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Knott's Berry Farm

As I read your report, it sounds like you actually had more good things to say rather than bad. Maybe you should give them another chance! It is a great park, usually. But every park has a bad day now and again.

I haven't really noticed a huge abuse of GAP personally, but if you had bad timing, I could see how it'd be a problem. We once had an out of town guest who had never been to Knott's and we got a Fast Lane to make sure we'd get on everything (this was during the Boysenberry Festival, so the park was insanely mobbed... the most crowded I'd ever seen it, in fact), and I can't say I was impressed with how Fast Lane was handled. It was as if no one really knew what was going on. But I gave them some slack, because it was probably one of the most crowded days ever... I'm sure everyone was overwhelmed.

Sorry to hear about the poor server. But again, that may have been bad luck... I've never had a problem with service there, so give it another try someday. Or just do Chicken to Go a few doors down.

I do agree about Soak City... it's there, not a lot of theming. Colorful, but barren concrete as you said. Also, I hated their policy on the drop slides to have NOTHING with you... that included my prescription glasses. They made me take them off, and I'm more or less legally blind without them. That was fun to stumble up all those stairs. That left a very bad taste in my mouth. It's serviceable, but I'd prefer even Hurricane Habor to this.

I realize that the bulk of the review is comprised of compliments, but the operations/guest misbehavior was so egregiously terrible that I really don't have much of a desire to return. You just don't close one of your premiere coasters on a Summer Saturday with no notice or explanation. I have never experienced line cutting or guest assistance abuse that so poorly impacts regular queues. The staff simply aren't trained to operate rides with crowds of this caliber.

It really bums me out, because I have really enjoyed Knotts on my other visits, some of which were also during summer with moderate to heavy crowds.
 
To their credit, Silver Bullet is rarely closed. But it's been closed for at least a few days with no explanation, not unlike Mystery Lodge. I'm kind of surprised I don't hear much chatter about it... I have no idea what happened, it's unusual. Some clarity from Knott's would be appreciated, agreed there.

The line cutting from GAP/Fast Lane is only really bad on peak days, and is for some reason the worst on Monte and Pony Express.

Ghostrider having a grouper is relatively new... for a long time, it was everyone fend for yourself, and it was pretty bad. I will admit it goes much better with a grouper. Does Hangtime still have a grouper? It did for a while, but last few times I've gone, I rode it first thing in the morning, and no grouper was there. If there was one, it (and Iron Reef) would be other good candidates for Single Rider.

Knott's has been getting a lot more crowded for the last few years. Part of me is every excited about their success... for decades, they've been in the shadow of Disney and considered an underdog, and now they've really come into their own. But it's been getting crowded enough that I often find myself more at Magic Mountain to escape the crowds... who knew that day would ever come?
 
I haven’t been to Knott’s since opening week of Calico Rapids. Operations have always been okay except for Ghostrider. Ghostrider’s ride operations and line management has always been frustrating. Also, I never knew Knott's had single rider? All of this time I thought CF was always allergic to that idea.

It sounds like it’s getting more crowded as Disney has just about priced everybody out. It’s not too surprising, so I think this expansion is much-needed. Maybe it’s time to not push the season passes so hard.

I will say that I agree with Fallow on one thing: the crowds suuuuuuuuuuck when it comes to lines. Every time I have gone to Knott’s when it’s crowded, I have consistently had repeated issues with line cutters. Only once have staff intervened in my experience and that was opening week of Hangtime. I gave the attendant a huge “THANK YOU” for not letting people cut because it’s so frustrating. So many times in line I see kids cut their way up the line “to meet their friend.” SFMM has issues with it, but I’ve always found it worse at Knott’s. They really need to address it. Badly.
 
RE your post, @Fallow

I have to say, as a local and fan of Knott's, their operations when it comes to rides is pretty bad. The park has slow periods and during those periods you can get on everything you want, ride it as many times as you want and essentially have the entire park to yourself. During summer however (and now during festival times etc), I try to limit how often I visit for the operational reasons you brought up.

