{"id":303,"date":"2020-09-24T14:48:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T14:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reopencaamusementparks.com\/?p=303"},"modified":"2021-02-09T21:23:36","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T21:23:36","slug":"knotts-berry-farm-frustrated-with-lack-of-california-theme-park-reopening-plans-were-ready-to-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reopencaamusementparks.com\/knotts-berry-farm-frustrated-with-lack-of-california-theme-park-reopening-plans-were-ready-to-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Knott\u2019s Berry Farm frustrated with lack of California theme park reopening plans: \u2018We\u2019re ready to open\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2018Every time we ask them, \u201cCan you help us understand what\u2019s going on here and why we can\u2019t open?\u201d They just keep saying to us, \u201cWell, you\u2019re different,\u201d\u2018 says Cedar Fair regional vice president Raffi Kaprelyan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hangtime<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Hangtime is lit blue for #LightItBlue initiative at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA, on Thursday, April 9, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0BRADY MACDONALD<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of reopening plans for California theme parks has left Knott\u2019s Berry Farm leaders frustrated as they await guidelines from state officials that would allow the Buena Park tourist destination to return to full operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ready to open as soon as the government gives approval to do that,\u201d Cedar Fair Regional Vice President Raffi Kaprelyan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaprelyan aired his frustrations with Gov. Gavin Newsom and the lack of California theme park reopening plans during a meeting with the Southern California News Group editorial board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve tried to pursue an honest and meaningful conversation with the governor\u2019s office to no avail, which has been quite frustrating,\u201d said Kaprelyan, the former general manager of Knott\u2019s.Sign up for our\u00a0Park Life newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and find out what\u2019s new and interesting every week at Southern California\u2019s theme parks.\u00a0Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEE ALSO:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Buena Park calls on Newsom to reopen Knott\u2019s Berry Farm<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knott\u2019s \u2014 the most-attended theme park in the Ohio-based Cedar Fair chain \u2014 has partially reopened without rides for a series of weekend\u00a0food and beer festivals<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knott\u2019s is following the now-familiar \u201cnew normal\u201d of COVID-19 health and safety protocols with mandatory face coverings, temperature screenings, social distancing and enhanced sanitization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur protocols yielded a 3,000-plus page document,\u201d Kaprelyan said. \u201cWe wanted to make sure that all angles were covered as we developed our standards and requirements for safe operation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEE ALSO:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Disneyland demands Newsom reopen California theme parks now: \u2018It\u2019s time\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cedar Fair reopened theme parks in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri. Cedar Fair parks in Virginia, North Carolina, Minnesota and Canada remain closed due to COVID-19 mandates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last few months, more than 1.2 million visitors have attended reopened Cedar Fair parks that have been staffed by 14,000 employees, according to Kaprelyan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring that time, at no point have we had an outbreak or any kind of case traced back to our parks,\u201d Kaprelyan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEE ALSO:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Taste of Fall-O-Ween: Everything you can eat and drink at the Knott\u2019s food and beer fest<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cedar Fair partnered with government and health officials in other states during the reopening process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey came out, we walked them through our reopening plans and when they saw how diligent we were in our approach, they were very appreciative and comfortable about how we were going to approach our business,\u201d Kaprelyan said. \u201cSomehow in these other states we were able to work with local jurisdictions to open our parks. In this state, we\u2019re just getting no answers. It\u2019s been very, very frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knott\u2019s has limited attendance during the food and beer events that began in July to alleviate concerns about crowding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can limit who comes into our parks,\u201d Kaprelyan said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to have our parks to full capacities. We\u2019re going to make sure that we limit the attendance so that we can maintain social distancing and all the other protocols that we have in place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knott\u2019s has not received an explanation from state officials about why zoos, museums and aquariums have reopened while theme parks remain closed despite meeting all the prevention plan requirements from the Center for Disease Control and state and local jurisdictions, according to Kaprelyan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery time we ask them, \u2018Can you help us understand what\u2019s going on here and why we can\u2019t open?\u2019 They just keep saying to us, \u2018Well, you\u2019re different,\u2019\u201d Kaprelyan said. \u201cAll we want is to be treated equitably when compared to other entertainment venues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Every time we ask them, \u201cCan you help us understand what\u2019s going on here and why we can\u2019t open?\u201d They just keep saying to us, \u201cWell, you\u2019re different,\u201d\u2018 says Cedar Fair regional vice president Raffi Kaprelyan. Hangtime is lit blue for #LightItBlue initiative at Knott\u2019s Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA, on Thursday, April 9, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reopencaamusementparks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reopencaamusementparks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reopencaamusementparks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reopencaamusementparks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reopencaamusementparks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reopencaamusementparks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reopencaamusementparks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reopencaamusementparks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reopencaamusementparks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}