Post by Knott's Network.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Celebrities come out for Camp Snoopy's 30th anniversary
She's one of America's most famous natural redheads.
But newly platinum blonde Molly Ringwald and her family posed with Snoopy at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park on Thursday.
The 46-year-old Brat Packer posed with her plush pal while clad in a striped shirt under a plaid shirt, blue jeans, and flip-flops.
Read the rest at MailOnine
But newly platinum blonde Molly Ringwald and her family posed with Snoopy at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park on Thursday.
The 46-year-old Brat Packer posed with her plush pal while clad in a striped shirt under a plaid shirt, blue jeans, and flip-flops.
Read the rest at MailOnine
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Fire damages Knott's building
The blaze was reported around 2:20 a.m. in a structure that houses a Johnny Rockets, a laser tag area and an arcade, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi.
The structure is located along the park’s boardwalk area.
The fire apparently began as a result of a welder’s torch during work inside the building, he said.
Several construction workers were inside at the time but all escaped without injury.
Read the rest at OCRegister
The structure is located along the park’s boardwalk area.
The fire apparently began as a result of a welder’s torch during work inside the building, he said.
Several construction workers were inside at the time but all escaped without injury.
Read the rest at OCRegister
Knott's News: Construction workers in the old Kingdom of the Dinosaurs building. Fire started by welding accident. Yeah, no use trying to hide it now.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Where should Cedar Fair take the TrioTech interactive dark ride next?
This past month Cedar Fair opened Wonder Mountain's Guardian at Canada's Wonderland. This state of the art dark ride was designed and manufactured by a Canadian company called TrioTech. It was / is a big deal for Cedar Fair as it is the first dark ride they've built themselves from the ground up (they've inherited what little they have). Unfortunately, this low budget attraction was rushed and the final product has left people with mixed feelings. I've already stated my opinion previously but to reiterate, the theming is unfinished, the pixel resolution of the screen is too low for comfort (the screens are large enough for bragging rights and are in close proximity to the riders; yet are only 720p), the outdoor portion is awkward, the ride capacity doesn't meet the requirements of a busy park and the ride length falls short of expectations.
That said, I feel like with some key improvements this technology could create an incredible attraction; providing it features a resolution bump, extended ride duration and higher capacity ride system. IMO, a pixel resolution of 4K (the resolution at which Spider-Man and Transformers runs at) with a butter smooth frame-rate of 60fps (since you're in a moving vehicle, this will help immersion) is the sweet spot. Although unlike Spider-Man and Transformers, this feat would require a massive amount of graphical power to perform - since the interactively requires it all be rendered realtime - and a very heavy investment by Cedar Fair for the required hardware. Trust me, it's easier said than done, and while this may all just seem like numbers to you, these changes will make a world of difference when it comes to immersion (there's that word again). Of course, the easiest fix for the capacity and themeing issues would be simply eliminating the roller coaster element and just go with TrioTech's grounded proprietary vehicle. Although, I hope they don't since it's one the more unique and underutilized elements of the attraction.
I also think a non-fantasy theme might be cheaper and more effective. Think Disaster Transport 2.0. No seriously. As mediocre as this Cedar Point coaster was, it would actually be a great setup for a TrioTech interactive dark ride. Think about it. An interactive indoor family coaster set in the DARKNESS of space. What other possible theme would afford you the luxury of a nearly empty building with minimal sets and it be to the benefit of the theme? Add some practical stars using LED lights for a seamless transition between projection screens and you'll have a much more immersive experience (I know, your tired of hearing it, but this should be the goal). For the indoor lift hill, they can use 360° projection in a way similar to Buzz Lightyear to give you the illusion of rapidly moving through a star field. Heck, even the queue theming would require less, as a clean sci-fi space port look shouldn't be as expensive / intensive as rock work and ruins. It's harder to tell a story in a fantasy setting where as in sci-fi you can just have a television set explain it as part of the set. If they ever did do this, hopefully they'd top it off with an interactive animatronic of a robot in the queue to entertain guests. Overall, I feel like this would be cheaper and more effective than the fantasy theme of Guardian.
Still, the fun really hinges on key improvements to the ride system and show technology. If they can hammer out these problems, then I think Cedar Fair has a winner on their hands, regardless of theme. Just not sure this has a place at Knott's right now, especially if it remains unthemed with the intent of updating the attraction every couple of years as Matt Ouimet talked about at IAAPA (he mentioned creating a library of films that can rotate between the parks, much like the Action Theaters at the Paramount Parks).
