- Aug 13, 2019
- 127
- 84
Think of it like a sitcom cartoon. Every episode resolves itself and there's little in the way of development.
well damn.
Think of it like a sitcom cartoon. Every episode resolves itself and there's little in the way of development.
Think of it like a sitcom cartoon. Every episode resolves itself and there's little in the way of development.
A 50 minute wait for Iron Reef is the scariest thing Knotts will ever produce. That ride is legitimately in the bottom 5 I've ever been on.
have to agree. If I were Knotts, 10 mazes would be the choice, with more showtimes, more operating rides, and, as much as it sucks, higher prices.I was there tonight and the crowds were insane for a Thursday. Parking was a huge hassle and took forever, like maybe 40 minutes or so. The park itself was packed and a lot of the ride lines were ludicrous. Outside of the crowds, the mazes themselves suffer on these busy nights since they tend to let more people in at once, which leads to the mazes basically being slow moving conga lines through the sets with little or no scares.
I feel that to get a good experience anymore, you need to visit on Thursday or Sunday during the first three weeks. If a Thursday this late in the season was so crowded, then a Saturday can't even approach being enjoyable.
I hope they add more mazes next year since 9 aren't enough. As much as I enjoy the guns in special ops, I would prefer that no more mazes have gimmicks like guns or flash lights that slow down the lines. They need all the capacity they can get.
have to agree. If I were Knotts, 10 mazes would be the choice, with more showtimes, more operating rides, and, as much as it sucks, higher prices.
They used to have 13 mazes, and this was back in its hayday when they would actually have sold out nights every night of the event, and as you can imagine, it was a nightmare with crowds.
It'd be price gouging that'd steer away crowds. But no measly uptick will do it, it'd have to nearly triple in price. People are willing to spend as much as HHN because KSF has way more rides. If it suddenly became $90, people would still go.
But then, personally, as a fan I would expect quality to rise with it. And that just won't happen.
Heyday was basically pre-2006. Not coincidentally, this is the year HHN returned from hiatus. KSF had a hard time trying to keep up starting around 2008. Sadly, they didn't try to compensate, and just let their event fall into shambles. It took a handful of years, plus many years of experimentation (stuff like Trapped and the original Special Ops) before they found their footing again where people find the content suitable.
Also, a lot of those line times have to do with operations and how idiotic they can be sometimes. Like running one or two trains for Ghost Rider on a peak night. Maybe some are down for maintenance, but c'mon, prep for the peak season!
On another note!
I noticed KSF is open for Nov 1st and 2nd. This is the first time in years that I can remember them doing this! (Or maybe I just didn't notice). One of my very first trips in the early 00s was in November when it was COMPLETELY empty and it was a magical experience. I might just go one of those nights to try to recapture that experience.
I know this is constantly repeated, but Knotts really needs to add more than 2 mazes each year. Compared to 2017, the last two years have been so damn boring (stil quality, but really dull). What I'd do:
New maze in Shadowlands area
New maze in special ops area
New maze in Punpkin eater area
Lights out treatment in Paranormal
Lights out treatment on dark ride]
Guns added to Dark Entities
THAT'D be a year! Say "6 New Mazes!" or "More mazes than ever!"
I'd love it if Knotts actually scaled things back a bit, in the sense HHN did in 06/07.I know this is constantly repeated, but Knotts really needs to add more than 2 mazes each year. Compared to 2017, the last two years have been so damn boring (stil quality, but really dull). What I'd do:
New maze in Shadowlands area
New maze in special ops area
New maze in Punpkin eater area
Lights out treatment in Paranormal
Lights out treatment on dark ride]
Guns added to Dark Entities
THAT'D be a year! Say "6 New Mazes!" or "More mazes than ever!"
I'd love it if Knotts actually scaled things back a bit, in the sense HHN did in 06/07.
A "reboot" if you will.
Slash ALL the mazes and start from scratch. Only do 4-5 mazes. Put ALL the budget into them and make them the scariest, most innovative mazes ever made -- the first year or two, due to figuring out their budget allocation, I'd expect many reused set pieces from this year and that's fine. Throw away any bad ideas and focus on quality. Let the creative directors really dive into the process and thoroughly train each actor. Then be strict. Make sure every scene is in tip top shape so that every - single - visitor gets the intended experience of that scene. Let veterans do their thing but newbies can have "set scares." Hire 3/4 of the amount of actors they hire now, but now have the actors double up in each maze so nobody gets tired with breaks and intervals. Have dress rehearsals and/or fan appreciation nights so the kinks can be ironed out. So the lines don't get insane, make sure every ride has had maintenance and running several cars. Three major high capacity shows. One to replace The Hanging, the Schultz theater, and one in the Birdcage or the Wagon Camp. If there's any budget leftover, fix up the Log Ride and the Mine Ride to be themed. They don't necessarily need actors, but a spooky overhaul would be great. Raise prices by about $15-20 and lower capacity. Keep the prices low in the beginning so word of mouth can spread though, so people understand they're not just charging more for less. That they've upped their game to be beyond anything they were before or any competition in the area, and spending extra will be worth it. Keep Ghost Town exactly the same. If they feel a need to re-haul Carnevil and Necropolis, so be it. They already got rid of the Gauntlet so Carnevil isn't even that sacred to me anymore, considering it's barely ANY dressing and all clowns.