Knotts Berry Farm Halloween Haunt 2011

THIS IS AN ARCHIVE PAGE DEDICATED TO THE 2011 INCARNATION OF THE ANNUAL HALLOWEEN HAUNT AT KNOTTS BERRY FARM.

KNOTT’S BERRY FARM
8039 Beach Boulevard
Buena Park, CA 90620
Haunt line: 714-220-500o
Websites: Knott’s Berry Farm - Halloween Haunt

Can’t decide how to spend Halloween in Los Angeles? Click here for an answer to the question: What are L.A.’s Best Theme Park Halloween Haunts?

Knotts Scary Farm is the longest running and most popular Halloween event in the Southland – well worth the trip for horror fans living in Los Angeles. With over a dozen walk-through attractions, plus scare zones and shows, it provides more Halloween entertainment than any of the competition.

2011 HALLOWEEN HAUNT DATES: September 23-25, 29-30, October 1-2, 5-9, 12-16, 19-23, 26-31

2011 HALLOWEEN HAUNT HOURS: 7:00pm to 1:00am weeknights and Sundays, 7:00pm to 2:00am Fridays and Saturdays.

2011 HALLOWEEN HAUNT PARKING: Back in 2010, Knott’s Scary Farm charged $15.00 for “Preferred Parking” (which was not bad but not particularly close, either).

2011 HALLOWEEN HAUNT TICKETS: Knott’s Scary Farm requires a special ticket for admission; your regular Knott’s Berry Farm admission will not get you into the Halloween Haunt. Tickets are available at the Knott’s Berry Farm Guest Relations box office (most days do not sell out, so you can purchase them on the night of the event). Tickets may be purchased online (you can save shipping costs on pre-sales by using the Print@Home function on the Knott’s website) or by phone (call the Ticketmaster Haunt LInes at 213-365-3535 or 714- 703-2555). Service charges apply to all phone orders. Prices:

$34-51 pre-sale online(depending on date – earlier in season is cheaper)
$51 walk-up pre-sale
$57 on the day of the event

HALLOWEEN HAUNT BARGAINS: Each year, coupons available at Burger King will save you up to $21 (depending on how early in the season you go). Usually, these coupons become available after Labor Day. Group discounts for 24 or more are available at 714-220-5163.

2011 HALLOWEEN HAUNT ADD-ON PACKAGES: Knott’s Scary Farm also offers several “Add-On” packages that can expand your stay. Here are typical deals from last year:

V.I.M. (Very Important Monster) Tours: You can get haunt admission, preferred seating at select shows, an escort for the entire evening, and back door access to the attractions, but the price is not cheap: $2,000 for up to six guests. Reserve one week in advance by calling 714-220-5298.
PRE-SCARE DINNER SPECIALS: This gives you a chance to enjoy a buffet and enter Knotts Scary Farm before the park opens for the nightly haunt. Cost is $28. Due to seating limitaions, this offer is available only to ticket holders with advance dinner reservations. NOTE: Once you’re inside the park, your dining selections are mostly limited to fast food and snacks.
POST-SCARE BREAKEFAST SPECIALS: A midnight breakfast buffet at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant – from Midnight to 3:00am. This is a walk-in offer; no reservations required. (NOTE: There is no mention of this offer on the 2011 website, but we assume it will be available.)
THREE COMPLETE HOTEL PACKAGES: Gruesome Getawa6, Haunted Dreams, or Bare Bones – ranging from $399 to $149. Call 714-995-1111 or 866-752-2444 for details.

2011 HALLOWEEN HAUNT FEATURES: All the usual Knott’s Berry Farm rides and attractions are open for business, but the park is redecorated for its Halloween Haunt in grand ghoulish style: 160 acres with 13 mazes or rides, 7 shows, and 3 scare zones. The scares start the minute you walk in the gate, with 1,000 wandering ghouls lunging at you out of the fog.

HALLOWEEN HAUNT DRAWBACKS: The crowds. Inevitably, you have to wait in long lines for each attraction at Knott’s Scary Farm, unless you arrive as soon as the gates open or attend on an off-night. For some reason, the park’s appeal skews young, so expect to find yourself surrounded by teeny-boppers. Also, the level of performance among the monsters sometimes seems to drop off near the end of the season, as if the actors are growing weary of their roles.

