Boo!
Happy October my fellow theme park lovers and travelers. For those not following me on Instagram or Twitter, October is quite a busy month for me. And an awesome month, if I must say so myself. (EUROPE NEXT WEEK EEKKK)
October has always been my favorite month of the year, and it’s not just because my birthday is on October 14 (oh my, that’s tomorrow!). But because Halloween and all things spooky come out this time of the year!
With that being said, I went to my second Knotts Scary Farm Halloween Haunt event. It’s in its 42nd year, for those who would like to know! Last year, my boyfriend took us on our first date to Knotts Scary Farm and as a rookie, I didn’t know what to expect and how freaky it was going to be!
So this year, being a veteran and all, I decided to give you a review of all things awesome and all things scary at Knott’s Scary Farm 2014.
During this Halloween haunt, Knott’s Scary Farm added three new mazes: Voodoo, the Tooth fairy and the new interactive maze, Special OPS: Infected.
And yes, we did all three. We started our night by getting tickets to Special Ops: Infected first before starting any rides or mazes. That is after we took our picture together by their photographers (we had an awkward kiss on the hair first date mishap last year). And in this year’s haunt, there are a lot more scare-actors in the front trying to freak out haunt goers as they first walk in.
We got our Special Ops tickets for 11:45 pm and that’s even after we got to the park 10 minutes after 7 when the park opened. So as a side note: Get to the park at 7 and go straight to the Specials Ops to get your tickets, they will go quick. There is Special Ops: Alpha right by the front gates at the start of Camp Snoopy and Special Ops: Beta near the end of Camp Snoopy by the western gates! GO TO SPECIALS OPS FIRST IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE THE AWESOMENESS IT HAS TO OFFER!
Since we went on a Thursday during the second week that it ran it was much less crowded and we are basically able to go through all the mazes before our 11:45 meeting with Zombies.
Mazes:
So here are the mazes from I screamed really loud to I jumped a little.
Special Ops Infected: Alpha – By far the coolest interactive maze ever! Zombies have been slowly tiring out for scare-goers, it’s just getting a little too overplayed everywhere. But this maze really vamped it back up again!
We went through the Alpha maze and we got our laser guns. We were debriefed about our mission with our leaders and then headed off into an infected zone to kill some zombies and help get the non-bitten to safety. Now this interactive maze was very well done with the zombies really coming at you at any point and the soldiers really playing their role amazing and getting you hyped up to kill those zombies!
I actually felt like I was in Zombie movie killing them left and right, with my boyfriend covering my back as if we were Mr. and Mrs. Smith killing any and all zombies in the head. I would highly recommend this maze for anyone wanting a different thrill. You will get your heart beating quick as you quietly go through the infected zone when you suddenly hear a zombie come to life right next to your feet and bam head shots galore. It’s exhilarating.
The Toothfairy– Now, I was much braver this year than I was last year in the mazes. But the reason for that was because I cheated and followed behind people so they can get scared before me. But this Toothfairy maze really got to me. Maybe it’s the fact that I have to go to the dentist soon or maybe it’s because of the sound of the drill and the bloody mouths.
I was actually freaked out, especially during the all blacked out hallway and the part where you have to crouch down in a cage and have scary dentists jumping on top of the cage. I would definitely recommend this maze, as it was super cool and a great way to test your fears of the dentist. Now, I’m a little freaked out to go to my dentist for my annual check-up. *cue dentist drill*
Voodoo– Another new maze this year was Voodoo. A choose your own path maze. I heard in the skeleton key (an extra feature for those willing to spend the cash) you get locked in a coffin by yourself. Now the set design for this maze was beautiful, I really felt like I was in a New Orleans Swamp and was about to be given up as a sacrifice. And the scare actors were very on point to give it an eerie feeling the entire time.
Now I usually get scared by jump scares and being in complete darkness, so it didn’t have too much of that considering it was a lot of open space. But one of the scare actors actually went out of his way to scare me from behind by following us out of the exit. So bravo to you voodoo man.
Gunslingers Grave– Now a lot of people will agree to disagree on this maze on whether or not Knotts should retire this maze, but I found it to be a lot of fun and I got some legit jump scares from it.
I guess when you’re the only two people who go through the maze at one point in time, the scare actors will really amp up their scares and try everything to get a jump scare from you. And literally every corner I jumped and got scared. And sadly, they were all obvious. But loud noises freak me out when it suddenly happens. And luckily for me, my boyfriend will make the scare actors scare me from behind to make me scream even more.
Black Magic– Last year this maze got the biggest scare out of me with its mirror trick, this year, it was a little sub-par with its scare tactics. Maybe I had higher hopes for being scared with this maze considering its great scares last year, but I wasn’t as impressed. But I do warn you, be careful when you enter. There is a surprise that actually got me very good.
