While Orange County, California’s COVID-19 progress may allow theme parks to reopen as soon as this weekend, Knott’s Berry Farm has announced it will wait until sometime in May to operate rides and attractions.
In an update on park operations, Knott’s vice president and general manager Jon Storbeck said: “As we look forward to reopening our gates, we still have some work to do. From hiring and training new associates to working with Government officials on finalizing guidelines, we will work hard to ensure that we can reopen our park safely for all to enjoy. Our plan is to welcome you back to Knott’s Berry Farm this May.”
Storbeck went on to mention that the Taste of Boysenberry Festival — the latest in a series of Knott’s food festival events during the pandemic — will continue as planned through May 2.
After months of public battles over reopening guidelines for theme parks, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that new standards would allow parks to reopen at 15 percent of maximum capacity once their home counties hit the “red” tier in the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy plan. There would be additional restrictions as well, such as limiting attendance to California residents and not allowing indoor dining.
With California hitting a newly-created vaccine distribution metric, Orange and Los Angeles counties are expected to enter the “red” tier this weekend. However, no parks have announced immediate plans to reopen; Knott’s neighbor Disneyland plans to open in late April, citing the time to recall staff and train them on new COVID-19 operating procedures.
Knott’s announcement reminded passholders that “season passes purchased prior to park opening will be valid for the remainder of 2021, plus a day-for-day extension in 2022 for the number of days the park was closed in 2021.”
The park had previously announced that upon reopening, it would debut the new Knott’s Bear-y Tales: Return To The Fair interactive dark ride.
More Theme Park News:
Disneyland should reopen in late April, Epcot’s ‘Ratatouille’ ride debuts Oct. 1
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