It’s a Peanuts Celebration, Charlie Brown!

For eight years, I wrote a blog called Dateline Disneyland over on MiceChat.com where I did exhaustive weekly photo and news updates on everything going on at the Disneyland Resort.  I stepped away from that blog in 2016, coming back to MiceChat for a couple of guest blogs since.  I started WorldKey last year to be a different sort of space — one where I could ramble about my travel experiences, maybe write some more abstract stuff about themed entertainment, and be a place where I could post a bunch of photos from time to time.  So, even though I stepped away from weekly Disneyland blogging, I still visit my local theme parks often, and generally with my camera in tow.   I accumulate a lot of photos, especially when I visit the parks to check out new offerings or seasonal events — I post a lot of these images on Twitter but a lot also just sit on a hard drive, never to be seen again.

 

So today, I’m going to try something a little different for WorldKey but also something a little familiar for me.  On no particular schedule, I’m going to start posting “Dateline Disneyland Lite”-style posts from my local theme parks including Disneyland, Knott’s and Universal.  If these posts prove popular, maybe I can work out some sort of semi-regular schedule for them but for now, they’re going to be random, probably only when something new or noteworthy happens that I’m interested checking out and taking pictures of.  Expect more photos than writing in these posts, unless I really have a strong opinion on something (which is definitely a possibility!).

 

Our first post of this type is going to take us to Knott’s Berry Farm where just last weekend they launched their all-new Knott’s Peanuts Celebration.  The new festival runs weekends (Saturday & Sundays) through February 25 and is included in the price of regular admission — so if you’re looking for a fun excuse to get out of the house this weekend, here’s your ticket.   It’s a charming, entertainment-heavy celebration of the classic Peanuts characters that have called Knott’s home since the early 1980s but instead of keeping the characters just in Camp Snoopy, they’ve taken over the entire park during the celebration.  Let’s take a look.

 

 

Banners and decorations set the stage at the park’s entrance.

 

New, super charming comic strip box photo ops with the Peanuts characters are available in the entrance of Knott’s.  These are really great and very popular.

 

Trees throughout the park have taken lessons from Charlie Brown’s arch nemesis — the Kite Eating Tree.

 

 

Every land in the park has special land-specific lamppost decorations — a simple but really nice touch.   Ghost Town is home to some special offerings for the celebration, including Pig Pen’s Pig Pen in the Livery Stable where you can (for the first time!) meet Pig Pen along with some real pigs. There’s also a bunch of live entertainment in Ghost Town for the Peanuts Celebration, including at the Calico Mine Stage, at the “Sparky’s Ranch” stage in Calico Park, and in the Bird Cage Theatre.

 

Kite-eating trees throughout Ghost Town.

 

 

Pig Pen makes his big debut and is a popular addition to the character lineup.

 

Sparky’s Ranch (a nice nod to Peanuts creator Charles M. Schultz) in Calico Park is home to the Peanuts Cowboy Jamboree — a variety of small interactive shows for kids with the Peanuts characters.

 

The Bird Cage Theatre is home to the Peanuts Sketch School where you can learn to draw one of your favorite Peanuts characters — this is pretty much Knott’s version of Disney’s Animation Academy where an artist teaches you step-by-step how to draw a character.  The space shows classic Peanuts holiday specials between Sketch School show times.

 

 

 

Calico’s Town Hall is home to a small, but nice tribute to Peanuts creator Charles M. Schultz and the history of Peanuts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Boardwalk is decorated with colorful balloon decorations for the Celebration.

 

Meanwhile, work continues on the new Hang Time rollercoaster, set to open this summer.

Vintage Peanuts comic strips about construction decorate the construction walls — a great little touch.

 

A peek through a hole in the wall…

 

Over in Fiesta Village, you can find fun decorations and the “Peanuts Fiesta Fantasy” stage show featuring Lucy and Sally where they’re introduced to traditional dancing of Mexico.  I haven’t seen this show but have heard good things — it’s nice to see Knott’s leverage its Latin-inspired Fiesta Village, which sort of suffers from being based on colorful cliches, to do a culturally-relevant thing with the space.  Disney does this with its Dia de los Muertos and Three Kings Day offerings in Disneyland and Disney California Adventure with great success — hopefully Knott’s will continue doing this.

