Knott's Berry Farm will delay its 100th anniversary celebration until next year, as the park looks ahead from its current coronavirus shutdown.
Last August, the California theme park announced "A Knott's Family Reunion" to celebrate the 100th birthday of Walter Knott's berry stand in Buena Park. Knott's promised "festive park decor, themed food items, unique entertainment, exclusive merchandise and special surprises along the way," including a new overlay of its 3D interactive dark ride.
"Our team determined that a celebration of this magnitude must be done right," Knott's posted today on its website. "In order to observe and respect social distancing and other potential guidelines, we have made the decision to postpone this much anticipated event so that we can give this milestone the honor and celebration it truly deserves."
The park also announced that its new interactive ride, Knott’s Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair, is on schedule to be open when the park returns. But Knott's will not hold its annual Ghost Town Alive! interactive experience this year, though the park plans for the role-playing event to return in the summer of 2021.
Knott's Berry Farm remains closed until further notice, although Knott’s Chicken-to-Go Restaurant, Farm Bakery, and the Knott’s Berry Market in the California Marketplace are now offering orders to-go. Knott's has extended its season passes through the 2021 season and paused monthly payments on its passes while the parks are closed.
Update: Sister park Cedar Point also has postponed its anniversary events, pushing its 150th Anniversary Celebration to 2021, along with the Snake River Expedition ride, Town Hall Museum and Celebrate 150 Spectacular nighttime parade and show.
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For tickets to Knott's Berry Farm to be used when the park reopens, please visit our travel partner's Knott's Berry Farm tickets page.
Pretty much every Cedar Fair park made a similar announcement today, and I'm guessing the rest of the industry will soon follow. In short, new rides that were sufficiently far in construction will still be completed, but pretty much all seasonal events will not occur in 2020. It's going to be a very different year at the parks once they reopen.
The news from Cedar Point leaves me concerned that the park might not open at all for the 2020 season. At least at Knott's, which operates year 'round, a delay until late summer or fall means there will still be several months of 2020 for fans to enjoy. But if Cedar Point's reopening slides into late July... well, what's the point of trying to reopen then? Why take on all those annual start-up costs for a season that lasts less than two months? Especially if daily attendance is going to down sharply, either due to restrictions or lack of demand.
By declaring that it will leave all its 2020 attractions for next year, I wonder if the options for Cedar Point at this stage have reduced to significantly diminished operations or skipping the season entirely.
I can see Cedar Point trying for at least a bit because some profits are better than none at all. Yeah, it'll be late in the year but still an audience desperate for it and some influx will be helpful to offset losses.
MikeW
I think you hit a key point of their decision making. How many people and operational days do they need to make a profit for that season? I am sure they know those numbers and will plan accordingly.
There is also a point where staying closed creates less loss than reopening for the season.
If many of the seasonal theme parks can’t get open by early July and they decide social distancing may restrict their Halloween events it may mean no 2020.
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Yep, both make sense, why hold a celebration when, at best, your attendance is going to be less than half of usual?