This week Knott’s Berry Farm released some new details on the events coming to the park this summer. It starts with the opening of Calico River Rapids, the newly rethemed BigFoot Rapids announced last Fall. Ghost Town Alive also returns this summer with an all new set of adventures. Finally, there is a new summer event/party coming to the park, “Knott’s Summer Nights”.
UPDATE: Well, that was a surprise. Knott’s announced Calico River Rapids is opening May 17, much earlier than expected!
Calico River Rapids
The new Calico River Rapids opening this summer is going to feature a slew of new animatronic critters.
The park didn’t reveal an opening date yet or TOO much new detail on the Calico River Rapids ride, but they did tell us a little more. The ride will tie into the founding of Calico, and the arrival of the miners and loggers featured in the parks two historic attractions (the Calico Mine ride and Timber Mountain Log ride). Set on the outskirts of Calico, you’ll take on the role of joining an expedition to explore the land near Calico. The ride will be filled with animatronic animals built by Garner Holt Productions, the worlds largest theme park animatronic company. Expect things from bears to snakes to chickens, plus some surprises. The OC Register has a great piece behind the scenes with Garner Holt’s work for the ride. Also check out a behind the scenes video with Garner Holt shared by the park.
Ghost Town Alive!
Ghost Town Alive returns again this summer with a new story and new experiences. No full details on this years plot were shared, but once again guests will be able to interact with different characters, revealing new adventures each time and influencing the story through the course of the day. In past seasons Ghost Town Alive has gotten bigger and bigger, I think it’s safe to expect even more to do this year. Ghost Town Alive starts on May 24 and runs through September 2 on select days.
Ghost Town Alive is back this summer with new stories and interactions.
Knott’s Summer Nights
Finally, the park announced a new nighttime festival, Knott’s Summer Nights. From June 7 to August 11, the Knott’s midways will be filled with food festival and live music. There will be music both at the Calico Mine stage and DJs in the Boardwalk area of the park. Special food items will range from Nacho boats to grilled peach cobbler. Festival lighting and oversized gmaes and competitions will also fill out the area for the summer nights. The new festival fills in another chunk of the Knott’s festival season calendar (which is pretty packed already).
The Knott’s Summer Nights festival will be coming to the park mid festival, adding music, games, and food to the park for summer time evenings.
Along with these events, the Knott’s Soak City water park opens May 18th through September 8th. The parks “Beach Blanket Beagle” show that opened with HangTime last year is also returning this summer.
We didn’t get an opening date for Calico River Rapids, but the park did say summer, and my guess is they’re aiming for before Memorial Day to make sure it’s open when temperatures rise at the park (and Ghost Town Alive kicks off). In the meantime, there’s still time to catch the Boysenberry Festival at Knott’s Berry Farm, it runs until April 28th. For more info on all the summer events coming to Knott’s and on the ongoing Boysenberry Festival, visit Knotts.com.
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