Ghost Town Alive! 2022 Review

Knott’s Berry Farm, Buena Park, CA

Today’s update takes us back to good ol’ Knott’s Berry Farm to a fan-favorite event that is back for the first time in three years. Yes, Ghost Town Alive!, the beloved immersive and interactive theater event that allows guests to be a role-playing part of a richly layered, Old West escapist storyline, is back after having to sit out the past couple of years due to the Coronavirus pandemic. While all of Knott’s other seasonal events were only down for one year (with most returning last year), the inherent close-contact nature of Ghost Town Alive! led the decision-makers at Knott’s to take the safer approach in 2021 and hold it off until this year. This means that season 5 of Ghost Town Alive! takes place three years after season 4—both in real time (2022 from 2019) and in Calico’s storyline time (1891 from 1888).

For longtime fans of the event, this made the return of GTA! a high-anticipated and treasured event. Similar to the way places like Disneyland hold emotional resonance to frequent visitors, Ghost Town Alive! has provided a precious, valuable, emotional haven where guests can indulge their imagination and play through a comprehensive story over the course of an entire day, forging relationships with actors that become recurring bonds for repeat visitors and nurturing a sense of belonging. For the cast, the improvisational and ever-changing daily experiences—even within the overall general structure of the plot—afford priceless moments of interaction and charm that yield cherished memories for the actors as well. The formula was a hit from the first summer Ghost Town Alive! debuted, and the connections and endearment have grown stronger each season!

It’s great to have Founder’s Day back in Calico after a few years!

This year’s review will be a tad different in that I’m going to skip the “Ambiance” portion and delve straight into the people and the plot. We’ve got four previous seasons of articles detailing all the ways that Knott’s Ghost Town is enhanced and seamlessly transitioned into a adventurously romantic world of a bygone Western area, with the famous peek-in’s opened up to serve as mini-environments and homes for the various “Citizens of Calico.” At its heart, Ghost Town Alive! is one elaborate game of “cops and bandits,” and guests get to play a role as superficial or as deep as they choose. And for those who really dive deep—even dressing up the part or creating contributing identities of their own—the general park atmosphere really helps expand and enhance the immersion.

The ambiance and the details really help immerse guests into the Ghost Town Alive! story.

It helps that these aren’t seasonal sets, but rather part of everyday Knott’s Berry Farm!

One other note… the inherent family-friendly nature of Ghost Town Alive!—with a particular attention toward younger guests—means that my photos of this event are inevitably going to capture children in them. I’ve done my best to generally avoid faces where reasonable or keep guests off focus in order to concentrate on the characters, but of course, I can’t do that on every photo. In addition, as much as I’d like to, I can’t reasonably track down every parent of every child I happen to catch in a photo to ask for permission to publish. So if you read this and happen to see an photo of your child or a child you know (or even yourself), and you’re not comfortable with that, please just let me know, and I’ll remove the photo. But know that there is no malicious intent in any of the photography here. My goal is to focus and document the event, the story, and the characters. Of course, guests play a vital role in Ghost Town Alive!, but I don’t target them when I take pictures.

The Players

Every season, Ghost Town Alive! brings a mix of returning and new characters, and this year is no exception.

Longtime familiar faces, like Sheriff Bryce Wheeler, Judge Roy Bean, Doc Linville Carter, Looking Glass Thurmond, Kid Friday, Ike and Tiny and Fluke Mayfield, Emery Mund, Flint Stahlak, Zeke Connelly, Violet Lee, and Cookie Lemon, among others, are back. So are Deputy Mayor Milton C. Howell, Bixby Knolls, Augustus French, Abigail Dynamite, and Scruff Mayfield, but they were “out of town” when I visited this past Sunday, so I don’t have this-year photos of them.

Sheriff Bryce Wheeler has been an icon character for Ghost Town Alive! since the very beginning.

Judge Roy Bean is another character indelibly associated with the event.

