Knott's Spooky Farm

You will notice that I am calling this Knott's Spooky Farm, not Knott's Scary Farm.

The Scary Farm happens at nights, with haunted attractions and scary shows.

The Spooky Farm is during the days. It is mostly a matter of decor, at least this year. 

There was also trick-or-treating for children.

One disappointment for us was that last year there were some special rides during the day that didn't seem to happen this year. 

There were some Halloween adaptations for the Timber Mountain log ride, with unusual creatures coming out of the woods and celebrating.

For the Calico Mine ride, my understanding was that there was a film with a witch who turns children into gingerbread cookies, and that there were two versions of the ride. During the Scary Farm, the film showed her eating them!

Unfortunately, we had to cancel last year.

This year the only difference for the Calico Mine ride was that there was a spider that came down as the train cars were leaving the station.

Then the log ride was closed, with no indication of whether that was temporary maintenance or something else. 

Then Knott's Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair was closed for maintenance, so the least disappointing ride is that the Fiesta Village was back open and we got to ride the Hat Dance again.

It was closed the last time we were there.

Then a lot of the Halloween-themed food was disappointing, but that is a separate post.

We did enjoy a lot of the decor, and the trick-or-treating could be fun for young visitors.

Otherwise, if you don't want the "Scary" part of the farm (and we were in town at night, but we were heading off to Vampirates), there may not be a reason to visit specifically in October. 

I don't want to sell them short; Knott's Scary Farm bills itself as the oldest Halloween attraction in Southern California, going back to 1973.

It holds this place in Buena Park, which calls itself the Halloween Capital of California. (Or maybe just Southern California. They do have Vampirates, and street lights, and other haunted houses and parties and things.)

I can see where adding a film that you have to change when the sun goes down... a lot of the "spooky" elements would be a lot of work without having the same payoff as the "scary" elements.

I do wish we'd gotten to try them.

COVID: There were a lot of people and a lot of it is outdoors, so it is probably a moderate risk. I masked on the Calico Mine ride, but otherwise it did not seem necessary.

Accessibility: There are a lot of rides that are not access-friendly for the rides themselves, but navigating the park is pretty smooth. It is the first place where I have seen a seat at the ride entrance for testing whether you fit, but without putting on the safety harness -- which would be hard to make testable -- I am not sure how practical it is.

There is a guide available: https://www.sixflags.com/knotts/accessibility 

https://www.sixflags.com/knotts/events/spooky-farm