They absolutely need to incorporate the assigned row thing that Disneyland does. The amount of times I have seen empty seats/rows on Ghostrider or other coasters during busy times is nuts. The load time for coaster trains is slow anyway but mixed in with the fact that not every seat is being used can be frustrating when you are waiting in line. Speaking of lines, they have a horrible problem with line cutting. I am not sure what can be done about this, but for as long as I can remember it has been a thing and it's not good. I can't speak for the GAP or Fast Lane and I have never used either.

I love Knott's and I think that they are really stepping it up with their yearly offerings and managing to keep the prices low. I even think they could raise prices and still feel like you are getting the best bang for your buck. They just really need to find a way to fix their ride operations.
 
Looks like the first rumblings of 2020 are starting to come out with this new photo. No mention of a new ride or attraction like cedar point did but they’re definitely celebrating 100 year anniversary. Any thoughts of a possible new ride or attraction or will they just do a celebration? Personally I’m hoping for a larger version of copperhead strike!
 

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Slightly educated, but I'm guessing more that we won't see much added for the Celebration in the terms of a ride.

2021 however, I do think is going to be worked on with construction beginning sooner than some may think.
 
Looks like they are celebrating in 2020. Per an email I received.
“Get your Season Pass now at the Best Offer of the Year and enjoy unlimited visits throughout 2020! Experience all the thrilling roller coasters only Knott's Berry Farm has to offer including HangTime, GhostRider, Xcelerator®, plus season long family fun including the 100th Anniversary Celebration in Summer 2020.”
 
You gotta think they’re doing something new for 2020 and the 100th anniversary. Maybe a flat ride or new restaurant at least
 
They've been so big on celebrations and live experiences, and they've been very successful at them. If they did that right, I think it could be great.

On a wish list, I think it'd be great if they brought back the parachute jump. I mean, it's right there in the center of their art. And the structure is still up, isn't it? We were just are Six Flags Great Adventure, and theirs is still up and running just fine. But with a sit down cage. Kinda miss the stand up experience, that was very unique.
 
Woah! Just found out through the video below that Smoked Turkey Legs are now part of the dining plan. :clap:When did this happen? Glad to see they're adding a few new options to the dining plan such as the recent addition of a breakfast burrito combo at Cantina.

 
I really want Knott's to get a B&M Hyper for 2021. SoCal desperately needs a good hypercoaster, and Knott's definitely needs another ride with good capacity. The only major coaster with good capacity they have right now is Silver Bullet.
 
Knott’s Dining Pass is far superior than SFMM’s. Yes you get the snack with SFMM but the options, quality, and portions of food you get at Knott’s are the better. It’s even better how you can use it ANYTIME during the day!
 
Knott's wont be getting a major coaster for the foreseeable future unfortunately

That sucks, HangTime is a relatively small coaster since it is just 2198 ft long, and the ride doesn't even really do much for me personally. For something that short, I would rather have gotten something as intense as Railblazer to make up for the shortness of the experience.

I was hoping that the rumored expansion would have included a major coaster. If it doesn't include a major coaster, then I am hoping for another highly themed ride at the quality level of stuff like Calico River Rapids, Calico Mine Ride, and the Timber Mountain Log Ride. Those 3 rides go a long way in making up for the lacking coaster collection at Knott's. The theming and show scenes that were added for Calico River Rapids shows that they are still capable of making a quality themed ride that feels like their classics.
 
As far as I’m aware Knotts have literally no undeveloped land left, so expansion is impossible. Anything that they do will be an enhancement or replacement.
 
As far as I’m aware Knotts have literally no undeveloped land left, so expansion is impossible. Anything that they do will be an enhancement or replacement.

Hypothetically speaking, if they go and take over portions of backstage behind Calico Rapids, Mystery Lodge, and Ghostrider; it could be plausible to see.

And before the question of KSF comes to play, they have locations around the park that they can use, as opposed to the backstage buildings.

__

Personally, if the expansion is more about adding more footspace and laying the ground for something in the future, it wouldn't be too surprising if you ask me.
 
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