Dr. Linville Carter, on the right, poses with his close friend, Looking Glass Thurmond.

Kid Friday has had recurring various secondary parts in the Ghost Town Alive! storylines but remains a regular figure.

Ike Mayfield is the most senior Mayfield in Calico this year.

Tinerius “Tiny” Mayfield ain’t the criminal that his family history suggests.

Fluke Mayfield continues teaching at the Schoolhouse, rather than participate in more traditional Mayfield affairs.

Emery Mund minds the post office, since Quint Campbell has been off out of town for an extended period.

Lovable and joyful Flint Stahlak and his pet donkey are a constant favorite in Calico. Flint can also be found at the Assayer’s Office.

Zeke Connelly is also at the Assayer’s Office.

Violet Lee is back to tending Goldie’s Hotel this year.

And Cookie Lemon once again oversees the Calico Bank, which means she is bound to see interesting happenings again this summer, since the bank is inevitably the scene of some tomfoolery.

Slightly less tenured but also returning Calico citizens include Coop Walker, Miss Nell Elliot, Deputy Skylar Haney, Calico Gazette manager Audrey Morgan, Herbert Bird (taking up the role of general announcements and town crier), and Lane “The Con” Winters and Archie “Crybaby” Schaffer of the Mad Bucks. In addition, though they weren’t in town on Sunday, Noble K. Johnson, Scruff Mayfield, Wisconsin Wes, Levi Newman, Jasper “Whispers” Witley, John Colter, and Chester Davenport are part of this year’s cast too, along with maybe some others I missed (sorry to anyone from three years who still thinks that I need to visit multiple days and photograph every GTA! cast member to do a full review, but that’s not really how reviews work).

Miss Nell Elliott also teaches at the Schoolhouse.

Deputy Skylar Haney is back in support of Sheriff Wheeler at the Sheriff’s Office.

Audrey Morgan has taken on a more senior role at the *Calico Gazette*, managing things then Bixby Knolls is not around.

Herbert Bird seems to be practicing less attorney duties this year and engaging more civic duties, especially related to announcements and pronouncements.

Lane Winters is back as a reformed Mad Bucks member. His beard is much longer, to indicate the passage of time.

Archie Schaffer is back too, helping represent the Mad Bucks Gang.

New to Calico for season 5 include members of the real Cavalry—not the imposters who turned out to be the Mad Bucks Gang in the previous season—Major Riley Barnett, “who runs the show,” and her colleague, Private Barrett Hansen, who is sweet and but can be a little innocent and silly. Explorer Alfred LaDeen ventures into town with a connection that kickstarts this season’s plot. The Calico Gazette has gained a new reporter named Shelley Melson. Miss Barbara Gaines minds Goldie’s Dress Shop. Victoria Noelle is one of the new schoolteachers. And based on the mailbox in the Post Office, there appear to be other new names I didn’t meet, including Artie Cabrera, Jr., Darby Whirt, Theodora Delmundo, and Thelma Kinkade.

Major Riley Barnett, of the actual U.S. Cavalry, is part of a group of new faces. Turns out the Cavalry really has been scouting for a new location for a fort, and Calico is a place of interest.

Private Barrett Hansen is always here to help.

The great adventurer, Alfred LaDeen is stopping by for a visit after helping scout for a new fort in the outskirts of town.

Shelley Melson has joined the *Calico Gazette* staff.

Miss Barbara Gaines tends to business at Gertie’s Dress Shop.

And Miss Victoria Noelle joins Nell Elliott and Fluke Mayfield at the Schoolhouse!

Noticeably absent are Mayor Horton Parnell and his wife, Pearl, who left town after the Horton’s term expired (possibly to work in a neighboring town down the trail with a mousey owner). Clay Mayfield isn’t around either, having gone off to pursue Mudd and Ox and Phyllis “Ma” Mayfield after Mudd’s shocking return and the family betrayal at the finale of the most recent Ghost Town Alive! That means that those three Mayfields are also out of town, though with the way GTA! twists go, one or some of them could always turn up at some point. Bolstering the Mayfield alliance is “Dead-Eye” Jackson, who was a part of the season 3 cast.

