Just back from a quick trip to Cali, and we hit Knotts on Sunday so I figured I would offer an East-coaster perspective, along with my fiancé's general reactions to compare against for perspective (he's a big theme park person, but not nearly as obsessive, haha). Novel, but TLDR is cute park, needs better wait time tracking, and Beary Tales ops should take a big long look in the mirror (but we had a great time at the park!)
I had previously only been there in 2022, and specifically for Scary Farm, so this was my first time seeing the park as a day guest, and un-spookified. GhostTown remains a top example of great execution and themeing to me, I am so sad I couldn't have seen GhostTown Alive, I can only imagine how much of a fun little backdrop and playing field it provides for the actors. Overall too, I think the themeing across the park is just very well executed, and pretty well maintained. Fiancé was impressed with it too, definitely could see how they've had to step up above your average middle of the road regional park to compete with the other game in town.
Rides wise, the lines weren't too bad, save for a couple extreme examples. It was a Sunday and we were pretty beat from our general week/weekend so we didn't rope drop right at opening, rather rolled up about 20 minutes after opening. Not our usual MO, but worked out fine. GhostRider was already high, so we just went right to Silver Bullet. No issues with lockers, and were off pretty quick. Really liked Silver Bullet, but I am also a sucker for any non-standard issue suspended coaster, lol.
Checking the app, Pony Express was still listed as less than 15, but when we arrived it was over an hour. This was a consistent issue all day, with the app not really accurately reflecting wait times, or manual wait times at the ride entrance not being updated. It was ultimately fine, and we used it more as a general guide than anything, but I wouldn't trust the numbers unless they had been consistent for a bit.
Hang Time was next as it had a pretty short wait and Beary Tales was down as we walked past (foreshadowing, lol), and it was a pretty decent time! Pretty slow loading, but consistent, decent airtime and thrills. My fiancé didn't love the over abundance of inversions vs speed, but that was more of a personal musing about his taste than anything, haha.
Xcelerator was up next (after a walk-on Supreme Scream) with a posted wait of 45, and an actual wait of 60. Had there been two trains, this would have been much zippier, but with about minute and a half to two minute dispatches, it definitely dragged. Fiancé's need for speed was satiated for sure here, and I have to say the launch definitely packed a punch for me too.
We ended up hitting up Jaguar! next as it was the only thing listed as less than 30, however ended up waiting at least that. Queue themeing was pretty cute though, and honestly it was much longer than I thought, so a fun little diversion. Would I ever wait 30 again for it? Aww hell naw, but still didn't mind it as there wasn't much else to be had low wait wise, haha.
Lunch at Fireman's BBQ coinciding with a little fiddle and guitar show was a welcome break and bit of fun, and then we headed to the Timber Mountain Log Ride. This was one of two rides I did during Scary Farm, but obviously was their Halloween Hootenany overlay, so it was cute seeing it during normal operation. The day had turned oddly chilly, so we weren't thrilled about the splash down, haha, but for a "regional" park, the ride's charm can't be beat! The disarray of a couple of the figures added to the silly and memorable factor, but I still count it as a favorite among log rides I've been on. Fiancé was also equally charmed and kind of horrified about being stuck on the ride, so a win for him.
Beary Tales was up next, as we were rounding things out, and all I can say is...woof. I obviously wasn't expecting anything crazy, but yikes. We got in line knowingly with a 75 posted wait, so no massive surprise, but the ride went down almost immediately, and folks started bailing. We gave it about 20 and ended up shedding a ton of folks from the line in front of us, and it came back up, so we were actually head at this point...that didn't last. This ride was the single most frustrating dispatch experience I have probably ever had. Beyond the obvious (the physical setup for this load was baffling....one singular train of two cars at a time, max six people, but you can't do much about the construction of the ride) they were taking, at minimum, two minutes per load...and incredibly inefficient at that. I totally understand Fast Lane folks getting priority, but if you only have a group of two, DON'T LEAVE AN ENTIRELY EMPTY CAR BEHIND THEM, holy smokes, just seat another group in the second car to keep things moving. Seriously from the time we left the factory queue building and were sent to the platform queue it was 50 minutes before we boarded. To top it off, once on the ride, the 3D was absolutely abhorrent, to the point where my left lens seemed to be entirely dark about half the time and I just resorted to closing my left eye for the duration of the ride. The CG was cute, but had very little in the way of time to appreciate it because of the inability to see much of anything at all. To put the icing on the cake, after all that time (at least a 95 minute wait) my fiancé's gun just straight up wasn't working. The only recompence was predictably being offered to ride again, but we just were so done with the ride we didn't bother, lol.
I am usually the person who gives grace wherever I see it, and I will ALWAYS champion a dark ride anywhere...but man was this testing me so much, haha.
After that little misfire, we went to Pony Express to begin the final rounds for the night. posted 60, probably took 45, again would have been much more efficient with a second train, but dispatch was actually working pretty quickly here. Fiancé's take was it was short, but had some decent zip on the launch, so it still got a thumbs up!
Wandered back through GhostTown and stopped in a few stores on our way to Sierra Sidewinder, and then a night ride on GhostRider to close things out. We got really lucky as an incredibly nice gentleman and his friend gave us their Fast Lane passes just as we were about to enter standby, so we got to experience that side of things too! Posted 90, probably waited 30 in Fast Lane. Lockers continued to be an easy navigation, so props there too. The kick this thing has, especially in the dark is insane, and I was reminded of why it's such a high wait consistently throughout the day. My fiancé shared similar thoughts, as it was probably his favorite of the day alongside Xcelerator.
Overall, such a fun little park! Could have used more formal shows, Calico Mine Stage was entirely dead, Walter Knott's Theater was dead, only formal show was Kirk and the Hillbillies at the Wagon Camp Stage (may have been a single showtime for the Birdcage Theater too), but we did catch the lunchtime duo at the BBQ, and saw a couple character meet and greets, so they were at least doing something. Had a good time though, and would definitely not be afraid to come back in the future!