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News & Rumors

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KNOTT’S BERRY FARM
Buena Park, California
Cedar Fair Entertainment

 

 

 

Ride Rehabs - These dates are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as refurbishments are subject to change.
Calico Railroad - NOW CLOSED through TBD
Dragon Swing - NOW CLOSED through TBD
GhostRider - NOW CLOSED through TBD
Timber Mountain Log Ride - NOW CLOSED through TBD
Montezooma’s Revenge - NOW CLOSED through TBD
Woodstock’s Airmail - NOW CLOSED through TBD

 

----    THE LATEST BUZZ    ----
    (3/16/2024) Surging Prices For Single Fast Lane Passes and New Montazooma Pics
    (3/14/2024) Work Resumes on MontaZOOMa: The Forbidden Fortress
    (3/9/2024) Knott's Berry Farm To Open Grab & Go Store This May
    (3/2/2024) Knott's Berry Farm Now Selling Individual Single-Use Fast Lane Tickets

 

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.

 

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- (3/16/2024) A reader dropped into Knott’s Berry farm this past monday and sent in a couple of photos of the track missing from the spikes on Montezooma’s Revenge. Also of interest, they sent in a couple of screen captures showing off the pricing for those new Single Use Fast Lane cut to the front of the line passes that Knott’s was selling. As you can see, they’ve jumped well and above the initial $7.50 a ride cost mentioned in the news to achieve Disney level pricing. The prices shown were $12.50 for small rides like Pony Express and Bear-Y-Tales, $15 for the Log Ride, Silver Bullet, Xcelerator and Jaguar, and a whopping $20 to ride GhostRider.
 
    (3/9/2024) According to the OC Register, Knott’s Berry Farm will open a “grab-and-go” contact-free mobile payment snack store in the park in May called “M&T’s on the Go”. This is similar to the “Quick 6” shop that opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain last year. The new grab-and-go store will sell Coca-Cola branded bottled drinks, chips, ice cream and other snacks, sundries and souvenirs. Look for it near the HangTime roller coaster.
 
    (3/2/2024) According to the OC Register, Knott’s Berry Farm is now borrowing a page out of the Disney and Six Flags playbook. The park has quietly rolled out a new individual ride “Fast Lane” pass that will be affected by dynamic surge-pricing rates, starting at $7.50 per ride and up. You can find the new Fast Lane option in the updated Knott’s Berry Farm mobile app, which requires you to actually be in the park to make the purchase. Currently these special Pay-Per-Ride skip-the-line passes are only being offered after 2pm and is currently only offered on eight rides:
    GhostRider, HangTime, Silver Bullet, Jaguar, Pony Express, Timber Mountain Log Ride, Xcelerator and Bear-Y Tales.
    According to the article, you can look for this program to expand to several other Cedar Fair theme parks as they open for the 2024 season. The list includes Carowinds, Canada’s Wonderland, Cedar Point, Dorney Park, Kings Island as well as their Schlitterbahn waterpark in Texas. They report that Cedar Fair had previously tested a non-mobile kiosk version of the concept last season at Cedar Point and Kings Island for a limited time.
    I believe Disney may have pioneered the concept back in 2021 when they replaced the former free FastPass systems with the upcharge Genie+ system, which gave them the ability to include upcharge single-attraction Lightning Lane ticket purchase options, and Six Flags followed suit by beginning to test out similar skip the line passes for select attraction at several parks a year later in 2022.
    Based on basic human psychology, parks have seen huge success rates where launching these individual-ride style ticket programs. The cost of full day line-cutting passes has long reached the point of impacting their sales due to sticker shock pricing, as in some cases the price of a line-cutting pass is more than what a guest is paying for general admission. By contract, offering a lower-cost single-ride option, especially to guests already in the park looking straight at a very long line for something they really want to ride, helps to trigger an on-the-spot and emotional  “impulse purchase” reaction in order to skip the line. Think of it as the theme park equivalent of how the grocery store puts drinks and candy within easy reach as you approach the register to check-out. You didn’t plan on buying it, but the instant gratification of skipping a 90-minute line with a quick $10-15 mobile purchase can be a tough one to resist, especially if you are just paying for yourself or for a couple.
 
    (2/16/2024) Knott’s Berry Farm will bring back their popular Boysenberry Festival event at the park most days from March 8 through to April 28, 2024. As before, you can expect to find all kinds of crazy food options to try out that have been enhanced with the addition of the famous Knott’s Berry Farm Boysenberry.
 
