Knott's Berry Farm - The "B" Ticket Part 3

If you missed part 2 of this series, you can find it here (link).

Today, part 3 will take us from 1979 to 1981. From some point after June 1981 Knott’s went to a “Password” unlimited ride system. I don’t know the exact date of this switch, if anyone has information please pass it on. (Same thing with Disneyland. Although I can pin-point that date in 1982 a little closer – future post alert).

From April 1979 this Child “B” ticket actually has no changes from the May 1978 Adult “B” ticket in part 2, but this “orange” Globe Paper is so vivid I just had to post it.






March 1980 has a new attraction on in its Roaring 20’s section; “Wacky Soap Box Racer (Summer 1980)”. Missing and not on any other ticket: Independence Hall and Henry’s Auto Livery. Independence Hall is still there; maybe it went to free admission at this point? “Henry’s Auto Livery” is this when it was removed?








On the Knott’s “A” ticket post (link) I was not very kind to the “Wacky Racer” or it’s first incarnation the “Motor Cycle Chase”. Well, after doing a little more research, maybe I was wrong. I never rode the “Wacky” version, but according to Rollercoaster Database, the “Motorcycle” version went 40 mph! The “Wacky” version was slowed to 30 mph. Both much faster than I thought. Here are some Wacky guests having a great race!





This attraction had an odd track system and cycles or racers. It’s kind of a “monorail” with the smaller lower rail keeping the whole thing upright. Check out more photos on the Rollercoaster Database website (link).





I rode Motorcycle Chase when it was brand new. I swear it seemed slow and kind of boring. Maybe I was traumatized because I had just rode the “Parachute Sky Jump” and almost fainted, twice!





Fiesta Village gets a new attraction on this December 1980 "B" ticket; The “Dragon Swing”. This ride is still at Knott’s today, or at least it’s on Knott's website (link).







The Dragon Swing in full swing!





December 1980 is also when Knott’s started to put the date codes on the tickets themselves, something Disneyland never did. Here is the back of the December 1980 “B” ticket above, the bottom left corner has “8012”. They started this a little late in the ticket game don’t you think?







Last of the line, this March 1981 Child “B” ticket has only one attraction change from December 1980. The Whirlwind is being renamed “Greased Lightning – Open Summer ‘81". Same ride, new theme.








March 1981's other change is when Knott’s downsized the tickets, Disneyland did this in 1974. Shown for size comparison: Top – March 1981 / Bottom – April 1979.







And last for today, a nice “Welcome” brochure. It’s not dated, but I would put it around 1981.












Tomorrow: Where is this slogan from: “'Love to fly and it shows”

More Knott’s Berry Farm Maps & Sunday Bonus

If you missed the Knott’s Berry Farm Map Comparison Post from earlier in the week, you can see it here (link). Today's post is technically part two.

Today we have 5 great map scans that were donated to the blog. This is so exciting to be pulling this information together from various sources. This is at the core of why I wanted to start this blog.

Christopher Merritt sent me the first three scans on today’s post. Christopher has a new Knott’s book coming out soon that I can’t wait to read!

A 1971 large size souvenir "fun" map by Paul Butler.

Another “fun” map, this one is from 1979 and by Bob Bates. I really like the art work on this one, the boarder is so "fun" to look at.





“For extra fun, here's a map of the long lost Jungle Island drawn by Robin Hall just prior to its demolition.” WOW, now that's rare! Thanks Christopher!





Chris Jepsen over at “O.C. Historical Roundup” (link) donated these next two rare scans from the Orange County Archive (link) a place I plan to visit soon! Thanks for the maps Chris!

From Chris “I think the attached 1953 map may not have actually been released. Note that edits are faintly visible on the street names. (They got Grand and Hwy 39 mixed up.)” – Full Map Scan (link)






Halloween 1976. Did you know “Knott’s Halloween Haunt” started in 1973? I sure didn’t. Check out the “history” tab on this neat website: http://www.ultimatehaunt.com/. - Full Map Scan (link)





Did you notice the Knott’s Bicentennial Logo on the 1976 map above? It’s also featured on the Independence Hall page of the 1976 Souvenir Guide book at the end of this post. This logo looks great, it’s official and classy.





