was ongoing.

Read the rest at
CBSLosAngeles

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Are smartphones becoming a problem at theme parks like Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm?

California has banned texting while driving on the state’s roads. Is it time for Disneyland and local theme parks to ban texting while walking, too?

As much as fans like to complain about strollers, people whose gaze is focused on the screen in their hands instead of the pathway ahead of them are responsible for clogging a lot of the foot traffic around the parks, too. And with Disney introducing its new MaxPass system, allowing people to manage Fastpass ride reservations with their cell phones, I suspect the problem is only going to get worse.

Walking behind someone texting reminds me a lot of driving behind people on their phones. They slow down. They don’t react to others around them. They become a slowly tumbling rock in the stream, rather than flowing like water with the rest of the people on the street.

Read the rest at the
OCRegister

How to beat the heat at Knott’s with ‘Snoopy’s Magnificent Magical Revue’

“When you’re here at the park and it’s hot outside, come enjoy a nice half-hour of cool air conditioning with us and a great magic show,” magician Greg Wilson said.

Most Knott Berry Farm fans know that the Charles M. Schultz Theater is home to the Peanuts gang and a wealth of ice skating performances, but through Aug. 20 it will be offering “Snoopy’s Magnificent Magical Revue.” The show features magician Wilson, the son of Mark Wilson and Nani Parnell.

Read the rest at the
OCRegister

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Garner Holt Productions: 40 Years of Incredible Imagination

Today, July 25, 2017, is the 40th anniversary of the world’s largest, most productive, and, with not a little pride, most ambitiously creative animatronics producer: Garner Holt Productions, Inc. (GHP). Four decades ago today, paperwork filed by a sixteen year-old high school student named Garner Holt was approved for the formation of a California corporation, one that would provide certain protections for Garner’s parents from their precocious son’s (mostly) safe and well-intentioned creative business endeavors, from haunted houses in local malls to mail-order products, animatronic American folk heroes, and more. From its humble beginnings in a suburban garage, that company—at once a hobby, proving grounds, and highly-unusual entrepreneurial endeavor—is now a dream factory with a worldwide of joy, wonder, and incredible imagination.

Read the rest at
MiceChat

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Knott's Berry Farm 2018 announcement coming August 16th

Knott's Berry Farm will be announcing their plans for 2018 on August 16th. Some notes:
  • This just happens to be on National Rollercoaster Day
  • Kings Dominion and CGA are also announcing their plans on the 16th
  • Those two parks have also been rumored to get new coasters in 2018

Make of that what you will. I myself will be disappointed if its just another coaster, which would seem like a step back for the park. Stay tuned for more information as it comes.

Friday, July 21, 2017

Disney, Knott’s animatronic mastermind Garner Holt honored by San Bernardino

San Bernardino declared Tuesday, July 25 will be Garner Holt Day at its bi-monthly City Council meeting Wednesday night.

Read the rest at
ThePressEnterprise

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

The newly remodeled Boardwalk BBQ Restaurant is now open

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Step-by-Step of the Knott’s Berry Farm Technical Rescue

Technical Rescue Team members of the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) in Southern California train consistently and often. These firefighters are constantly striving to master their craft in order to overcome any and every possible scenario that may surface. And on Dec. 30, 2016, the OCFA team was toned out to a technical rescue that would test their skills and become an internationally covered incident.

Read the rest at
Firehouse

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Review: Six Flags Magic Mountain finally has a dark ride worthy of the competition

After 46 years, Six Flags Magic Mountain finally has a dark ride worthy of standing up to the Disneys and Universals that have long ruled the Southern California theme park scene.

The new Justice League: Battle for Metropolis 3-D shoot-em-up dark ride is equal to Universal’s Transformers 3-D and Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man dark rides and better than Disney’s Toy Story Midway Mania and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters dark rides.

That’s high praise for the Valencia amusement park, which has never had a themed indoor dark ride and is better known for its towering roller coasters.

I had high expectations for the highly touted ride, and Justice League didn’t let me down.

Read the rest at the
LATimes


Knott's News: I disagree with the part at the end about Potter being better than Spider-Man. That said, its sad when Six Flags shows more ambition and better execution than Knott's did with Iron Reef. Lets hope Cedar Fair takes this as a challenge.

Saturday, July 8, 2017

Knott’s Berry Farm offers two takes on its historic Ghost Town for the Summer of 2017

How do you like your Ghost Town? Virtual or extra-lively?

Because – this summer — Knott’s Berry Farm actually gives you options. You can either experience a VR version of this theme park’s historic Old West section (where you’ll then get to battle robots in an immersive 360 shooter). Or you can explore Ghost Town Alive!where the streets of Calico are filled with dozens of performers dressed in authentic western garb. Who then – with the help of Guests who are visiting the farm for the day – then play out an 8-hour-long piece of interactive, immersive, theater.

Why did “America’s First Theme Park” opt to take on such an ambitious two-pronged project? To hear Ken Parks – the Vice President of Entertainment for Knott’s Berry Farm – talk, this all dates back to when Cedar Fair Entertainment was looking for a unique way to commemorate Ghost Town’s 75th anniversary.

Read the rest at the HuffingtonPost

Friday, July 7, 2017

A new friend has been spotted in Calico. What do you call a baby Catawampus? Kittywampus

Thursday, July 6, 2017

This Animatronic Life – GHP’s Been Working on the Railroad

Howdy everyone, and welcome aboard the GHP Scenic Railway, a short-runs-on-time-(almost)-all-the-time-fair-weather-route-railroad of a column. I’ve been thinking a lot about railroads and trains lately, and how my company (Garner Holt Productions, Inc.) has been part of a number of them in some very unusual locations, from theme parks to private estates, and more. ALL ABOARD!

Read the rest at
MiceChat

Saturday, July 1, 2017

8 Things You Might Not Know About Knott's Berry

Knott's Berry Farm is one of those quintessentially Californian, weird-ass entertainment destinations. In addition to its eponymous berries, the park, which opened in 1920, probably is most famous for being one of the first theme parks of its kind (at least on the West Coast) and serving as inspiration for Disneyland (and all subsequent Disney parks).

Like the nearby Disney parks, Knott's is full of arcane lore, gobbled up by thousands of Southern California theme park aficionados. The park celebrated the 75th anniversary of the famous Ghost Town area in 2016, and this summer it holds Ghost Town Alive, which is kind of like Westworld except that you can't shoot the actors.

The Knott's mythos is rife with charming, quaint and actually relevant pieces of local history (for example, Mr. Knott's contributions to the conservative movement in California and Orange County). Here are some of the more interesting bits.

Read the rest at the LAWeekly

Knott’s to pay for two full-time Buena Park police officers

Knott’s Berry Farm will pay $260,000 to have two Buena Park police officers at the park on a full-time basis.

The Police Department, which in the past has paid officers overtime to patrol the park during peak times, will assign those officers to the beat once it has enough staff in place, Chief Corey Sianez said.

Park guests can expect to see officers onsite sometime in the fall.

Read the rest at the
OCRegister