It’s time to check in on Knott’s Berry Farm! Although Knott’s has only been open to the public for theme park operations for a few weeks, there’s so much going on that we prepared a giant update for you. Between the Summer Nights festivities and rambunctious entertainment around the Farm, there’s always something going on.
Entertainment Abundant
One of the things that sets Knott’s apart from its competitors (at least for the time being) is the sheer amount of entertainment available. It’s hard to walk through the Farm at the moment and not run into a show, band, or character Meet-and-Greet. There’s some form of entertainment just about everywhere around the park. Let’s take a look at some of the offerings.
Happiness Is…
Happiness Is… is a cute show that features the Peanuts Gang describing what happiness is to each of them through song and dance. The returning show features Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty, and Snoopy each getting a song to describe what makes them happy.
The show plays throughout the day both weekdays and weekends and can be found on the Calico Mine Stage in the middle of the park. Unfortunately, the park isn’t currently making it easy to know what the show times are, so not many guests get to see the whole thing. Tables are laid out in front of the stage and can be grabbed very easily up to showtime.
Guests are free to grab a space of the artificial grass in front of the stage if all the tables are filled up.
Summer Nights
As the sun sets over Farm, you can find a trio of musical acts to rock your night away as part of Knott’s Summer Nights event. On select evenings, the park gains a party-like atmosphere filled with music and food. On our recent trips, we were able to catch the Country Club and Suffragettes bands on one night and Tomasina and Holy Crow Jazz Band the other night. Three bands rotate positions as the main band on the Calico Mine Stage each Summer Night: Suffragettes, Tomasina, and Hiatus. Additionally, there are smaller bands rotating nightly on the Calico Square Stage.
The Suffragettes:
Tomasina:
You can catch the Summer Nights Block Committee (a cast of over-the-top characters) wandering around the Calico Mine and Square stages making sure your night is awesome. On the nights of our visits, we caught every single committee member making sure both your and their nights are as awesome as possible. If you’re in need of a laugh, I suggest you head towards the Summer Night Block Committee ASAP!
Crowds spike for Summer Nights shows early in the evening. As such, finding a spot to sit for the first show of the night can be a challenge.
As the first set for the band at Calico Mine Stage wraps up, a DJ begins to spin the tunes around the Charleston Fountain.
Meanwhile, the small bands start their set over at the Calico Square Stage. On one visit, it was the Country Club Band.
On a follow-up visit, we had the pleasure of listening to the Holy Crow Jazz Band.
The Summer Night Block Committee interacts with guests at the Calico Square Stage.
This next one caught us off guard the first time we witnessed it. It appears that Knott’s sound technicians have formed an acapella group. While their boss is “off on break,” the group serves as a warm-up act at both the Calico Square Stage and at Wagon Camp before some of the bands and Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies. They don’t have a group name (I like to think of them as Sound Check), but I love this little magical moment because they seemingly start singing out of nowhere. This bit of magic reminds me a lot of the old Trash Can Trio/JAMMitors who used to roam around Disneyland and started performing unexpectedly.
K-Lighting Moment
As the night goes on, the voice of Knott’s asks you to turn your eyes towards the Sky Cabin for the lighting of the K-sign with a small ceremony that results in fireworks being launched around the park. I wonder if Knott’s can develop this into a full summer night fireworks show as that would be a huge draw.
Summer Night Food Options
Knott’s Berry Farm is offering a tasting card for $45 that gets you 6 tastings from select locations including acholic beverages. The tasting cards and offerings begin at 5pm nightly and run throughout the night. Season Passholders receive a discount during purchase and all tasting cards are valid until September 6th, just in case you don’t finish a card off in one night.
These were the options I tried.
Summer Nights Fun
Returning to Summer Nights are a few activity games. There’s a small miniature putt-putt stand that gets set up next to the Calico Mine Stage. You’ll also find a Ring-Hook Game.
Ghost Town Entertainment
Over in Ghost Town, you can meet a classic Knott’s character. Whittles used to be Knott’s mascot before Snoopy and the Peanuts came along. After a redesign, he’s happy to meet guests during the day just behind the Wagon Camp.
The Mayfield Gang Rides Again
Above the streets of Calico, you can find a few of the Mayfield Gang members stirring up trouble as they proclaim they are “not” going to be robbing the Bank of Calico.
Just as they set out on their plan, a Deputy-In-Training stops them before they get any further. A few gunshots ring out as the gang escapes.
Calico Saloon Balcony Bonanza
Above the Calico Saloon, you can find Miss Camino Kate serenading park guests with some of her usual melodies. Hopefully, she will be able to move her show inside very soon.
Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies
Another Knott’s staple has also returned. Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies entertain guests at Wagon Camp several nights a week. They are a fun show for any age.
Boardwalk Entertainment
Over near the Charleston Circle, you can find Boysen Bear-y, from Knott’s Bear-y Tales, meeting both new and old fans alike. He rides in on Knott’s Trolly Line.