Now as promised on Monday’s Knott’s “B” ticket post (link) today's Sunday Bonus is the entire “Knott’s Souvenir Edition” guide book. TRUST ME, this has got to be the finest guide/magazine that Knott’s ever put together. It’s got tons of original photo’s that are outstanding, be sure to checkout the food sections near the end, yummy....

The text is an easy ready and very informative. IMHO, this guide captures Knott’s at its finest hour. It still had all the great original charm and attractions, plus so many new and exiting things; this was a fun time to be at Knott’s. 36 all color pages cover to cover, this full "magazine size" guide makes for a big PDF file, well worth the download I guarantee it!

Knott’s Souvenir Edition Guide Book 1976 (93mb)

What? You haven’t had enough Knott’s yet???? Tomorrow: Knott's Berry Farm - The "B" Ticket Part 3.

Find Out What's Gotten Into The New Matterhorn

“Find out what’s gotten into the New Matterhorn” It really was a great upgrade; I haven’t heard too many people that beg for the “old” version to be put back.

Gate Flyer from September 3-9, 1978.






Main Street Electrical Parade, Count Basie, The New Mousketeers, “Magnificent Music ‘N’ Motion Machine” (see back page below for details of this disco dream) and so much more entertainment! What was “Kids of the Kingdom” all about?





Facts & Features:





“A summertime show you’ll never forget” Anyone remember?





Here is your guide complete guide in PDF format for your visit to 1978. Enjoy.

Disneyland Guide Book Fall/Winter 1978-79 (21mb)






Tomorrow is Knott’s Bonus Sunday!

What's gotten into the Matterhorn at Disneyland?

Mickey sure looks apologetic on this 1978 “Admit One” ticket. He’s got his sad face on and his hands are out; even his tail is tucked behind his shoe… Expiring December 15, 1978, this ticket was to make up for the Matterhorn being closed for a major refurbishment and update.

From MousePlanet.com: “The publicity for the revised Matterhorn centered around "something has gotten into the Matterhorn." The television commercial started with a fog-shrouded Matterhorn, and then it showed different glimpses of the new icy blue cave areas inside. "What's gotten into the Matterhorn at Disneyland? Glistening crystal ice caverns, howling winter storms… and something else." At this point you saw the two glowing eyes of the abominable snowman and heard his echoing growl. Then the commercial ended with a view of the Matterhorn through the fog again and the words, "The New Matterhorn…It could only happen at Disneyland.” Wouldn't it be cool to see this commercial?

It looks like the “New” Matterhorn took longer than expected. I’ve tried before to look into why there was a delay but I couldn’t find anything and I still can’t. I think the reason I can’t find anything on the web was explained very eloquently in a post at “Disneyland Nomenclature” (link). It’s all about “Folksonomies” (also known as collaborative tagging, social classification, social indexing, and social tagging). Apparently no one has tagged this subject.

To me there is a subtle irony with this ticket. Disneyland gave you this ticket because you (the guest) must have been expecting the New Matterhorn to be open (all those ads!). This ticket would “Admit One” to Disneyland. I guess the intent was that the Matterhorn would be open at a later date. But this ticket only gets you thru the front gate in 1978, you will still have to purchase an “E” ticket for the "New" Matterhorn!






The cover from the Fall/Winter 1978-79 guide book. The guide is effective September 10, 1978, The “New” Matterhorn must have been open for business by then. Check back this weekend for the entire guide book.





And last, I did make it to the Park today. It was a little cloudy but no rain and plenty of sunshine too. I found this neat little spot over by the lagoon, “Fantasyland” Autopia and the Matterhorn. I call this area “Three Fences” Check out the different styles! The left section is OLD and is only about 15 feet long, it's welded to a newer (late 90's?) black section. The green fence on the right looks 2007.