That said, I feel like with some key improvements this technology could create an incredible attraction; providing it features a resolution bump, extended ride duration and higher capacity ride system. IMO, a pixel resolution of 4K (the resolution at which Spider-Man and Transformers runs at) with a butter smooth frame-rate of 60fps (since you're in a moving vehicle, this will help immersion) is the sweet spot. Although unlike Spider-Man and Transformers, this feat would require a massive amount of graphical power to perform - since the interactively requires it all be rendered realtime - and a very heavy investment by Cedar Fair for the required hardware. Trust me, it's easier said than done, and while this may all just seem like numbers to you, these changes will make a world of difference when it comes to immersion (there's that word again). Of course, the easiest fix for the capacity and themeing issues would be simply eliminating the roller coaster element and just go with TrioTech's grounded proprietary vehicle. Although, I hope they don't since it's one the more unique and underutilized elements of the attraction.
I also think a non-fantasy theme might be cheaper and more effective. Think Disaster Transport 2.0. No seriously. As mediocre as this Cedar Point coaster was, it would actually be a great setup for a TrioTech interactive dark ride. Think about it. An interactive indoor family coaster set in the DARKNESS of space. What other possible theme would afford you the luxury of a nearly empty building with minimal sets and it be to the benefit of the theme? Add some practical stars using LED lights for a seamless transition between projection screens and you'll have a much more immersive experience (I know, your tired of hearing it, but this should be the goal). For the indoor lift hill, they can use 360° projection in a way similar to Buzz Lightyear to give you the illusion of rapidly moving through a star field. Heck, even the queue theming would require less, as a clean sci-fi space port look shouldn't be as expensive / intensive as rock work and ruins. It's harder to tell a story in a fantasy setting where as in sci-fi you can just have a television set explain it as part of the set. If they ever did do this, hopefully they'd top it off with an interactive animatronic of a robot in the queue to entertain guests. Overall, I feel like this would be cheaper and more effective than the fantasy theme of Guardian.
Still, the fun really hinges on key improvements to the ride system and show technology. If they can hammer out these problems, then I think Cedar Fair has a winner on their hands, regardless of theme. Just not sure this has a place at Knott's right now, especially if it remains unthemed with the intent of updating the attraction every couple of years as Matt Ouimet talked about at IAAPA (he mentioned creating a library of films that can rotate between the parks, much like the Action Theaters at the Paramount Parks).
Monday, June 23, 2014
Cedar Fair's CEO Presents at Goldman Sachs Lodging, Gaming, Restaurant and Leisure Conference (Transcript)
Matthew A. Ouimet
Yes, so I’ll give you Charlotte and then I’ll answer the other one. So and I’ll take a step back. So this company bought the Paramount Parks about five or six years ago, seven years ago now, and that’s a time what they believe and proof through was those parks were undersized relative to their markets and they went in and invested substantially and what we call big deal, new rides et cetera. And markets like Toronto, markets like Kings, or Cincinnati markets like Richmond, and in all cases got a dramatic growth in EBITDA. That same logic really applies directly to Charlotte because if you look at the size of that market today and the forecast for that market going forward. The prediction is that Charlotte will be the size of Houston in the next 20 years.
And so having a modestly sized park there versus that population along with the transient tourist that pass through there. So we – it was pretty obvious to us that there was a disconnect there in terms of growth opportunity and it’s also relatively a low risk investment, right. So I know the market, I know how much it cost to go in there and put in the coasters et cetera. We’ve run the play book before, so we feel pretty good about that.
As for the process there are two ways we approach it. One is we went back and looked at all of our parks for the last seven or eight years. Every new rider attraction or show we put into those parks and we graded them red, green and yellow. Right, so green being an obvious home run, yellow being not sure, but maybe the guest enjoyed it and red being something we wouldn’t repeat. And then as part of that, so that helps us to grow what type of ride optimizes the attendance and pricing impact. The only other thing we did is that identified the gaps. So do they need thrill, do they need family, or do they need water, our water park attraction. And so we built a five-year menu base to offset, that is iterative with the general mangers; debate is what they see in the markets each day. And so you are right every general manager thinks they need more capital. And then we try Richard Zimmerman my COO and Brian our CFO to spend a lot of time with our capital menu trying to which we optimizes it for this system right. And that’s one of the reason we sold two water parks, we had two standalone water parks in Southern California that we ended up selling because they never got to the priority from capital standpoint.