Dead-Eye Jackson is part of the Mayfield contingent this season, even if he isn’t officially part of the family.

The Story

Knowledge of what has transpired in the previous four seasons of Ghost Town Alive! isn’t really required to enjoy this year, but if you need a recap, here’s an updated copy of our last “previously on Ghost Town Alive!” summary:

In Ghost Town Alive season 1, we were introduced to the Mayfield Gang and their banditry, which always seemed to be thwarted by Bryce Wheeler and his deputies. The season culminated with the unexpected arrival of Ox Mayfield, patriarch to the clan, breaking the Mayfields out and escaping out of town after commandeering a locomotive.

Season 2 saw a similar sequence of events, with the Mayfields growing in numbers and trying to gain control of town through unscrupulous election means, but that didn’t matter at the end of the season, when “Peg Leg” Cinch struck it rich in the Calico Mines, and it was revealed that Calico was sitting on top of a motherlode, making the townspeople rich!

In season 3, it was revealed that Phyllis “Ma” Mayfield, also thought to be long dead (like Ox prior to the previous season), was in fact alive and very much well. She was one of several parties who laid claim to the Deed of Calico and therefore ownership and control of the town. It all led to the discovery of the actual rightful owner of the deed, the only living descendant of the town’s founders: Hop Wing Lee.

Last season (but occurring in 2019 and set in 1888) began with more Mayfield plots and shenanigans before they were apprehended by an arriving U.S. Cavalry who took over law and operations in Calico under the pretense of restoring order to the often-troubled town. But it turned out the government agents were actually the Mad Bucks Gang—longtime rivals of the Mayfields—who nearly successfully deceived the town into handing over all their riches before the Mayfields role-reversed and played heroes to capture the Mad Bucks. Along the way, it was also revealed that the real Hop Wing Lee was actually the granddaughter of one of the town founders, Pop Wing Lee (meaning the Hop Wing Lee at the end of season 3 was an imposter), but that story arch never progressed beyond the revelation. At the end of the season, Mudd Mayfield, who had long been presumed dead and was even the subjective of a recurring punchline (“may God rest his soul”) turned out alive and well (becoming the third Mayfield to be thought dead and then be not-dead), making a shocking return to rescue to the captive Mad Bucks Gang. Not only that, but it was revealed that the real leader of the Mad Bucks Gang was Phyllis Mayfield! Having also been named the legal holder of the deed to Calico, Phyllis had exacted her revenge, and she and Ox and Mudd fled in glory with the Mad Bucks out of town!

It’s a beautiful day to celebrate another town anniversary in Calico!

Season 5 opens with the discovery of a chest in the outskirts of town that contains clues to a supposedly legendary treasure. Naturally, members of the Calico townsfolk inevitably lay claim to the potential riches, dividing into three factions: the Mayfields (of course), the Mad Bucks Gang (seemingly reformed, similar to the shift that the Mayfields took in season 2 after being more overt antagonists in the first season), and a contingent representing Calico itself. Over the course of the day, the groups compete amongst each other to decide who should be entitled to everything. And as veteran attendees of Ghost Town Alive! can expect, everything comes to a head at the 5:30 Founders Day Hoedown at Calico Park!

Reading beyond this will lead to spoilers of this season’s Ghost Town Alive!, so skip down to the next section, “The Interactions,” if you plan on visiting Knott’s this summer and want to participate in Ghost Town Alive! and be surprised.

Breaking news! Potential riches have been located near Calico! Again!

