Knott's Scary Farm (update v.2 inc trip report) vs. Halloween Horror Nights

[halfmonkey]

My wife and I are thinking about going to Knott's Scary Farm in mid-Oct. It's been about 15 years since we were last there. When I used to go in my college days, they used to limit ticket sales to whatever was allotted for the day. Once the allotted tickets were sold out, no more ticket sales were allowed. The last time that my wife and I went, they had an open ticket sale policy basically where anybody that wanted to buy a ticket could. That changed the whole experience and we haven't been back since.

I looked on their website and it appears that they have a thing like at Sea World where you can pay for a "fast pass." Unlike DLR/DCA, it's not something where they tell you to return at a certain time and you can go into the fast pass line. This Fright Lane gives you the ability to line up in the Fright Lane holder line and bypass the long wait times. I haven't been there since they implemented this so this is what I'm taking away from reading the information on their website.

I'd like to get some feedback from anybody that has been there in the last few years and what your thoughts are on the whole experience. Was it fun? Was there a bunch of gang bangers kind like how Magic Mountain has turned into? Did you use the Fright Lane and was it worth the cost? Any other input would be appreciated.

Also, we're thinking of staying the Knott's Berry Farm hotel since it's right next door. This will make it a lot easier to just simply walk out of the park and walk to the hotel rather than having to mess with and pay for parking and then having to drive back to the hotel at 2am and looking for parking at the hotel. Any thought/tips on this would also be appreciated.

 

[Spacepest]

I've attended Knotts Scary farm on and off for the past few years.

We've actually done what you are considering--get a room on site, getting a Fright Lane pass, etc. We've also stayed off site as well--in my opinion, it is NOT worth the hassle to leave to an offsite hotel after the Haunt at 2am, often you will wait more than an hour just to drive out of their crowded parking lot! We have also attended with and without a Fright Lane pass, and the event is often crowded with wall to wall people, and you might not even be able to do all the mazes in one night if the lines are really long if you don't have front of the line privileges. If you actually want to do any rides on a Haunt night, forget without the pass. The crowds are just too great and its just not happening.

If you are thinking about staying onsite, look into their Halloween Haunt packages. They offer different tiers in different price ranges--some with just room and ticket for the night, some with Fright Lane added on, deluxe packages with everything: room, ticket, front of line, meals. My recommendation--if you are only planning on attending one night, do a room a package with front of the line so you can get everything done. (Our personal preference: room with tickets, front of line, meals. Meals are served in a private restaurant at the Hotel, with food from the Mrs Knotts chicken restaurant, and then you get separate early entry into the park before the public, all for the cost of one night's stay at a local Disney resort).

We have alot of fun when we go, and the crowd is mostly older teenagers and adults, and some obvious gangbangers. But, Knott's hires extra security for this event, and there is a security check for weapons before you can even enter the park (in fact, expect to spend an hour in security check if you are not a hotel guest)! They have no problem arresting and booting troublemakers from the park. Its a very adult event, and they serve alcohol. Front of the line is worth it just to bypass these hordes. Just make sure to check what the Fright Lane covers: some years its only covered the mazes, some years both the mazes and all the rest of the rides.

 

[halfmonkey]

We ended up booking a room at the knotts hotel because we didn't want to have to mess with parking because we'll be driving into the park and mess with traffic leaving the park. We got the basic package because we didn't want the buffet and the fast lane passes for the rides. We purchased the fright lane passes separately from the hotel package and just plan to eat at outback or something close by. We're def looks forward to it.

 

[Tres Vegas]

I took my family of four in 2012 to Knott's Scary Farm (two boys 11 and 9), we were very disappointed.
The last two times I went was back in the good old days when Elvira and Freddy Krueger were the main hosts. Back then it was "scary" I remember it was dark and crowded but it was that way for a reason you were genuinely scared.
Now they keep the lights on all around the park and the ghouls are too friendly compared to the old days. My boys went again in 2013 with their Mother and it was the same disappointment. They did not see why it was called scary.
Unfortunately my family will never attend Knott's scary farm (and we love knotts) it was a real let down. I do have to consider they made it more friendly for young kids I suppose to maybe compete with Disney but I took my kids to get a real scare people I spoke with before feel the same way they want their kids to experience a real scare as a tradition.

I know they have the not so scary nights sometimes the nights we chose were not those days. We have already talked about an alternative place to go to have a traditional scary experience.