Steven E. Kent – Goldman Sachs & Co.
Any other questions, last questions? Stacy have we missed any slides that you want us to review? No, so is this whatever this is what not is that a high margin is that a show or is that somebody just tell us.
Matthew A. Ouimet
Manage their target.
Steven E. Kent – Goldman Sachs & Co.
Yes, there you go.
Matthew A. Ouimet
And that’s Berry Farm. I will tell you what is been very gratifying to me particularly in that is a good reference you know of the park in Southern California, very unique as most of our parks had very little direct competition. But if you think about Southern California other than Orlando it’s probably the most competitive market in the amusement park industry and not that it’s best year ever in terms of attendance, profitability, and revenue last year. And again at reference point of it you can get a full year season pass that not for the price of one day admissions at Disneyland and I think that playing off that value proposition is helping us.
Read the rest at SeekingAlpha
Knott's News: So how bout it reader? Do you like all of the improvements the park has made lately? Do you like the direction they're heading? If so, are you willing to pay for it via gradual price increases?
Yes, so I’ll give you Charlotte and then I’ll answer the other one. So and I’ll take a step back. So this company bought the Paramount Parks about five or six years ago, seven years ago now, and that’s a time what they believe and proof through was those parks were undersized relative to their markets and they went in and invested substantially and what we call big deal, new rides et cetera. And markets like Toronto, markets like Kings, or Cincinnati markets like Richmond, and in all cases got a dramatic growth in EBITDA. That same logic really applies directly to Charlotte because if you look at the size of that market today and the forecast for that market going forward. The prediction is that Charlotte will be the size of Houston in the next 20 years.
And so having a modestly sized park there versus that population along with the transient tourist that pass through there. So we – it was pretty obvious to us that there was a disconnect there in terms of growth opportunity and it’s also relatively a low risk investment, right. So I know the market, I know how much it cost to go in there and put in the coasters et cetera. We’ve run the play book before, so we feel pretty good about that.
As for the process there are two ways we approach it. One is we went back and looked at all of our parks for the last seven or eight years. Every new rider attraction or show we put into those parks and we graded them red, green and yellow. Right, so green being an obvious home run, yellow being not sure, but maybe the guest enjoyed it and red being something we wouldn’t repeat. And then as part of that, so that helps us to grow what type of ride optimizes the attendance and pricing impact. The only other thing we did is that identified the gaps. So do they need thrill, do they need family, or do they need water, our water park attraction. And so we built a five-year menu base to offset, that is iterative with the general mangers; debate is what they see in the markets each day. And so you are right every general manager thinks they need more capital. And then we try Richard Zimmerman my COO and Brian our CFO to spend a lot of time with our capital menu trying to which we optimizes it for this system right. And that’s one of the reason we sold two water parks, we had two standalone water parks in Southern California that we ended up selling because they never got to the priority from capital standpoint.
Steven E. Kent – Goldman Sachs & Co.
Any other questions, last questions? Stacy have we missed any slides that you want us to review? No, so is this whatever this is what not is that a high margin is that a show or is that somebody just tell us.
Matthew A. Ouimet
Manage their target.
Steven E. Kent – Goldman Sachs & Co.
Yes, there you go.
Matthew A. Ouimet
And that’s Berry Farm. I will tell you what is been very gratifying to me particularly in that is a good reference you know of the park in Southern California, very unique as most of our parks had very little direct competition. But if you think about Southern California other than Orlando it’s probably the most competitive market in the amusement park industry and not that it’s best year ever in terms of attendance, profitability, and revenue last year. And again at reference point of it you can get a full year season pass that not for the price of one day admissions at Disneyland and I think that playing off that value proposition is helping us.
Read the rest at SeekingAlpha
Knott's News: So how bout it reader? Do you like all of the improvements the park has made lately? Do you like the direction they're heading? If so, are you willing to pay for it via gradual price increases?
Friday, June 20, 2014
Monday, June 16, 2014
Camp Snoopy Review: The Refurbished Camp Snoopy
Camp Snoopy has truly become the youngster’s theme park paradise. This section of Knott’s Berry Farm, once looking old and somewhat dilapidated, got a fresh new coat in the form of ride refurbishments, new rides, and an all new Camp Snoopy Show. The new rides include Linus Launcher, Charlie Brown Kite Flyer, and Pig Pen Mud Buggies. Pig Pen Mud Buggies is a ride in which riders sit in a small dune buggy that goes in circles, however, around each corner, the vehicle bounces up and down as if it were hitting small moguls in mud. Definitely more thrilling than it looks.
