originally posted on 11/19/2021 1:00:49 AM
All Photos: John Gerard. View full-sized image.
On the afternoon of October 3, a group of 66 ACE members and their guests gathered at the back of Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant in Buena Park, awaiting the start of the ACE Knott's Scary Farm event. It was a very hot and sunny day in Southern California. The group was provided with VIP treatment for the event.
The boo-fet at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Restaurant.
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Following event check-in, attendees were treated to the always elaborate all-you-can eat boo-fet meal at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Restaurant. Typically, guests have to wait until 5 p.m. to check in for the optional boo-fet meal, but ACE was allowed early access at 4 p.m. in a private dining room and had early claim to the boo-fet before general guests were admitted. There was food galore with many of the restaurant's favorites. Souvenir bottles with free refills for the evening ($1.00 refills for the remainder of 2021) were also provided. There was ample monster talent in the room for photographs.
Check-in at registration.
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As part of the event, attendees were provided with Fright Lane/Fast Lane wristbands that allowed unlimited priority access to all eight mazes and priority boarding to Fast Lane rides. This year also featured five scare zones and several new shows. New for 2021 was the Gore-ing ‘20s scare zone, but the favorite is always the Ghost Town streets with so much fog you can't see what is in front of you.
After dinner, everyone left the restaurant to take advantage of early riding on GhostRider. There was ample time to ride over and over with minimal wait time. GhostRider was running in top form and is still as smooth as ever.
At 6:30 p.m., early access was provided to the four mazes (The Depths, Waxworks, Dark Entities and Paranormal, Inc.) located in the Ghost Town section of the park. At 7 p.m., the park opened to the general public for the six-hour evening event. The other mazes were Dark Ride, Pumpkin Eater, Origins: The Curse of Calico and Mesmer: Sideshow of the Mind. One thing that always stands out about the mazes at Knott's Scary Farm is the originality. The designers create mazes that are based on new ideas and concepts. The unique Timber Mountain Log Ride was re-themed as the Halloween Hootenanny. The ride's interior features surprises as guests venture past the Calico Coffin Creeper band, the town's green witch, and splash down Skull Mountain through a labyrinth of jack-o-lanterns all set to an original soundtrack by Krazy Kirk and the Hillbillies. With so much to do, the front-of-the-line privileges very much came in handy.
ACE also received priority seating to the 10 p.m. performance of “Puppet Up! Uncensored.” The show was a very funny, off-the-cuff live show featuring a combination of improvisational comedy and the magic of puppetry performed by a cast of world-class comedian puppeteers from The Jim Henson Company.
Attendees were very appreciative of the courtesies and the Knott's Scary Farm staff for yet again a fun and extraordinary event and look forward to it in 2022.
— Steve Berto, ACE Southern California Regional Representative
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