Southern California is home to arguably the two best Halloween events in the amusement industry-
Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott’s Scary
Farm at Knott’s Berry Farm. I experienced both events for the first time in 2021.
Both events were fantastic and unique ways to see these two parks.
But I had a clear cut favorite. In this video, I will compare and contrast Halloween Horror Nights
with Knott’s Scary Farm and share which event I think is superior.
First some history. Knott’s Berry Farm claims
to have the first Halloween event at any theme park with Knott’s Scary Farm. Starting in 1973,
Knott’s would give temporary overlays to some of their attractions and transform the park’s
midways into scare zones. And then you’d have the scary mazes and shows as you may expect as well.
Halloween Horror Nights or HHN started at the Florida park as Fright Nights in 1991.
The combination of mazes and shows was a smashing success, which led to Universal
making it an annual event that was renamed Halloween Horror Nights from 1992 onward.
It took longer for HHN to be adopted at the California park.
Hollywood experimented with Terror Tram, an overlay of their popular studios tour in 1986 and
1992. Then they held their own version of HHN from 1997 through 2000 before taking a 5 year break.
But the event has occurred annually at Universal Studios Hollywood ever since 2006- with the
exception of 2020 due to the pandemic. Orlando’s Hollywood Horror Nights event is
a little larger and more decorated, but it shares a lot of similarities to the Hollywood event. The
Orlando park’s event has won Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Award for the best Halloween
all but two years ever since the category was introduced. And the two times Universal Orlando
lost? It was to Knott’s Scary Farm. So these two events are clearly the best of the best.
I will be comparing the parks across 8 key categories:
- Park Atmosphere - Scare Zones
- Maze Designs - Maze Scares
- Maze Originality - Rides
- Wait Times - Cost
Starting with atmosphere, Universal is at a disadvantage. This movie based park is comprised
of a ton of indoor sound-stages. These buildings aren’t really plussed in any way for the holidays,
so Universal can only work with their cramped midways.
Compare that to Knott’s Berry Farm. The entire park
feels like it’s converted into one giant scare zone. Ghost Town is absolutely chilling
with the fog. And then the other sections of the park are unrecognizable with the lighting,
music, and monsters. Plus a few rides get some extra Halloween theming for the season.
Therefore, I am giving Knott’s a point. Moving onto scare zones.
I think the designated scare zones at Universal are superior. I think the monsters look better
and the effects in each scare zone enhance the experience more.
What makes Knott’s special is that you can’t really tell where a scare zone starts and ends, so
a monster can jump out at you at any moment. The scare zones at Knott’s can’t quite match Universal
from a set perspective, but they are still good. I am considering this category a tie,
so neither park will earn any points. Moving onto the maze designs.
Knott’s has some well-designed mazes. But it’s clear Universal has a higher budget.
It feels like Universal teleports you into the movie or television show the haunt is based on.
From the detailed costumes to the elaborate sets, this is where Universal really shines.
For this reason, I am earning Universal a point. Which makes it 1 to 1.
Moving onto the maze scares, I’m torn. In general, Universal’s mazes have more scares.
However, they are a bit more predictable. Every scare is accompanied a similar flash and audio
cue. It almost felt formulaic. It also doesn’t help you tend to go through the Horror Nights
mazes in conga lines, so some of the scares are already spoiled before you get there.
At Knott’s Scary Farm, you have more spacing between the party ahead of you
get to experience most of the scares. While they may not be as numerous as the ones at Universal,
they are smarter and less predictable. Therefore, this category is also a tie,
so neither park earns any points. Moving onto the maze originality,
Knott’s has both an advantage and disadvantage here. Since they don’t use any IPs, all of their
haunts are freshly made. So you never know what to expect. Take Paranormal Inc. for example. That
maze was structured unlike any other maze I had experienced with a pre-show and multiple routes.
Or take Depths for example, where you walk through dense fog as monsters rise from the ground.
And I think Knott’s is more creative with the features inside their mazes.
Scare actors would sometimes appear from above via a zipline or bungee cord.
Compare that to Universal where they build mazes around popular IPs. These mazes often retell a
movie or TV show, adding scares along the way. But where Universal gets the edge is in the
freshness year to year. Knott’s brings back a large chunk of their haunts each year
and reuses them for several seasons, which is understandable given their lesser budget.
Compare that to Universal where they have all new haunts based on the hottest and
freshest IPs each year. This gives returning guests a lot of new mazes to look forward to.
I am also considering this category a tie since the mazes themselves are more original at Knott’s,
but Universal has all new ones annually. Moving onto the rides, Knott’s Berry Farm
crushes Universal in this department. This is the case during normal operating hours,
as Knott’s Berry Farm has roughly twice the number of attractions,
but this disparity becomes even more severe at night.
Knott’s Berry Farm has almost all of their adult rides and attractions open for Scary
Farm. Meanwhile, Universal only has half their attractions open. And what’s worse,
Universal closes a few of them early. Both Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Jurassic
World routinely close around midnight. Knott’s will keep their rides open for the entire event.
