We went to this today and it was lovely. We got there around 1 and had basically walked right in (we did the Halloween event on a weekday and got there around 4:30 or 5:00 and did have some waits for that, so we were glad to be able to stretch it over a full afternoon this time). They did screening questions and temp. walk through/security, but there were really no lines and it was very well organized.
The decorations were lovely And we enjoyed the music. We did a few of the distanced character meets that didn’t have lines, but didn’t meet Santa (at first The kids didn’t want to, but then around 4 they said “maybe”, but they were out of reservations by then and told us about Snoopy Santa). Snoopy Santa had a long line, but my kiddos were happy to look from afar. Camp Snoopy was very cool at night - tons of lights and we spent more time than anticipated just enjoying the atmosphere.
We also enjoyed poking around the craft booths and spent a long time watching the glass artist make a beautiful mermaid sculpture. My 9 year old was enamored and didn‘t want to leave until she had finished.
It seemed easier to find a table than at the Halloween festival (but maybe a function of going earlier in the day?), and most everything we tried was great. I loved the oatmeal toffee cookie sandwich, my oldest loved the tamales, cheese pizza was a hit with the 6YO, and my 3YO stole my street corn! The kids enjoyed the Elf float and DH got some nice mulled wine (a bit tricky as you can’t sip and stroll...so this was enjoyed over a few snack stops).
i think Knotts did a much better job of making the kid-friendly food options known this time around (stating where cheese pizza, plain Mac and cheese, etc. were available and just having more picky-eater options in general). I really appreciated this, as finding entrees for my younger 2 was a challenge at the fall event.
The kids were a bit bummed that there was nothing “fun” to do (a la trick-or-treat-trail). They seemed to enjoy themselves a lot, but this did come up more than once... I was thinking we may find cookie decorating or something like that a la carte, but we didn’t see anything. We had reminded them there would be no trick or treating in advance, but they still thought there should be more “for kids to do”. Honestly, I think kids activities are just very tricky in the current situation, and I was thrilled that they got to see characters from afar, enjoy the lights, and spent time dancing around to the music.
Most people seemed to be doing a great job with mask compliance, and we saw people with signs with the rules who would remind anyone who needed a reminder. They also had an announcement reminder fairly regularly that unless you were actively eating/drinking, stationary/socially distanced you had to have your masks on. It seems like they have it down with having clear, concise criteria, which is great!
