KNOTT’S BERRY FARM
Buena Park, California
Six Flags Entertainment
---- THE LATEST BUZZ ----
(9/21/2026) A look inside INKED and UNEARTHED at Knott’s Scary Farm
(9/10/2026) Knott's Scary Farm Opens With Two Fun New Mazes Next Week
(9/7/2026) Xcelerator Reopens and What's Next?
(8/21/2026) Xcelerator Status Update
(8/15/2026) Xcelerator Update (Note: Still CLOSED!)
Ride Rehabs - These dates are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as refurbishments are subject to change.
Bear-Y Tales: Sept. 21 through Sept. 25
Screamscape has posted our official review of Knott's Scary Farm 2021. Click here to see all the details.
See the official review of 2019’s new Calico River Rapids - Click here
Screamscape has posted our official review of Knott's Scary Farm 2017 this week. Click here to see all the details.
Screamscape has posted our official review of Knott's Scary Farm 2016 this week. Click here to see all the details.
You can read Screamscape’s full review of the Knott’s Scary Farm 2015 Halloween Haunt. Check it out here.
 Park News - (9/7/2026) The good news is that Knott’s did finally reopen Xcelerator after the famous launched coaster ended up suddenly closing down in July and staying closed for the rest of the summer. So the question is… with Monty finally reopen, what’s next? Rumor has it any plans to remove or replace Jaguar has been put on hold for the time being and that the park may be looking to push forward with a major NEW roller coaster for the 2028 season, to take advantage of the extra crowds in town that summer for the 2028 Olympic games. We’ll have to wait and see…
(8/21/2026) It is interesting to note that Xcelerator is back on the park’s “Scheduled Ride Closures” page as of this week, and is now listed as being closed through to August 28th. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if they can get it up and running again on the 29th or not, though I’d expect to see some testing in the days leading up to that next week if they are indeed serious, so keep your eyes peeled if you are visiting the park.
(8/15/2026) While Knott’s has not come forward with any details, reports online say that Xcelerator is STILL CLOSED. More anonymous reports have come forward to confirm that the attempt to fix the attraction resulted in the “smoke” that was seen coming from the launch mechanicals room, and it has been closed ever since.
The latest rumors suggest that Knott’s still wants to try and reopen it, but their maintenance crews have had their hands full keeping an eye on the newly opened Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress. Parts for these rare Intamin made Accelerator coasters can be hard to come by and sometimes takes weeks and even months to produce and arrive at the park, so there is no telling just how long this might take.
On the other side of the tale however, is the rumor that depending on how bad the problem is and just how long it might take to fix it, Knott’s could potentially just opt to retire the ride in favor of replacing it with something new in a few years.
Of course, replacing Xcelerator may have already been in the park’s long term plans anyway. Some may have seen a guest survey released last year by the park that hinted at adding a new launched coaster from Vekoma as a possible replacement. The introduction and popularity of Siren’s Curse at Cedar Point, a Vekoma Tilt Coaster, has also generated a lot of interest from Knott’s, as that style ride would also fit nicely into Xcelerator’s corner of the park.
Some claim that Knott’s was just hoping Xcelerator might last a bit longer and allow them to close it on their terms when they were ready to green-light a replacement, rather than suffering from another early catastrophic failure of the launch system. Stay tuned for more info as it comes out, but unless they somehow get it back up before the end of Haunt season, there is a good chance that management might be ready to give up on it, once and for all.
(8/9/2026) I don’t know how much truth there is to this yet, but there are a few reports on social media claiming that Xcelerator ran a test run or two on Aug. 1st when the park was planning to reopen it (as per the last update to the scheduled ride closure page). However, the rumor is that during morning testing “smoke” was seen coming from the launch motor room, which caused all testing to stop, and the ride is rumored to have not moved since.
Unfortunately nothing has been officially updated on the Knott’s website or app about the ride’s status at all, as it is no longer listed as closed, but it is still down according to those who have visited the park.
(7/21/2026) A report at the OC Register will bring joy to locomotive enthusiasts as it discusses the completion of a multi-year refurbishment project by Knott’s Berry Farm to overhaul and rebuild the park’s two steam engine locomotives. Engine #340 (Green River) and #41 (Red Cliff), were each sent to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado for about 2-years apiece to allow for the renovations to take place while keeping the attraction at the park open. There is some great footage below of the #340 and #41 running in the wildlands of Colorado once again at the end of their refurbishment as they tested them out on the Durango mainline.
