The summer season has arrived here in Southern California! Even if we’ve been met with a little extra June gloom. But some off beat weather has never kept us away from our favorite SoCal theme parks. Especially Knott’s Berry Farm with their triple threat of experiences with Ghost Town Alive, Knott’s Summer Nights, and the reimagined Fiesta Village. Also, let’s not forget that Knott’s Soak City is now open as well for all your fun water park needs. So you have summer adventures day and night at Knott’s! In this article, we’ll be reviewing our experiences with the summer time offerings at the Farm: what we thought worked and what could be improved. If listening is more your speed, we just dropped a hefty episode of our podcast talking about our experiences as well. Episodes are available anywhere podcasts are streamed!
We are also creating and are releasing multiple pieces of content across our social media platforms. So if you want to follow us for MORE Knott’s Berry Farm, you can expect those pieces of content in the coming days.
Ghost Town Alive
The citizens of Ghost Town are alive and well (pun intended) during this years Ghost Town Alive.
“Ghost Town Alive! returns to Knott’s Berry Farm for the summer complete with bandits, cowboys, robberies, judges, a good ol’ western hoedown, and much more! Guests can visit the beloved town of Calico and experience an authentic western adventure by becoming a star in this summer’s story of the Wild West. Ghost Town Alive! offers guests a firsthand experience to play an important part in the unfolding story of the wild west, with specific tasks and activities and an essential role as an honorary citizen of Calico.“
For us going into this years event, we were slightly unsure of how our visit would go. We’ve said time and time again how Nikki isn’t the LARPing type but Gabe absolutely loves every second of it. Now our kiddo was the biggest question mark because she’s not totally thrown herself fully into the activities of Ghost Town Alive just yet. She had some experience renting a “horse” and designing some dresses in the dress shop; but didn’t really get into the interactive nature of the event. But the accessibility of Ghost Town Alive is one of the biggest draws because you can do the smallest of activities and still feel roped into the story and experience.
With her cowboy hat in tow, we took our small little family into the town of Calico to see what story would unfold during this years event. As soon as we could get our footing, our Daughter quickly made her way to rent a horse…again! As we approached, she told us how “she did it last time!” and we were so surprised that she remembered her experiences at the park from the year prior. We didn’t even know that Ghost Town Alive left a mark on her until we returned for 2023.
While she can’t sign her own name just yet, she wrote out a small “E” to rent the horse, and she was on her way.
Viewing Ghost Town Alive through the eyes of a child has changed our perspective on the event ever so slightly. We’ve always loved it and always believed it was a special type of event that could transcend the normal theme park experience. But now having a child that can freely interact at her leisure shows how inviting the event is for people of all ages. Adults and children alike are able to live out their own adventure in the old west in whatever way suits them best.
A big part of that experience is the expert handling of these interactions by the actors and actresses that make up the citizens of Calico. Whether it was a member of the Mayfield gang or someone who worked at the local newspaper; each one of them were warm, inviting, and took special care to make sure each person had a moment to feel special in their own story. Even when the cute 4 year old says “I want to be a bad guy!” it’s met with open arms and a task.
If interacting on this level isn’t for you, you can still have plenty of fun watching from afar as the story unfolds throughout the day. Which ultimately ends in a massive hoedown! You can also visit the Bird Cage Theatre to see Miss Cameo Kate’s Western Burle-Q Revue. Especially if you’re a fan of western song and dance.
Reimagined Fiesta Village
With the addition of many new offerings within Fiesta Village this year, it has become significantly harder to stay within Ghost Town to experience all the major story beats of Ghost Town Alive. If you’re looking for a more in-depth review of the reimagined Fiesta Village at Knott’s Berry Farm, make sure to check out our latest article where we talk about the cultural approach, food, drinks, and so much more.
During our visit, I don’t think I could remember a time when Fiesta Village was so full of life and teeming with excitement. The reinvigorated environment feels much more…well, fun!
As we approached the main stage, we could hear the live Mariachi music playing as the Bob Baker Marionette’s entertained the crowd. Guests could be seen at tables all around feasting upon the new foods within the land, enjoying a storyteller recounting whimsical tales of the alebrijes, and even taking a small break to color. While we did partake in some of the fun flat rides within the alebrije gardens area, the biggest draw for us was the food and drink offerings.
We tried some of the different margarita offerings from Cantina Del Sur. Nikki purchased a margarita flight while I opted for a full size spicy margarita. While some people might be unhappy with how much alcohol comes with these margaritas; I’m pretty sure they are inexperienced with theme park libations. Even with that, we felt as though we were more than satisfied with the product. Especially when it comes with some really cute and fun souvenir cups you can take home to enjoy.
I think we both agreed that our favorite margarita was the spicy margarita with the tajin rim. Just the right amount of heat and balanced with the flavor of the tequila.
FLAVORS OF SUMMER TASTING CARD
During the summer, guests visiting Knott’s Berry Farm can buy a Flavors of Summer Tasting Card which allows guests to obtain 6 different food tastings from various locations around the park for only $55. While this cost might seem high, It is a downright bargain when you learn that some of these different offerings can cost upwards of $15 a la carte. So if you plan on eating during your visit, this is the way to go!
