it’s been a fun summer so far, but i have to say that our summer wouldn’t be complete without a trip to one of our favorite places, Knott’s Berry Farm. right now, Knott’s Ghost Town Alive is going on, a new interactive entertainment experience. hopefully you read our first experience visiting Knott’s 75th Anniversary of Ghost Town, but if you haven’t, let me tell you that is is pretty awesome! throughout all the years that i’ve been taking my boys to Knott’s, this is the most fun that we have ever had in Ghost Town. this one-of-a-kind experience brings the Old West to life as guests of all ages—including the littlest of kids—become part of the action. the residents of Ghost Town involve everyone in the magic of Calico.
the boys ran all over the town, delivering notes, helping the citizens of Calico find the bad guys, handing out newspapers, participating in an elections, enjoying a hoedown celebration and more. we spent a good three hours+ playing make believe in all the Ghost Town Alive adventures.
they even got to do things live wash laundry at Wing Lees Laundry Mat….
visit Sad Eye Joe in Jail…
and who else’s kids insist on pumping the old water pump!
you just have to get down to Knott’s Ghost Town Alive this summer, as the celebration will end on September 5th. but good news, there is a chance to win a family four-pack of tickets to Knott’s!!!! so read to the end of this post and then enter to win the GIVEAWAY. Good luck!!!!!
top twelve activities at Ghost Town Alive
below, i have assembled a list of the top twelve activities families should experience while visiting the beloved town of Calico. these are some of our favorite….but of course, we love everything!
Livery Stable – Meet Calico’s friendly equestrian team along with Betty and Brutus, the resident donkeys that enjoy taking an occasional stroll through town. Learn more about each horse while petting them and chatting with their handlers.
Gertie’s Dress Shop – Gertie’s shop designs the dresses for the beautiful ladies in town. guests who stop by the shop can create your own design by using a western-style tin template. if Gertie likes your design she might even put your artwork on display for all to see.
The Sherriff’s Office – Sherriff Wheeler is always looking for deputies to join his posse and capture the notorious Mayfield outlaws, so while you’re in town drop on by his office to say, “Howdy.” if you’re lucky he might be up for a game of cards or ask for help with drawing some wanted posters for criminals on file. we witnessed the capture of outlaw, Mayfield…he sure wasn’t happy to be stuck in jail.
Town Hall – known to be Mayor Purnell’s home and the gathering spot for elections and other politically based functions, Town Hall, is where you can register and be sworn in as a citizen of Calico. i became a citizen of Calico a couple of weeks ago, but the boys signed Calico’s registry book to make it official.
Post Office/Telegraph – this is the location of the town’s only telegraph, the post office is the center of activity on Main Street. here, you can send and receive telegrams for the Calico residents or for yourself. the boys had a great time learning from the Post Master who taught the how to decode telegrams, pick up mail for our townsfolks, or help the Pony Express rider deliver packages. we were also ordered to deliver a newspaper to the School Teacher, because one of Calico’s criminals was finally captured.
The Blacksmith – visit a working blacksmith shop and experience in person, the process of how Knott’s resident blacksmith creates custom horseshoes. you can even get a custom one for yourself!
The Barbershop – hear the latest gossip of the day and even have a mustache applied! but first you must help the Barber with some fun daily tasks throughout Calico. Percy, Calico’s barber,
offers various styles of mustaches which represent characters in the old west – bandit, prospector, lawman. the Ghost Town citizens react to the mustaches worn by the guests based on their mustache type. it’s pretty fun. when we went, the town doctor was looking over the shop….which was perfect, because the school teacher had given the boys a not to deliver to him. he read the note and gave up instructions on what to do with the information.
The Wagon Camp Stunt Show – Home of the Wild West. this stunt show has been a favorite of our family’s for many years. it part stunts, part laughs and very entertaining. the perfect spot to sit a relax your feet after running around Ghost Town.
The Shooting Gallery – this is a new addition to Ghost Town. so much fun to try and hit a target in the Silver Dollar Gallery.
Calico Saloon – Enjoy an ice cold refreshment at the Calico Saloon and see the whole new cancan show. Keep a keen ear and eye open while in the saloon, as sometimes the Mayfield Gang can be found inside cooking up their latest scheme.
The Marshall Purdy Show – enjoy some home spun fun in the Bird Cage Theater with the belly laughing Marshall Purdy.
The Hoedown – every evening, the day ends with a town-wide hoedown celebration of 75 years of Calico. everyone can join the town’s citizens at the new Calico Park daily at 5:30pm. it’s a time to put on your dancing shoes and join in the town’s festivities!
