June 27, 2024, 6:25 PM ·
Knott’s Berry Farm reopened its Camp Snoopy land this morning, following the latest refresh of this trend-setting, 41-year-old children’s land.Camp Snoopy established the model for single-franchise children’s lands in theme parks when it opened July 1, 1983. Over the years, Knott’s has made several changes to the land, most notably with a major refresh in 2014. Now, 10 years later, Knott’s has swapped out several Camp Snoopy attractions once again.
The biggest improvement is the replacement of the old Timberline Twister roller coaster with the new Snoopy’s Tenderpaw Twister Coaster. This Zamperla Family Coaster offers a smooth ride with several decorative elements that provide nice visuals for its young riders and their companions.Unfortunately, Knott’s operations promise to make this upgrade a frustration for many Camp Snoopy visitors. There’s only one side to the station platform, meaning that all riders must exit the way they came before a new group can board. Knott’s did not design a staging area for the next group of riders, either, choosing instead to load the next train single-file from the queue after the previous train unloads. That’s also the point at which Knott’s operators are measuring children to see that they meet the 36-inch height requirement, or 42 inches to ride alone. Also, only one adult may ride in each of the 10 two-person rows on the train. Individual lap bars must close to a “green zone” for those adults – a test I barely passed at 5’9″ and 160 lbs. As a result, I timed that it was taking about five minutes to sort and test everyone to load each train on this one-train ride. Throw in a double pass on the 30-second course, and Snoopy’s Tenderpaw Twister Coaster was averaging about 10 cycles per hour this morning. At about 15-16 riders per train, that’s not an hourly capacity to keep the queue from overflowing – especially once you factor in 50% of the coaster’s capacity going to Fast Lane customers.
Elsewhere, Knott’s has transformed the old Rocky Mountain Trucking Company into Camp Snoopy’s Off-Road Rally, expanding this track ride’s course to take over area formerly occupied by the now-removed (and much missed) Huff ‘n’ Puff. The new Jeeps are nicely themed to various Peanuts characters, with cute license plates that match each character.
Photo courtesy Knott’sThe other two refreshed attractions in Camp Snoopy were not available this morning. The Beagle Express (the rethemed Grand Sierra Railroad) was closed, while the new Sally’s Swing Along camp swing ride remained behind construction walls. Otherwise, the following rides remain in Camp Snoopy:Sierra Sidewinder, a 2007 Mack Rides Spinning CoasterFlying Ace, a 1986 Chance Rides Junior JetsBalloon Race, a 1992 Morgan Balloon RaceLinus Launcher, a 2014 Zamperla Kite FlyerCharlie Brown’s Kite Flyer, a 2014 Zamperla Junior WaveswingerPig-Pen’s Mud Buggies, a 2014 Zamperla Jump AroundRapid River Run, a 2004 Zamperla Rockin’ TugGone is the old Camp Snoopy Theater, which has been demolished and replaced with the sun-baked Beagle Scout Acres. Knott’s has promised shade and a fire pit by mid-summer for this patch of artificial grass and its picnic tables. Also closed off is the old cave and barrel-bridge area, meaning that Camp Snoopy remains without a playground space where kids can run around and enjoy themselves rather than waiting in queues for rides.Perhaps if Knott’s gets more aggressive with character meets in Camp Snoopy, this High Sierra-themed summer camp can feel like the Beagle Scout Jamboree that it is meant to be. Getting everything open will help, too.* * *
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