 

 

 

 

 

Lampposts in Camp Snoopy feature the Peanuts characters as Happy Campers, with Snoopy being designated as Camp Leader, naturally.

 

Other lampposts feature cut-out word bubbles with classic Peanuts phrases.  These are super clever little photo ops.

Curse you, Red Baron!

 

 

A big photo-op lets you step behind the table and become part of the scene with the Peanuts characters and the cake!

 

 

The highlight of Camp Snoopy (and perhaps the entire Peanuts Celebration) is the “Trip to Beagle Bonanza” overlay at the Grand Sierra Railroad.   Knott’s did a Halloween-themed overlay last fall and it was crazy charming (we had some photos of it here) so I was very excited when they announced they were doing a special overlay for the Peanuts Celebration.

New posters in the queue advertise the Beagle Bonanza, which is visiting town.

 


 
The fishing derby is underway and Charlie Brown continues to have bad luck.

Woodstock and his friends aren’t a fan of Fishzilla.

Lucy is campaigning to be named Queen of the Bonanza.

Snoopy and the Beagle Scouts head to the Bonanza as the Peanuts kids get their tickets to the festival.

 

 

We’ve made it!

 

There’s plenty of fun to be had at the Beagle Bonanza — grab an ice cold Joe Cool-Aid, play the dart game, or try out Spike’s Cactus Kissing Booth.

Meanwhile, Snoopy has been named Fishing Champion of the Beagle Bonanza.  Is there anything that dog can’t do?

Snoopy’s brother Olaf has set up a fun house on Rocky Reef.  Wouldn’t it be great if Knott’s built a real version of this (ride or walk-through) over on the Boardwalk?

 

 

Don’t miss Woodstock’s boysenberry bird art at the boysenberry patch!

 

 

 

And the grand finale — the Daisy Hill Family is performing on the Beagle Bonanza bandstand and the whole gang is here to enjoy the show!

 

Back at camp, Snoopy and the Beagle Scouts are roasting flavored marshmallows from the Bonanza.

 

Overall, the Trip to Beagle Bonanza is really just a lot of painted flats arranged in a landscape that’s pretty sparse and dotted with rollercoaster supports.  Knott’s has, in past years, turned the Grand Sierra Railroad space into a Halloween Haunt maze, so keeping the space easy to convert is probably a priority for the park as Haunt is their biggest moneymaker.  It’s a shame though, because even with a simple overlay like this, it’s clear Knott’s could really do an amazing Peanuts ride if they wanted to.  The Grand Sierra Railroad already has a year-round Peanuts theme but it would be nice to see it get a bigger budget and Knott’s creative team come in and give it a great story, more permanent sets, and animated figures to create a real, high-quality Peanuts attraction.  Frankly, it’s long overdue and Knott’s is capable — these overlays and the Mine Ride and Log Ride restorations a few years ago prove that.

 

 

If all the celebrating has worked up a sweet tooth, Knott’s has plenty of special treats available around the park during the celebration.

PB&J cupcakes and chocolate peanut butter bundt cakes

White chocolate-covered bananas, sugar cookies, and Charlie Brownies.

Decorated apples and character cupcakes.

 

 

 

Overall, Knott’s Peanuts Celebration is a lot of fun if you’re looking for a weekend diversion.  This is a great excuse to visit the park for locals, especially those with kids.  If you’re a fan of shows, there’s plenty here to keep you busy for much of the day.  If you’re an out-of-towner and aren’t a huge fan of shows, I wouldn’t really recommend a special trip.  But if you’re a local, then why not?  Knott’s is a cheap, fun, and unique option that really provides an excellent bang for your buck, and even more so with the Peanuts Celebration offerings.  I do hope the Peanuts Celebration proves popular for Knott’s and it really grows into a must-do annual event like the amazing Boysenberry Festival has become.  There’s a lot more Knott’s could do here, so if you’re in the area, stop by and help make this first year a success so Knott’s has good reason to really dig in over the next couple years and make this a big annual tradition.  Kudos to Knott’s for a super fun and charming first year effort here!  Can’t wait to see what’s next!

 

If you enjoyed this post, let me know in the comments. Want to see more park update posts or should I stick to rambling about my travel adventures? Let me know! Also, if you’ve already been to the Peanuts Celebration at Knott’s, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

 

A special thank you to our friends at MouseInfo for their help with this post.