Read the rest at CaliforniaCoasterKings
Read the rest at CaliforniaCoasterKings
Calico Mine Ride / Camp Snoopy Review: Knott’s Berry Farm Kicks Off Its Summer Season with Brilliantly Updated Attractions
This past weekend Knott’s Berry Farm opened up two classic attractions with some brand new twists in a morning long media event. This continues a multi-year park wide transformation that started with large refurbishment of the iconic Calico Timber Mountain Log Ride attraction as well as a complete overhaul of the Boardwalk. This year Knott’s set their eyes to yet another classic attraction and land overhaul.
Read the rest at BehindTheThrills
Read the rest at BehindTheThrills
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Calico Mine Ride Review: The Restored Calico Mine Ride
Although Bud Hurlbut’s original Calico Mine Ride was a fantastic dark ride, this new restoration and update has made the ride truly one of the best. The ride still contains mostly the same elements, including the Calico Glory Hole, the underwater lakes, and the final blasting zone finale, all with 360 degree inundation of theming as Bud had designed originally. The differences are the updates due too new available technology. Many of the animatronics now speak and have more realistic movement. The ride also now utilizes scents, which is also done on the new Timber Mountain Log Run. The ride no longer has the train’s on board conductor narrate, but rather a new soundtrack. Unfortunately, our only complaint about the ride is that it is still quite hard to hear the ride’s audio. The best additions to the ride however, is the final blasting zone, which, out of the 3 new rides with blasting zone finales (Timber Mountain Log Run, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Calico Mine Ride), is the most realistic, utilizing the perfect amount of sound effects, lighting effects, and fog. Below you’ll find some pictures of the new Calico Mine Ride!
Read the rest at CaliforniaCoasterKings
Read the rest at CaliforniaCoasterKings
Calico Mine Ride / Camp Snoopy Review: Knott’s Berry Farm Reopens Calico Mine Ride and Camp Snoopy
The former explosion tunnel is still there, but has some fantastic new effects that startled many guests. The Calico Mine Ride felt very dead before it’s refurbishment, but now it has sprung to life and fells very realistic with some fun gags along the way. This ride ranks up with Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion, it’s one of the best dark rides out there.
Read the rest at KolbyKonnection
Read the rest at KolbyKonnection
Friday, June 13, 2014
Mysterious activity going on in the old Kingdom of the Dinosaurs show building
Post by Knott's Network.
Knott's News: This pretty much confirms the Screamscape rumor earlier this week about having spotted crews doing cleanup work inside.
Calico Mine Ride / Camp Snoopy Review: On par with the Log Ride… if not grander in scale
Hey… guys… hi! Guess what? Knott’s Berry Farm is almost ready to re-open stuff that you might want to put your butts on and ride and see and do! We’re one day away! Yesterday the park welcomed press and season passholders to preview the rides and have the grand reopening ceremonies for Camp Snoopy and the Calico Mine Ride. And for the rest of you, they all reopen tomorrow June 14th, 2014! Having gone through both areas can I just say how absolutely wonderful everything turned out and it’s great to see this continued trajectory the park has been on for the last few years. The leadership is really doing a lot and the care going into these projects is wonderful to see… so thanks to Matt Ouimet and Raffi Kaprelyan!
Read the rest at WestCoaster
Read the rest at WestCoaster
Camp Snoopy Review: Knott’s Berry Farm celebrates Camp Snoopy’s 30th Anniversary with a ton of fresh charm
All-in-all, Camp Snoopy looks better than ever. With a new cohesive aesthetic, the land no longer feels cobbled together. All of the natural wood, themed pavement, and bigger emphasis on Peanuts characters really brings a lot more charm here than ever before. In addition to feeling more complete, everything here now works together to make the land feel more inviting and more friendly, which is particularly important for a area built for young children. My only issue is that the background music in the land (peppy renditions of kids songs), should have been music from the Peanuts cartoons. In any case, while the Camp Snoopy project is perhaps a bit more subtle than the Mine Ride makeover, the Knott’s team did just as excellent work here and the love and care really shows. Congrats!
