See update at the end of this post.
ORIGINAL POST, OCT. 19, 12:32 P.M.: The monsters at Knott's Scary Farm are paid to spook and frighten–not heckle and harass.
A guest named Nicole Cramer claims she had a “traumatizing experience” on Wednesday night when she and her three girlfriends friends were bullied by cast members for being overweight. The 31-year-old Santa Ana resident said one male employee dressed as a green witch remarked, “Why don't you go back to Jenny Craig?” Then, she said, another monster dressed as a hunchback pig circled around her while snorting.
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Cramer said she talked to a manager about the incident, but he did not take down any information.
“It was really extreme,” says Cramer, who was at the Buena Park theme park as part of Knott's Scary Farm's Scion Night. “This is not what people are paying for, to be insulted all night.
Since she posted her experience on the Knott's Scary Farm Facebook page, Cramer said she has received messages from several other guests saying they were also harassed for their weight or sexuality. Her post has since been removed. A Knott's representative could not be immediately reached.
“It's like, you're bullied as a kid and now you have to be bullied as an adult, too?” she said. “When did this become acceptable?”
Read her full complaint and Knott's response on the next page.
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To Whom It May Concern:I am writing this to inform you of the traumatizing experience I had last night at Knotts Scary Farm, for the scion 2012 event. I've had my Scion since 2005, and have attended each event. This was the first time I among others were bullied, harassed, humiliated and embarrassed by “cast members”.We entered the park prior to 7:00pm, so it wasn't quite dark yet. The 4 of us, all plus size women were approached to take a photo in the entrance area. Of course there were a bunch of monsters standing around in this area. I asked one if he would take a picture with us, and verbatim he said “not with that hot mess, why don't you go wipe your eyebrows off”. We were all pretty shocked and advised the camera girl we would not be taking a photo. I immediately knew this wasn't appropriate from an employee, so I proceeded to the window right of the entrance to inform the guy working. He pretty much just said oh well, and I should go online and write a letter. As we walked back toward ghost town, we passed the same “monster” a very tall thin male dressed as the wicked witch, with an all green face. I said “you are a jerk”. Now there were people everywhere, and he walked past me, yelled at the top of his lungs “why don't you go back to Jenny Craig?” then the “monster” that is dressed as a hunch back pig came circling around me snorting.The entire crowd starts to “boo” and yells “fight”, clearly I didn't fight the employee because I would have been kicked out.At this point my entire group is in disbelief, shocked and filled with anxiety. We stood in the front collecting our thoughts and emotions when all of a sudden we see the same “monster” harassing another guest. Security escorted the employee to the back gate near the water tower.The same thing happened to this male guest, he asked for a picture and was called a “fat hot mess” along with being called the name of a popular drag queen.Finally a manager Alan came out to speak with us. We both told him our stories and how unacceptable this is to treat guests this way. He only said he would take care of it, didn't collect any of our information, and was very easy going about it.We decided we would go ahead and stay and attempt to enjoy ourselves. That was a terrible idea. On scion night there is music throughout the park, and even a dj performance. One of the young ladies in my group was dancing when a “cast member” came up to her and said “are you dancing, because it looks like you are having a seizure?”Later in the night I was sitting on a bench outside of boomerang, when a clown came up to me and started yelling at me to get off of my phone. I said “you are mean leave me alone” he responded with “we are paid to be mean”. Not to mention through every maze the employees were yelling “scions suck” “this is kia soul night”.All of these incidents are clear examples of weight and disability discrimination. When did this become acceptable? When did knotts become a place of ridicule? People pay to get scared, not bullied. When did these employees start getting paid to harass people?I work in customer service at a major insurance company in the area; I would be fired immediately if I ever spoke to a customer like this. This behavior would not happen at the happiest place on earth. It is a crime to discriminate for weight, disability, or sexual preference. Maybe its time for knotts to look at their customer service and the culture of their employees as well as the experience they are marketing.I will never step foot in Knotts Berry Farm again. This makes me sad. My father loved Knotts when he was alive, and I have several items that are sentimental to me that he purchased at the gift shops. I have made my experience known across several social networking sites. My best advice would be to pay a little more money, and head to Disneyland, where people are actually nice.I truly hope no one else has to live through this painful experience.Sincerely,Nicole Cramer
UPDATE, OCT. 19, 1:23 P.M.: Knott's Berry Farm spokeswoman Jennifer Blazey emailed us this response to the allegations:
“We have received a copy of this letter and are investigating the
situation. We do not condone this type of behavior by our employees and
will be reaching out to the guest regarding this situation.”
situation. We do not condone this type of behavior by our employees and
will be reaching out to the guest regarding this situation.”
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