    (2/14/2024) Remember a bit ago some fans created an incredible looking animated Giga Coaster creation for Knott’s Berry Farm called Gold Rush? Now they’re back with the full 23 minute long video that showcases not only the concept of adding Gold Rush to Knott’s Berry Farm, but also proposals to revamp the Front Gate, the Shopping Plaza area, and how the park’s backstage Storage areas. All together the proposal is a plan to update Knott’s Berry Farm for the future while still keeping much of the charm of the original park.
    While we would all love to see a Giga Coaster at Knott’s Berry Farm, I’ve got to admit that the rest of their proposals to improve the entry experienc einto the park is quite appealing, especially the new main gate area. Of course the latest improvements to the Gold Rush coaster concept is probably everything coaster fans on the West coast could want from a Giga Coaster, with plenty of nods to popular elements borrowed from Fury 325 at Carowinds.

 
    (2/5/2024) Celebrate “Charlie Brown Day” at Knott’s Berry Farm this Sunday, February 11th as a special part of the ongoing Knott’s PEANUTS Celebration event. “The park invites guests during this special time of year to join in on all the excitement as the Peanuts Gang takes over. To show everyone’s favorite underdog just how special he is, attendees will be encouraged to pay homage to Charlie Brown by sporting his signature bright yellow zig-zag striped tee, black shorts and red baseball cap outfit. At 12:30pm on the Calico Mine Stage, the PEANUTS characters will perform the musical game show It's Your Life, Charlie Brown, with the loveable title character getting the surprise of his life. After the show, all guests dressed as Charlie Brown will be invited to gather around the stage for a photo opportunity posing alongside the boy of the hour. All guests in attendance will also receive a button commemorating Charlie Brown’s special day, while supplies last.”
 
    (1/9/2024) Knott’s Berry Farm will soon put on their “Knott’s PEANUTS Celebration” event, which takes place from January 27 through to February 25th, 2024. “The park-wide celebration features a new Franklin-focused exhibit, plenty of new PEANUTS-inspired cuisine, a fun lineup of returning shows and photo ops that allow guests to step into the iconic Charles M. Schulz comic strips. Throughout the park, guests will have plenty of chances to play and interact with their favorite PEANUTS characters.”
    Look for the new special exhibit about the character, Franklin, in Calico’s Town Hall as well as the characters performing It’s Your Life, Charlie Brown on the Calico Mine Stage. More PEANUTS fun will take place inside the Bird Cage Theater (drawing lessons, trivia games, etc) or you can watch the PEANUTS Cowboy Jamboree in Calico Park or meetup at Pigpen’s Pig Pen in Ghost Town at the Livery Stables.
    Visit the official website for all the latest details.
 
    (1/1/2024) Knott’s Berry Farm opened the new Calico Social Hall today, which serves as the exclusive Prestige Passholder Lounge area for the park. Check out a look around the new area in the video clip below.

 
 
    (12/24/2023) According to the OC Register, Knott’s has set dates for the first few big events coming to the park in 2024. This includes the “Knott’s Peanuts Celebration” taking place from Jan. 27 through Feb. 25, 2024, and then the popular Knott’s Boysenberry Festival from March 8 through April 28th, 2024. After that will be Knott’s Summer Nights (June 14 through Sept. 2) that will feature live musical entertainment, and the return of the popular play-along “Ghost Town Alive” interactive and immersive storytelling attraction.

 

icon_STOP2024 - Camp Snoopy Update - (2/14/2024) Coaster Empire has posted a look at the current progress on the Camp Snoopy on Twitter, here and here. (Sorry, they seem to have blocked embedding…)
 
    (1/25/2024) According to the latest Camp Snoopy construction tweets, bathroom building near the former Timberline Twister coaster has now been demolished, which would indicate that a new bathroom is coming. More land clearing is also said to have begun and the old Ferris Wheel is coming down.
 
    (1/12/2024) A ton of new progress pictures of Camp Snoopy at Knott’s Berry Farm have been posted to Twitter by Coaster Empire. Embedding appears to be turned off, but you can follow this link and scroll down to see them. Essetinally, there are now construction walls up all over the place as the project enters the main phase of construction throughout the land.
 
    (1/5/2024) Ok folks… your last chance to ride the Camp Snoopy “Huff and Huff” self-powered ride is this Sunday, January 7th. According to a post from Knott’s, you can commemorate the event by earning a “Huff and Puff Last Ride merit badge.”
    According to Knott’s, this is just the first in a series of “limited-edition merit badges” that guests can earn between now and the opening day of the reimagined Camp Snoopy. Keep an eye on Knott’s social media for the future announcements just ahead of the release date for the next badges as they are released. As they say, “Collect them all while supplies last!”
    Oh… one important thing to keep in mind, the Huff and Puff has a MAXIMUM HEIGHT LIMIT of just 52 inches. So if you grew up riding it as a kid, your last ride was probably many moons ago, but if you’ve got kids, small cousins, or a niece/nephew, etc… they’ll still enjoy taking it for a final spin.