My .02

 

[halfmonkey]

I took my family of four in 2012 to Knott's Scary Farm (two boys 11 and 9), we were very disappointed.
The last two times I went was back in the good old days when Elvira and Freddy Krueger were the main hosts. Back then it was "scary" I remember it was dark and crowded but it was that way for a reason you were genuinely scared.
Now they keep the lights on all around the park and the ghouls are too friendly compared to the old days. My boys went again in 2013 with their Mother and it was the same disappointment. They did not see why it was called scary.
Unfortunately my family will never attend Knott's scary farm (and we love knotts) it was a real let down. I do have to consider they made it more friendly for young kids I suppose to maybe compete with Disney but I took my kids to get a real scare people I spoke with before feel the same way they want their kids to experience a real scare as a tradition.

I know they have the not so scary nights sometimes the nights we chose were not those days. We have already talked about an alternative place to go to have a traditional scary experience.

My .02

I've been in the good ole days when Freddy was there so it's been a while for me too. I've heard a full range of comments from really bad to really good so I guess we'll see in a few weeks.

I've updated the thread to include some discussion on the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. I've never been there and we were entertaining the idea of going there but since it's much farther away, that is really what took us back to Knott's. If anybody has been to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal, I'd love to hear your feedback. Maybe next year, we'll change venue and check out what Universal has to offer.

 

[Spacepest]

I've also been to the Universal Hollywood Horror Nights on and off over the years (haven't done Florida yet, though I would really like to!).

IMHO, its very hit or miss. Some years its great, others, lame. The event also seems to be way more crowded than Knott's does, at least to me, maybe because Universal has mazes themed to big name horror movies and attracts alot of people, or maybe its just the crappy layout of the park. We only go if the mazes featured that year are really something we want to see because we know from experience we're probably not going to see anything else.

Mostly what stops us is what a big PITA it is getting to the Universal Horror Nights. Traffic sucks in that area during the evening, getting into parking is just as bad, and trying to book a nearby hotel has been confusing for us at best (whereas Universal Orlando and Knotts has plenty of nearby options you go to right through their Halloween websites). Also, unlike Knotts, where even if you aren't staying onsite you can still do quite a bit with a plan, we've never been able to accomplish that at Universal. We've never made "rope drop" for the Horror Nights because it is such a problem getting there (even showing up two hours before the gates opened!), security takes forever, and the walkways are even more crowded. They offer front of the line passes, but the last time we went they were sold out so we couldn't take advantage of that option, and the crowds were so bad that we were only able to do the mazes, none of the Halloween themed shows, rides, and we couldn't even enjoy the themed scare zones because it was wall to wall people.

At best, Universal Hollywood has just been "okay" for us and we honestly enjoy our time at Knotts more due to these issues, even though we find the scare zones, mazes, and scare actors to now be equal between both parks.

 

[Tres Vegas]

Halfmonkey, I truly hope you guys have a great time at the park. Let us know how it goes I'm hoping that Knott's will be on the upswing and make it like the good old days. I really miss the dark evenings, scary sounds at Knott's and hope it comes back to it's old reputation.

Post a few photo's if possible I like to see how it's decorated.

 

[halfmonkey]

Halfmonkey, I truly hope you guys have a great time at the park. Let us know how it goes I'm hoping that Knott's will be on the upswing and make it like the good old days. I really miss the dark evenings, scary sounds at Knott's and hope it comes back to it's old reputation.

Post a few photo's if possible I like to see how it's decorated.

I think my wife and I will enjoy the evening no matter. We'll be kids free and it'll just be a nice super quick Saturday night getaway. Our moms are watching the kids for the evening so we'll be back early Sunday morning.

We did buy the Fright Lane and skipped the Fast Lane because we don't see ourselves "wasting" our time at Knott's SCARY Farm riding the rides when we could just ride the rides during a regular visit so we stuck with the Fright Lane passes. They were a little pricey but since they get us to the front of the line and allow us to bypass those long lines on a Saturday night, I think it's worth it. Otherwise, without the Fright Lane passes, we might only get a few rides in the whole night.

I used to go when they actually limited tickets sales and so when they sold out, they sold out and nobody else was allowed to purchase tickets to enter. Those were the good ol days. Well, they soon realized that by limiting tickets sales, they were limiting profit so once they opened up tickets sales to selling as many as people would buy, that changed the whole experience. We went one year and we haven't been back since. Now that they have the Fright Lane passes, we're hoping things might be more enjoyable.

I'll report back once we go. I'd love to upload pictures but it appears that I can only upload pictures from a Shutterfly acct or something similar and I don't use those picture websites. All of my pictures are downloaded to my imac so if there's another way for me to upload pictures from my imac, please let me know and I'd be more than happy to share pictures.

 

[Spacepest]

Halfmonkey, enjoy your trip!

