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Bear-ytales.net gets its
share of email. Occasionally, an email comes in that really
represents the theme of the comments that come our way.
02-08-08
Natasha writes all the way from the UK!
****
Hi, there. I just came across your site and after
reading other stories of people's affection for Knott's, I felt I
had to let you know my story. I am from Wales, in the UK, and first
visited Knott’s over twenty years ago (when I was 13) with my
parents and younger sister. We also, of course, went to
Disneyland. I couldn't explain why but both myself and my sister
enjoyed the whole Knott’s experience far more than Disney. The
memory of my sister talking to the blacksmith who knew everything
about her will never leave me. Also, the parachute ride which we
must have rode at least five times!
A few years later Euro Disney Paris opened up and
I visited with my husband, it was just like Disneyland - again there
was none of the specialness I felt at Knott’s. Two years ago I took
my children and husband to Knott’s on an amazing Los Angeles
holiday, and again all of us much much preferred Knott’s. I think
it is because Disney is a global multinational recognizable brand,
whereas Knott’s felt, to a tourist like myself, an
American/Californian attraction - which we had traveled across the
pond to see!!! Last September the family visited Orlando (after
much persuasion from friends who insisted that if we enjoyed theme
parks we would love Disneyworld), again we felt slightly
disappointed with Disney. I felt, again, that we could be in Paris,
Orlando, LA, even Tokyo!!
In two weeks time, for my 35th birthday, my
husband has arranged an extra special holiday/second honeymoon - we
are going back to Los Angeles, and are definitely visiting Knott’s
and may not bother at all with Disney. I cannot express my
fascination with Knott’s, and I appreciate the lack of millions of
dollars it has compared to Disney and Universal. It did, on my last
visit, seem tattier perhaps than Disney, and seemed less flash than
Universal, but it felt like I was on vacation and experiencing
SOMETHING.
The only thing that would make my next visit even
more perfect would be if the Parachute ride was re-built, exactly as
it was when myself and my sister rode on it twenty two years ago!
Natasha
Hi, Natasha! First of all, happy birthday! I
think your email sets the record for correspondence distance. I
hope to never become jaded at how easy it is to communicate because
of the internet. It's amazing.
Knott's has a charm that is hard to describe, and
the "old" Knott's holds a very special place in the hearts of many
people (myself included). Southern California is lucky to have
internationally known theme parks with The Disneyland Resort and
Universal Studios, as well as a regional amusement/theme park such
as Knott's. They are two completely different styles of park, and
I'm glad southern California has room for both. Knott's is 100%
Americana, and certainly Californian as well. It can’t be
duplicated around the world like Disney or Universal can. I hope
the tradition of unique, charming, American entertainment continues
at Knott’s for years to come.
Please write back after your upcoming trip.
Knott's has changed a lot in the recent years. Some people hate it;
some enjoy the new roller coasters and "thrill" aspect of today's
park. Knott's, like any of our favorite theme park, isn't a museum
and has to keep up with the times in order to survive. I hope the
Farm’s current focus doesn't make your trip any less enjoyable.
A lot of us wish that the parachutes and many
other classic attractions would be rebuilt. I'm right there with
you. It would be great to relive the attractions of our childhood.
Time moves on, technology and interests change, and many of the
attractions we remember the most are destined to stay only in our
memories...unless you're off to find Nemo, of course. :)
Thanks again for writing,
-Bob
01-15-08
RJ sent a follow-up to his email below,
after visiting on a not-so-crowded day. Theme parks are much
better enjoyed on lighter days, when the packed holiday crowds are
long gone.
****
So, after ranting and raving to you after Thanksgiving about my trip
to Knott's, my friend and I headed back to Disneyland in mid
December. We decided to go again this past weekend. I just had to
give Knott's one more chance! I went all out - staying at the
Knott's Resort! We stayed there for three nights, and quite enjoyed
ourselves.
We checked in late Thursday night after having dinner at the new
Bubba Gump Shrimp Company on Katella. I wanted Mrs. Knott's for
dinner, but they closed too early.
