Knott's Merry Farm: 2019 Review

Knott’s Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA

Howdy, folks, and happy Day Before Turkey Day! Today, we have something that hasn’t been seen in these parts for quite some time… a bona fide theme park update! Yes after months of haunt updates and news wire releases, we’re stopping by a real life theme park to check out something that’s not spooky! In fact, quite the opposite, really. Quite… anti-spooky.

Last Friday marked the first day of Knott’s Merry Farm, the Christmas overlay for our favorite Berry Farm. A holiday tradition, this event clads the park in plenty of wintertime decorations and glistening lights. With seasonal shows, special food, holiday merchandise, and the return of the Christmas Craft Fair, there’s plenty of activities for guests to indulge in addition to just enjoying the regular park rides and attractions. So how does this year’s Merry Farm stack up? Read on to find out!

Home for the Holidays

The dazzling highlight and new addition for this year’s Merry Farm is the heart-warming and spectacular live stage show, Home for the Holidays. Located at the Calico Mine Stage, this extravagant celebration of the Christmas spirit features a cast of thousands—well, dozens, but it certainly seems like much more. Set in 1915, it’s a romanticized view of the holidays in the vein of Currier and Ives… or perhaps Norman Rockwell. A harkening back to simpler times and the spirit of a community Christmas.

The show introduces us to the Harper Family, who are getting ready on Christmas Eve for their big yuletide gathering with friends and loved ones. There is much to prepare before Christmas arrives, and it isn’t long before the impending party guests arrive to assist and to revel in the magic of the season. With Christmas carol favorites like “Home for the Holidays,” “Jingle Bells,” “Sleigh Ride,” “Deck the Halls,” and more, plus a series of dance numbers, the show really embraces the energy and warmth of Christmas time. The live performances are truly wondrous, with multiple live singing roles and a bevvy of synchronized dances and routines. The glowing joy of the holiday really shines through from the actors to the audience.

The unfolding stage backdrop is an especially impressive touch.

Similarly stunning is the stage design itself, which features a sumptuous backdrop showcasing a cozy wintertime home and barn facade that hides a secret twist. In the middle of the show, the house unfolds, revealing a second set that marks various interior rooms and becomes another background! The transformation is quite impressive, drawing surprise and awe at the level of detail and craftsmanship, and it represents some of the most elaborate stagecraft Knott’s has ever done in a seasonal theatrical production. And it really reinforces the quality that Knott’s has invested into the show.

Through song and dance, Home for the Holidays conveys wonder, happiness, and love of Christmas.

When all is said and done, Home for the Holidays has provided a charming and sentimental look at Christmas and its value to the season. The holiday is about celebrating with loved ones and bringing joy to all. And the magnificent spectacle of this production in particular really achieves a wonderful noel ambiance and infectiously spreads the Christmas spirit.

Snow and Glow in Ghost Town

Returning to Knott’s Merry Farm is Snow and Glow, the nightly snowfall event occurring three times an evening in Ghost Town. It’s another instance of Christmas magic in the park, as the lights in Ghost Town twinkle and sparkle, and snowfall (or snoapfall, really) yields a bit of a winter wonderland in otherwise snow-free Southern California. Snow and Glow only lasts a few minutes, but it’s a lovely feature that really enhances the charming Christmas ambiance in Ghost Town.

Guests enjoy the simulated snowfall in Ghost Town during Snow and Glow.

Christmas Tree Lighting

The early evening is also home to the Calico Christmas tree lighting which brings carolers and at least one recognizable Citizen of Calico to Calico Park to turn on the lights to the towering tree shortly after sundown. The tree itself is massive and offers a great photo op to guests approaching from three different directions. The pageantry and ceremony are also lavish, kicking off the evening illumination in grand fashion!

It makes for a nice scene next to the Calico Saloon.

Knott’s Merry Farm has several other shows as well. The Snoopy ice show, Merry Christmas, Snoopy! returns to the Charles M. Schulz Theater, playing in the afternoon hours. Camp Snoopy hosts A Peanut’s Guide to Christmas. Carolers sing Christmas harmonies at various times in Ghost Town, while the Calico Saloon returns its special Christmas time version of its beloved saloon show. And over in the Bird Cage Theater, guests can witness a retelling of A Christmas Carol or Marley’s Wings put on by the melodrama company.

For more details and photos from these shows, check out our coverage from a past Merry Farm season!

Merry Farm Merchandise

There is also plenty of apparel and holiday merchandise available for those doing some Christmas shopping or in search of a yuletide souvenir. Much like Disneyland has been practicing with its limited, seasonal memorabilia, Knott’s is discovering the power of specialty merch that can entice season passholders into more spending. Here are just a few of the items available for purchase.