 Knott’s Scary Farm 2026 - (9/21/2026) Screamscape was invited to send a camera crew to cover this year’s Knott’s Scary Farm and boy did they. More is to come, but they quickly sent back preview videos of Knott’s newest two mazes: INKED and UNEARTHED that look simply spectacular, and feature some amazing new effects sequences. Spoilers ahead because you can check them out below!
(9/10/2026) Knott's Scary Farm opens its 2026 season on September 17 with 10 haunted mazes, five scare zones, and two new stage shows. Front and center this year is Inked, a dark maze following a washed-up 1930s animator whose cartoon characters come to life seeking blood, and Unearthed, an nightmare set deep in an ancient mountain excavation site where something has been sending out a disturbing distress signal and ancient tablets have been discovered.
(6/28/2026) Knott’s Berry Farm has announced that the Knott’s Scary Farm: Nightmares Revealed event will be taking place on August 18th at the park, when the park will pull back the curtain and make the full announcement of the fun to come this Halloween season.
2026 - MonteZOOMa: The Forbidden Fortress - (8/6/2026) Good news for Knott’s Berry Farm fans… posts on social media confirm that Montezooma: The Forbidden Fortress soft opened earlier today!
2027 - Soak City Improvements - (7/30/2026) Knott’s Berry Farm has announced that a new waterslide tower complex will be added for the 2027 season. The odd thing is that this will replace the current Shorebreak Slide tower complex, which I’m told was the last new thing added to the park, about 10 years ago. So it seems a little odd to remove the newest thing for the next new thing, rather than remove something very old, especially when Shorebreak had some of the more edgy slides that featured drop pods.
Now the two new slides still do look to be a lot of fun, but offer more of a family raft slide experience. Meet Coral Craze and Kelp Kraze, that will offer up new waterslide thrills not seen elsewhere in California. Coral Craze will feature several Flying SAUCER turn elements, while Kelp Kraze will introduce North America’s first Family HIVE element slide where riders are sent twisting through a series of tight turns and spiraling helix elements designed to create the feeling that the slide itself is revolving around you while offering high G thrills as you race around the outer wall of the Hive elements.
(11/14/2024) A press release from Six Flags today confirmed that the company is planning to spend over $1 BILLION on the parks over the next two years. Some of this will come in the form of enhancements to the guest experience, such as new themed areas, dining upgrades and technology enhancements. While we’ve seen the 2025 capital projects ($500 million) already announced, they decided to post a list of teasers of what they are already confirming will come to some of the parks in 2026 as part of another $525 million capital investment plan.
For Knott’s Berry Farm, the plan seems to focus on bringing a “water park refresh and aesthetic enhancements” to the Knott’s Soak City waterpark. This is probably a good thing, as I can’t remember off the top of my head the last time they really did anything new here.
???? - New Roller Coaster - (9/3/2025) I’ve been hearing this rumored on and off for the past couple of years, but ever since the whole Montezooma project went sideways, so did all the rumors about potential future Knott’s projects. With progress now clearing moving forward towards reopening Monty at last, the rumors about closing Jaguar next have started to return.
The only problem is that there have been some different concepts being whispered about, with the only common thread between them all was a goal to keep the temple structure and repurpose it for whatever new roller coaster the park agrees to build next. One earlier rumor suggested that whatever replaced Jaguar would be a more thrilling than Jaguar, but still technically a family coaster. The other new rumor is a bit more interesting however, and more reflective of the merger between Six Flags and Cedar Fair. This one not only points the project as possibly going to Vekoma, but could also become the first Tilt Coaster on the west coast following the very positive reactions guests have had with Siren’s Curse at Cedar Point. If true, and I had to guess… I’d say they might hold this one for a 2027 or 2028 opening to make it something they can promote to tourists in town for the 2028 Olympic Games and leaving the prior year open for whatever Six Flags Magic Mountain has been working on.
Again, just rumors right now, and it isn’t uncommon for parks to request project bids to more than one company to see what kind of options they may have to replace Jaguar once Monty is up and running once again. So just keep your eyes and ears open for now.
(2/23/2025) Early rumors are starting to swirl that Knott’s may be planning on adding their next big coaster in 2027, in order to get things up and running ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games, and spreading the project a year-aparts from 2026 when sister park, Six Flags Magic Mountain, is expected to open their next coaster, along with the opening of the Fast & Furious coaster at Universal Studios Hollywood.
The interesting thing is that there is a chance they could be looking into the concept of the long rumored Giga Coaster once again, possibly similar in concept to the basic layout and location of the one leaked out years ago.
It’s still way to early to call anything on this… and even I’m not convinced that Knott’s is truly ready to commit to something like a Giga, but since Los Angeles will be on display for a global audience to see in 2028, the timing would be perfect to see something like this in 2027 or 2028.
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