Ghost Town Alive was better than ever! we really had a great time….as well as all the other guests we saw running around town. everyone was really enjoying getting involved. people had even come dress up to the park in western gear to get into character. i’ve never seen so much fun going on a Knott’s! remember….this celebration ends in lest than a month, on September 5th, so head over to Knott’s as soon as you can so you don’t miss out on the fun. Don’t forget the GIVEAWAY below……
{Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine. We were invited guests of Knott’s }
Love the stunt shows.
The hoedown. how fun!
Giveaway Closed. This winner is Pam Dart. Thank you to all who entered.
There are so many things about Ghost Town that I like…so much history!!
We nevergo to knotts before, i think my son will like the blacksmith and my daughter will excited about telegraph and post office.
The stunt show and the schoolhouse visits are what I’m most excited about. I always greatly enjoy my visits to Knott’s Berry Farm.
I love experiences with living history. The Ghost Town sounds like so much fun!!!
Got to love the log ride…….the hoe down sounds super fun
I love the interaction my kids have with everyone and their favorite is the animals!
The Saloon (of course!).
Ohhh, I would love to see the Blacksmith! My kids would love the stables and the shooting gallery! So fun!
The GhostRider, of course! That is quite exciting!
We just moved from Seattle and have never been! I would love to go to the Hoedown!
Loved this read and we would LoVe to go visit for ourselves!!! Thanks for the chance!
What excites me is kids having fun without cellphones or Pokemon Go! How about panning for gold? ????
What excites me is the historic part of it
We have taken our kids to Knotts before, but never really explored the ghost town that much. I’d love to check out the barbershop and the postmaster! My sons would also love to have a custom made horseshoe made by the blacksmith! How cool is that?!
The hoedown:) I absolutely love square dancing!!
My girls love the livery stable and the shooting gallery. Knotts is a family fav!
My kids would love libery stable!
I’m so looking forward to the entire interaction going on right now in Ghost Town Alive! My daughter has only been to Knott’s once and I’d LOVE to get her to see how life was when her great-grandmother (and 2x great-grandmother) was alive as children. It’s a truly magical experience.
Thank you for offering this giveaway!
I think my kids would love all of it… Just so much to do and see and be actively involved is probably the most appealing thing for kids. But the town hall and barbershop look super cool ????
My kids would love the Shooting Gallery!
So excited about the Livery stable. My kids would love it!
We love animals so we’re most excited to see the Livery Stables and also the shooting gallery looks like fun 🙂 Thanks for the opportunity!
We would love the shooting gallery!!
The kids would love to see the blacksmith at work.
The stunt show is always so fun to watch but the rides are always our fav!!
Oh my goodness! We’ve never been to Knott’s! My kids to LOVE this! They are both really into the “old days”. I think they’d really enjoy visiting all of the different stores. And the stunt man show would be fun to see! Thanks for sharing your adventure!
I would love the hoedown but the kids would probably love the stable the best! ????
Everything sound very excited would like to try every part of the ghost town my daughter would loved it as well as my husband and I. What I’m most excited about its the dress shop.
My 4 kiddos would love the livery and gun show, I’m sure! I would love to have them experience the “good ol’ days”, as grandma would say!????
Make your own dress!
So fun! My kids would love the hoedown !
What most excites me about ghost town live is all the histry that can be taught to my kids. I meet my husband 25 years ago there. He was my waiter at the chicken dinner restraunt. It would be great to spend my anniversary with my kids and husbad at the place that made us a family.
Good morning!!!! Gertie’s dress shopping, it’d be a neat experience with my 13 year old daughter. While my husband and our boys (7&8) can camp out at Camp Snoopy.
Thanks for the opportunity. It would be a blessing to win these tickets!!!! ????????????????
Can’t wait to ride the train with the robbers on it!
We would love to visit Knott’s! I want to see my kids doing laundry!
The blacksmith. When my daughter was 4 I had a horseshoe made there for her for her imaginary horse. It would be cool for 10 years later to return to the same spot and have another one made.
My family would love it all, but especially the livery and the calico saloon!!!
Going for the first time!
The guest interaction with the the calico residents would be so cool!
The “Wagon Camp Stunt Show” sounds awesome. My little one would love the entire event. I’m sure the ‘Hoe Down” is a hoot too! The entire Knotts post just got me very excited????????????????????????????????
This is one of the best parks for a family day of fun! We love Knotts!
I love the fact that it brings the whole family together and there is something for everyone to participate! My family would love it, we love the Wild West and you would definitely feel like you were a part of those times since it’s so interactive! It’s really neat how they have brought Ghost Town to life! We can’t wait to go to Knotts and would love the opportunity to win some tickets! Thanks so much for sharing all your beautiful pics with your family! Can’t wait to pan for gold!
Would love to go and see all of it! My daughter would love to see the stable!
