Knott's Berry Farm
Reviews and Complaints

This is in regards to an occurrance on July 28, 2019

The bottom line is that I have been treated rudely and have not received any apology from these employees when it was their actor who was downright rude to me. Here are the e-mails that tell what happened

The letter was sent to the General Manager of Knott's Berry Farm, a Mr. Jon Storbeck after my conversation with Ken Parks and the second e-mail I sent to him stating how dissatisfied I was with his attitude toward the situation.

Dear Mr. Storbeck,
 
I recently spoke to the Director of Entertainment, Mr. Ken Parks regarding an incident that had occurred between an actor at Ghost Town Alive and myself, and he said at the end of our conversation that if I had any further issues or anything else to add, that I should give him a call.  However, since he was unable to resolve my issue, I am bringing it to your attention.  This is regarding my unpleasant encounter with an actor during the Ghost Town Alive event on Tuesday, July 30th.
 
I would like to start by saying that I have been an annual passholder at Knotts Berry Farm for close to three decades and have been visiting the park since I was five years old. 
 
That Tuesday I had decided to visit the park and I was visiting Ghost Town Alive.  I was walking on the side of the saloon heading back to the main street, I saw a couple of attractive girls.  As I walked by the Newspaper/Post Office, I saw a group of the actors there.  I joked, referring to the girls, and said something like "Hey, those are some good lookin' girls".  At no time was any profanity was used.  The actor playing "Emery" raised his voice to me and with a hateful look said "You need to leave"'.  I offered an apology to try to smooth things over even though I do not feel I had done anything wrong.   As I was walking away, the situation bothered me. The other actors that were at the original scene didn't seem irritated or offended by my attempt to be social.  I thought maybe he was having a bad day.  I wanted to make things right since having a good time is the idea. the whole situation really bothered me.  I then saw him by city hall, having just finished with some kids.  As he walked away, I called his name and wanted to get some clarification.  I wanted to know if he was really upset with me or in character.  .  He screeched at me "Don't you ever say anything like that again."  He had a glaring, hateful mean look on his face.  I asked him not to take that tone of voice with me or act that way or I would contact Mr. Dave Bowman who had assisted me in another incident a couple of years back.  He screeched back, "Go ahead and do it" and he walked off in a huff.
 
Within a few minutes, as I just passed the train tracks, near the sign maker, I was called over by a Ghost Town Alive staff member.  This supervisor/overseer also had "Emery" with him.  He informed me that I was "Disturbing a character's performance" and I was told I wasn't allowed in Ghost Town the rest of the day.  I'm not sure how that's possible when no other guests were around, and I was simply interacting with the actors.  I thought that the interactions with the citizens of Calico was key to the event.  This situation disturbed me.  Furthermore, I was just in shock it had come to this.  While I spoke with the other staff member "Emery" just stared and glared at me with great satisfaction that he was having me removed from Ghost Town.   I was also advised that if I returned to Ghost Town that day I would be escorted out of the park. I would also like to add that many of the other Ghost Town Alive characters have enjoyed interacting with me.
 
I sent a guest comments letter to the entertainment department regarding what had occurred on that day (please see below). I was contacted by Mr. Ken Parks who asked me what had happened. As it stands after my conversation with Mr. Parks, I do not feel that the actions of your employee acting out in the manner he did were justifiable in any way or form.   When I was called regarding this incident, Mr. Parks asked me for my side of the story which I explained.  I was never told once during our conversation just what my so-called offense was in the first place.  I still stand by that I did nothing wrong by interacting with the actors in Ghost Town Alive.  I will reiterate this: "If this employee had been friendly instead of outright hostile, I would not be sending this follow-up email.  During my conversation with Mr. Parks, it was also brought up that he said he remembered me regarding an incident I had with another employee/actor a couple of years ago (In the incident that happened two years ago, that employee was reprimanded for his inappropriate behavior).  He then proceeded to ask me if maybe there was a pattern of not getting along between myself and employees at the park.  Not only was that unrelated to the current issue (considering this other incident had occurred years ago), I feel that was an attempt to place responsibility on me for the actor's words and actions.   Not acceptable. Instead, it seems to me that just maybe this actor would say other things in order to avoid getting himself reprimanded. 

Mr. Parks told me at the end of our conversation if I had any issues or anything else to say that I should give him a call. I sent a second e-mail (please see below).
 
