Disneyland saw a drop in attendance after the long-awaited debut of Galaxy’s Edge, but the new Star Wars land didn’t hurt attendance at another theme park just up the I-5 Freeway: Knott’s Berry Farm.

In spite of the May debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Knott’s Berry Farm is once again on pace to have a record attendance year, according to officials at Cedar Fair, the parent company of the Buena Park theme park.

“Knott’s is off to its best season start ever,” Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman said during a third quarter conference call with analysts on Wednesday, Nov. 6. “We’re well on our way to a record year.”

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Disney officials said in August that the light summer crowds at Disneyland following the opening of the $1 billion Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge themed land resulted in a 3 percent decline in attendance at the Anaheim theme park.

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Knott’s transformed the 1987 BigFoot Rapids river rapids water ride into the Calico River Rapids attraction in May with a new Wild West theme and more than 20 animatronic figures.

“The growth in same-park attendance through the first 10 months of the year is very encouraging, particularly given the slow start to the season, most notably during January and February at Knott’s Berry Farm,” Cedar Fair chief financial officer Brian Witherow said on the call. “In spite of that slow start and the debut of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland, Knott’s once again is on pace to deliver its best year ever.”

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The introduction of major new attractions at rival theme parks in Southern California hasn’t harmed attendance at Knott’s, Zimmerman said.

“We continue to see great, strong traction as we have in the past several years when other large-scale attractions have come online,” Zimmerman said. “We see continuing demand in that marketplace and we’re really pleased with where Knott’s is at.”

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Cedar Fair theme parks saw a 6 percent lift in attendance to a record level of 25.8 million visitors, Witherow said.

Knott’s had a record Halloween Haunt in 2019, Zimmerman said. The annual Halloween events at Cedar Fair parks produced some of the biggest revenue and attendance days of the season, Witherow said.

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Winter holiday events at Cedar Fair parks — like Knott’s Merry Farm — account for more than 15 percent of the theme park chain’s annual attendance and drive season pass sales, Zimmerman said.

Season pass sales for 2020 at Cedar Fair parks are up 50 percent, Witherow said.

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