At 10:00 in the morning, Calico awakens from its sleepy slumber for yet another Founder’s Day Celebration. Though this holiday would be make for an eventful day in and of itself, with Ghost Town Alive!, there’s always a new, exciting development. That comes when explorers John Colter and John Potts, surveying the outskirts of town for the location of a new fort (remember that this is what the Mad Bucks-disguised-as-U.S. Cavalry were claiming to do, but since they were imposters, it wasn’t actually done!), uncovers a chest containing a treasure map that supposedly highlights the booty of the infamous bandit, Black Bart.

When the news breaks in town, several groups of people try to lay claim to ownership of the map. The Mad Bucks Gang, who had returned to Calico reformed and without leader Phyllis Mayfield in the time between season 4 and this season, nevertheless argue that because “Ma” Mayfield is the legal owner of the town, the map is hers, but since she isn’t here, then her gang should take care of it. The Mayfields lay claim invoking a similar connection to Phyllis, except she is their literal blood relative, so they’re entitled to it. Not to be left out, a coalition representing the non-Mayfields/Mad Bucks contingent of Calico also establishes a claim for the town itself.

To resolve the differences, everyone agrees to set up a series of four competitions moderated by the Cavalry, to take place across the day, with supporters to play a part on behalf of each alliance. It’s Mad Bucks vs Mayfields vs Calico, and the winner gets the map to the treasure and promises of untold wealth! Presumably, massive inflation and supply chain price increases in goods in the late 1800s has contributed to sapping Calico of its previous wealth from the gold mine discovered underneath Calico at the end of season 2. (This joke only works if you’re not so die-hard of a Ghost Town Alive! fan that you remember that the gold was explained to be fool’s gold in season 3.)

After a tussle rips the map into three pieces, the U.S. Cavalry restores order and sets up a system to determine who should get the map.

Throughout the day, in front of Town Hall, guests and the Citizens of Calico take part in relay-style games to score the most points for their team. These include carrying copies of the Calico Gazette in one’s elbow to deposit into a bucket, a “three-legged race” of sorts, a race while holding a plate balancing a sphere on the plate, and a competition to dunk a large sponge in water and pass it to the bucket on the opposite side and squeeze out the most amount of water.

Guests are encouraged to play for whichever faction they favor.

This would be straightforward enough, but of course, there has to be some manner of scheming, and this spills out when the map winds up being stolen. The perpetrator is captured after an investigation (on Sunday, it was Tiny Mayfield, and it may recurrently be Tiny), but it is then revealed that he was framed, with the real conspirator turning out to be a normally highly respected member of Calico who did the deed with the purest intentions to keep the treasure in the hands of the good folks of Calico instead of a band of outlaws.

As a secondary plot point, the absence of Mayor Horton Parnell has led to someone else taking on the title. Normally, this role is claimed by Deputy Mayor Milton Howell (resulting in the grumblings of some of the townsfolk), but on Sunday, he wasn’t “in town,” so Judge Roy Bean took on the title. When the revelation of Tiny being framed comes to life, the conspirator is revealed to be Milton Howell (if he is in town). On Sunday, the maldoer turned out to be the lovable Doc Linville Carter, who was promptly relieved of his duties as the head of Calico’s Paranormal Investigator’s Society. Either way, the position of town mayor is placed in question. The Deputy Mayor’s disgrace forces his resignation. Or the stresses of being both judge and mayor motivate Roy Bean to abdicate his position and call for—yes, GTA! veterans guessed it—an election. Only this time, in addition to three Citizens of Calico being nominated, guests can run for mayor as well!

Or has he? Reporter Audrey Morgan has uncovered some incriminating evidence.

It turns out Doc Carter stole the map, not Tiny, and he framed Tiny for the deed!

Doc comes clean, expressing his remorse but explaining that he just wanted the treasure to go to Calico, not a gang of bandits.

Linville and Tiny hug it out to put bygones behind them.

Candidates are nominated (or volunteer) at mid-afternoon. The actual election takes place about an hour later. Much like in previous years, the guest vote is actually tallied. They can choose one of three colored chips to vote for one of the Citizens or write in their vote if it is for one of their fellow guests.

