Now from the jangled mess of a column from Steve Lopez from the LA Times is the story of how one man, who's son had mental illness and died by police beating him, went out of his way to visit the park to be pissed off by the experience. Except, when he went, it was so popular he couldn't even try it out. Instead, he just asked people about it after they tried it and they seemed to really enjoy it as did the LA Times preview of the experience, which the article even mentions with it's obvious condescending tone to Knott's. So it's very funny that the LA Times had no problem with it whatsoever and just the new article by Steve Lopez.
Sadly, either the people behind Knott's, Cedar Fair, it's parent company got afraid of the negative press or possibly the experience became to hard to run. As I wrote before, on opening night it didn't seem to be running and it was pulled after people did get to try it.
Before it was pulled, it was renamed FearVR instead of FearVR:5150, the police code to involuntarily confine a person suspected to have a mental disorder that makes them a danger to themself, a danger to others.
So if you got to pay the extra price to try it, as it was not even part of the regular session in the park, you're one of the lucky few to say you did it.
I am on the side of Knott's in this and they did nothing wrong. There are a number of horror events dealing with the mentally ill and mental institutions as a very common theme where it's depicted as a scary. This was one man going out of his way to try and find something wrong with the park, if so, he will need to also go after a huge amount of horror movies and check out every haunt in SoCal.
There was no malice in what Knott's did and since we didn't even get to try the experience we're not even sure as is the man against it, Ron Thomas, who also didn't try it, what was depicted as being bad.
Knotts can't even show a horror version of what we think a Mental Institution is? You've got to be kidding. Well, I guess the murder farm and the Samurai be-headings are okay that I saw? What is the line?If someone walked around in a straight-jacket would that have been too much?
This must be costing Knott's as this was planned out long ago and now it's just scrapped.
On another note we were going to say how the experience was not original or possible just a rip-off from a Jaunt experience of VR we've seen at the VR Expo, it might have actually been the ride before it came out as you were put in a wheelchair and it was very similar in story from what we can remember.
Will miss you Fear VR:5150 until all the games similar you pop-up on VR anyway. What a stupid development ruining Halloween for SoCal Fans looking forward to it.
What's next? Will someone be offended by Elvira's boobs? She's at Knott's too. Don't take away her boobs!