Originally Posted By nutmegpeach It's all about the red wagon corndogs. Although I wish they still made them the size of my head, the batter is still amazing.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Knott's has made great improvements in food quality by adding TGIF, Pinks Hotdogs, Johnny Rockets & Panda Express plus Cinnabon to their livery." Those are improvements? Wow, the bar must have been pretty low at Knott's.
Originally Posted By crapshoot <<Those are improvements? Wow, the bar must have been pretty low at Knott's.>> Knott's only had the Chicken Dinner Restaurant to depend on for really good food. The next decent place was the Knott's Steak House which went to hell during the VanGorder reign of terror. Another fine offering is the Garden Buffet which has now moved to the rear of the CDR. #4 is the Ghost Town Grill, was good, then went down hill but it still has great ambience. After those offerings has really been nothing but walk up counter stands. And that's how it was for decades. Once Cedar Fair took over, then thankfully, the name brands came in. Now Matt and Raffi have things well in hand and are literally cleaning house. I like the fact that Matt is a hospitality expert. And that's what Knott's Berry Farm needs.
Originally Posted By crapshoot <<Who is VanGorder?>> Terry Van Gorder was hired by the Knott Family as General Manager of the park during the 1980's. There was too much infighting among the Knott Family, nothing was getting accomplished. If I remember right, the Family hired a consulting firm that Recomended that they hire a non family member GM. Where Terry came from, what his background was, I don't know. But he came in, cheapened things more than ever. One year, his big dealio was bringing in the Indian Village and that was it. Luckily, Camp Snoopy was already in operation by the time he showed up. Terry did open up KOD and some other puke rides as well. After that, the Family sold to Cedar Fair who promoted a sort of dufus from CF that wasn't much better than Van Gorder. Then Matt Ouimet began this year, but had Raffi (who is old time Knott's) transfered back from another CF park and promoted as President of Knott's. Raffi began cleaning up the place before Matt started this year. Matt has come in with an almost blank canvas to start working with. His first order was to fix up Ghost Town, as his comment was that it felt tired. They are tearing through the various divisions with major changes. No more on site maintenance during park hours. The Western Trails Museum now stays open until park closing. All the Ghost Town streets are in the process of being torn out and completely redone. The Knott's Hotel just had a major parking lot makeover. I don't know where attractions are headed yet, but rumors are for another version of the Haunted Shack. I guess they get daily inquiries for it. Also, rumors also have it that the warehouses on the south property will eventually move to make way for more space. My take is that Knotts will be a very nice park five years from now.
Originally Posted By Manfried Wow! Some great news to hear about Knott's. I can't wait to see the changes in August.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "I guess it's because I tend to spend as little time at MK as possible, but I always think of WDW's counterservice food as being significantly better than DL's." I'll give you Epcot. I suppose a case can be made for Animal Kingdom. But definitely not MK or the Studios.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>...definitely not MK or the Studios.<< This comment makes me weep. The Brown Derby at Disney-MGM used to be a really great dining experience. Anyone else remember when?
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "This comment makes me weep. The Brown Derby at Disney-MGM used to be a really great dining experience. Anyone else remember when?" I don't remember when the Brown Derby was counter service.
Originally Posted By DlandDug I guess I didn't realize the comment was confined to only counter service locations. The Brown Derby, of course, would not fit in that category.