Being young at heart, my husband and I both love the rides, shows, and interactive characters at Knott’s. I have gotten selfies with some of the law-breaking bandits in the saloon, watched the can-can dancers and old-west singers, and dodged out of the sheriff’s way as he attempted to stop the criminal bandits. We have both been on all the rides (trying to perfect our poses for the pictures on Silver Bullet and Pony Express) and gotten mustaches painted on too. It is hard to pick a single favorite thing, but I do love the old-west ambiance that is set up in Ghost Town. It really gives you a taste of the past. I do have relatives coming to town soon, and I would love to get some spare tickets so that they can have the same experiences. Sharing Knott’s with guests is sure to be amazing.
We love their gun show they do.
The stable looks fun!
Gold mining
Great photos! My kids have never been…it all looks wonderful but I know Livery Stable would be a favorite because of the animals.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing experience with us all! The shooting gallery will definitely get my son’s all excited since he’s sooo into policemen lately and wants to be a police officer when he grows up 😉 love your page and all the fun stuff you post btw!
Gertie’s Dress Shop & the stunt show!
Can you believe we have never been to Knott’s? This whole section of the park looks amazing. My daughter will be learning all about California history this coming year. This would be the perfect way to kick off her school year! We would love to see the stunt show, school house, post office, dress shop, sheriff station, stables, and more!
The blacksmith…something that has not changed in years…it was always fun as a kid watching them make horseshoes…my son is 2 1/2 and my daughter is turning one today (the 4th)…would love to take them for the first time this summer!!! Thanks
Oh my, it has been DECADES since I have been to Knotts, but your recap brings back some memories. Do they still have robbers that come through on the train? I always loved them. Other than that, I think the blacksmith shop would be fun, I’ve always been interested in metals and welding.
My boys would love to explore a taste of
the Wild West at Knott’s. It has been more than 10 years since we have visited, and this type of fun is exactly what draws us back. So glad to see that they have revitalized what originally made Knott’ s such a great place for family fun!
The family can interact as if they’re in the old West. It’s a fun, mysterious and historical experience.
Yikes!! SO many good things to pick it’s really hard. Love the barbershop and the blacksmith. The washing your laundry by hand looks like fun and I have always loved the theater and shooting gallery.
My boys would love the shooting range!
I would love to take my boys to experience the whole community! My 7 year old is easily overwhelmed and this looks like he would get into the whole idea. Are the notes your invention or something they planned out as that is such a neat way to be involved. I think the Wild West show would be a huge hit with the kids too!
Gosh what excites me the most about Ghost town comes alive…honestly is just the excitement of showing my kids what the good ol’days were like. To see how people lived way back when and to experience the joy of being apart of a small town. How incredible would this be!! Oh I even want to run around and get into the excitement of it all!!
The Wagon Camp Stunt Show sounds like something my family would enjoy. I haven’t been to Knotts in years and my kids have never been. I think we all would have a blast!
I love it all! The schoolhouse looks wonderful and the shows sound so fun.
I think the whole new experience since my kids and i have never been there
Love the little red school! Reminds me of the show Little House on the Prairie!
This looks like so much fun! My kids would most enjoy the shooting gallery and the livery stable.
It all looks so fun!! But if I have to choose just one, I would choose the hoedown. I’ve always wanted to partake in one, so what a fun way to end the day.
I’m excited that everything is open like it was when the park originally opened. I can’t wait to take my girls
The stable! My daughter loves animals ????????
We enjoyed the calico saloon, even my little kiddos like the show, there was a singing show, and I like you can order drinks there 🙂
I love the school house! My little ones have never been to Knotts, but would definitely love the Livery stable ???? for sure! My daughter is into old MacDonald at the moment and this would be awesome experience for her ????
My girls would love the stables and dress shop!!! I never knew ghost town could be so fun!! What a way to end summer vaca at Knotts ????
The stunt show!!! Action packed non-stop fun! My 4 boys cannot get enough of it every single time we visit KNOTTS!!!
The barber shop!!!
Great recap! We love the rides and just genuine feel of Knotts!
MY KIDS LOVE IT ALLL..SPECIALLY HOW THEY MADE IT ALL DRESSED UP WALKUNG AROUND GHOSTTOWN DRESSED LIKE THE PAST…ALL IS AWSOME WOULD LOVE TO TAKE KIDS SO THEY CAN ENJOY IT ALL BEAFIRE SUMMER ENDSS!!!!!!
The live table and stunt show would be our favorites!
My kids would love the Libery Stable because they enjoy seeing and petting the animals. My 2.5 year old has only been there once so the the Ghost Town would be a huge treat. My family would also enjoy the hoedown and barber shop. Just the Ghost Town becoming alive and going back to the old days would bring some great history alive.
