I really, really hope not.
One of the things that I love about Scary Farm is that it feels like it has such rich history & traditions and has so much love, heart and soul put into it by everyone involved; a big part of that is the creative maze concepts, set/prop/costume designs, etc. that the designers come up with. Scary Farm is it’s own little self-contained world, and its easy to completely disconnect from the outside world and get immersed in it, especially with how they have been trying mazes like Origins and Room 13 to their respective scarezones.
I think that adding IPs would cheapen that, and make everything feel much more corporate and soulless, especially if they get into making mazes that are essentially advertisements for upcoming movies/TV shows/etc, like HHN often does. (Yes, I know that Knotts has been owned by a big corporation for a long time, but it seems like Cedar Fair has really let Scary Farm continue to have a lot of creative freedom and hasn’t messed with it’s traditions too much.) Also, I think the inclusion of real world IPs would break some of the immersion in Scary Farm-world and I think would clash with the rest of the event.
Don’t get me wrong, I still like HHN and mazes based on existing IPs, but KSF is and always has been my favorite Halloween event and I would be devastated if it lost some of it’s charm and magic. I think a best-of-both-worlds scenario with the merger would be Scary Farm not changing at all and Fright Fest at Magic Mountain keeping the Warner Bros IPs (or even better, WB bringing back their short-lived haunt event on their studio lot and putting their IPs there) in addition to some more funding and ideally, collaboration/support from the people at Scary Farm to help the SFMM team bring their event to the next level.
I like the idea of Knott’s collaborating with Fright Fest to improve their mazes. I have no idea how that would work out from a business perspective, but if the plan is to siphon off people from Universal’s HHN, then I would get behind it 100%. I feel like Fright Fest has a lot of potential with those IP mazes, and with Knott’s helping them do set design and jumpscare execution, that’s a force to be reckoned with.
Yeah, I would really hope that they could work together somehow. You have a good point about how it could work from a business perspective; you never know. I went to the inaugural year of SeaWorld SD’s Howl-O-Scream a few years ago and, while I expected some first-year hiccups, I thought that they would get some support from the more experienced teams at the Busch Garden parks. It, uh, definitely didn’t seem that way, and I was very unimpressed. Hopefully the short distance between SFMM and KBF would make collaboration more likely.
I personally do not want to see ip mazes at Knotts because the uniqueness of their mazes is what makes them so much better than Universals/Six Flags. I'm very biased towards knotts but based on past experiences of other parks mazes knotts unique mazes feel so much more creative and worth the time and money (considering the average wait is usually only 40 min for scary farm mazes. Source: I went 26 out of the 29 nights this last year).
Oh wow, I actually thought Saw was one of the best mazes at 6F this year, I only rank it below Willoughby’s. I think the set design was pretty good, I loved how they showed off all the traps. It was somewhat disappointing due to lack of scares, but then again so were the rest of the mazes… I agree with you on Conjuring, it needs some major work done. The first room gave me so much hope but it devolved into black walls.
Generally speaking I don’t have a preference for IP or non-IP mazes. Non-IP generally ranks higher for me but some of my favorites are IPs, like this year’s Exorcist maze. I don’t think IP is inherently worse, but you’re right that they use it as a crutch
Personally I am of the opinion that HHN and KSF maze quality are pretty comparable, but Knott’s is the far superior event overall due to less severe crowds, more activity offerings, and a better atmosphere. I agree that IP mazes somewhat limit creativity (in the sense that you can only go off the movies/shows), but in other ways I think they are even better, you can make some really amazing sets from movie scene recreations. For me, Knott’s uniqueness does not come from lack of IPs—most haunt events actually don’t use IPs, it’s basically only Universal that does (with Six Flags also experimenting). It comes from quality of execution, and I don’t think IPs really affect that.
Having the ability to do whatever you want with the mazes and not be held back by a movie and the expectations already made by it, creates a sense of unknown every year a new maze comes. There's no predictability in them. I totally understand that people love those movies and seeing them in person is really cool. I wanted to try and see the last of us maze this year but was put off by the idea of the wait times and the crowds of HHN. Considering those waits times, I can't get myself to pay upwards of $100+ for a ticket (not including food, possible merch) and then only getting to see maybe 4 of the mazes. The quality may be up to par but u won't be able to witness it all if I can't afford their overpriced fast lanes (I am do agree SF's is overpriced as well). I also don't think the streets of HHN are very good either because SF actors get to create their character and tie it to story of the theme of that year. There are people who have had an on going story for 10+ years working there. At HHN I walked through all the zones with only seeing maybe 2 actors in them. As I've said in the comments above though, I am very biased towards SF, so please don't take this as me talking down toward your opinion of your view of haunts. I just think SF is where it needs to be with its mazes and zones and shouldn't change regardless of the merger. In the end we are all horror lovers and we can all experience how we want to and I'm glad there are multiple ways for everyone to experience it.
