Derrion: We had a blast attending this years media night for Knott’s Scary Farm! I’m always excited for the park at this time of year because they have one of the oldest running horror themed events for an amusement park. Knott’s Scary Farm holds a special place in my heart because I grew up attending the event with my family. This update will focus on a review of all the mazes and other additions to this years Knott’s Scary Farm .
– 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! –
How we rate and review:
The four ratings exist of a Length Rating, which relates to the length of a maze, the longer the better. This doesn’t necessarily mean physical length of walking through the maze, but may also indicate there are plenty of different scenes and that the maze felt long. The Scare Rating is exactly what you think it is, how ‘scary’ does a maze get, how gruesome it is, if it creates a bunch of jump scares, etc. The Set Rating looks specifically at the job done regarding the theming of the maze, how immersive the sets are, how many different scenes guests encounter, etc. And then last, but definitely not least… the Experience Rating. Which is mainly based off of the overall feel of the maze, was it a extreme? Did it leave you breathless? etc. The overall experience, combined with the other three factors creates a FINAL SCORE for the maze. (Out of 10, 10 being: “absolutely unbelievably amazing”, 1 being: “Don’t even bother visiting”)
The Depths
Length Rating: 10 Scare Rating: 8 Set Rating: 9 Experience Rating: 9 FINAL SCORE: 9
Needless to say Knott’s Scary Farm’s newest maze does not disappoint and I even experienced it twice. This maze follows the night watch mining crew of an abandoned port village that encounter various mysterious creatures of the deep. This maze delivered great fog and lighting effects that made it seem as though you were walking through a swamp with creatures hidden beneath your waist line. There was also a section of the set that completed moved as guest would continue on their journey. This was great because it gave you the feeling of fleeing a sunken ship. We would surely suggest experiencing this maze on your next visit.
Dark Entities
Length Rating: 9 Scare Rating: 6 Set Rating: 7 Experience Rating: 7 FINAL SCORE: 7.25
Another new maze this year, Dark Entities is the sci-fi film that did not seemed so lost in space. The maze although pretty lengthy, played heavily on generic scenes from a space station. The actors on set were very dull and very spaced out on set. There were a couple of great scares from performers on swings and there was a cool vibrating effect. Overall this maze left me feeling as though we have seen this story before in many movies, with nothing unique.
Dark Ride
Length Rating: 9 Scare Rating: 7 Set Rating: 9 Experience Rating: 7 FINAL SCORE: 8
Returning this year is Dark Ride. This maze never ceases to amaze because who does not love a good “Dark Ride”. Traveling through an abandoned carnival, guest find themselves in a twisted nightmare. The sets were great and this has always been one of my favorites because the scare actors seemed to be well placed inside this well-depicted dark ride themed maze, which made the scares that much more thrilling.
The projection effects in this maze added lots of realism to the set.
The Red Barn
Length Rating: 6 Scare Rating: 6 Set Rating: 8 Experience Rating: 7 FINAL SCORE: 6.75
If you are into gruesome and gore this will definitely be the maze for you. I couldn’t help but feel as though we were isolated from all man-kind as The Red Barn boasted many blood soaked animals, that were utterly gruesome. The acrobatic swingers along with the strobe effects at the entrance out the building play well with the blood oozing performers.
The setting plays well on the walls of the barn. This is one mazes that truly give new meaning to blood red.
Special Ops: Infected
Length Rating: 9 Scare Rating: 8 Set Rating: 8 Experience Rating: 8 FINAL SCORE: 8.25
This year Special Ops : Infected returns better than ever. Its no secret that Knott’s Scary Farm is the leader when it comes to maze innovation. Guests are given a mock gun to kill the zombies in the maze which simulates a live-action video game. I enjoyed the pacing that is very entreating, and the layout features obstacles to which you have to go around and under to clear your path.
Shadow Lands
Length Rating: 8 Scare Rating: 7 Set Rating: 10 Experience Rating: 7 FINAL SCORE: 8
One of my favorites from last years event, Shadow Lands unfortunately did not live up to its expectations this year. There was no pre-show this year and a lot the scenes seemed to be missing. The performers on the other hand were amazing and the dimly lit suicide forest scenes were killer! I still enjoyed the eerie feeling of walking through the night alone so terrifying we would definitely suggest visiting this attraction.
Pumpkin Eater
Length Rating: 7 Scare Rating: 10 Set Rating: 8 Experience Rating: 9 FINAL SCORE: 8.5
The Pumpkin Eater has returned with a vengeance! The amount of detail put into this refreshed set turned a classic harvest fruit into a terrifying creature. This maze it self simply felt as though we were swallowed by the pumpkin eater and I loved every moment of it as we walked through with vibrating floor effects. The were many camouflaged scare actors and there also was a section of pumpkin slices with added water effects. This would definitely be on the higher list of scares for the evening.
