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Buena Park, CA - August 06: Visitors check out at the Knott's Berry Farm Ghost Town Alive in Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. Los Angeles Times features columnist Todd Martens, who writes about theme parks, says there is nothing at any theme park quite like Ghost Town Alive. This is, essentially, a live action role playing game that runs daily. Each day brings new storylines, a new daily newspaper, and new characters to develop relationships with. Knott's regulars play throughout the summer, creating narratives that last multiple months, but you can also drop in for a few hours -- play a card game, partake in a hootenanny or become witness to a robbery. Ghost Town Alive was inspired by Disneyland's Legends of Frontierland, which ran in 2017 and was a proving ground for the shuttered Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. But what has Knott's gotten right about the LARP formula that others have failed to grasp? Why has Ghost Town Alive, now in year five (I believe) become such a fan favorite? (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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With dozens of actors who lead guests through scavenger hunts, puzzles and conversations, Knott’s Berry Farm’s ‘Ghost Town Alive!’ can’t be replicated. A look at what makes it so special.

Oxnard, CA - July 09, 2026:People participate in a Salsa dancing event at Heritage Square on Thursday, July 9, 2026 in Oxnard, CA. (Blake Fagan / For The Times)

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Animated type reading "HIKE L.A." floats against wispy clouds and blue sky above a rocky hilltop.
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Multiple photos of best places to visit in California, and a photo of a recently married couple

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ANAHEIM, CA--MAY 29, 2019--Sleeping Beauty Castle, at the end of Main Street, in Disneyland Resort, on media preview day of the new "Star Wars: Galaxy?s Edge," in Anaheim, CA, May 29, 2019. Members of the media roam the new territory, positioned beyond "Frontierland," at the back of the property. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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