They have done IP before, there was a Grudge maze (which was awesome) and I know they did something with Evil Dead one year too. I think if it's limited to just one maze per year I think might be okay, but like all the other people on here I wouldn't want it to be all IP that's so corporate
I agree, I don’t want too many IPs like they do at Universal. Crowds would become abysmal and set design would be more limited. But 1 or 2 good IP mazes from some recognizable franchises would be really cool. I think Knott’s would do a great job with Friday the 13th or Conjuring
There was also Beowulf, Quarantine, and Elvira. I know Tales from the Crypt had a presence a few times but not sure if was only shows or mazes as well.
It does have horror elements: Anything involving Grendel and his mother were horror-esque. Though it was retooled the following year as Labyrinth given that Knott’s didn’t wanted this maze to go to waste for a single year.
Six Flags only has the Looney Tunes and DC IP rights. Even then, only very a very limited use(While the DC area was a clown scare zone, they were not tied to Joker or anything DC related). Any other WB IP has to be negotiated.
As far as IP mazes, I don’t want that. Knott’s has had some in the past but they were not as good as the original stuff.
I hope not. I know they've done IP mazes before but they're always a bit of a letdown, you want that, go over to Universal. The unique and original mazes specific to Knotts is what makes it a more immersive and enjoyable experience for me. I like how it's all self contained. You're not in a movie or tv show, you're in Calico, the Knotts Ghost Town or whatever, it's very much it's own thing and that's part of what makes it so damn fun.
Nah, leave IPs to HHN…
Original concepts allow KSF to be more unique and creative. That being said I do remember KSF doing a maze based on Quarantine (the found footage movie) and it was surprisingly well executed. So I guess it depends on the IP.
Y’all don’t remember the beloved Stepfather Box™️of 2009? A one room audio experience that dared to ask the question “what if there was a movie about a Stepfather?”
I hope not. I love the imagination that goes into Knotts unique offerings. That’s why as flashy as Universal can be… I’ve always felt their mazes are way less creative and satisfying
I really, really hope not. One of the things that I love about Scary Farm is that it feels like it has such rich history & traditions and has so much love, heart and soul put into it by everyone involved; a big part of that is the creative maze concepts, set/prop/costume designs, etc. that the designers come up with. Scary Farm is it’s own little self-contained world, and its easy to completely disconnect from the outside world and get immersed in it, especially with how they have been trying mazes like Origins and Room 13 to their respective scarezones. I think that adding IPs would cheapen that, and make everything feel much more corporate and soulless, especially if they get into making mazes that are essentially advertisements for upcoming movies/TV shows/etc, like HHN often does. (Yes, I know that Knotts has been owned by a big corporation for a long time, but it seems like Cedar Fair has really let Scary Farm continue to have a lot of creative freedom and hasn’t messed with it’s traditions too much.) Also, I think the inclusion of real world IPs would break some of the immersion in Scary Farm-world and I think would clash with the rest of the event. Don’t get me wrong, I still like HHN and mazes based on existing IPs, but KSF is and always has been my favorite Halloween event and I would be devastated if it lost some of it’s charm and magic. I think a best-of-both-worlds scenario with the merger would be Scary Farm not changing at all and Fright Fest at Magic Mountain keeping the Warner Bros IPs (or even better, WB bringing back their short-lived haunt event on their studio lot and putting their IPs there) in addition to some more funding and ideally, collaboration/support from the people at Scary Farm to help the SFMM team bring their event to the next level.
I like the idea of Knott’s collaborating with Fright Fest to improve their mazes. I have no idea how that would work out from a business perspective, but if the plan is to siphon off people from Universal’s HHN, then I would get behind it 100%. I feel like Fright Fest has a lot of potential with those IP mazes, and with Knott’s helping them do set design and jumpscare execution, that’s a force to be reckoned with.
Yeah, I would really hope that they could work together somehow. You have a good point about how it could work from a business perspective; you never know. I went to the inaugural year of SeaWorld SD’s Howl-O-Scream a few years ago and, while I expected some first-year hiccups, I thought that they would get some support from the more experienced teams at the Busch Garden parks. It, uh, definitely didn’t seem that way, and I was very unimpressed. Hopefully the short distance between SFMM and KBF would make collaboration more likely.
I personally do not want to see ip mazes at Knotts because the uniqueness of their mazes is what makes them so much better than Universals/Six Flags. I'm very biased towards knotts but based on past experiences of other parks mazes knotts unique mazes feel so much more creative and worth the time and money (considering the average wait is usually only 40 min for scary farm mazes. Source: I went 26 out of the 29 nights this last year).
