50 years later, Knott's still has the fright stuff
How did Knott's Berry Farm change the theme park industry 50 years ago?
In 1973, Knott's was the first park to offer a standalone Halloween event. Today, pretty much every major property in America — and many others around the world — is extending its season with its own Halloween haunts. Universal has its Halloween Horror Nights. Six Flags has Fright Fest. SeaWorld and Busch Gardens offer Howl-O-Scream.
Even parks that don't want to embrace jump scares and monsters have gotten into the Halloween game with family-friendly events. Legoland has its Brick-or-Treat, while Disney does Oogie Boogie Bash at Disney California Adventure and Mickey's NotSo-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World.
Knott's Scary Farm opened for its 50th edition last week. Looking back, it seems obvious that a park whose heart is called Ghost Town should embrace Halloween. This year's Scary Farm brings some of its past mazes back to life with a tribute, The Chilling Chambers, that name-checks the very first maze in Knott's Halloween history.
I saw some fans exiting that maze crying in joy from what is a literal walk down Scary Farm memory lane. Still, many of the thousands of fans who turn out for each night of Scary Farm are not longtime visitors. The Chilling Chambers offer plenty of scares for fans who don't get all the references, but my favorite maze at this year's Scary Farm was another new one, Cinema Slasher.
This tribute to horror films is a master class in walk-thru haunt design. You've got immersive environments, including a theater lobby that smells of popcorn and offers an impressive light-shifting effect. There is stunning production design that brings popular movie tropes to life. A great cast of scare actors fills the maze with intimidation and jump scares. It all comes together to elicit waves of emotion, from nostalgia to curiosity to fear and, in the end, joy.
Experiences such as Cinema Slasher draw thousands of paying customers each night of Scary Farm. When theme parks find hits like this, everyone else in the business notices.
Many theme park attraction designers got their start by building haunted houses in their garages or yards when they were kids. Even today's professional walk-thru haunts do not employ expensive ride systems. While some big chains license or feature their own horror franchises, home-grown concepts often work just as well, if not better, than brand-name scares.
Knott's rival Disneyland created a trailblazing innovation with its Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance attraction. But an innovation like that is not likely to spawn imitators for the simple reason that developing a multiride system experience is beyond the financial reach of anyone else in the industry, outside of maybe Universal.
Every park can afford to build walkthru haunts and scare zones, however. And when they are done well, as Knott's showed the world how to do, fans love to pay to experience them. That makes Halloween events a can'tmiss opportunity for the entire theme park industry.
Running around Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights, screaming through the mazes and dodging chain saw-wielding monsters can work up quite the appetite.
This year the theme park's culinary team went all out on matching cuisine and cocktails to mazes based on hit TV shows like “Stranger Things” and “Chucky,” as well as the bestselling video game “The Last of Us.” While you can certainly still quick-grab things like nachos, hot dogs, chicken strips and fries, Executive Chef Julia Thrash said, she and her team were aiming for a more elevated experience and dove into these shows and games to create horror-themed culinary masterpieces.
“All of our IPs were a very fun adventure, but I think my most favorite was our `Chucky' overlay just because Chucky is the kind of character where he's playful, but also scary, but also spicy and also sweet,” she said, referring to intellectual properties during a recent food tasting event at the park. All of the specialty food and beverages are available during the event, which runs various evenings through Oct. 31.
Guests can find these food items throughout the park. The “Stranger Things” Surfer Boy Pizza Shop, Scoops Ahoy Ice Cream Parlor and '80s-themed Stellar Bar are on the lower lot near the maze. Chucky's Killer BBQ is on the upper lot near the main entrance, and “The Last of Us” bites can be found at Mummy Eats on the lower lot next to Revenge of the Mummy — The Ride. There are also plenty of fun drinks and specialty food in the Dia de Los Muertos area inside the Universal Plaza on the upper lot.
Here are some of the best bites and sips we had during a recent visit.
Various evenings through Oct. 31
The monster Cordyceps Corndog was inspired by the video game “The Last of Us,” which is also the theme of a Universal maze. It's a beef hot dog battered with Korean-inspired breading.
Cordyceps Corndog
Hands down, the Cordyceps Corndog, inspired by “The Last of Us” video game, was the best thing I ate. It's a massive, all-beef hot dog with flavorful, crisp breading. The whole thing was about the size of my forearm and could have easily been split between a few friends. It can be found at Mummy Eats.
“This breading is one of our unique recipes to our park, so I can't go into too deep of detail,” Thrash said. “It's a mix between a normal corn batter and almost a Korean batter, so it has a bit of a crispiness to it but also has this sweetness in the batter dough. I think what balances it out is that mushroom cream we're putting on top, and we're adding the potato sticks for a bit of saltiness.”
The breaded chicken sandwich known as Chucky's a Clucking Nightmare, complete with mock sutures, is served at Chucky's Killer BBQ on the upper lot.
Chucky's a Clucking Nightmare
The crisp, breaded chicken sandwich is so good, and the little burned-on stitches atop this soft bun are a nice touch. It's a large chunk of chicken that's topped with plenty of slaw, a sauce with a little spice to it and plenty of juicy pickle slices. It's also available at Chucky's Killer BBQ and is chef Thrash's favorite dish.
“It's got a cute name and it's also delicious as well,” she said.
Chocolate Skull Cake
The best dessert on the menu. It's a dense Mexican chocolate cake inside a chocolate shell that's dusted with gold. It's super rich and should definitely be shared. It can be found at the Dia de los Muertos area. Dracula's Cupcake was a close second for most tasty treat, but it dyed our lips and teeth a zombielike blackish blue.
“That's the one thing Dracula didn't want to tell anybody is that it will turn your mouth black,” Thrash said with a laugh.