Read the rest at MiceChat
Read the rest at MiceChat
Calico Mine Ride Review: Grand opening of a Knott’s Berry Farm classic - The Reimagined Calico Mine Ride
Overall, the Calico Mine Ride has never looked better. The ride was already a great example of brilliant early themed design and it just needed some TLC to bring it up to today’s standards. Luckily, Knott’s recognized this and did just that — and then some. With all of the new animatronics, the excellent show lighting design, great new and restored special effects throughout; this ride is now easily one of the best dark rides in all of Southern California. My first impression after my initial ride-through was that Calico Mine Ride now ranks alongside the best of the best: Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. Subsequent rides didn’t change my first impression — this attraction is that good and is worth making a visit to Knott’s Berry Farm to see for any theme park fan.
Read the rest at MiceChat
Read the rest at MiceChat
Calico Mine Ride / Camp Snoopy Review: reopen at Knott’s Berry Farm as impressively updated classic experiences
Raffi Kaprelyan, vice president and General Manager of Knott’s Berry Farm said there are plans to keep the trend of revitalizing whole areas of the park going. “It’s great to see it evolve from what it was and gotten better as the years have gone on,” he said.
In this humble former Imagineer’s opinion, the redo of both the Calico Mine Train Ride and Camp Snoopy really turned out great, and I look forward to more out of Knott’s in 2015 and beyond.
I had the privilege of interviewing Bud Hurlbut for the 50th anniversary of the ride, and at the time, even at his age of 90 plus, he was working on plans to revitalize the ride, but it depended at that time on Knott’s funding it. Sadly, Bud died the next year and never got to move those plans forward.
Kaprelyan let a hint out that we could maybe look forward to a new dark ride attraction in the Boardwalk area in 2015.
Workers have been seen clearing out the building that once housed “Knott’s Beary Tales” and “Kingdom of the Dinosaurs.” According to sources that did not want to be identified, it is looking like it will, in all probability, be an interactive shooter attraction similar to “Buzz Lightyear” at Disneyland. But until it is announced, and contracts are finalized, Kaprelyan would not say.
He did say, however, that he has definite plans to revitalize other areas. “I want to keep refurbishing and revitalizing every are of the park. I’ve got some plans for Ghost Town,” he said.
Read the rest at Inside the Magic
In this humble former Imagineer’s opinion, the redo of both the Calico Mine Train Ride and Camp Snoopy really turned out great, and I look forward to more out of Knott’s in 2015 and beyond.
I had the privilege of interviewing Bud Hurlbut for the 50th anniversary of the ride, and at the time, even at his age of 90 plus, he was working on plans to revitalize the ride, but it depended at that time on Knott’s funding it. Sadly, Bud died the next year and never got to move those plans forward.
Kaprelyan let a hint out that we could maybe look forward to a new dark ride attraction in the Boardwalk area in 2015.
Workers have been seen clearing out the building that once housed “Knott’s Beary Tales” and “Kingdom of the Dinosaurs.” According to sources that did not want to be identified, it is looking like it will, in all probability, be an interactive shooter attraction similar to “Buzz Lightyear” at Disneyland. But until it is announced, and contracts are finalized, Kaprelyan would not say.
He did say, however, that he has definite plans to revitalize other areas. “I want to keep refurbishing and revitalizing every are of the park. I’ve got some plans for Ghost Town,” he said.
Read the rest at Inside the Magic
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Calico Mine Ride Review: The Return Of A Classic Knott's Berry Farm Ride
Knott’s Berry Farm debuted the newly improved Calico Mine Train this morning and I was thrilled to take a ride. Yee-haw! What an adventure – that little railroad is as sweet as Cordelia Knott’s boysenberry pie. Even with a dramatic renovation that dug deep into the 54-year old mountain, replacing all the ancient works with hidden tech, the enhanced theming department at Knott’s did a tremendous job rebuilding the classic dark ride while keeping the mood intact. Like all good restorations, that work is invisible behind new scenes that feel more alive and authentic than ever. Walter Knott loved the desert ghost town of Calico so much he bought it in the 1950s and made it into a roadside attraction. Back in Buena Park, every robot miner has dramatically come to life, and every color is brighter and more intense. You can finally see all 8000 stalactites and stalagmites and hear their lovely organ song. Steam and explosions and bubbling water engage all the senses. The glory hole has never been more glorious.