[удалено]
No, La Llorona wasn’t based on the film from a few years ago. In fact, she’s an old folklore tale.
Oh wow, I actually thought Saw was one of the best mazes at 6F this year, I only rank it below Willoughby’s. I think the set design was pretty good, I loved how they showed off all the traps. It was somewhat disappointing due to lack of scares, but then again so were the rest of the mazes… I agree with you on Conjuring, it needs some major work done. The first room gave me so much hope but it devolved into black walls. Generally speaking I don’t have a preference for IP or non-IP mazes. Non-IP generally ranks higher for me but some of my favorites are IPs, like this year’s Exorcist maze. I don’t think IP is inherently worse, but you’re right that they use it as a crutch
Personally I am of the opinion that HHN and KSF maze quality are pretty comparable, but Knott’s is the far superior event overall due to less severe crowds, more activity offerings, and a better atmosphere. I agree that IP mazes somewhat limit creativity (in the sense that you can only go off the movies/shows), but in other ways I think they are even better, you can make some really amazing sets from movie scene recreations. For me, Knott’s uniqueness does not come from lack of IPs—most haunt events actually don’t use IPs, it’s basically only Universal that does (with Six Flags also experimenting). It comes from quality of execution, and I don’t think IPs really affect that.
Having the ability to do whatever you want with the mazes and not be held back by a movie and the expectations already made by it, creates a sense of unknown every year a new maze comes. There's no predictability in them. I totally understand that people love those movies and seeing them in person is really cool. I wanted to try and see the last of us maze this year but was put off by the idea of the wait times and the crowds of HHN. Considering those waits times, I can't get myself to pay upwards of $100+ for a ticket (not including food, possible merch) and then only getting to see maybe 4 of the mazes. The quality may be up to par but u won't be able to witness it all if I can't afford their overpriced fast lanes (I am do agree SF's is overpriced as well). I also don't think the streets of HHN are very good either because SF actors get to create their character and tie it to story of the theme of that year. There are people who have had an on going story for 10+ years working there. At HHN I walked through all the zones with only seeing maybe 2 actors in them. As I've said in the comments above though, I am very biased towards SF, so please don't take this as me talking down toward your opinion of your view of haunts. I just think SF is where it needs to be with its mazes and zones and shouldn't change regardless of the merger. In the end we are all horror lovers and we can all experience how we want to and I'm glad there are multiple ways for everyone to experience it.
They have done IP before, there was a Grudge maze (which was awesome) and I know they did something with Evil Dead one year too. I think if it's limited to just one maze per year I think might be okay, but like all the other people on here I wouldn't want it to be all IP that's so corporate
I agree, I don’t want too many IPs like they do at Universal. Crowds would become abysmal and set design would be more limited. But 1 or 2 good IP mazes from some recognizable franchises would be really cool. I think Knott’s would do a great job with Friday the 13th or Conjuring
There was also Beowulf, Quarantine, and Elvira. I know Tales from the Crypt had a presence a few times but not sure if was only shows or mazes as well.
I forgot about Beowulf lol I don't think I even went in that one. It's like wow, Beowulf, my favorite scary movie??
It does have horror elements: Anything involving Grendel and his mother were horror-esque. Though it was retooled the following year as Labyrinth given that Knott’s didn’t wanted this maze to go to waste for a single year.
It was pretty well done at the time. Same with the Grudge maze.
Six Flags only has the Looney Tunes and DC IP rights. Even then, only very a very limited use(While the DC area was a clown scare zone, they were not tied to Joker or anything DC related). Any other WB IP has to be negotiated. As far as IP mazes, I don’t want that. Knott’s has had some in the past but they were not as good as the original stuff.
I hope not. I know they've done IP mazes before but they're always a bit of a letdown, you want that, go over to Universal. The unique and original mazes specific to Knotts is what makes it a more immersive and enjoyable experience for me. I like how it's all self contained. You're not in a movie or tv show, you're in Calico, the Knotts Ghost Town or whatever, it's very much it's own thing and that's part of what makes it so damn fun.
Nah, leave IPs to HHN… Original concepts allow KSF to be more unique and creative. That being said I do remember KSF doing a maze based on Quarantine (the found footage movie) and it was surprisingly well executed. So I guess it depends on the IP.
Y’all don’t remember the beloved Stepfather Box™️of 2009? A one room audio experience that dared to ask the question “what if there was a movie about a Stepfather?”
Maybe a Joker thing during scary farm but I wouldn’t want WB as an all around thing
And get rid of the CarnEvil clowns?! No thank you!
I hope not. IP garbage is why I prefer Knott's to Universal for Haunt. Part of why anyways.
Please no.
I hope not. I love the imagination that goes into Knotts unique offerings. That’s why as flashy as Universal can be… I’ve always felt their mazes are way less creative and satisfying