 

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    (12/10/2023) New details about Knott’s Berry Farm’s upgraded Camp Snoopy project for 2024 have been posted on Blooloop this weekend, revealing that the new attractions are being supplied by Zamperla and will allow parents and their children to “ride and play together” alongside the Peanuts Gang.
    Snoopy’s Tenderpaw Twister - is a Zamperla “Family Coaster 155” model, which will be a themed clone of popular Daddy Pig’s Roller Coaster built for the Peppa Pig Theme Park at Legoland Florida that features a Tire Propelled booster launch mid-ride with large trains able to comfortably hold 20 riders at a time (adults and children), along with a cute themed zero car featuring Snoopy at the wheel. If it runs the same cycle as the Daddy Pig coaster, the train should cycle around the layout twice before coming to a stop.
    Sally’s Swing Along - is a Super Happy Swing 16
    Snoopy’s Off-Road Rally - will be a custom themed Convey Dino Jeeps attraction.
 
    (12/9/2023) As we promised, Knott’s Berry Farm has announced an update to Camp Snoopy for the 2024 season. The six-acre kids land revision is expected to be ready in time for Memorial Day Weekend 2024 will feature a new family coaster called Snoopy’s Tenderpaw Twister that features a lift hill and a launch. Other new rides include Sally’s Swing Along, an updated Barrell Bridge and waterfall area, the Camp Snoopy Theater, the transformation of the former Rocky Mountain Trucking ride into Camp Snoopy’s Off-Road Rally, and an upgraded Beagle Express train ride through Camp Snoopy.

 
    (10/22/2023) So what’s going on at Knott’s Berry Farm these days? While we still don’t have any official news about Montezooma or Camp Snoopy, a couple of videos shot in the park online are showing off some new progress taking place worth mentioning. I’ve set the video below to start off as they walk-through Camp Snoopy to show off the latest changes to the land, having built a new pathway to open up a bigger new area for future construction. Speaking of which, later on in the video he also noticed some new land clearing has been done under a section of Silver Bullet, which appears to be heading towards Montezooma.
    A second video below takes a ride on the SkyCabin and through other nearby attractions for look at what’s going on around the park as well from another point of view.


 
    (9/22/2023) So what’s going on at Knott’s this week? Pictures posted from the Camp Snoopy area show some new concrete has been poured, but so far no obvious development for any future new attractions.
    According to previous rumors, the announcement about what is coming to Camp Snoopy was not expected to take place until sometime in October, possibly later in the month as the end of Knott’s Scary Farm approaches.
    If the rumors hold true, this may also be when we find out exactly what Cedar Fair has decided to do about the stalled Montezooma’s Revenge refurbishment project. So far, things are  not looking good and unfortunately Knott’s may be forced to make a very tough decision that no one wants to make. Stay tuned!

 
    (8/31/2023) A quick construction update on the status of things in Camp Snoopy has been posted to Twitter, with Coaster Empire reporting that a “large ditch” is now being formed where the former Timberline Twister coaster station was once located.

 
    (8/19/2023) A few more rumors about what is to come for the Camp Snoopy renovations. According to a new source a couple more older attractions are expected to be removed, including the Huff & Puff kid-powered ride and possibly the small Ferris Wheel. I’m not sure what might take the place of the Wheel, but hearing that the removal of the Huff & Puff may be to allow for an expansion to the Rocky Mountain Trucking attraction, while the previous ride removals are still expected to be for a new family coaster of some kind.
    Cedar Fair built an interesting Snoopy themed launched coaster at Canada’s Wonderland for the 2023 season called Snoopy’s Racing Railway and just announced Snoopy’s Soap Box Racers for Kings Island. The theme of the later ride would certainly resonate well at Knott’s Berry Farm, which of course was home to the original Wacky Soap Box Racers coaster from 1976 to 1996.
 