Read the rest at LAMagazine
Read the rest at LAMagazine
Knott's Berry Farm honors its history in reopening the refurbished Calico Mine Ride and Camp Snoopy
And that's not all. In his remarks at the reopening of Camp Snoopy, Knott's Vice President and General Manager Raffi Kaprelyan promised "more interactive and cutting-edge fun in 2015" in the park's Boardwalk, the site of three new family rides last year, as well as one underutilized old dark ride building that's just begging for a new attraction. Could that be the site of Kaprelyan's promise?
Read the rest at ThemeParkInsider
Read the rest at ThemeParkInsider
Calico Mine Ride Review: Knott's honors the past with an upgrade of Calico Mine Ride
Knott's Berry Farm has transformed the Calico Mine Ride--an aging classic ride from the early days of the park — into a retro marvel that introduces state-of-the-art technology while paying tribute to the past.
Read the rest at LATimes
Read the rest at LATimes
Knott's Berry Farm prepares to unveil Calico Mine Ride updates
An old man used to hold a wheelbarrow still; now he pushes it back and forth.
A man who once sat motionless atop a log now wipes his brow and drinks from a canteen.
And a man kneeling down swinging his pickaxe into a rock who used to be white is now a Native American.
Those are just three of the changes in just one of the rooms of the Calico Mine Ride at Knott’s Berry Farm. The entire ride has undergone its first comprehensive makeover since opening 54 years ago. The public will be able to see those changes on the ground floor of the Glory Hole, along with the rest of the ride, starting Thursday.
Read the rest at OCRegister
Read the rest at OCRegister
Knott's says "interactive family fun" coming to the Boardwalk in 2015!
Raffi Kaprelyan, general manager of @knotts says "more fun" coming to the Boardwalk in 2015! pic.twitter.com/DYQwVIapfQ
— MiceChat (@MiceChat) June 12, 2014
Raffi just hinted at the dark ride coming in 2015 @knotts!
— Jim Disney (@westcoasternet) June 12, 2014
“Interactive family fun” as they turn their attention back to the Boardwalk @knotts…
— Jim Disney (@westcoasternet) June 12, 2014
Knott's News: This basically confirms the rumors that a new dark ride is going into the old Knott's Bear-y Tales / Kingdom of the Dinosaurs building. Just a reminder, Knott's considers the Roaring 20's area of the park the Boardwalk.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
RUMOR - Workers cleaning up old KoD building for new dark ride in 2015
Is Knott’s Berry Farm about ready to add a new dark ride to the park? After we’ve seen them restore the Log Ride last year and are about ready to reopen the new Calico Mine Train in a few days, Screamscape is hearing rumors that crews have been spotted performing some clean-up work inside the former home of the Kingdom of the Dinosaurs dark ride building. The location would be perfect for a new dark ride… perhaps Knott’s own version of a Wonder Mountain’s Guardian style interactive dark ride attraction. Stay tuned!
Original source of the rumor Screamscape
Knott's News: This is nothing new, we've been hearing this for a while now and I've even talked about it in an article I wrote HERE. I Just hope it's not the TrioTech dark ride system that Canada's Wonderland received this year (Wonder Mountain's Guardian) going in the old Knott's Bear-y Tales / Kingdom of the Dinosaurs building. I've heard some negative things about that ride; from the worlds largest 3D screen being only 720p (causing blurred vision and eye strain) to the short ride length at around a minute long (add to that the LONG wait caused partially by the horrible ride capacity). IMO the ride scenes need to be rendered at 4K to be comfortable to the eye (especially when soo close to such a large screen), the same resolution as the Spider-Man and Transformers rides (keep in mind that these shows are pre-rendered while the TrioTech ride system has to render it real time due to the interactivity, not an easy task at 4K) but I just feel the tech just isn't there yet. In the end, I say Knott's should stick with a high capacity ride system and preferably physical props and sets. You know I want a re-imagined Bear-y Tales!
Original source of the rumor Screamscape
Knott's News: This is nothing new, we've been hearing this for a while now and I've even talked about it in an article I wrote HERE. I Just hope it's not the TrioTech dark ride system that Canada's Wonderland received this year (Wonder Mountain's Guardian) going in the old Knott's Bear-y Tales / Kingdom of the Dinosaurs building. I've heard some negative things about that ride; from the worlds largest 3D screen being only 720p (causing blurred vision and eye strain) to the short ride length at around a minute long (add to that the LONG wait caused partially by the horrible ride capacity). IMO the ride scenes need to be rendered at 4K to be comfortable to the eye (especially when soo close to such a large screen), the same resolution as the Spider-Man and Transformers rides (keep in mind that these shows are pre-rendered while the TrioTech ride system has to render it real time due to the interactivity, not an easy task at 4K) but I just feel the tech just isn't there yet. In the end, I say Knott's should stick with a high capacity ride system and preferably physical props and sets. You know I want a re-imagined Bear-y Tales!
