Brian: Welcome to my first event coverage! We’ll be looking at this year’s Knott’s Merry Farm today and see how they do things this Christmas/Holiday season. We’ll be covering the rides, shows, and all of the holiday decorations of course! Let’s get right into it!
– Over the years, many of our images have popped up on other sites and forums, awesome that our coverage spreads, not so awesome that not everyone mentioned where they got the images from. We are totally fine with our audience using our images, BUT ONLY IF credit is given to californiacoasterkings.com. Thank you! –
It’s been many years since I’ve personally visited Knott’s during the holidays so I was pretty excited to see what they had in store. In past years Sean has covered the event, but he was unable to attend this time.
Before we get to the night lights spread around the park, let’s cover some of the park during the first half of the day. 
Walking around the park, you may run into this charming little group of carolers. They sang many classics and some that I’ve never heard (like a Hawaiian tune) and even did a fun little dance bit!
The decorations around the entire park were pretty light. Though you could almost find a wreath hanging somewhere from pretty much every part of Knott’s. Some areas had little scenery sets like this Nutcracker surrounded by gifts. I also noticed a bunch of oversized Christmas tree ornaments scattered around the park’s planters.
There were even a few themed photo-spots that were unique to the area of the park they were in, like this Feliz Navidad snowman on the boardwalk.
Speaking of the boardwalk, I must say that that section of the park feels really dead. Between Xcelerator being down and Hangtime construction going on, it just feels like there isn’t much to do over there. Not to mention the Sky Cabin also being closed. We’re very excited for this area to come back to live again soon! 
Since I mentioned HangTime, if you haven’t checked out our latest HangTime update make sure to take a peek inside the site. There is plenty of work going on and the ride is growing fast!
Though Sol Spin remains closed, I did ride Jaguar and Montezooma’s during my trip though, both of which I’m actually liking a little more lately. 
Silver Bullet is also running both trains very well and efficient while one of the older trains is going through a refurbishment. Of course riding Timber Mountain Log Ride is a must, no matter the event!
Probably the most charming show I watched was the Christmas Show in the Calico Saloon. While the venue is incredibly small, this show has some big heart. It features almost every classic Christmas song, a fun cast with good chemistry, and plenty of laughs. Props to the singers and dancers. It was very impressive.
I was really excited to see the Merry Christmas Snoopy! On Ice show. The skaters are really talented with some clear standout performers. It’s also impressive to see Snoopy busting out those moves on ice. One of my favorite parts was actually surprise guests near the end of the show. I wouldn’t want to ruin it for those planning to see it, but it is a must-see if you visit the Farm this time of year.
I left the park for a short while waiting for the sun to go down. On my way back to the park, I got this nice shot of GhostRider. The popularity of this ride is unprecedented and it always hosts a long line. But this ride just flies and is one of our all-time favorite night rides! Perfect for Merry Farm! 
Back in the park, everything started lighting up as the sun set. 
The park does a great job traditionally decorating the park, and thus offers a look unlike any other Holiday event in the state. These lights were synced to the Ghost Town Snow and Glow show, but we wish that show was longer!
The lighting of the Christmas tree was one of my favorite events in the park. It did feel a little magical when the tree started lighting up all the way to the top. As the star lit up, the lights of Ghost Town also did which was unexpected and neat. The tree looked amazing all through the night.
Supreme Scream was also glowing all night swapping between red and green all night. The string lighting in the Fiesta Village were nice too.
I did manage to catch the mouthful of a show at the end of my night. “It’s The Merriest Christmas Show Ever, Charlie Brown” was a nice song and dance show featuring a variety of characters from the Peanuts gang, as well of a full cast of dancers without giant head costumes. The show was fun, but very much for kids and not a must. Plus you have to get there early if you even want to think about sitting down.
Santa’s Christmas Cabin was really nice! I made me feel like it might actually be snowing outside while I was in there. They had a ton of sweets, plus hot chocolate and coffee. And if you don’t like sweets, how about a tamales? The carolers even stopped by for a visit at one point.
Santa’s photo-spot was excellent. It felt like a piece of a real home plopped down in the park. I missed Santa in this shot unfortunately, but I still got to tell the big man in red what I wanted for Christmas. (Hint: it may have been wishing Xcelerator was open for Christmas… a guy can dream)
That wraps up my coverage of Knott’s Merry Farm 2017. I hope you enjoyed our look at the park, and we’ll be back for and be looking out for more updates on HangTime! Make sure to check out our Holiday in the Park report, CraZanity Update, and of course the newest HangTime update!
Make sure to follow us on our social media for exclusive coverage! Facebook–Twitter–Instagram