Thursday, November 1, 2012

Knott's 40th Halloween Haunt: Part 4 - Camp Spooky & CarnEVIL

Happy Belated Halloween, everyone! We will continue today with my Knott's 40th Halloween Haunt report.

First up, we have Camp Snoopy, which is renamed "Camp Spooky" during the daytime. Camp Spooky plays host to a special children's costume party on select weekends during the Halloween season.







At night however, Camp Snoopy turns into "Necropolis." According to the Knott's Haunt press release, "Necropolis is a vampire world of flesh and machine, of gears and steam, offering a journey through the streets of a steam punk influenced city of the dead, where blood is power."


And these are just a few of the citizens of Necropolis.







One of the mazes in this area is "Uncle Willy's Slaughter House." The press release gives this description of the maze, "Folks near and far come a-runnin’ for Farmer Willy’s world famous BBQ! Guests are welcome to venture through the Slaughterhouse where Uncle Willy will feed them full of BBQ, slather them with special sauce, tenderize them with his chainsaw and grind them into a tasty treat. Bone appetite!"



One of the Haunt T-shirts being sold this year has an "Uncle Willy" design.


Next, we have Carnevil, which is the overlay that is given to the Boardwalk section of the park.


As a side note, Perilous Plunge has been removed from the Boardwalk area and is no longer listed on the park map. Cedar Fair just announced today what will be replacing it. You can go to the Knott's Berry Farm Facebook page to read the announcement and see the concept art.


Okay, back to Carnevil. The Wheeler Dealer Bumper Cars are closed for the season and the maze, "Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead)" is set up within that attraction space. The official press release for this maze states, "Venture into the forbidden jungle of El Chupacabra where sacrificial blood rains down from the sky. The screams of La Llorona, the Weeping Woman, echo around you and the creatures of the night crawl from their crypts."



The Charleston Circle Fountain gets a special makeover this time of year.




Even Johnny Rockets gets some seasonal decor.


CarnEVIL is teeming with evil clowns, both fake.....




....and REAL!




Clowns are just plain scary, even when they aren't specifically made-up to be scary!


This one was actually wandering around outside of the Calico Mine Ride, but it was the end of the night, so perhaps he was going home.


This creature was a life-size version of those little cymbal-banging toy monkeys.


"Uncle Bobo's Big Top of the Bizarre" is a maze that's located near Xcelerator. The press release for the maze is as follows: "Step right up, don’t be shy. Inside you will find a villainous variety of vaudevillian visages to vex even the most valiant voyeurs! It’s the greatest slaughter on earth with clown carnage galore!"


Guests entering the maze first walk past this giant animated Jack-In-The-Box.....


.....and this animatronic circus barker.


The entrance to the maze is through the mouth of a scary clown.


There was a special souvenir trading pin issued for "Uncle Bobo's Big Top."


Yes, Knott's now has a Pin Trading Program which began earlier this year. Here's the official information.



The last maze in this area is a special interactive one created for the 40th Halloween Haunt. It's called "Trapped" and it is not included in the regular price of admission. There is an additional charge of $60 for a group of up to six people to experience this maze. Knott's provides this description of the maze: "This reservation only, interactive maze leads guests into an abyss of their deepest fears and phobias. You are part of the horror and an active participant in your own demise. Do you have the courage to enter a nightmare designed exclusively for you and face the challenge of finding an escape? Remember there are no doors in this nightmare."


"Trapped" is set up in the space that normally houses "The Laser Zone" attraction.


Prior to entering the maze, guests must sign this release form. The first part of the form is humorous, but the second part is real. Guests are actually given a "safe word" to use in case they want to suddenly exit the maze before completing it.


Included in the price of the maze is an "I Survived Trapped" photo of your entire group, taken at the exit of the maze.


I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!