Pinocchio Unstrung– Last year, we didn’t go through this maze, but this year we finally went. And it was oddly creepy. They even have little people walking around as little puppets with the big noses scaring you from below. I wasn’t as freaked out, but I think they did a great job with the little people because you just never know when they will jump at you from below.
Dominion of the Damned – In order to get to the Toothfairy, you need to go through this vampires cave. Last year, this was the first maze I went into and I was actually freaked out a bit, their scaring was on point and really made me jump. This year, it wasn’t as freaky and for some reason they weren’t scaring me and my boyfriend, but instead were scaring those around us. But I will give props to Knotts for having camouflaged people throughout all the mazes because those can really get you when you don’t even realize.
Witches Keep – Calico Mine ride – We only did this ride because my feet were killing me and I needed to sit down. It wasn’t scary and I kind of wish they had scare actors in the actual ride to amp it up a bit. It was mostly just telling the story of the witches keep and you get to escape her clutches just at the last moment.
Two mazes we didn’t go on because we were super pooped from everything was Forevermore and Trick or Treat. Last year Forevermore had great set design and had quite dark and gruesome moments, but unless you know a little Poe, then it wouldn’t have been a story you would’ve followed and appreciated. And Trick or Treat was in a cute little setting of a house and last year, they got me pretty good with a lot of following you around the maze, close behind.
Scare zones:
At this Halloween Haunt there are supposedly 4 scare zones: Ghost Town, Gypsy Camp, Carn-evil and Fiesta De Los Muertos. Maybe it was too early in the year to be scared from these scare zones, but I just wasn’t as scared and impressed as I was last year. Maybe they just didn’t anticipate as many people to come to Knotts this night because I felt the scare actors were very scarce and it just didn’t do the trick this year.
But I will give the Ghost Town its foggy props because that fog really is a scary ordeal. Just not being able to see what’s five feet in front of you is quite a scary thought. You just never know who might be there. And to the clowns who attacked me and got in my face, you scary men were an interesting bunch and actually scared me a little.
AND the Headless Horseman made its return this year and Alex and I were lucky to have caught up with him before he rode off into the darkness once again!
Shows:
There are also two shows at Knotts; Elvira’s Big Top and The Hanging. We only caught parts of the Hanging and let me tell you it was actually quite funny, funnier than I expected. It had all the jokes from all the celeb news this year and I laughed at almost all of them. So yes, there are avengers and the Biebs and just a ton more celebs scandals you can think of. And I hear Elvira’s show was just a lot of boobs.
Rides:
And lastly we rode two rides this night. Considering they were such short lines: we went on Ghost Rider and Supreme Scream. And at night these rides are actually scary.
We were front row on Ghost Rider and I swear it was faster and scarier than I’ve ever ridden in my life! Alex and I actually feared for our lives at some points because I swear those carts actually lifted off the track and were tipping. Maybe it’s their way of scaring your more, but to me it felt a little unsafe and I was praying a Final Destination 3 would not happen.
Supreme Scream was lots and lots of fun. Mostly ‘cause Alex is not a fan of heights, which surprised me considering we always went on Tower of Terror at California Adventures. But I got him to go on this ride with me and it was a blast! It really gives you a big jolt of adrenaline and is much higher than you think. I absolutely loved it and even better was Alex had the best shout ever and it made the ride even more fun. Especially since the ride operator joked with us and said we were a quiet bunch.
Overall, Knotts Scary Farm is still a good ol’ scare for little scardy cats like me and even for big guys like Alex. Maybe just amp up the scare-actors spirits a bit more and have groups go little by little instead of heard them all at once to get a few more individual scares (or to make it more intense for you just space yourself from the group in front of you).
Alex and I had a great time during our Halloween Haunt night and with Specials Ops being our last ride of the night, I had never felt like more of a badass after killing all those zombies and protecting the planet from those crazy infected beings.
So if you’re ever in Southern California and want to see the largest Theme Park turned into Halloween Attraction then check out Knott’s Scary Farm. Knott’s Scary Farm 2014 is open from Sept. 25 –Nov. 1 Thursday & Sundays from 7pm – 1am and Friday & Saturday 7pm- 2am. Pre-sale prices $39.99 and day of prices are $62 with Parking at $20.
Knott’s Scary Farm is located at 8039 Beach Boulevard, Buena Park CA 90620. Happy scaring!
If you liked the Halloween edition of Theme Parkaholics then check out my last post about Universal Studios!
Do you like Haunted attractions like me? Share some of your favorite places to go or an experience you had with a haunted attraction in your hometown!