One more bit of advice...if you just got front of the line for the mazes only, plan to make rope drop for the event for one reason. I normally say don't bother to go on rides during this event...except for the Halloween themed ones. This year the refurbished Calico Mine Ride is Halloween themed. If you make that your first order of business to ride it (avoiding an hours long wait later in the evening as the event progresses) that frees you up to enjoy the mazes and shows. (TBH, if you go to Knott's during weekday regular operating hours most of the rides are walk on this time of year).

It looks like I might be able to swing a Knott's trip this Halloween too. I've got a few October vacation days coming up and I'm trying to decide what I want to do with them (Knotts, Universal Hollywood, Disneyland Halloween party, or Universal Florida...looks like I'll probably only have time to pick ONE though).

 

[halfmonkey]

Halfmonkey, enjoy your trip!

One more bit of advice...if you just got front of the line for the mazes only, plan to make rope drop for the event for one reason. I normally say don't bother to go on rides during this event...except for the Halloween themed ones. This year the refurbished Calico Mine Ride is Halloween themed. If you make that your first order of business to ride it (avoiding an hours long wait later in the evening as the event progresses) that frees you up to enjoy the mazes and shows. (TBH, if you go to Knott's during weekday regular operating hours most of the rides are walk on this time of year).

It looks like I might be able to swing a Knott's trip this Halloween too. I've got a few October vacation days coming up and I'm trying to decide what I want to do with them (Knotts, Universal Hollywood, Disneyland Halloween party, or Universal Florida...looks like I'll probably only have time to pick ONE though).

Thanks for the tip on the Mine Ride. I looked on the website and it looks like it does have potential. For Knott's Scary Farm, it's called The Witch's Keep in the Calico Mine Ride and it looks likes it part of the Fright Lane pass so it doesn't appear that we will need to rush over there unless the Witch's Keep is something completely separate from the actual Mine Ride.

 

[halfmonkey]

We got back from our adult only mini vacation and it was nice to get away if only for a night. I thought I would provide a little write up for anybody that cares to read about it.

First off a little background. The last time we went was like 14 or 15 years ago and the main reason why we stopped going was because the lines were getting so long that it just wasn't fun anymore. When I first started going, they used to actually limit ticket sales and once they were sold out, nobody else could get into the park. This was nice but of course very limiting from a business standpoint and hence the open ticket policy.

I guess they just started this new thing called Fright Lane. It's basically a fast pass but instead of returning at a certain time, you just walk up to the front of the line and you basically walk right into the maze. It was pricey but it was well worth it. We went on Saturday night and as you can imagine, it was extremely crowded. With the passes, we were actually able to finish all of the mazes and even with the Fright Lane passes, it took us about 4 hours to go through all of the mazes and to watch the hanging. If we didn't have the Fright Lane passes, there would have been no way we would have been even close to enjoying all of the mazes. Towards the end of the night, they were even shutting down lines saying that the lines were at capacity but people were still lining up. I even overheard one customer say that he was told all of the mazes were at capacity.

There were definitely a lot of kids but there were also a lot of adults so it was a good mix. There was also a lot of pot smoking as you could smell it all over the park. They do search your bag thoroughly when you enter and they use metal detectors so times have definitely changed from when I went in my college days.

We said we would go back but probably not every year. Maybe in a couple of years or maybe check out the event at Universal Studios.

The mazes were good and the monsters were good too. They tend to focus on the girls especially the ones that run and scream because they'll just keep chasing you. It's actually quite funny to watch.

We stayed at the Knott's Hotel and it's definitely an older hotel. Nothing was necessarily wrong with it but it could use a little bit of updating. Mainly it was close (within walking distance and didn't have to mess with parking), offered a package with the hotel and tickets, and inexpensive. We would probably stay there again.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I went to the Knotts Haunt in 2012 and 2013, and thought that both were excellent Halloween events. The mazes are creepy, clever and inventive. Particularly in 2012, they did a great job of keeping you guessing about where the scares were going to come from.

The Haunt is definitely a better value than Universal. While the mazes at Uni tend to be more technically proficient, the problem is that you have to wait forever in line, unless you spring for an expensive front of the line pass. I rarely had to wait long at Knott's, although I did skip two mazes last time because of the lineups. But we showed up about an hour after opening, so that didn't help.

If you're picking only one, I would say go with Knott's. If money is no object, then you could consider Universal, with a front of the line pass.

 

[Debs Hill]

We are coming to Anaheim for Halloween and also looking into which events to attend..........can anyone tell me how Knotts, Universal and Six Flags Magic Mountain compare in terms of how scary the events are, how well done and which you would most recommend?
Also heard a lot about 'gang issues' at Knotts and Six Flags....is this something I should factor in?
We are two adults and one 15 year old!