In all the years of living in L.A. and visiting Knott's, I had never
eaten at the restaurant. So, we decided to get up early Friday and
walk over for breakfast. It was really good! The restaurant was
empty too! We had the nicest waitress, an older woman who was the
best server I have had anywhere in quite some time. It was around
9am, so we decided to walk back to the hotel and try and see Snoopy.
He walked in just as we did. No one else was there! We snapped a few
shots and went back up to the room for a few minutes. At 9:45 we
walked back over to the park and redeemed my annual pass print out
(which I received for Christmas!). Yes, I am 31 and got a Knott's
pass for Christmas! LOL
I don't think there were more than 100 people (if that) waiting to
get in at 10:00. They played the National Anthem, then opened the
gates. I had never seen them do that. It was a real treat. The staff
at the front gate were as friendly as can be. Managers and security
were at the gate to welcome the guests. We headed to GhostRider and
were on the first car to leave the station. We hit GhostRider,
Silver Bullet, Sierra Sidewinder and every Camp Snoopy ride they
would let us on before 11:00am! What a refreshing change from the
sheer masses of people that were there the day after Thanksgiving.
We had ridden every ride in the park (including the Stagecoach) by
2:00pm. We finished the day by seeing all the shows that were
offered. The real highlight was riding the Galloping Goose. I had no
idea they had that in the park. I am glad we got to experience that.
Right before the park closed at 5:30 we headed over to La Victoria
Cantina for my all-time favorite chicken tacos. There was no one in
line. We got our food in a matter of seconds. In November, we waited
almost two hours - YES - two hours!
The park was so empty, it was almost sad. I don't think there were
more than a few thousand people in the park all day. Actually, I'd
be surprised if there were 1,000 people.
After leaving, we were going to head over to California Adventure
for the Electrical Light Parade. We decided to grab a piece of
chicken from the to-go counter. We ate it in the hotel room before
leaving for DCA. Wow! That really is the best chicken I have ever
eaten.
Yes, I still think Knott's is a little worn around the edges, and
that it is sad to see my all-time favorite park aging. Cedar Fair is
adding some great rides - we rode them over and over! I just wish
they would put more money into sprucing things up a bit. I would
hate to see the history of the park (and California's history)
deteriorate. We saw wrought-iron railing held together with
electrical tape, parts of the Calico Mine ride ripped apart and
rusting, walls covered in gum and waiting areas so soiled in gum and
debris, you couldn't see the ground. Overall, the park looked clean
- it just needs a face lift and a good scrubbing.
My friend - the Disney nut, who said she would never go back to
Knott's ever again after the horrific experience in November, had a
blast. She had so much fun in fact, that she suggested leaving DCA
on Sunday and heading back over to Knott's to have dinner before
going to the airport. The Disney freak actually skipped eating
dinner at Blue Bayou and Downtown Disney to eat at Mrs. Knott's! Can
you believe it? She even suggested going back the first weekend in
February! Looks like I converted her.
The line was so long when we got back to Mrs. Knott's on Sunday
night, we decided to get the food to go seeing as how our plane left
in an hour. We took the food and ate at an outside table between the
shops and the hotel, right under GhostRider. It was such a nice
peaceful spot - a unique experience that cannot be found anywhere
else.
Disneyland is magical and the cast members go out of their way to
make sure every moment is special, but Knott's really holds a
special piece of history that cannot be matched. It is still my
favorite park, despite the flaws, and I cannot wait to go back
again.
RJ
Thanks for the
follow-up, RJ. During the off season, Knott's can get very
slow. It looks like you experienced one of those days.
It really makes for a great day of riding rides and taking in the
lesser-seen attractions and shows.
I'm no surprised that your friend chose Mrs. Knott's chicken over
Downtown Disney or Blue Bayou food. A good piece of chicken
from Knott's is something very hard to beat!
Thanks, again. I'm
glad you both enjoyed your trip!