Come back this weekend; we'll have the Guide book above and more Knott's Maps!! And as promised on Monday's post (link) The Complete 1975/76 Knott's Souvenir Guide - this book is incredible!!

Disneyland Parking Tickets - Part 2

Before taking a second look at old Disneyland Parking Tickets, maybe check out the first parking ticket post here (link).

This parking ticket is interesting. "Good Only Thru Jan. 2, 1966" I wonder what the starting date was? "Delco-Remy" General Motors electrical component division, maybe this was part of the "Magic Kingdom Club" program? (Side note: There is a big multi-post coming soon on the "Club") Punched "void", I don't think it was voided because it was used, perhaps it's one of those "behind the scenes" tickets that was saved for some reason?






From 1986, this looks like a "free parking ticket". "Complimentary Parking Receipt" - I guess technically this is not the "free ticket" as the "free ticket" must have been exchanged for this ticket.





This is the ticket in 1985 that Disneyland would exchange for $2 out of your wallet or purse. Don't forget to mark you parking location...





"The Lion King - Parking Lots" That's the sequel that went straight to DVD!





This is that period when the old lot was closed, but the new parking structure wasn't finished yet. I remember seeing the construction walls for up around the "old" parking lot and thinking "WOW, this must be the new Westcot I've heard about" NOT!!!





I just got news I have to work in Orange County this morning. Hmmmmm, if the skies are clear I'm going to the park for lunch! Thank goodness my AP covers PARKING!

Knott’s Berry Farm Map Comparison Post

This post is BIG and has many links to high resolution scans. Eleven Knott’s Berry Farm maps from 1949 to 2005, there are some gaps in time; any and all contributions of the missing years (or the missing decade of the 90’s) will be gladly accepted.

Blogspot seems to compress or shrink the scans that are uploaded. Most of these maps were scanned at 300 or 400 DPI. The original maps are at least 8” by 12” with some twice that size or more, the true scanned file sizes are around 4 to 8mb each. Blogspot does an OK job, but I think something gets lost in the conversion.

Posted with each map is a link to the full high resolution file - should you want to examine them in super high clarity. Most of these maps have a “back side” that I scanned at high resolution too. Those links are also listed with each map.

A world of thanks to two very helps folks. Richard over at "Viewliner Ltd." (link) was gracious enough to donate his talents to stitch together the 1950 and 1953 maps - Wow these are seamless! The 1949 and 1979 map pictures are courtesy of Jay over at "The Knott’s Berry Farm Museum Blog" – check out his incredible Knott’s collection (link). Thanks Richard and Jay!

All right, let’s get started. For a little frame of reference, here is the only aerial photo of “old” Knott’s that I could find. It’s oriented sideways compared to all the maps, but you get a good idea of how rural the place was. “Year unknown” I would guess early 1950’s. Maybe you can date it based on some of the maps in this post.

For these maps I’ll be quiet and just tell you the year and give you the links.

1949: Full Map Scan (link)

1950: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1955?: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1962: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1966: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1970: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1973: Full Map Scan (link) - back side A (link)and back side B (link)






1977: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link)






1979: Full Map Scan (link)






1986: Full Map Scan (link) - Back side (link) Thanks to Chris Jepsen for the correct year...






2005: Full Map Scan (link)




WOW! If you have spare time, read the backs of some of the older maps - Who knew you could watch wool socks being made on a "very old British Rib Sock machine, it's quite a treat and the socks are lovely too"...

I hope you enjoyed this Knott's Map post, the farm has changed so much it's barely recognizable today. Disneyland almost seems untouched compared to Knott's. Maybe the It's a Small World change doesn't seem so evil after all when you contrast it to the wholesale obliteration that has occurred at Knott's over the decades....

One Ticket for April 1

Not much of a post today, in fact, all you get is this lonely "B" ticket.....

On the glorious "Castle & Star" paper, this would make it late 1966 or early 1967.