Monday, June 9, 2014
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Knott's Berry Farm attendance up 5% in 2013
Top 20 visited North America Theme Parks in 2013
1. MAGIC KINGDOM at Walt Disney World: 18,588,000 - Up 6%
2. DISNEYLAND: 16,202,000 - Up 1.5%
3. EPCOT: 11,229,000 - Up 1.5%
4. DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM: 10,198,000 - Up 2%
5. DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS: 10,110,000 - Up 2%
6. DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE: 8,514,000 - Up 9.5%
7. ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE: 8,141,000 - Up 2%
8. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS at Universal Orlando: 7,062,000 - Up 14%
9. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD: 6,148,000 - Up 4%
10. SEAWORLD FL: 5,090,000 - Down -5%
11. SEAWORLD CA : 4,311,000 - Down -3%
12. BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA: 4,087,000 - Down -6%
13. KNOTT'S BERRY FARM: 3,683,000 - Up 5%
14. CANADA'S WONDERLAND: 3,582,000 - Down -2%
15. CEDAR POINT: 3,382,000 - Up 5%
16. KINGS ISLAND: 3,206,000 - Up 0%
17. HERSHEYPARK: 3,180,000 - Up 1.3%
18. SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN: 2,906,000 - Up 3.5%
19. SIX FLAGS GREAT ADVENTURE: 2,800,000 - Up 5.7%
20. BUSCH GARDENS WILLIAMSBURG: 2,726,000 - Down -4.5%
Read the rest at TEAConnect
Knott's News: For reference, Knott's attendance during previous years:
2013 - 3,683,000
2012- 3,508,000
2011 - 3,654,000
2010 - 3,600,000
2009 - 3,333,000
2008 - 3,565,000
2007 - 3,630,000
2006 - 3,670,000
1. MAGIC KINGDOM at Walt Disney World: 18,588,000 - Up 6%
2. DISNEYLAND: 16,202,000 - Up 1.5%
3. EPCOT: 11,229,000 - Up 1.5%
4. DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM: 10,198,000 - Up 2%
5. DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS: 10,110,000 - Up 2%
6. DISNEY'S CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE: 8,514,000 - Up 9.5%
7. ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE: 8,141,000 - Up 2%
8. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS at Universal Orlando: 7,062,000 - Up 14%
9. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD: 6,148,000 - Up 4%
10. SEAWORLD FL: 5,090,000 - Down -5%
11. SEAWORLD CA : 4,311,000 - Down -3%
12. BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA: 4,087,000 - Down -6%
13. KNOTT'S BERRY FARM: 3,683,000 - Up 5%
14. CANADA'S WONDERLAND: 3,582,000 - Down -2%
15. CEDAR POINT: 3,382,000 - Up 5%
16. KINGS ISLAND: 3,206,000 - Up 0%
17. HERSHEYPARK: 3,180,000 - Up 1.3%
18. SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN: 2,906,000 - Up 3.5%
19. SIX FLAGS GREAT ADVENTURE: 2,800,000 - Up 5.7%
20. BUSCH GARDENS WILLIAMSBURG: 2,726,000 - Down -4.5%
Read the rest at TEAConnect
Knott's News: For reference, Knott's attendance during previous years:
2013 - 3,683,000
2012- 3,508,000
2011 - 3,654,000
2010 - 3,600,000
2009 - 3,333,000
2008 - 3,565,000
2007 - 3,630,000
2006 - 3,670,000
I hope attendance continues to rise to reassure management on Knott's new direction.
Calico Mine Ride and Camp Snoopy Preview
Be among first to experience a fresh Camp Snoopy and ride its 3 new rides as well as the fully restored Mine Ride. Camp Snoopy will open at 7:30am to Season Passholders on Thursday, June 12th. Then at 9:15am the fully restored Mine Ride will open to unveil its new décor, figures, and more. Last year’s fully restored classic the Timber Mountain Log Ride will also open at 9:15am that morning for your enjoyment. A valid 2014 Knott’s Berry Farm Regular, Gold, or Platinum Season Pass is required for entry.
Monday, June 2, 2014
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