I encountered many wonderful Knott's employees tonight. We took a break to drink some bottled waters we brought with us, and a sweeper approached us to let us know that any location serving beverages would be happy to give is free iced waters. We later got free ice water a couple of times, and the cups were regular sized, not the 7 ounce ones some fast food chains sometimes give you.
I hope someone posts one thread where Micechatters can vote & comment on our favorite mazes and another thread/poll where we can vote on and comment on our favorite shows. (Spoiler alerts for the Hanging, please.) I'd like to read your reviews.
I liked Ed Alonzo, but I don't need to see him every year like the Hanging. My wife didn't appreciate Ed's dancers as much as I did.
Mazes: I loved Pinocchio Unstrung, Dominion of the Dead, and (from last year) Delirium and old favorites: Uncle Bob's Bigtop, Virus Z, Terror of London, and Dia de los Merotos. D'oh, I forgot Fallout Shelter, and skipped Endgames, Trick or Treat, the Evil Dead Log Ride, Trapped, and (my least favorite in past visits) Slaughterhouse. Unfortunately I missed too many mazes this year to feel qualified to vote for which ones were the best. I didn't feel like I wasn't a VIP because I skipped Trapped or Trick or Treat with it's $10 treat option. (How was that?) I didn't even notice the exterior of Trapped.
Thank you, Knott's, for continuing to charge only $1 for 3D glasses for the 3D mazes.
Maybe not the best Hanging I've seen, but that because my memory is combining the three previous shows I've seen into one supershow of the past. It seems like they now. . .
Spoiler
. . . feel too obligated to get as many of the most popular movies & hit songs into the show as possible, and at times they didn't even seem to enjoy these parodies. John Travolta's opening seemed inspired, as did Mitt Romney's attempt to woo women voters with his dance number, but maybe this show should try to be a little less painting by numbers (Do they still have painting by numbers, btw?), and maybe get a little weirder and scarier next year. And where was the good-natured Disneyland attack? I was hoping for a Luigi's Tires drive by. I liked the stunts and the bloody deaths behind the screen segment.
I thought the Pre-scare Boo-fet was excellent! Definitely the fastest moving lines I've been in in four years. Thanks, Knott's food division. All the food was delicious, especially the meats, and my wife and our friend who had never been to the Scary Farm were impressed. (It was my wife's first ever visit to Knott's and she's now looking forward to returning in the day to ride the often-robbed train, the stagecoach, Mystery Lodge, the summer version of the saloon show, etc.)
I loved many of the monsters, clowns, zombies and vampires I encountered! It's so obvious that many of them are not doing this for the money. Well except perhaps for the weirdly attractive vampire prostitute, though she just wanted blood, not money. Nice of her to lavish so much attention on a middle-aged guy. And her Shakespearean vampire friend showed real commitment as he followed my wife and her friend for most of the length of Camp Snoopy. (I assume Snoopy and Charlie Brown had been eaten earlier in the evening.) I once read on Micechat that going to the Haunt early (in Sept.) was better because in addition to shorter line, the monsters were fresher and still excited about the event.
The crowd was well behaved. I saw one teen try to skip ahead, and Knott's security was instantly and professionally upon him explaining why this was bad behavior.
Windseeker was closed. http://micechat.com/forums/knotts-be...9-19-12-a.html
So glad Knott's no longer has loud people hawking overpriced beer. That was my least favorite thing at this event two or three years ago. Overcharging for beer inside of this event is (I think) an excellent move, btw. If fact, I didn't see anyone drinking. Was alcohol even sold?
We did enjoy having one reasonably-priced beer at TGIFs across from the entrance before going to the buffet. Under $6 each (consumed in a comfy booth), and the Blue Moon came in a chilled glass with a nice, big orange slice in it. And my wife liked her Newcastle.
I saw two kids in different families, both about 8 or 9, who seemed traumatized by monsters. One was at the Pre-Scare Boo-fet where the macho dad threateningly told the monster "Stay away from the kid!" after the monster just did his job and startled the kid during the meal in the well-lit room. I wonder how this dad reacted when this happened again about 50-100 times in darker sections of the park. The girl was crying and shaking for quite a while after this monstrous encounter. Similar to the reaction I saw from (a 3rd grader?) in the park hugging her mom in a monster zone, looking genuinely upset. Thankfully, I saw very few kids under 13.
Thank you Knott's for keeping your restrooms (at least the mens rooms) so clean during this event. Seriously, I love clean restrooms, and each of the four (?) times I used one it was very clean. People may have been inspired to keep it clean because employees were frequently in them working hard. This might be TMI, but my wife said that like all public women's restrooms, some of the stalls were not. . . let's leave it at that. Hey, I'm a former janitor. I always feel qualified to comment in this area.
How engaging is Knott's Scary Farm? I only noticed several people on their cell phones all night. That was wonderfully freaky in 2012. I guess one is less likely to use a phone if it increases the likelihood of being attacked. We need more monsters roaming around all public areas every day just for this reason. The world would seem so much more polite.
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