Our first stop before we hit the true Knott's Halloween Haunt reviews is the Scary Farm's kid-friendly daytime event, Camp Spooky.  This is a fantastic family event that takes place in Camp Snoopy at Knott's - during October, the name is changed to Camp Spooky!

This year, Cedar Fair went all-out and transformed the area into a pirate-themed adventure, which also lends itself to the area's very popular Red Beard's Revenge maze which is part of Halloween Haunt.  Everyone loves a good pirate theme, so Knott's went with it and did it up very nicely!

The adventure begins outside of Camp Spooky, where folks can pick up their Knott's Halloween Treasure Hunt map, which then tells each group where to go trick-or-treating throughout Camp Spooky.

The concept is simple, families love it and the kids go nuts.  There were quite a few little pirates running around Camp Spooky while we were there - and lots of adults looking like they were having a great time as well.

Camp Spooky has been decorated with multi-colored webbing, which is a departure from the white webbing found elsewhere all over Knott's for its Halloween Haunt.  There are also skeletons as well as other piratey additions to the area such a flags, treasure and lots of pumpkins.  Okay, so pumpkins aren't necessarily a pirate item - but they could be if they've been looted, right?  Anyway...

The decorating team did a great job and the whole area looks fantastic.  Props to them.

In addition to employees handing out goodies at the trick-or-treat stations, there are also monsters (kid friendly, of course) ready to meet and greet the little ones.

The monsters' costumes are great!  They are not spooky or gruesome like their Knott's counterparts after the sun goes down - rather, they are very caricature-like in design and look wonderful.  We're not sure which company they come from - our more seasoned dark industry readers may know when they see them below - but Knott's certainly hit the mark and the trick-or-treat/meet and greet locations worked very nicely.

The centerpiece of this event is a daytime family fun maze called Captain Jack's Haunted Hideaway.  Now, you can debate which captain the Knott's design team is referring to - maybe Captain Jack Sparrow?  Maybe Captain Jack Daniel's?  Maybe Jack B. Quick?  We like to think that the nod goes to the true captain at the helm of Knott's and Cedar Fair, the mucho-respected Jack Falfas.

This debate will no doubt rage on for centuries.

The maze itself is quite simple, but fun!  Throughout the walk-through, kids will come across live pirates who are eager to meet and greet as well as entertain the crowd.  Pirate-themed treasure scenes and skeletal specters are also abundant; just a spooky enough edge to cause caution in the footsteps of the youngest adventurers through the maze.

Captain Jack's is a decent-sized walk-through that no doubt reminds Haunt fans of what is to come at night during the main Haunt event - but it's friendly enough for the daytime event, which is specifically why it was designed.  Here's the scoop - Jack Falfas did not want Red Beard's Revenge (the Haunt pirate-themed maze in the same general area) used during the day for the Camp Spooky event.  The concern was not scaring kids (even during the day, the interiors of the Haunt mazes are very adult-oriented and would be way too much for young guests) and at the same time, not dumbing down Red Beard's for dual-duty during the day and then at night for Haunt.  The decision was made to create a brand-new kids maze for the Camp Spooky event all together.  Jack wanted to keep the two events completely separate.

The maze went up at the same time the rest of the Halloween Haunt mazes were going up (we followed Captain Jack's construction as part of our Build 2005 coverage) and everyone seems happy - Camp Snoopy is now home to two pirate mazes, so everyone wins!

Camp Spooky offers great entertainment in the form of shows and the regular Knott's Camp Snoopy rides and attractions throughout the area, in addition to the Treasure Hunt game.  There's even a pumpkin carving station for those feeling artistic!

At the end of the day, everyone's happy and exhausted - the kids from racing all over Camp Spooky and the parents from chasing them all over Camp Spooky!  It's a fun-filled piratey event that anyone with a child needs to do if you're planning on visiting Knott's this time of year.  As accomplished as it's Halloween Haunt attraction is, Camp Spooky is right up at the top of the family-friendly October events at any theme park!