-Bob
RJ wrote to share his recent experience at Knott's, and tells how
the current practices at the park conflict with the fond memories he
has of visiting as a child. From the tone of other comments
that have come our way, RJ is not alone in his concerns. ****
Bob-
I just found your website and wanted to say thank you for putting
together such a comprehensive history of the park! What a find!
I am now 31 years old and live in Arizona, but having grown up in
Southern California, used to go to Knott’s all the time as a kid,
and almost every other year for Halloween Haunt. Since moving to
Arizona, twelve years ago, I have been back to Knott’s probably
around 8 times (three being for HH).
I have always loved Knott’s, but have found that the park has really
gone downhill the last few times I visited. A good friend of mine (a
true Disney fanatic) and I went over Thanksgiving weekend. She had
never been. We
scheduled Knott’s for Friday, and Disneyland for Sat and Sun. I
raved about Knott’s, but warned her about the bad service, slow ride
boarding and the overall lack of cleanliness. I must say that this
past trip almost made me want to not go back ever again.
The park was PACKED with discount admission folks, and freebies,
part of their annual promotion. It took us over a half an hour just
to buy tickets. We waited anywhere from an hour to an hour and a
half per ride.
The park was crowded, but the slow, inattentive staff slowly boarded
riders. I was amazed to see that there were only two cars running on
Ghostrider! Are they crazy??? That's 12 people at a time while there
are thousands waiting.
After being fed up with all of this, we were about to leave and head
over to Disney with our three-day park hopper, but decided to stop
and get a taco in Fiesta Village - I have always loved their food at
the quick serve restaurant. No kidding - we waited almost two hours
to order and get our food! At a fast food counter! A fist fight
almost broke out with people arguing over getting their food. I had
never seen such horrible service, not to mention the employees broke
every health code regulation there was! We waited so long, that one
of the
employees that was working the counter while we were on line, went
on break and came back!!! We still hadn't ordered!
The night got worse. In addition, the park was so filthy dirty, it
didn't look like it had been cleaned in ages.
It seems as if Cedar Fair has let it run downhill. I still love
Knott’s for the rides, the atmosphere and the memories. Its just a
shame it has come to this. What are your thoughts??
Thanks again for the great website!
RJ
Hi, RJ.
Wow. What a great email. I know your passions are shared by more and
more people who love Knott's and have watched transformation of the
park closely since Cedar Fair took over.
There are varying factors going on which effect the park in
different ways. I agree with you about the discount admission folks
and those who are out for the freebies. Many of them are just fine
and enhance the family atmosphere of Knott's. Others are just out
for cheap entertainment and they don't care where they get it.
Unfortunately, many in this subset haven't learned the social skills
needed to add to a positive experience at Knott's. Before Knott's
roller coaster boom, they have been mostly contained to Magic
Mountain with their large roller coasters and cheap entry fees.
Magic Mountain has recently learned that roller coasters and cheap
admission does not bring a desirable crowd, and have eliminated a
lot of their discounts and are racing as fast as they can to become
a more family-friendly park. I hope Knott's learns this too - and
returns to it roots sooner rather than later. I love roller coasters
as much as the next guy, but Knott's needs to maintain a careful
balance as to not turn into Magic Mountain south. It's easy to
forget that Knott's under the Knott family was not free from
problems or financial constraints. Anyone who rode Windjammer
can tell you that. Jaguar was built with money gained from
selling off Knott's famous line of jams and jellies, and GhostRider
was literally a last-ditch effort to increase revenue at the park.
The beloved Haunted Shack fell into disrepair long before Cedar Fair
came to the neighborhood, leading to the decision to tear it out.
Besides Cedar Fair, Disney and Universal were also vying to purchase
Knott's. Without an influx of cash, we might now be looking at
condos at the corner of Beach and La Palma.