In other news, there needs to be a new mayor, so several candidates are nominated, including guests!

Coop Walker is confident of his chances.

And democracy is once again exercised in Calico!

Of course, the big climactic conclusions come at the Founder’s Day Hoedown. First, the winner of the day’s contest is revealed. The results are based on the actual results of the day (though the final competition is heavily weighted, counting for triple the normal points) and vary depending on which team’s participants did best. On Sunday, the winners and keepers of the treasure map ended up being Team Calico, which meant Linville Carter’s theft and framing were actually never necessary. Later, the results of the special mayoral election are also announced. And while there is a three-way tie amongst the three Citizens of Calico candidates, the winner ends up being one of the guest entrants, and she gets to start one of the Hoedown line dances and also lead the Calico Serpentine to end the day!

Time for the Hoedown and the announcement of which team won the day’s contest.

It’s Calico! Everyone, time for a celebratory dance!

The winner of the mayorship is announced, and it’s none of the Citizens of Calico!

The new mayor gets to lead the Calico Serpentine all around town and back to Calico Park!

The Interactions

As with every year of Ghost Town Alive!, the most wholesome and gratifying part of the event is witnessing the different ways in which the actors engage the guests and how guests and participate in various activities throughout the day. The cast is great at gauging guest reactions, inviting them to be a greater part of various events and tasks when they seem willing and keeping interactions shorter and more superficial for guests who are more shy or appear less interested.

There are always things to do and people to chat with in Calico, and longtime fans like our friends, Chris and Katia, have enjoyed playing along with the Ghost Town Alive! storylines!

Many guests enjoy taking part in the show and spend the better part of the day playing along, relaying messages and packages back and forth from the various Calico denizens, offering support and advice for characters looking for certain directions, or just chatting and socializing within an environment of familiarity. These guests are often frequenters of the park and are recognized by the cast, forging more earnest connections. Some have even taken to dressing up like some of their favorite characters!

The fandom for GTA! is real, and it can be pretty damn adorable, as this mini-Audrey demonstrates!

During the day, romantic relationships may develop amongst the Citizens of Calico, cultivated by the assistance of guests. On Sunday, Tiny Mayfield seemed to pursue potential forbidden love with Deputy Skylar. Two people on the opposite sides of the law didn’t stop Tiny from eventually proposing to Skylar during the Hoedown. Though Skylar sensibly turned down the ring on the understandable reason that it had just been one day, and the two didn’t really know each other that well, she did leave the door open by asking him for a dance in the Hoedown.

There’s always a romance arc (or two) that culminates in a grand gesture at the Hoedown, spurred upon by guests assisting throughout the day.

Often times, the wild card of the guest factor can also lead to hilarious, tangential sub-plots, such as a feud on Sunday between bandit Dead-Eye Jackson and banker Coop Nelson that resulted in their drawing absurd wanted posters of each other with the help of their supporters—complete with hysterically ridiculous children’s insults that at the same time made for an unforgettable memory for both the guests and the actors. These types of unexpected twists highlight the unpredictable yet wildly fun nature of Ghost Town Alive!

This was maybe the best part of the day… Coop Walker and Dead-Eye Jackson showing off their insulting Wanted posters they made for each other with the help of their supporters.

This is apparently what Coop (and his supporters) think Dead-Eye feels.

But then again, Dead-Eye and his supporters are pretty savage. A “coward chihuahua??” That is some elementary school destruction.

For guests who don’t necessarily want to involve in the theatrical aspects of this event, there are other ways to engage with the event by way of puzzles and searches. This year is lighter on the complexity and breadth of these features compared to previous years. There is no summer-long, unfolding mystery puzzle like there was last season or random escape-room-style puzzles to solve like in season 3. But the scavenger hunt for Potts and Colter’s Legendary Creatures from last season is back, featuring 18 locations to fine 18 signs of unbelievable animals.

Season 4 of Ghost Town Alive! featured a scavenger hunt for various legendary creatures.