During the initial event I was never given an opportunity to share my side of the story with that original supervisor who, along with that actor approached me.  When I spoke to Mr. Parks, he went into the conversation with obvious bias against me.  It felt like he did not take the situation seriously and was just protecting the actor.  This too disturbed me, especially as someone who has been coming to the berry farm for over 50 years.
 This whole inciden has left me feeling very angry. Angry enough to write a letter this long to you. I have not been offered any apology for this actor's nasty attitude toward me, especially when I was being friendly towards him and not offensive in any way.
It is my hope that this situation is addressed fairly.  If this actor interacted with me in this manner, I am sure I am not the only one he had outbursts with.  After this incident, and after the way I have been treated I have come to the decision that my time at Knott's Berry Farm is coming close to an end.  As of now I am not planning on renewing my annual pass with the park.  I will surely miss the ol' farm and all the good employees that are still there.  I will cherish the memories and friendships I've gained over the years. 

Sincerely,

Lew Kaplanski
[protected]

I have included the two E-mails that were sent to Mr. Parks.

This is the first E-mail sent to entertainment regarding this occurrence:

Dear Entertainment Representative:

Usually things are fine and everyone can have a good time at the park, however I had an occurrence on Tuesday July 30, with one of the "Ghost Town Alive" Actors.

What occurred was the following:

I was walking past the saloon heading back towards the main street and I saw a couple of attractive women. As I went by the newspaper post office area I joked with the characters about how good looking those girls looked. I did not use any form of profanity or act inappropriate at any time. Well the one they call Emery glared at me with a hateful look on his face and told me to go away in a cold mean voice.

I was not offensive in any form or way. I offered an apology and said I was sorry If I offended anyone to try and smooth things over, though I do not feel that I was under any obligation to do so considering I had done nothing in the wrong. His attitude created a weird nasty feeling for me. If he had been friendly everything would have been just fine. After thinking about what had occurred and feeling upset over the way he acted towards me, I thought maybe this guy is just having a bad day and I wanted to try to make things all right since having a good time is what it's supposed to be about. So I was near the town hall and I saw him. I called out his character name and asked him are you acting or are you really mad at me? He proceeded to glare at me with a hateful stare (second time) and screeched out at me don't you ever say what you did (or something to that effect). This made me agitated. Once again if he had been friendly and explained to me just what it is I had said and or done, I would have gladly told him I am sorry and it won't happen again. Now that I was feeling stressed and riled, I told him that he is not going to act that way towards me and that I could call Dave Bowman a supervisor in the entertainment department who had helped me a few years ago with an issue that occurred back then. He screeched at me to go ahead and do it and proceeded to storm off in a huff. I was thinking about getting a hold of Mr. Bowman but wanted to cool down before taking any form of action.

I headed across the train tracks and shortly after I was approached by the supervisor/overseer of the actors in Ghost Town Alive and the actor who had given me attitude. The supervisor told me I was disrespectful and interrupting the actor's performance (how that was possible since no one was around when I interacted with him is beyond me). That is not what I felt. I was feeling extremely stressed at this point and cannot remember the rest of the conversation, but I was told not to come back into the Ghost Town area for the rest of that day and if I were seen over there park security would be escorting me out of the park, and that today can be a cooling off day. (All the while the supervisor was talking to me that actor kept glaring at me with his murderous look) I was told by the supervisor that I was more than welcome to go to other areas of the park. Apparently I could not have been very disruptive or I would have been kicked out of the park for inappropriate behavior. After all this, I was feeling stressed out and did not have any desire to stay. So I left feeling very angry and upset. I do not harbor any grudge against the supervisor, but after all the hostility (a murderous glare and hostile attitude that wouldn't quit) from that actor has left me feeling very angry. And after coming to Knotts for over 50 years and having a great rapport with many employees that is saying a lot.

If you need to reach me, my phone number is [protected]

Sincerely,

Lew Kaplanski

This is the second E-mail sent to entertainment:

On Thu, Aug 15, 2019 at 9:48 AM Lew K wrote:
Dear Mr. Parks,
You said at the end of our conversation regarding my unpleasant encounter with that actor at Ghost Town Alive, that if I had any issues or anything else to add, that I should give you a call.