The clientele issues at
Knott's are not new, but
it is more noticeable now as the park gets
more popular. When I worked there in the early 90s, before Cedar
Fair took over, Knott's still suffered from a certain element which
seemed to only come out on discount days. Yet on the flip side, I
recently visited the Farm on a regular weekday and found lines to be
short, and the park populated with a much higher percentage of
families vs. rowdy teens and other undesirables. It was truly
the kind of park that you and your friends would be proud of.
Regarding GhostRider - even though the ride used to run with three
trains, it is very difficult to do so, and doing so was VERY hard on
the brake system leading into the station. The trains often stacked,
and the capacity wasn't too different than capacity with two trains.
Food service has always been a problem, especially on the most
crowded days. And just like any other company, Knott's hires from
the local population, which, in my opinion, has not had an upsurge
of quality over the last decade or so.
Overall, I think Cedar Fair is doing well with Knott's. They are
reacting to the market and building attractions accordingly.
However, I think there room to learn about the local population and
the kind of crowd that will come out on discount days. I would love
to see Knott's eliminate discounts all together, or at least reduce
them greatly. There must be an ability to look past this quarter's
income statements and think about what is good for Knott's in the
long run. But, Cedar Fair is a publicly traded company, and the
current trend with publicly traded companies is to bow to the alter
of maximum short-term profits. I believe that Cedar Fair truly does
have Knott's best interests in mind for the long term.
Remember, the own and operate many parks back east which are full of
history and are near and dear to the families out there.
Despite the success of Knott's and these well-intended plans, the
heavy crowds of southern California sometimes get in the way instead
of enhance the environment. It's truly a mixed blessing.
Thank you again, for the
email.
-Bob Bob-
Thanks for the response.
My real disappointment with Knott’s was with how dirty it was. The
rides, the queue lines, etc.... I took photos of how soiled and
dirty the waiting areas were because I was so amazed. Having just
been to Universal a few weeks prior and Disneyland the day after and
seeing how immaculately clean those parks were, there is no excuse
for Knott’s to look like this. It never did before. I also
understand that hiring 16 year olds to staff and run a business is
hard, but Disney and Universal seem to find employees that are
friendly and care about the guests experience, Knott's is not that
way.
I do agree Cedar Fair has brought in some exciting rides. Sierra
Sidewinder was awesome, so is Silver Bullet. I am looking forward to
Pony Express as well. The Snoopy Christmas Show was awesome.
I do applaud Cedar Fair for offering a "thank you" to local law
enforcement, etc... and realize that the economy isn't the greatest,
so filling the park any way possible is a smart business move, but
it does negatively effect those that made vacation plans to go there
specifically. We went to Disneyland/DCA the day after Knott’s and
never waited more than 10-15 minutes for anything - Knott’s was by
far more crowded. More people (even if coming in for free) means
more $10 parking charges, $5 pretzels, etc....
I rant and rave, but Knott's has always been a favorite park of
mine. I guess I will give it one more try.... but they are on thin
ice!!! LOL
I think I will write Cedar Fair and let them know about my past
three or four trips to Knott’s... it was much worse than I briefly
told you about in this letter.
Thanks again for the site, and the e-mail!
****
Bruce sent in these memories of Knott's...
I actually think that Cedar Fair has
done a very good job of keeping a lot of the Ghost Town around and
adding the new stuff that is needed to draw the younger crowd in.
The problem here is the same thing that Disney runs into with its
incredible fan base for the Theme Parks, especially Disneyland. I
have been going there since Opening Day, and I am a Disneyland geek.
