Knott's Scary Farm 2021

[wutisgood]

The knotts

You said it yourself: "this year." Identical repeats are pretty rare for HHN, but it's SOP at Knott's. Freddy, Jason, et al, are familiar faces at HHN, no question. And I understand the exasperation. But the mazes aren't carbon copies; TCM is one of the better mazes this year despite being a "repeat."

Meanwhile, I'm so familiar with with Dark Ride, Paranormal Inc, etc., that I could probably do them with my eyes closed -- especially since I might go entire minutes without encountering an actor.

The KSF mazes, in and of themselves, are original; an average night at KSF is pretty much exactly the same year over year. So I guess it depends on how you define and what you value as "original."


Yeah, the price is great. The biggest reason I ultimately decided to hit Knott's this year was the low cost -- I had a fun night despite my gripes, and the Fright and Fast Lane is just a steal. But I guess I'm the rare person who doesn't really care about the shows? They're fun, but the average person is A) At KSF for mazes and rides, and B) Probably not seeing the shows because they're waiting in KSF's long lines for mazes and rides, or food or drinks or whatever else. Even as someone with a specific interest in all this stuff, I never prioritize the shows. Just not why I'm there; there's better "spooky theater" that doesn't require theme park admission.

I got all the houses done by 8pm on the boo-fet early entry. It was definitely a better choice than the fast lane because I wanted to do the shows after and rides were just a mess overall. Knots does terribly on preloading the park so early entry has at least the value that express does at universal for much less money and a meal. I would list the rides last apart from joining the line at the last minute for likely the log flume. Absolutely an embarrassment on ride operations.

 

[JawsVictim]

The knotts

I got all the houses done by 8pm on the boo-fet early entry. It was definitely a better choice than the fast lane because I wanted to do the shows after and rides were just a mess overall. Knots does terribly on preloading the park so early entry has at least the value that express does at universal for much less money and a meal. I would list the rides last apart from joining the line at the last minute for likely the log flume. Absolutely an embarrassment on ride operations.

Mind sharing the order you hit houses? Going on Halloween night with Boo-fet and hoping to hit everything early, see Puppet Up, and ride log flume/mine train/Beary Tales/Ghostrider.

 

[Water Bottle]

The knotts

I got all the houses done by 8pm on the boo-fet early entry. It was definitely a better choice than the fast lane because I wanted to do the shows after and rides were just a mess overall. Knots does terribly on preloading the park so early entry has at least the value that express does at universal for much less money and a meal. I would list the rides last apart from joining the line at the last minute for likely the log flume. Absolutely an embarrassment on ride operations.

What night did you go?

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

The knotts

I got all the houses done by 8pm on the boo-fet early entry. It was definitely a better choice than the fast lane because I wanted to do the shows after and rides were just a mess overall. Knots does terribly on preloading the park so early entry has at least the value that express does at universal for much less money and a meal. I would list the rides last apart from joining the line at the last minute for likely the log flume. Absolutely an embarrassment on ride operations.

Fast Lane works for me at Knott's because it's unlimited all night and I know I'm not going out of my way for shows. This year it was particularly good because I got to do Mesmer three times, which was perfect; the other mazes we did at least twice, except for the stale older ones, which we only did once; got to squeeze in a decent amount of rides (including Ghost Rider) despite the poor ops because we saved so much time not waiting in maze lines; and even did a show (Invitation to Terror).

Never waited more than 5 minutes for a maze -- usually it was a direct walk-on. General standbys were clocking in at 2 hrs for some and we zoomed right through. No need to knock everything out by 8pm, just went at our own pace and had a good time.

 

[kingcooger]

Mind sharing the order you hit houses? Going on Halloween night with Boo-fet and hoping to hit everything early, see Puppet Up, and ride log flume/mine train/Beary Tales/Ghostrider.

Assuming you do the Boo-Fet at Knott's, you should be let into the left corner houses around 6:30pm, about a half hour before the park opens. You want to be at the event rope drop (by Ghostrider) no later than 6:55pm, so make sure to keep that in mind.

First off, hit Paranormal Inc. This house gets and holds a long line all night long, so crossing if off now is a good idea. There is a point near the beginning of tthe house where you can choose to go left or right, both paths are different. If you want to see both paths, make sure to do both now, before the regular guests get let in.

Your next priority should be Wax Works. This usually has a 30+ minute wait until right near park close.

If you still have time after these two, hit The Depths. The line for this one tends to drop off around 11pm, so it is not as high a priority as the other two.

Finally, if you have time hit Dark Entities. This RARELY gets much more than a 20 minute wait, so don't prioritize this over being at the 6:55pm rope drop.

After the rope drop, head straight to Origins

Once you are done with Origins, make your way to the boardwalk area and hit Mesmer

After Mesmer drops you out by Fiesta Village, double back to the boardwalk and hit Dark Ride.

With Dark Ride completed, you should have 6 or 7 houses of the 8 done. Your final house would be Pumpkin Eater which is at the front of the park and rarely has a line.

Take a break

Puppet Up! is excellent and I believe the times are 8:30pm, 10pm, and 11:30pm

There is a special performance in the Gore-ing 20's scare zone (not far from Puppet Up!) at 8, 9:30, 11, and 12:15 that is well worth checking out and usually when this ends, I walk into Puppet Up!

I always recommend food at Boardwalk BBQ because that line tends to move faster than the other food service lines. They also have a separate line for those wanting booze only, so that tends to expedite the process a bit.

Unless you decide to head right into Ghostrider at rope drop (after hitting those corner houses) I would make that coaster your last priority just based on how bad ride ops have been on the coasters in this post COVID world (and even pre-COVID, they were not great)

Also, if you see a couple walking around with a toddler in a Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers costume, feel free to say "Hi"

 

[deadbydawn]

I made a last minute trip for the final time last night. It was still busy, but last night seemed noticeably better in terms of staffing in the scare zones and mazes. This year still feels a little weird, and I am hoping that the mazes that are sticking around for another season or so get a little TLC before they retire.

I've done the small secret room twice in Mesmer now. It's fun for what it is! I kind of wish they added a little something else in there but I like the idea of these mazes having weird little side rooms and stuff that aren't necessarily advertised.

 

[wutisgood]

Fast Lane works for me at Knott's because it's unlimited all night and I know I'm not going out of my way for shows. This year it was particularly good because I got to do Mesmer three times, which was perfect; the other mazes we did at least twice, except for the stale older ones, which we only did once; got to squeeze in a decent amount of rides (including Ghost Rider) despite the poor ops because we saved so much time not waiting in maze lines; and even did a show (Invitation to Terror).

Never waited more than 5 minutes for a maze -- usually it was a direct walk-on. General standbys were clocking in at 2 hrs for some and we zoomed right through. No need to knock everything out by 8pm, just went at our own pace and had a good time.

I wouldn't have wanted to buy the fast lane personally unless I was doing rides over shows. There was not much extra time after doing the mazes then shows. I might have done maybe 2 more repeats vs standing in line for the log flume.