Merry Farm Specialty Food

Just like it offers during the park’s other seasonal events, Knott’s Merry Farm has a variety of special food items available only while its seasonal overlay is active. When the year turns, and Merry Farm fades away, so too will the such culinary offerings.

Of the items that we were able to sample, our top three was the Holiday Poutine, Fried Holiday Balls, and Mac Lorraine, with the fried green beans a respectable honorable mention. Each featured more flavor and better combinations than recent Knott’s specialty food, so perhaps the park is making strides in its special food offerings.

A few favorites from this photo: the Mac Loraine and the Poutine Fries on the right were scrumptious!

Ambiance

The rest of the park sparkles in the holiday atmosphere, with differing levels of winter spirit. Knott’s has a long and rich history of celebrating Christmas—dating back to the days when the Knott family ran the park—even incorporating a nativity scene into the holiday decorations at a time when most establishments stick to more secular representations of the holiday. There’s nothing overt or problematic about the scene at Knott’s Merry Farm, though. You might even pass right by this and never spot it.

The nativity scene is located under the lift hill of Silver Bullet, along the pathway between Ghost Town and Fiesta Village, opposite the former Reflection Lake.

At the front of the park, the entry area is once again graced with a lovely staged photo op. And much like this past season’s Scary Farm exhibit, this one is also extravagant and charmingly photogenic (just much less spooky). The scene offers a beautiful backdrop for photos when guests enter the park or when they leave.

This pretty background is dripping with Christmas spirit.

The locomotive at the Calico Railroad is dressed in a simple and elegant Christmas wreath.

It’s also great to see the holiday decorations throughout entire park, rather than restricted to just one zone. It showcases an integrated approach to holiday decorations that feels delightfully immersive. It’s also fun to check out how each land brings its own flair to the holidays. Ghost Town provides the traditional, sentimental feel. The Boardwalk mixes in the California casual of a beachside holiday. Fiesta Village is vibrant with color and pizzazz. Meanwhile, Camp Snoopy provides a more understated and rustic approach that feels classic in its own sense.

Fiesta Village lights up with holiday color all along the buildings and even overhead.

Of course, you can’t have Christmas without the Catawampus, who wishes you a merry moo-y time.

Ghost Town

Ghost Town has the most elaborate and immersive theming, offering a nostalgic sense of Christmas in a bygone age, with classic, warm bulbs lining the historic facades throughout Calico. The Christmas Crafts Fair offers a medley of small business boutique stands and merchandise that’s great for Christmas shopping, if you’re looking for crafted items. Soaps, knit wear, artwork, snacks, and holiday decorations are all offered, plus some of the park holiday merchandise to mix. The Crafts Fair is a bit kitschy, but it brings the family-oriented feel to Ghost Town.

In the Wilderness Dance Hall, Santa’s Christmas Cabin returns with tastings and offerings, plus a chance to meet Santa Claus himself. It’s no surprise that when it comes to the most season-oriented amenities, Ghost Town leads the pack. It’s the heart and soul of the park, so it brims with the richest spirit of the season.

Boardwalk

In contrast to the timeless quality of Ghost Town’s Christmas setting, the Boardwalk offers a much more contemporary and relaxed take on the holiday. Cute and sometimes abstracted Christmas trees and ornamentations provide a casual and friendly environment. From the glistening “ice” fountain at Charleston Square to the gaudy but cute oversized ornaments and lights at Coasters Diner, Boardwalk lends a pleasant beach feel to things. Plus, for those to straggle around HangTime, there’s a Christmas-themed light show that plays ever so often, similar to the Halloween-themed display during Scary Farm.

Fiesta Village

The decorations over at Fiesta Village aren’t anything new, but the festival and colorful nature of the holidays here makes for some photogenic scenes at night.

Camp Snoopy

Finally, Camp Snoopy offers an understated and woodsy Christmas feel, with Gobo lights projecting illuminated patterns onto the ground and lamp posts ornamented with lit up wreaths and holly. I still think that a little more extravagance with lighting would help spruce things up further (pun intended), similar to the lighting along Grand Avenue outside. Stringing some overhead lights over the pathways would also provide a magical atmosphere, albeit at additional set-up.

As usual, Knott’s Merry Farm provides a lovely setting to celebrate the holidays with family, friends, and loved ones. Headlined by its sensational new Home for the Holidays show, Knott’s demonstrates that it is no slouch in the Christmas overlay department, offering an abundance of shows, attractions, and scenic dressings that really imbibe a festive, merry mood. It’s a wonderful place to get into the Christmas spirit!

Knott’s Merry Farm runs now through Sunday, January 5th. Make sure to include it as part of your holiday season itinerary!