But I also reason that if they are to stay in business, change is a
necessary evil. I do not want either Disneyland or Knott’s turn into
a museum that cannot grow and expand. It's just part of life. We all
grow up and change, the Parks need that as well. I am always
disappointed when some favorite show, ride, attraction or whatever
has to leave to make room for the new. I was very sad when the
Haunted Shack was taken out. I had been going through that shack
since I was old enough to go, and never could figure out how is was
done. Sometimes I am glad a ride has been removed. Take the Skyway
at Disneyland. To me, it was a monstrosity that ruined the sight
lines, made for a horrible "Show" as when you went over Fantasyland
you could see the "Castle" was just a big building with a flat
tarred roof with big air conditioning units on top. It ruined the
whole idea of a Castle being there. And after the took it out, all
those huge spotlights that kept Fantasyland lit up so much that it
was like daytime. When it was gone, and the big lights removed, you
could really see how beautiful and just real looking Fantasyland was
at night with all those softly glowing, many colored lights. I
remember several things from the old days at Knott’s that I miss. I
really was upset when they moved the church to make room for a new
coaster. At least it was move intact and has been reopened, but it
really belongs at Knott’s by the lake. There is something about that
church not being right there were it had been for so many years,
that the soul of the Park has gone. I know that Cedar Fair is a
Coaster Park operator and they want to compete with Magic Mountain
for the thrill riders. So be it I guess. But I miss the old rides as
well. Berry Tales. The dinosaur thing. The wonderful shows that used
to be done in the John Wayne Theater. I was also very upset when
they had to redo the old building in Ghost Town and didn't bother to
redo the Wagon Train show as well. I don't care how low tech it was,
it was an inspiring story about our history, and now it's gone.
I have a story from when I was really young and we went to the Park
every summer. I was about 9 I think. I was going through Ghost Town
and there was this old white haired lady sitting on the front porch
of a wooden house playing a Zither. I was fascinated by this (I had
never seen one before) and sat on the porch for an hour, went to
lunch with my parents, left them and went back and spent the rest of
the afternoon talking to her and finding out that the house was the
house she grew up in. The Knott’s had it moved into the Park and she
helped them fix it so it was exactly like it was when she lived
there as a little girl. I don't know what it was about all this, but
I was just enchanted by all of it. For many years after that
whenever we went to Knott’s, that was immediately the first place I
went, and it was so comforting to see her sitting there and I would
run up and she would see me coming and stop, stand and I got a big
hug from Granny! Year after year, and then I was a teenager, no
longer going to Knott’s that often. I went several years after not
going, and walked over to that old house. I knew as I got closer
that she would no longer be there, and I was right. The front porch
was empty, but the house and the interior where still there. I went
to the office and asked after her. She had passed on a couple of
years earlier. It was like a family member had gone. I went back to
the house and spent an hour just sitting there crying. I couldn't
help it. This is something that happened when I was nine. I am now
65. She must have been 90 something when I first met her and I know
they told me she was over 100 when she passed. That memory has
stayed with me all these years. Even the many strange and exiting
things that have happened to me at Disneyland have not had the
impact that wonderful old lady had on me, as a kid and as a
teenager. I probably learned more about the History of the early
days during the Gold Rush than I ever did sitting is school and
reading a book than I did from her. And I think I also learned a lot
about who I was as well.
Bruce (AKA Lost Boy)
Hi, Bruce. What a great story. Emails like
yours are what I like best about having Bear-ytales back online. So
many people have incredible memories of Knott's.
Knott's isn't what it used to be, for better or for worse. I miss
the Soap Box racers, but am glad Cedar Fair replaced Windjammer with
Xcelerator. The Soap Box ride system was so old that parts couldn't
be found anymore. Same with the parachute sky jump. I dearly miss
the Haunted Shack, but a variety of factors lead to its closure. Not
the least of which is the ADA laws. Taking it out was not a decision
that Cedar Fair made lightly. They understand the history of Knott's
and where they can, the really put money into preserving that
history. Case in point - when CF first came on board, one of the
first projects was a complete overhaul of Independence Hall. It was
a lot of money to spend on a free exhibit.
You're correct that without Cedar Fair, or another company's
backing, the farm would not have survived. The Knott family was
looking at Disney and Universal as well as Cedar Fair, but I know
they made the best choice with CF. Disney's plans for Knott's were
ambitious and very impressive, but it would have really changed the
face of Knott's. I don't even want to think what Universal would
have done with the place. Cedar Fair runs regional parks throughout
the country and is really the right fit for a park like Knott's.
-Bob |