The trolly can be seen sitting parked just backstage behind Pony Express while the little bear is back working on making more delicious Boysenberry Pies in his family’s factory.
Once Boysen Bear-y takes off from the meeting spot, two of Crafty Coyote’s pups are out meeting guests while they try to sniff out the location of more Boysenberry Pies!
Next to their meeting spot, you can find this cute little Trolley Stop that shows off the Knott’s Trolley Line plus some other Knott’s products.
Fiesta Village Entertainment
The Fiesta Plaza hosts multiple shows throughout the week. During the weekdays you can find a guitar player strumming along all afternoon. On weekend nights you can find Mariachi Angelitas playing Hispanic music with some attitude.
Other Entertainment
During the afternoon weekend days, you can find Bob Bakers Marionette Theater performing in the Fiesta Plaza. While we haven’t had a chance to experience this classic show, we cannot wait to see it on our next visit.
The Medicine Show
Also returning to Calico Square during the weekend you catch this wheeler and dealer of medicine practice his “magic” on the good citizens of Calico.
K-NOT Radio
While you are on the Boardwalk keep your ears out for a live radio broadcast playing throughout the day from the K-NOT radio booth.
This is not an exhaustive list of all Knott’s entertainment offerings this summer as we are writing this article a few more new shows have been added to the list. And as restrictions continue to be lifted, Knott’s may add even more entertainment in the coming weeks.
Around the Farm
California Here We Come!
For those who haven’t heard, the state of California will be loosening theme park restrictions on June 15th. As a result, Knott’s will begin to allow out-of-state residents to return to the farm this week.
Tunnel Murel
A few weeks ago, Knott’s installed a 100th Anniversary mural along the Beach Boulevard underpass. It’s a nice welcome to guests.
Calico Railroad Closure
Those who have been to Knott’s over the last couple of weeks may have noticed an important absence from the center of the park. The Calico Railroad has remained closed due to Maintenance problems with both of their main steam trains.
A few weeks ago, we spotted Engine 340: Green River peeking out of the train barn undergoing extensive boiler repair. Hopefully, the mechanics can get these beautiful works of Mechanical Engineering back on rails soon.
New Paint Job
Over at the Sky Cabin, a new paint job can be seen on the cabin. Knott’s has returned the cab back to the classic white paint color after sporting the Woodstock’s Nest paint job for the last couple of years.
From inside the cabin you can still see the residue of the Woodstock stickers on the windows.
Theater Name Change
A few weeks ago, Knott’s renamed the Charles M. Schulz Theater to the Walter Knott Theater in honor of the park’s 100th Anniversary.
Below you can see a shot of the theater marque a few weeks ago before the 100th Anniversary launch:
Mobile Ordering
Knott’s has also added in-park Mobile Ordering to two locations: Hollywood Hits and the Charleston Circle Coffee Stand. Knott’s had previously rolled out Mobile Ordering to Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner-To-Go counter in the Marketplace during the early days of the park closure. We tested this new feature on our most recent visit and found a few hiccups with the system.
We have found that Mobile Ordering works ok unless you need to make modifications to existing items. Additionally, there are large portions of the menus missing from the app that you’d still have to order in person.
You can apply your Season Pass discount towards your purchase.
Once you finish checkout you are presented a Check-In Order button to send the order to the restaurant.
Once you Check-In, you will receive an order number and an approximate wait time.
While waiting to pick up my beverage at Charleston Circle Coffee stand, we took a quick look at Hollywood Hits and found a large lack of signage indicating where to go to grab your food.
Moving on over to the coffee stand: We waited until our approximant wait time had passed, approached the pickup window, and found that staff was not even alerted that my mobile order had even been placed. They had to ask me what was order even was, which they made promptly. It’s very apparent that Mobile Order is not quite ready for prime time. The basics are there, but Knott’s needs to work a little harder on testing and training before pushing systems like this out to guests.
New Wait Time Signs
Throughout Camp Snoopy and Fiesta Village, new wait time/marque signs have appeared around all the non-rollercoaster attractions. These signs feature the attraction logo along with a place for the wait time number to be stuck to the front. These signs are being used to help indicate where to get in line.
In the sea of ropes, it’s sometimes hard to know one line from another.
Rollercoasters in both lands are currently missing the new signage.
Meanwhile, over at Hang Time, the already existing Wait Time board continues to sit unused.
Camp Snoopy Theater Prepping?
Back in Camp Snoopy, Snoopy is meeting his fans using a built ramp to help guests get more optimal pictures. During our most recent visit, we noticed newly placed social distancing markers on the benches. It sure does look like they are preparing to turn this meet-and-greet location back into a show location. We sure do hope to see a return of Space Beagle!
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Let’s Hear From You
And that’s it from the farm! There are a lot of things changing around the park, with even more coming in the next couple of weeks as ride and park capacity begins to recover from current restrictions. Now that I no longer have a Disneyland annual pass, I’m REALLY appreciating the value of my Knott’s pass. There’s just so much entertainment here! I’m interested in hearing your experience, tips, and thoughts about Knott’s new offerings.
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