And with 40 different items on the tasting card, there is no shortage of options. Typically this type of offering is only associated with the Knott’s Summer Nights event, but this year the offerings are made available all day long throughout the park which is the best change. And we started to use our tastings in Fiesta Village!
We got the Potato and Chorizo Tacos and the Chicken Tinga Hard Shell Tacos. Both had surprisingly large servings and had outstanding flavor. But we ended up favoring the Potato and Chorizo Tacos over the Chicken Tinga Tacos simply for one reason…the taco shell. While the vessel for the chicken worked and tasted fine, we couldn’t get past how it felt like it was purchased right off the shelf at our local supermarket. Knott’s has set such a high bar for themselves in our eyes, that something like this becomes more obvious. A home made (Farm made) shell would have been a much better and fitting option for the dish and would elevate it as well.
Our next dish was the Lemon Butter and Garlic Shrimp Fries which could be found at Coasters. Please note that on the tasting card it specifies that this option is located within Fiesta Village. For one reason or another, it is actually at Coaster on Boardwalk. Not sure if it was originally planned for Fiesta Village and the cards didn’t get updated or if the kitchens weren’t just ready yet to handle such an influx of guests. Either way, be aware of this change when visiting the park.
This dish wasn’t our favorite but wasn’t the worst thing we’ve eaten. The lemon garlic flavor of the shrimp was completely overwhelmed by many other flavors included on top of the fries. By it’s description, we didn’t expect to see queso, avocado and pico de gallo. Now, don’t get us wrong! We love all those ingredients and thought they all tasted good, it just may have been the wrong combination for these fries. If they wanted the shrimp flavor to stand out ( to live up to the name) the toppings needed to be much less overpowering. With that being said, it still tasted fantastic.
Our last three dishes were all desserts…which when you’re at Knotts, the sweets are the right kind of treats.
We got the Apple Pie Cookie, Mom’s Chocolate Cake, and the Beignets with a Lemon Powdered Sugar. The Apple Pie Cookie was to die for! It was substantial in size and wasn’t too sweet. The cookie itself seemed to be a snickerdoodle of sorts and in the center was the apple pie filling. This thing didn’t stand a chance with us!
Then let’s talk about Mom’s Chocolate Cake. We all tried this, but it was mainly our Daughter’s treat for the day. While the cake was delicious, it caused a bit of controversy between us and even a small argument! Let us ask you this question…what do you need to comprise a chocolate cake? Is it chocolate frosting or chocolate batter? Because this cake was yellow cake batter with chocolate frosting. So does it count as a chocolate cake? We’ll let all of you be the judge, but what we can say is that it tasted amazing.
Lastly, let’s talk about the sleeper hit of our tasting card, the Beignets with Lemon Powdered Sugar. We got these puppies fresh out of the fryer and they couldn’t have been more decadent. They basically melted in our mouths and were perfectly accented with the lemon powdered sugar. We highly suggest getting this during your visit.
KNOTT’S SUMMER NIGHTS
After the excitement of Ghost Town Alive has settled and the sun sets, the nighttime summer party of Knott’s Summer Nights livens up the evening. Knott’s Summer Nights offers exciting ways to enjoy the nighttime festivities that fill Knott’s midway. With a hub of live music, unique summer food offerings, Instagram-able photo opportunities, interactive experiences and family-friendly games, Knott’s Summer Nights has so much to experience.
If you saved any tastings from your tasting card, you’ll find that there are specific locations only available during Summer Nights. So make sure to save a couple tastings for when the sun goes down because we completely forgot and now need to go back to try all the food we missed.
We absolutely adore the tone and fun that is Summer Nights. At times it almost feels like someone throwing a party in their backyard, there is a welcoming warmth that’s created by all the fun. One thing we loved in the past, but seemed to be missing on the night we attended, was the Party Planning Crew. These wacky characters are your neighbors who’ve come for the party. But we really only witnessed one character in particular dancing near the stage. We were pretty disappointed because we’ve always felt as though these characters made Summer Nights that much more unique in it’s presentation. The interactions alone made attending Summer Nights worth it. Is Summer Nights still fantastic without them, most definitely. We just hope that their absence was just on the day we attended.
One thing that is majorly evident during Summer Nights is the willingness of guests to let loose and have some fun. Knott’s has created a welcoming environment for everyone to have the time of their lives. I’ve never seen so many people do the Cupid Shuffle in my life! It took up the whole pathway leading from the Calico Mine Stage to Boardwalk! While we may not have joined in, watching so many people laugh and have fun makes us so happy. At the end of the day, it’s about making core memories with your family and friends. And based on what we witnessed, people are going to be leaving with some fantastic memories.
OVERALL
Knott’s Berry Farm once again proves their seasonal offerings are some of the best in SoCal. With the THEA award winning Ghost Town Alive, the popular Summer Nights, and the success of the reimagined Fiesta Village; Knott’s continues to build upon proven success. While there might be a few things here and there we would like to see improved or changed; that doesn’t diminish the wonderful work by the many teams at Knott’s that help bring all these events to life. From the food, to the entertainment and more; it feels as though each aspect of the event is given thoughtful love and care to make sure families will have the time of their lives making memories at the Farm.
For more information regarding Knott’s Summer Nights and Knott’s Berry Farm, head over to Knotts.com
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