    (7/15/2023) Screamscape has received word that Knott’s has now closed down their Timberline Twister kiddie coaster for good. In addition to this the park has also removed the Camp Bus ride from the website. According to the latest rumors sent in to Screamscape the two rides, which are actually located right next to each other, are being removed as part of a planned renovation / expansion to the Camp Snoopy area, likely planned to open as the main capital project for the 2024 season. Large construction walls have already been set up at the park, blocking off access to both rides. This should include the addition of a new family coaster in Camp Snoopy as a replacement for the lost Timberline Twister.
    There may be either a second new ride added, or this may be a possible “move” for an existing ride. So far I’ve also heard rumors that Woodstock’s Airmail (S&S Frog Hopper) may also be moved to a new location in Camp Snoopy as part of this project. However… and this is a big one… the ongoing delays and issues with the Montezooma’s Revenge upgrade project are not over, and could have some kind of impact on the park’s plans for 2024, but for now it looks like the Camp Snoopy project is moving right along, and we can expect an announcement about it sometime in August 2023.

 

icon_STOP2025 - MonteZOOMa: The Forbidden Fortress - (3/14/2024) Good news this week as local enthusiasts have begun reporting that work has started on Montezuma's Revenge once again. The biggest visible change is that the track on the spikes is being removed.
    With the renovation plans to turn Montezuma's Revenge into MonteZOOMa: The Forbidden Fortress by 2025 now re-confirmed by Knott’s Berry Farm, I’m not sure if they are looking to fully replace all this track, or if the new vendors have removed them in order to take measurements in order to replicate the track for the sections that will need full replacement. Either way it is nice to see progress being made on the site once again.

 
    (3/1/2024) Knott’s berry farm released some fantastic news today, as the park has finally confirmed that their plans to update Monty into MonteZOOMa: The Forbidden Fortress is now back on track and set to reopen in 2025.  As previous updates had shown, many felt that the project was entirely dead when Cedar Fair’s year-end SEC filing specifically mentioned a “loss” incurred from “a specific terminated project at Knott’s Berry Farm in the current year.”
    Between that and the fact that Knott’s had gone totally silent when it came to even mentioning the project, things did not look good. Of course, one reason for most of the silence may have to do with a rumored lawsuit the company is working on with the previous vendors who failed to deliver the project for the 2023 season.
    While I’m not going to name drop those particular parties at this time, I have been hearing rumors that based on how things have been going so far over at Cedar Point on Top Thrill 2, that the top brass had been engaging in conversations with Zamperla to see if they wanted to try and save it. Now that we know the project is back on-track, it probably won’t be long before we find out who is working on it this time.
    In fact, according to one local report, active work on Monty is set to begin once again on March 4th.


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(2/18/2024) While Knott’s Berry Farm hasn’t officially made any kind of statement yet about the fate of Montezooma’s Revenge, Park Journey pointed out on Twitter that within Cedar Fair’s year-end performance filing, there is text that says, “The loss on impairment / retirement of fixed assets for both periods included retirements of assets in the normal course of business, including a specific terminated project at Knott’s Berry Farm in the current year.”
    While the project isn’t named, this does sound like a confirmation that the plan to upgrade Montezooma’s Revenge into MonteZOOMa: The Forbidden Fortress has now been canceled. With the coaster currently sitting in pieces, after being partially disassembled to begin the project, it would seem that Monte’s fate has now been sealed. I too would expect some kind of formal announcement to be issued from Knott’s before too long.

 
2024_0202_MobileAppMap_NoMonty    (2/2/2024) Knott’s Berry Farm released a new mobile app this week, and according to a reader the upgrade comes with a new look to the park map that is a bit concerning. If you take a quick look at the screen capture you’ll see that the updated park map has now removed any trace of Montezooma’s Revenge, compared to the older map on the park’s website which still shows it standing.
    In most cases, when park maps are updated, an artist is hired to make any needed changes, or draw a completely new map from scratch. So the fact that Monty is now missing entirely does not bode well for a future where it is saved.
 
    (12/24/2023) Knott’s Berry Farm is rumored to be finalizing a new plan of action for Montezooma’s Revenge. According to the rumors sent my way over the past few weeks, Cedar Fair was said to have been looking over proposals for what to do with the Montezooma’s Revenge site from no less than five manufacturers. While I’m not sure if they’ve settled down on the exact one just yet, what I’m hearing is that the goal is to try and get a new plan of action in place that would see it come back to life by Summer 2025, if not maybe a little sooner.
    Otherwise, in terms of construction work at the park, everything for now will be focused on the Camp Snoopy update to open in 2024.
 
    (12/9/2023) With the Camp Snoopy 2024 announcement now out of the way, we are left to wonder just what is going on with Montezooma’s Revenge still. Coaster Empire was visiting the other just the other day and saw a small inspection crew going through the site, looking over areas like the former launch track and going through the station building.
    So question is… will Knott’s be able to save it… or will they made the sad choice to demolish it in defeat?

