Now that Knott’s Boysenberry Festival has come to an end, the park is preparing to splash into summer with something exciting. In preparations for the heat and expected crowds, there are going to be some exciting changes. The updated Calico River Rapids opens next week, along with the recently announced summer entertainment lineup. From the looks of it, it’s going to be a very exciting summer season at Knotts!
Bigfoot Stomping Into Calico River Rapids
Knott’s has been moving at a feverish pace to open Calico River Rapids on Friday, May 17th. In the promo video released last week, they gave us a preview of the work they’ve been doing all winter in anticipation for the new attraction.
Over the last few weeks, set pieces started showing up around the Calico River, including the variety of creatures that will occupy the frontier.
The set pieces look impressive, they add a richness to the area to make it feel more alive. The animatronics are being built by Garner Holt Productions, who was behind the animatronics and set pieces on the multi-million dollar redo of both Timber Mountain Log Ride and the Calico Mine Train.
The video shows just how much stuff is being built off-site, even the cabins were pre-fabricated before being installed on the river. It’s been interesting to watch as things go up; there’s something new going in every day.
Close to the park’s Western entrance, the guest triggered water explosions are still in progress. Personally, I can’t wait to use this. Oh, the devilish thrill of it all!
Let’s talk a walk around the river bend nearest the Pony Express and towards the future entrance of Calico River Rapids. New fences surround the track of the Pony Express to help with theming cohesion.
There’s a lot of wildlife to see along the river now, starting with a cougar perching high above where unsuspecting guests will travel.
A viaduct is being installed over the river near the queue…wait is that a bear?!
Did you catch that building being built behind the viaduct?
An oversized log has been felled across the river, and will most likely have some critters crawling on it.
The Trapper’s cabin is front and center at the bend nearest the entrance of the attraction.
The attraction entrance and exit is being enhanced with new posts and plants.
Existing buildings have been plussed up with some wooden beams and logs to heighten the rustic charm.
We’ll be back later next week with info on the opening of Calico River Rapids. Are you excited about the updated attraction?
Knott’s Summer Nights
New this year is Knott’s Summer Nights, which runs evenings from June 7th-August 11th. Summer Nights is a music and dance party that features three different band experiences. The Calico Park Stage will host a rotation of musical groups, the Calico Mine Stage will feature a top 40’s band, and the Charleston Circle Fountain will have a “Boardwalk DJ” playing a variety of music all night long.
Calico Town Square is ready for both Summer Nights and this year’s Ghost Town Alive.
Meanwhile, Calico Mine Stage is wiping away the leftover boysenberry jam to get ready for Summer Nights.
From this spot, you can see all three stages of Summer Nights. One of the most exciting aspects of this event is the ability to meander from party to party. Since they’re just a few hundred yards away from each other, you can let the music move you around the event. This is a highly ambitious program and we cannot wait to see Knott’s pull it off.
Knott’s Summer Entertainment
Beach Blanket Beagle
Last year’s hit show, Beach Blanket Beagle returns for this summer. The show follows a group of teen beachgoers as they try to stop their favorite beach from being bulldozed into a parking lot. At the moment, this show does not have an opening date listed.
Ghost Town Alive
Fan favorite, Ghost Town Alive, returns this summer with a new story. For those who have yet to try it, Ghost Town Alive is an interactive story that plays out between guests and the citizens of Ghost Town similar but more ambitious than the Legends of Frontierland at Disneyland. While we aren’t quite sure what this year’s new story will be yet, we are definitely looking forward to it. Ghost Town Alive will run daily from May 24th to August 11th, as well as weekends August 17th through September 2nd.
Knott’s Soak City
It’s not summer without a visit to Knott’s Soak City. The water park opens daily starting next Saturday, May 18th. With Calico River Rapids opening the day before it looks like it will be a wet summer for Knott’s fans.
Space Beagle Shortened
Space Beagle, which launched as a part of the Peanuts Celebration in January, has hit a slight snag. Knott’s management has determined that the show’s length may jeopardize performer safety in the upcoming hot summer months. So, some of the scenes have been cut back.
The first cut is Charlie Brown’s opening monologue. The scene is cute, but it is sensible to remove because it doesn’t really impact the overall story. However, the second cut is the space travel song, which is arguably an important aspect of the show because it held much of the show’s charm and humor.
The 5-minute Moon Walk sequence might have made a better cut. Although, the best solution would be to move the show to an indoor venue like the Boardwalk Dancehall. That venue sees very little daytime use and it’d be the perfect place to experience the show as intended, while enjoying the air conditioning.
Take a look at the shortened show below:
Bye, Bye, Boysenberry
This year was the busiest Boysenberry Festival season we’ve ever seen! That seems to coincide with the Cedar Fair earnings call this past week, which reported that Knott’s had its biggest Q1 ever.
Scott was able to visit for the festival on three different days and said that each day Knott’s had a huge turnout, no matter the day of the week. The biggest he attended was the Saturday of the final weekend; many guests were looking to get rid of their last tasting card tabs. Lines to get a single item could wrap around entire areas of the park, the two longest seeming to be for boysenberry chicken skewers and the cinnamon sugar tortilla chips with boysenberry soft serve . . . the line of which ran from the Bakery all the way towards the exit of Ghost Rider.
Luckily, the Boysenberry Festival entertainment was wonderful and available often enough to soak up a lot of the crowds. The Melodrama was so popular Scott noticed that the theater filled to capacity show after show.
There was a decent crowd to watch a few members of the LA Chargers stuff their faces into some boysenberry pies during one of the Pie Eating Contests.
With the Wagon Camp’s proximity to the majority of the festival booths, it wasn’t surprising to see Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies filling the entire venue. While they often have a decent turnout (they are a Knott’s favorite, after all) the place was packed very quickly to see them.
We’re all huge fans of the old-fashioned fun that Knott’s is so famous for, and Snoopy’s Boysenberry Jam-Boree was no exception.
With how successful the Boysenberry Festival was this year, we hope next year will be significantly expanded both in size and number of days.
Around the Farm
The remainders of the Boysenberry Festival are in the process of coming down. By the start of next week, everything festival related should be gone.
The Dippin Dots Stand in Ghost Town has been refurbished to align more with the area’s theme. The “Ice Cream of the Future” now fits well into the theme of the past.
Over in Fiesta Village, a few vendors set up inside the small walkway through the Casa California gift shop for Cinco De Mayo. It looks like they might be sticking around for the summer.
Finally, over at the Calico Salon, a new version of the show debuted near the start of Boysenberry Festival.
If you want to see the original show, I’d recommend hurrying over to see it now because it may update over the summer for Ghost Town Alive.
View the full show here:
That does it for today’s update around the Farm! Are you looking forward to seeing the new Calico River Rapids? What do you think about this year’s entertainment? Do you think Knott’s should utilize (and build) more indoor entertainment space?
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