As it stands after our conversation, I do not feel that the actions of your employee acting out in the manner he did were justifiable in any way or form. First of all when you called me regarding this incident, you asked me for my side of the story which I told you. I was never told once during our conversation just what my so called offense was in the first place, considering I stated that I had done nothing wrong, and will not change that statement. Let's consider this: Why would I do or say anything to make what was a good day up till that point into a stressful angry day? I will reiterate this: "If this employee had been friendly instead of outright hostile, I would not be sending this second e-mail to you. It was also brought up that you said you remembered me regarding an incident I had with another employee/actor a couple of years ago. You then proceeded to ask me if maybe there was a pattern of not getting along between myself and employees at the park. Not only was that non related to the current issue (considering this other incident had occurred years ago), I feel that was an attempt to reverse the situation of the action of the employee whom had started this event with his attitude and an attempt to put the blame on me. Not acceptable. Did it occur to you that just maybe this actor would lie to you in order to avoid getting himself reprimanded, considering you are his supervisor? I would be willing to swear an oath to stand by my convictions anytime and anywhere. Would your Actor be willing to do that?

I recently took my family to Knotts, I purchased my tickets on line. I got (2) adults and (2) junior tickets. My 17yr old has severe Cerebral Palsy and is in a wheelchair and can't ride any of the rides offered. So I purchase a junior ticket for her. We got to the gates to go in and they ask me her DOB I told them, and they made me go to the window and made me pay the difference for an adult ticket which was $31 more. What upset me the most is I don't think it was fair to pay for an adult ticket when she can't do anything but watch everyone one else have fun. I dont't mind paying for her to go, just don't think it should be full price. We want her to enjoy herself and feel she has every right to be part of the family outing and it is great a socializing skill, but at the same time she is unable to participate in most of what Knotts offer. They didn't even acknowledge she was there. Another words they didn't even look up from the computer where the scan your ticket. I went to the window upset and commented that my daughter was severely handicapped and couldn't participate on any rides and again I felt ignored.I hope another family doesn't have to go thru this. It is already discouraging enough that most family parks aren't really set up for families with severely handicapped children, believe it or not they enjoy being part of everything like the rest of their family.

I went with my family of 6 to Knott's Berry Farm Happy to make the 15.00 donation per person to Toys for Tots on Sunday 12/12. We lined up at 4:30 at the theatre area to see the Snoopy on Ice 5:30 show. We were in line a hour before the show. The line kept moving and stopped right at us. We were not allowed to see the show because it had reached capacity. We we all incredibly shocked and saddened by this event because my 4 children, husband and I love this show. It is something we look forward to seeing every year. All of my children are very young (ages 9, 6, 3 and 2), and one of them has Down Syndrome. It was very hard explaining to them that we would not be able to see the show this year. Unfortunately, because of tough economic times I cannot afford to pay another 75.00 just to come back and see the show. I spoke with Daryl Dossett, who said he was acting as operating manager of the park for the day, regarding this issue to see if a rain check could be issued so that we may return to see the show. He was very cold, unsympathetic and uncaring to our situation. He offered no help or solution to help resolve my problem. I was surprised to find that Knott's Berry Farm would have such poor customer service when it comes to helping families who need a little extra help. I would still appreciate any help, so that we may be able to the Snoopy on Ice Show this year before Christmas.

I am writing to complain about my last 2 visits to the park in the last 2 weeks. I am a fan of your cheese sticks that are made and sold at the "STRICKTLY ON A STICK"- directly across from the Lod Ride attraction, and am curious as to when and if it is still an open attraction, if so why has it been closed recently (May 10, 2010 & May 23, 2010), and when can I expect to enjoy an item from this food venue again.

Knott's Scary Farm is a fun entertaining amusement park, but they need to have increased security available. On 10/11/09 I witnessed a teenage girl screaming for help because her friend was passed out on the ground. One of Knott's employees dressed as a monster was attempting unsuccessfully to help. At least a hundred people including myself watched this incident take place. First we wondered if it was an act to increase the scare of the haunted park, and then realizing that it wasn't, we looked around in vain for security. Finally a young teenage boy employed by the park was sent to locate help. At least five minutes, probably more, had passed before anyone was alerted that there was a need for medical attention. I know security may take away a little of the scare factor, but please Knott's... get your priorites straight!

I visited Knott's Scary Farm on 10/10/2008, waited in line for 2-2 1/2 hours while myself, and my party, including 13 yr old children, were repeated pushed, elbowed, kneed, assaulted, and witness to several people fainting in the lines. Nowhere was there visible a Knott's staff members, any semblence of an actual line or a Buena Park Police Officer for that matter. The poor planning and utter negligence on Knott's behalf led to several injuried and health issues suffered by many park goer's that day. The park staff offered the explanation that it was a Friday night and that is why the crowd was like that and apparently why they were unable to provide security and structure and refused refunds. Go at your own risk, parents please think twice before dropping off your teenaged children.