Knott’s Berry Farm has the far superior coaster lineup. Knott’s Berry Farm has 10 coasters
compared to Universal Hollywood’s 2. And Knott’s has superior quality too. Knott’s has 4 coasters
better than any at Universal. GhostRider is a world-class wood coaster. Xcelerator has one
of the best launches in the world. HangTime has an incredible beyond-vertical drop. And Silver
Bullet is a smooth and solid invert. Meanwhile the best coaster at Universal is Revenge of the Mummy.
It’s very well-themed and has a few pops of airtime, but it can’t match the top 4 at Knott’s.
Universal does beat Knott’s in the dark ride department. Both parks have elite water rides.
The Timber Mountain Log Ride at Knott’s is one of the best log flumes and it compares favorably to
the big budget Jurassic World at Universal. And Universal also has Harry Potter and
the Forbidden Journey, which has a case as the world’s best dark ride,
plus other popular ones like Transformers and the Simpsons Ride. Meanwhile,
the only other dark ride at Knott’s is Beary Tales, which is an ok screen-based shooter.
And then Knott’s has several flat rides as well that Universal can’t match.
The only advantage Universal has is on a rainy day. These are pretty rare in Southern
California in October, but when they do occur, it can be a problem at Knott’s.
Most of their rides are outdoors and can close in rain. Meanwhile, most of Universal’s rides
are fully indoors and safe from the elements. Because Knott’s beats Universal both in the
quantity and quality department, I am awarding them with two points.
This gives Knott’s a 3 to 1 edge. One category I am omitting is shows.
Due to time constraints, I was only able to experience Puppet Up at Knott’s Berry Farm.
I loved the dark humor of this show, but I don’t think it’s fair to award a
point in this category since I didn’t experience anything at Universal.
Moving onto the wait times. This section assumes you do not have a skip-the-line pass. If you have
a skip-the-line pass, you won’t encounter any lines with the exception of one I’ll touch on.
Both events can get long lines for their haunts. It’s critical to arrive early or stay until the
end of the event if you want to avoid the longest waits. At Halloween Horror Nights,
pretty much every maze can have a 1.5-2.5 hour wait on any given night. The wait times for the
most popular haunts at Knott’s Berry Farm can get similarly long lines on the busiest nights,
but there are a few haunts that usually have manageable lines every night.
It also helps that Knott’s Berry Farm has way more rides and attractions for their Halloween event.
This helps disperse crowds. The few rides operating at Halloween Horror Nights
will have 1-1.5 hour waits. You can avoid these lengthy if you utilize the single rider lines
that Universal has on most of their attractions. For comparison, the average wait at Knott’s will
be much less even for the roller coasters. The one exception is GhostRider. That ride will have
the worst wait of any attraction at either park. It routinely hits 2-3 hours most nights at Scary
Farm. Even the Fast Lane queue can take 30-45 minutes. But GhostRider is known to be one of
the best night rides in the world, which is why people are willing to wait that amount of time.
Knott’s has the shorter lines for the haunts. Universal has the advantage if you’re willing
to use the single rider line, but Knott’s has the advantage with the general standby lines.
Therefore, I am earning Knott’s Berry Farm with another point for the queue lines.
This gives Knott’s a 4 to 1 advantage. Moving onto price.
As of 2021, Knott’s Scary Farm costs between $59-$89 per night. Universal is
roughly $20-$30 more expensive per night, as their tickets range from $84-$109.
Knott’s Scary Farm is not included with any season passes, including the $198
highest tier platinum pass. Comparatively, the highest tier Universal Hollywood annual passes
do grant free horror nights tickets, but those annual passes cost a whole lot more at $529.
Parking is comparable at both events- costing roughly $25.
But one other area Knott’s has an advantage is if you want to pay to skip the lines. At Universal,
you will need to pay between $269-$419 per person for the Express Pass to skip the lines for the
rides and mazes. Compare that to Knott’s where Fast Lane costs between $109-$175. Fast Lane at
the busiest day at Knott’s Scary Farm is still almost $100 cheaper than the Express Pass on the
least busy day at Universal Hollywood. Universal does sell a special after 11 pm Express Pass in
the park on select nights, but that’s still a much worse deal than the Knott’s Fast Lane.
This earns Knott’s Berry Farm yet another point, giving them a 5 to 1 edge over Universal.
Knott’s Scary Farm is the best Halloween event I have experienced at a park.
Both Scary Farm and HHN have some of the best mazes of any theme park,
but I think Scary Farm is a more enjoyable event because of the quantity of rides, crowds,
pricing, and park atmosphere. As long as you love frights, you’re sure to have a good time at both.
I’d recommend checking both out, but if you can only pick one,
choose Knott’s Scary Farm. Do you agree with my choice?
What are your thoughts about either Knott’s Scary Farm or Halloween Horror Nights?
I would love to hear what you think down in the comments. If you enjoyed this park battle, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!