 
    (7/4/2023) In a small update regarding the fate of Montezooma’s Revenge, I’m now hearing that while the project may have been in danger at one point, action has been taken to address the issues and things are still expected to move forward once again. But the rumored new 2024 opening timeline seems to still be the most likely.
    Maybe... to be honest, I’m still not sure about any of this, as the general feeling is that the park may be stalling for time and unwilling to commit to any one course of action just yet, even if they have to go forward with the unthinkable.

    (7/2/2023) Screamscape has heard some disappointing rumors as of late regarding the status of Montezooma’s Revenge. Unfortunately the severity of these rumors go from bad to worse. On the lighter side, shortly after the confirmation from the park that the updated Montezooma’s Revenge would not be ready this summer, I had begun hearing that it probably wouldn’t be ready to reopen now until 2024. This did match up with the overall lack of any progress or new construction on the site and made sense. It also matched up with why Knott’s was suddenly talking to the press about their efforts to reopen Xcelerator next instead.
    As for the “worse” news… things get oh-so-much worse…
    NOW… don’t panic and keep in mind that this was just a single rumor sent my way, but the source claims that major issues have come up with the companies contracted to provide the new track and trains, and they may be unable to provide what they were contracted to do without a significant increase in funds above and beyond what was already agreed upon in the contracts. (Again...this is rumor only... nothing confirmed!)
    Currently Montezooma is in pieces, with the trains and large sections of track and the flywheel launch system removed a long time ago to make way for the new parts. According to the story, this has put Knott’s in a bit of a hard spot… unable to restore the ride back to the way it was, and currently unable or unwilling to move forward with the original chosen partners in order to finish the job as intended.
    You can see where I’m going with this… and it isn’t good. I’m hoping this rumor is wrong… or if true, that perhaps Cedar Fair could instead reach out to someone else instead to possibly finish the job. Cedar Fair and Knott’s management should be very aware of just how beloved and important Montezooma’s Revenge is to the Knott’s Berry Farm fans as well as the roller coaster enthusiast community out there. Any truth to the bad business dealings aside, I can only hope that they would make the right decision and take whatever steps are necessary to save Monty.
    This would start with a call to Gerstlauer, as they are really the only company out there who have successfully completed a similar upgrade project on another Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop. Walibi Belgium worked with them to update their Psyke’ Underground coaster in 2013, replacing the train as well as updating that ride’s launch system with a modern magnetic launch and braking system. A year before, in 20112, Gerstlauer also provided Hersheypark with new trains for their Schwarzkopf made Soperdooperlooper coaster. Simply put, many enthusiasts who are aware of these facts have been wondering why Gerstaluer was not chosen for the Montezooma project in the first place, as the park had just worked with them to open HangTime for the 2018 season.
    Regardless… it’s all just rumor at this point, but keep your eyes open when visiting the park for any sign of possible activity.

 

2025/2026 - Future Expansion Update Plans - (10/5/2023) As we’ve heard before… keep an ear open for Knott’s Berry Farm to make an announcement sometime towards the later half of the month regarding their plans for Camp Snoopy for 2024. According to the rumors, it is at this time we should learn the final fate of the Montezooma’s Revenge project, which many now believe to be dead in the water.
    This could end up being a double-announcement of sorts however, as Knott’s isn’t going to want to blend their Camp Snoopy announcement with the loss of Monty, without trying to give us something else to look forward to. If the rumors continue to hold true, there is a chance Knott’s could announce some kind of new multi-launch coaster that could be added as early as 2025, that very likely could come from Zamperla.
    Depending on how the announcement goes, another project is also said to be in the pipeline for the park, which would see an expansion brought to the Calico Ghost Town that would add a few flat rides and some sort of themed mid-level coaster project. From what I’m told, back when Monty was expected to successfully re-open in 2023, and Camp Snoopy was planned for 2024, the Ghost Town expansion project was supposed to be the next project to follow. But all the problems with Monty as well as the ongoing issues with Xcelerator may have thrown a monkey-wrench into these plans, as clearly a new high thrill coaster would be needed sooner than expected.

 

 

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Track Record

Knott’s Berry Farm
Buena Park, California
Cedar Fair Entertainment

Abbreviation: KBF
Website

Newest Developments
2023 - Fiesta Village Remodel

2021 - Knott’s Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair

2019 - Calico River Rapids

2018 - HangTime

2017 - Sol Spin, Soak City Expansion, VR Showdown in Ghost Town

2016 - GhostRider restoration and Ghost Town 75th

2015 - Voyage to the Iron Reef

2014 - Camp Snoopy Revamp, Calico Mine Ride Update

2013 - Coast Rider, Pacific
Scramber, Surfside Glider,
Timber Mt. Log Ride Update


 

 
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