I was going to do a funny "April fools day" post, but frankly I am just not that creative..... If you want to see more "B" tickets, check out my prior post here (link)





Tune in tomorrow for the Knott's High Resolution Map Blowout! 1949 to 2005 WOW - I hope you have a fast Internet connection, there are about 100 MB of maps that will load on tomorrows post, please be patient...

Knott's Berry Farm - The "B" Ticket part 2

If you missed part 1 of this series, you can find it here; Knott’s Berry Farm – The “B” ticket part 1

Part 2 of the “B” ticket series will cover 1975 thru 1978, four years that saw many changes at the Farm. As you may recall, from the late 1960’s thru 1974, Knott’s only had the “A” and the “B” ticket.

The Knott’s family was getting very ambitious in the early 1970’s, new themed area’s and many of new attractions. As proof of this rapid expansion the ticket book went from 1974 having A-B to 1975 having A-B-C-D. The entire look of the tickets also changed and they sure look at lot more like the kind the mouse uses….

Due to the fact that there are now 4 ticket type’s versus just 2, the attraction lineup on this May 1975 “B” ticket is almost completely changed from 1974. The only attraction remaining on the “B ticket is the “Fiesta Wheel” in Fiesta Village.

From Ghost Town the “Haunted Shack” and “Calico Railroad” have moved in, down from the “A” ticket. In the “also usable” category; “Independence Hall”, “Henry’s Auto Livery” and “Burro Trail” all moved down from the 1974 “A” ticket as well.

The New Roaring 20’s land had two new attractions. The “Whirlwind” a Himalaya ride, later renamed “Greased Lightning” (you’ll see on a “B’ ticket in part three) And “Wheeler Dealer” bumper cars that I believe are still at Knott’s.






May 1976 finds two more new attractions for Knott’s Roaring 20’s land. “Propeller Spin” this is a “Roundup” (link) And “Loop Trainer Flying Machine” a “Schwarzkopf Enterprise” (link) both of these spinning wonders were removed in 1989. "Whirlwind" and "Wheeler Dealer" now show “min. height required” don’t panic, this printed requirement will be gone in 1978!





This Child “B” is from May 1977. Missing is the “Propeller Spin”, moved down to the “C” ticket already. See more info about this ticket below.




New on the above 1977 “B” ticket was the “Gasoline Alley Auto Race”. This is one of the many “mini-car” rides at Knott’s. Here from a post by Chris Merritt on Gorilla’s Don’t Blog This is what Chris had to say about this ride:

“Lastly, for those of you mentioning the Motorcycle Chase/Wacky Soap Box Racers area - you are describing yet a fourth (!) little car attraction - the 'Gasoline Alley Auto Race' little car ride, which would be..."Intertwined with the Motorcycle Chase … Gasoline Alley Auto Race featuring antique gasoline-powered cars popularized in the 20s era. The cars are the first of their kind to be powered by Honda engines. Cyclists and drivers will sometimes race side by side over the course which resemble a 1920s countryside with berry fields, fishing ponds, hobo camps, and wind their way through the three-level roadway interchange – making it one of the most exciting race layouts in the country…" These little cars were meant to be Stutz Bearcats, not Model T's.”

And Chris had a link to this picture, thanks Chris!






Last ticket for today, from May 1978. First notice its 65 cents now, darn inflation of the late 1970’s! “Knott’s Bear-y Tales” had moved down the country road from the “A” ticket. See a GREAT post about Knott’s Bear-y Tales at Outside the Berm (link). Also added to Fiesta Village was the Cinema Grande removed in the 1980’s.





Back in the days when everyone gave out matches!





Even the matches were promoting the new Roaring 20’s area!





Here is the cover of an amazing Knott’s Souvenir Edition guide book from 1975/76. This is the finest one of these I have every seen. 35 large pages, all color, zillions of photo’s, great text, nice clean layout, outstanding overall. I will have the entire guide available this coming Bonus Sunday.




Knott’s fans be sure to check back later this week. We will be having a Knott’s Map Comparison Blowout! Eight high resolution scans of the LARGE maps from 1951 thru 2005.