What to Know
- Nov. 17- Jan. 7, 2018
- Buena Park
- Santa's Christmas Cabin and Snoopy ice skating are two highlights
Quick: Think of something, anything, to do with Christmas and ghosts.
Did you gleefully shout out "A Christmas Carol"? High fives, and peppermint candies, and warm cocoa for you, for the Charles Dickens tale is probably the best-known work involving spirits and the celebratory season.
But there's another pairing that Southern Californians known about, and it is in Buena Park, which is home to Knott's Berry Farm, which is home to the famous reimagined Ghost Town called Calico.
The woodplank walkways and rustic buildings are found inside the historic, boysen-tastic theme park, where they've been located for well over three quarters of a century.
But it isn't all rootin' 'n tootin 'round these parts, for the Ghost Town, despite its name, has a way of getting mighty whimsical when the yuletide rolls around.
Which it has again, as of Friday, Nov. 17. That's the opening date for Knott's Merry Farm, a park-wide festivity that will not only encompass the Old-West-y streets of Calico but other parts of the ride-filled property, too.
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There's the Holiday on Ice Show, and, yep, Snoopy is in the spotlight, on skates, as in years gone by (as are other members of the Peanuts gang and a line-up of primo skaters).
The tree at Knott's shall be lit nightly, if you like the ceremony of such things, and many do, as such things are quite nice. And a Snow and Glow show will bring the enchantment each evening.
And filling out the yippee-ki-yay cred of Knott's Merry Farm? Santa's Christmas Cabin, a mighty adorable place for a photograph, and a Christmas crafts village located in Calico. The Calico Christmas Saloon Show will deliver a few nostalgia-laden heart tugs as well, as will The Calico Carolers, singers who look as though they might have stepped out of a 19th-century snapshot.
An admission to all of this not-so-ghosty merriment begins at $45.
No one would dare say Scrooge and his spirited guides aren't iconic figures of Christmastime.
But there's a Ghost Town in Orange County that is very much about the holly and wreaths and spirit of the season, too, thanks to a line-up of festive, carol-sweet, tree-bright to-dos.