Trick or Treat: Lights Out
Length Rating: 8 Scare Rating: 9 Set Rating: 8 Experience Rating: 10 FINAL SCORE: 8.75
Trick or Treat: Lights Out returns this year again to spook audiences. This maze its self was aesthetically pleasing and gives the classic haunted houses an entirely new meaning by allowing guest to become a part of the experience by making it interactive. Guest are given a faulty flashlight, that turns on and off, as you progress through the maze. We would definitely suggesting visiting this attraction on your next visit as it is truly unique among the Knott’s Scary Farm lineup.
Paranormal Inc.
Length Rating: 9 Scare Rating: 10 Set Rating: 10 Experience Rating: 10 FINAL SCORE: 9.75
The reason why we love this event so much is because Knott’s Berry Farm provides guest with unique experiences in every maze. This haunted attraction felt more like a movie production that featured the parks only pre-show, aerial/acrobatic scare actors, and a surprise choose-your-path walkthrough sections. The performers were very well hidden and the abandoned psychiatric ward theme coincided well with the ghosts. This is the fourth year the maze has been at the even and it does not disappoint!
Click here for page 2 where we continue with some more Knott’s Scary Farm notes!
Scary Farm disappoints. Family and friends were there for 5 hours and it was so crowded they got to do 2 things. The media is deceived by “media night.” Don’t spend your $, it is not worth the $ and effort to stand in lines all night for so little reward.
That’s why you buy the fast pass. If you buy your ticket+fast pass online together it’s $75. The same as if you were to just buy the admission ticket at the booth. With the fast pass you get to the front of the line on all mazes and rides. Of course Knotts scary farm is packed-because it’s awesome. If you don’t want to spend the extra $30-$40 for that then keep your negative a** at home.
I agree Lisa!! I brought my 14 & 16 year old nephews to the park for Halloween Haunt and it was one of the worst experiences ever!! We had a fast pass but you still were waiting in line for over an hour to enter a ride or maze. However, the lines were not my issue as I know that comes with going to any amusement park…the problem was the huge and dangerous crowds. In the attempt to get my family out of the park, we encountered 4-5 fights. The crowd was like a stampede and there is no crowd control. At one point we had to jump a fence to get away from the massive group of teen-agers trying to run to a fight! The capacity limit for Scary Farm should be less than the capacity when the park is open for the day. It can be a very dangerous place with the enormous crowds and mobs of people trying to witness or phone film the fight. The cops and park security understand the chaos that is happening. Crowd capacity and maybe adding an age limit for Scary Farm, will help! along with better security check at the entrance. If it hasn’t happened already, there will be a shooting or multiple people w injuries for the park to change their policy in controlling the number of people entering the park. Unfortunately, when the entrance price is low as it is, it allows riff-raff, gang-banging, teen-aged rejects the ability to enter Scary Farm making it a place where no parent would want to bring their family for the Halloween holiday.
Agree with comments. Fright lane / Fast lane is a good deal, and it cuts the wait all together. The placed is packed as are other popular haunted such as Universal, because they are so well done. If you don’t want to wait, pay the extra. Its well worth it! We finished all mazes in less than an hour and a half, then went again, sat and ate, went on rides, and still got out of there in 4 hours total. This year as always, DID NOT DISAPPOINT! Best 3 haunted attractiins: Knotts, Universal, Warner Bros. All amazing, all a little different experience and how its presented.
@Cynthia. Again, all the top haunted attachments are packed. You just gotta expect the crowd. If you want fun Halloween, easy going, no city type crowd, Disneyland is your best bet. Not sure the 14&16 year would choose that over Knott’s, but worth trying. They still reign supreme for family, clean, fun atmosphere … they can afford it.
As for waits with the fast lane, for mazes there literally was none. We went on one of the most popular nights, last weekend in October, and while the new Depths maze was over 3 hour wait (3 1/2), we waited less than 5 minutes on the clock. Everything else was straight in, literally, and while the lines were 1 1/12 – 3 1/2 (for one of the new ones), each, it took us 1 1/2 hours for all 9 attractions, and that’s because we had to walk around and get there, plus the time it took to walk through. I literally clocked it. Couldn’t get any better.
Also went to Universal, far more expense, and was similar, though it was a little waiting to get through with express (anywhere from 5-15 minutes), and it took a long time to walk to places, including the tram experience which has you get off and walk quite a ways in a huge crowd.
I’d have to say, if you are going to an event that involves “recommended over 13”, scary, horror themes and experiences, you are definitely going to have a rowdier, more mature, and teenage crowd. Its expected. Its not really billed as a “family event”, though many family enjoy such things together.
Again, family fun you expect as a family night, easy going, but fun experience… Disney. We’ve been to all the major parks, and Disney is obvious the “family friendly, expected” event. Cost is major though. Unless you buy tickets for Mickeys Halloween Party which is for 7 -12 only (with 3 hours earlier entrance), and 1 park only (parking not included anymore).
If you plan accordingly for the type of event, you’ll have a much better experience wherever it is.