My boys would love the stunt show and the shooting gallery!
We love the “step back into time” feel where we can meet old time characters and get the opportunity to learn first hand about some pretty awesome traditions of our past.
The smiles say it all and with that said-I would like my family to experience that same summer happiness!! Friendliness in the employees! Happy thoughts your way!!
My family woyld love a day at Knotts. My son woyld love the shooting range……????
The jail!! I always loved it as a kid and now I love watching mine be so amazed by man behind bars who mysteriously knows their name!! ????????
The barber shop. The kids would love this real life learning.
We have never been to Ghost Town Alive! My kids would love the hoedown!
My kids love the barber shop. They got to get fake mustache painted on. I love the feel when you walk in ghost town. It’s like your sweep into the past and being part of the good old days of the Wild West. Love how they end it with an awesome hoedown.
The Wild West stunt show is where I would like to go first! My three boys would be all over that!
We would love the hoe down!!!
My kids would love the barber shop and shooting gallery.
Wagon Camp Stunt Show!
My kids would love the shooting gallery and to visit the stable! We have never been to Knott’s together and would love to go for some last minute summer fun!
My family would love the shows and the livery stable. Thanks for the opportunity!
I love knott’s and have been wanting to take my son! He would love the blacksmith!
We were going to take the family today to celebrate 2 of my kiddos birthdays and buy season passes…then we realized the season passes are only good for the calendar year ????????. So no Knott’s for us today, this would be awesome. My girls would love the dress shop and stunt show and my little guy would love the shooting gallery and stables!!
The shooting gallery!! My 9 year old twin boys love to shoot play guns and I love how it feels like Ghost Town brings you back in time and allows the kids to be creative and imaginative!
My kids would love exploring it all, but I know they would especially love petting the horses!
Quite excited about all there is to do there! Look forward to visiting with my kiddos and experiencing it all, especially the Livery Stable.
I haven’t been to knots in years. I would like take my 3 boys
Wagon camp stunt show! Kids haven’t seeing it yet.
I bet my kids will love to try out . The shooting range, they always pretend to be wild west sherif . So much fun and great opportunity to use the imagination !
TELEgraph/Postoffice
I think decoding the Telegraph would so cool for them! My son is 9 yrs old going to 4th grade tomorrow and I see him loving this experience!!!
Just the thought of a ghost town peeks interest right!
Lived across the street from Knott’s Berry Farm in the 60’s. Went to Ghost Town Grill
so many times. The Saloon, the Boysenberry Punch and corn dogs. I still have a
menu and a mustache from the Birdcage Theater from 1973! Love it!
My kids would love the livery!
i think the interaction with the towns people is such a cool idea that I hope they keep it going after Labor Day! Thanks for the chance to win!
My family would enjoy the hoedown!
I have never been on the train and this would so cool to experience it with my boys and family. Cowgirl and Cowboy fun
The stunt show, absolutely! We have seen it before and it was fantastic.
It’s been forever since I have done a real Knotts trip, complete with ghost town! I would love for this opportunity to go with my family!
The interactive aspect of it ALL!
Hoping to lock my children in that jail get a few minutes peace!
I’d love the Post Office, and to learn how to send a telegraph, and to become a citizen of Calico!
I’d love to see the stable! My girls are huge animal lovers!
The stunt show!
The hoedown!! My kids love a good party 😉
The stunt shows, my kids would love to see those
The School !! So many memories when I was a child would love to take my grandson and make memories with him !!!
Oh the boys would love to shoot guns and little miss would love to design dresses
I would love for my kids to experience all of Ghost Town! You make it look so exciting????????????????☺️
Gertie’s dress shop.
My daughter would love the stable where the she could pet the horses.
My 9 year old daughter has never been to Knott’s Berry Farm.
The barbershop
The stunt show is fun! Fun family day
A wonderful history lesson for our kids!!
The shooting gallery looks like fun! And the saloon!
The Hoedown
This is the best description I’ve read about Ghost Town Alive and now I’m excited to become a Calico citizen!
My girls would probably love the stunt show! It all sounds fun though!!
The little red school house has always been a fav and the swinging Saloon doors. They remind me of my childhood kitchen. My 3 boys haven’t been, what a fun experience it’d be!
I love the stable where the
Kids can see and pet the horses! The hoedown looks like fun too!
I love the interaction between the Ghost Town people and the people visiting. My kids love the rides but they also love this area of the park.
It all looks like so much FUN! My daughter would LOVE this!!!! (And the hubby and I would have a good time too 😉 )
A family outing! Recently moved from Texas so really wanting to go enjoy all of what Cali has to offer!
Libery Stable , my daughter loves animals !
The shooting gallery!