There's a lot of good points here, and I agree with many of them, but I think the point about Knott's not really trusting their audience is spot on, and it's really an issue of their own making (and discussing it is a little difficult to do in a sensitive manner).
Knott's ultimately is a cheap date, and they don't have the ability to price discriminate like Disney or Universal, and that leads to certain things happening at Knott's with much more frequency than their competitors (or at least in my experience). I know they always crack jokes during The Hanging about Disneyland acting like they are so much more sophisticated than Knott's Berry Farm, but there's a lot of truth to that. Knott's is far more of a drinking event than even HHN, and I always chuckle a bit when the people in Orlando complain about alcohol consumption. They really haven't seen Buena Park level drunks.
In fact, last year I was waiting in the holding pen and saw two loaded middle aged guys harassing some teenage girls who were VERY uncomfortable to the point where I stepped in, and that's just one of many incidents I've witnessed, including blatant scareactor abuse. The low pricing means the clientele there does skew less sophisticated, and that just leads to more issues. As much as I hate to say it, Knott's could probably benefit from raising prices, but they just don't have the ability to do it.