Of course, we can’t forget the most legendary of them all, the incredible Catawampus! Moo!!

There are also nine cats hidden in plain sight throughout Calico that guests can look for. They don’t seem to be connected to any particular storyline (although this scavenger hunt is suggested in the Calico Gazette), but they’re fun to look for. If you don’t want to be spoiled on a few of them immediately scroll past the following photos!!

Guests can also find a couple of interesting three dimensional puzzles in the Post Office and the Assayer’s Office. The prior is in open view, while the latter may require an inquiry to Augustus or Zeke to be brought out. Either way, talk to the Citizens in charge at each location to get a chance to play.

The puzzle in the Post Office. Find the most efficient route that alternates between red and blue.

The puzzle in the Assayer’s Office. I believe the goal of this one is to get from the entrance to the exit by only going straight or taking left turns.

Beyond that, this season’s Ghost Town Alive! makes even stronger connections to the mythology of Knott’s Scary Farm and the Halloween Haunt by referencing apparitions and supernatural observations in the Calico Gazette, including unexplainable phenomena in Sarah Marshall’s cabin, a beating heart grave in the Boot Hill Cemetery, and a specter that seems to appear inside the local undertaker’s office. Might this tie into any upcoming Ghost Town Alive! plot points or perhaps relate to something that may occur in the season finale? Who knows, but it’s definitely a fun shoutout!

Is… something moving here that shouldn’t be?

Finally, there are also the interactions that occur between the Citizens of Calico that can result in spontaneous amusement and comical mirth. The returning cast of course has a great rapport on account of their experience, but even the new members have fit in seamlessly. One of my favorite moments was asking Lane Winters and Archie Schaffer to play some music, since both had little instruments on them, only for Private Hansen to jut in and an unwelcome but perfectly timed interruption on his horn, then be caught in the act.

Lane “The Con” Winters and Archie “Crybaby” Schaffer make some great music together.

Lane’s percussion goes well with Archie’s harmonica.

And… panning out, Private Hansen joins the fray.

Then there were little moments when Major Barnett let her serious leader guard down and engaged in silly gesticulations to tease another Citizen.

Major Barnett gesticulates wildly while trying to communicate sign language to Lane Winters.

But something suggests she wasn’t really being serious.

These bits showcase the fun that the cast has in their roles and with each other, and the chemistry is wonderful and infectious. And they’re so great to see!

Once again, Ghost Town Alive! has produced a fantastic, memorable, and highly entertaining and enjoyable experience for Knott’s Berry Farm guests. Although it’s been three years since the last iteration, the cast seems to have gotten back into the groove relatively smoothly and in quick order.

Now in year 5, Ghost Town Alive! has built up a nice repository of memories and its own mythology.

This may be helped by the slight simplification of the event’s chapters and plot developments—for example, there are no shootouts or big, dramatic, theatrical stunt-performing elements this year. In fact, other than being part of certain characters’ costumes, there isn’t any highlight of guns at all this year—a sensitivity that seems to be especially pertinent in light of the several recent headline-grabbing instances of mass gun violence but which may have also been spurned by consideration of last July’s shooting that occurred outside the park. But the slight changes haven’t reduced the quality and the significance of the event.

The event doesn't look like it’s walking off into the sunset anytime soon.

The heart of Ghost Town Alive! remains the people involved with it. This means both the actors drive the general storyline beats and the guests who make each day unique. It’s the personal and intimate connections made in real life, happening for the first time since a lifetime-altering pandemic affected so many of us so deeply. To have Ghost Town Alive! and its meaningful, cherished interactions back means a whole lot. And all of us GTA! fans are absolutely thrilled to be able to witness and participate in this fanciful adventure once again.

Here’s to many more Founder’s Days to come!

Ghost Town Alive! runs select dates from now through Labor Day Monday, September 5th. Great job once more to the Knott’s team on the return of Ghost Town Alive! We can’t wait to see where it goes next!