Terror of London

2011 HALLOWEEN HAUNT MAZES: There are two new mazes for this year; plus, some old favorites return.

NEW! ENDGAME: WARRIORS OF THE APOCALYPSE: Survivors in a barren desert scavenge and fight to rebuild society, in which the rich and powerful and subjected the masses into slaves, forced into futuristic gladiator battles to the death.
NEW! DELIRUM: This maze promises your worst nightmares brought to life: a hellish wasteland of delirium, filled with illusion and paranoia.
Lockdown: The Asylum (set in GhostRider). This location has been known as the Asylum for several years. Knott’s promises this is more than an updated version with the word “Lockdown” on front of the name; 2009 is supposed to offer a brand new, very different experience, described as a “high security penitentiary for the insane.”
Terror of London (set in the Mystery Lodge, which used to house 13 Axe Murder Manor). Taking a cue from Universal Studios Hollywood’s London Town scare zone, Knott’s Scary Farm offers this excursion into Victorian horror, featuring Jack the Ripper’s muderous rampages and Dr. Jekyll’s twisted experiments.
Dia De Los Muertos in 3-D. Journey deep into Mexican folkore to face the Chupacabra; hear the pitiful ghostly screams of La Llorona (the Wheeping Woman) echo from the decrepit crypt.
Uncle Bobo’s Big Top of the Bizarre – in 3D. A new clown nightmare.
The Slaughterhouse (set in Main Gate Area that previously housed Red Beard’s Revenge): the name says it all – a generic Chainsaw Massacre kind of deal
Virus Z : Returning from its 2010 debut, this maze debuts a town overrun by cannibal zombies (located in the Fiesta Plaza
Fallout Shelter in 3D: Returning from its 2010 debut, this maze depicts an abandoned shelter infested with toxic mutants (located in the Lake area of the park).
Cornstalkers (set in the Stage Coach Trail that previously housed Dark Realm): really cool outdoor corn maze loaded with scarecrows.
The Doll Factory (set in Wilderness Dance Hall): creepy and weird – a must-see.

2011 HALLOWEEN HAUNT RIDES: The regular roller-coasters and rides are open for business, but two of them are special decked out for the October season.

Sleepy Hollow Mountain (set in the Timbermountain Log Ride): ghosts, ghouls and the Headless Horeseman haunt unwary travelers.
NEW! INVASION BENEATH (in the Calico Mine Ride): This year hostile creatures of unknown origin, possessing advanced weaponry, have invaded the caverns through a fissure in the earth’s core; the military are on hand, hoping to rescue survivors. Will they succeed?

2011 HALLOWEEN HAUNT SHOWS: There is more to Knott’s Scary Farm than just scares. There is also a variety of humorous entertainment on various stages, which is especially helpful if you want to take the weight off your feet in between talking through all those mazes. For 2010, the shows include:

Zamora’s Sideshow of the Bizarre (in the Boardwalk Ballroom)
NEW! Haunt Wonders: Haunt World of Techology! – a tongue-in-cheek show spotlighting effects from past Halloween Haunts (in the Bird Cage Theatre)
NEW! Putz’ Prank Party (in the Wagon Camp)
NEW! Red Moon Dance Company Presents “Cursed” – hypnotic gypsy dancers will haunt you forever (on the Gypsy Camp Stage)
The Hanging (in Calico Square)
Ed Alonzo’s Psycho Circus (in the Ghoul Time Theatre)
Street Drum Corps presents Bang (in the Necropolis Theatre).

HALLOWEEN HAUNT SCARE ZONES: These are areas of Knott’s Scary Farm haunted by free-roaming ghouls so that you get the scares even before you stand in line for the haunted mazes. These tend to be consisten from year to year, since they are based around established sections of the theme park. In 2011, there will be only three scare zones, all holdovers from 2010, including the perennial Ghost Town, the tiny seed from which the annual Halloween Haunt grew into the event we know and love today:

Necropolis: After dark, vampires arise to haunt the tranquil Camp Snoopy.
CarnEVIL: The living dead roam, even in the brightly lit Boardwalk area.
Ghost Town: The original Knott’s scare zone, the appropriate setting, an old, abandoned Western street populated by the dead

CAMP SNOOPY: For children too young and timid to enjoy Knott’s Berry Farm’s Halloween Haunt at night, there is usually a kid-friendly day-time alternative that runs from October 1 through 31, during regular park hours (with no extra charge for admission). The event offers a pirate treasure hunt with trick-or-treating, “Captain Jakc’s Haunted Hideaway,” and other themed entertainment for the 3 to 11-year old set.

ALSO OF NOTE: Knott’s Scary Farm is not recommended for children under 13. No re-entries allowed. No costumes.

HALLOWEEN HAUNT HISTORY: It all started back on October 31, 1973. Since Knott’s Berry Farm is more or less modeled on a real ghost town (Calico in California), it made sense to decorate the ghost town section of the park up for Halloween, along with a few dozen monster lurking in the fog. Knott’s Scary Farm’s first walk-through maze was added the next year. Since then, the Halloween Haunt has grown into a huge annual event, with hundreds of actors in makeup and numerous mazes featuring everything from 3D lighting and to elaborate mechanical effects.

KNOTT’S SCARY FARM VIDEOS: Check out Hollywood Gothique’s various video tours of the Halloween Haunt.