This "A" ticket is from May 1971 and differs from the February 1970 "A" ticket only in the fact the the attractions no longer have a number next to them that corresponds to the map in the back of the ticket book. The attraction line up is the same as February 1970.
The back of the book has a whole new look that will last only 4 years. It' really just a rehash of the front of the late 1960's ticket book, but hey, dad's pipe is still cool!
Moving to September 1974, the animal farm has grazed its way down to the "B" ticket.
An "A" ticket also from September 1974, this is the "Admit on Child" version.
September 1974 will be the last Knott's ticket books to have this little map on the inside of the back cover. A large number of changes are about to occur and they wont fit on the small amount of space on these little maps.
May 1975 has an all new look to the tickets. Now they are officially copying Disneyland! The Calico Mine Tour is now just a ride. The Log ride is now the Timber Mountain Log Ride. The Calico Railroad and the Haunted Shack have moved down to the "B" ticket, along with Independence Hall, Henry's Auto Livery and The Burro trail (no longer the "Old Miner's Burro Ride") all down to the "B" ticket. They all had to move to make room for....
Two brand new rides in a new "Roaring 20's" land at Knott's for 1975. "The Corkscrew" roller coaster and "Knott's Bear-y Tales". Knott's Bear-y Tales was a favorite of mine, I went thru that attraction about 100 times in the summers of 1975 & 76!
"The Corkscrew" on the other hand scared the living daylights out of me! I got "peer-pressured" into riding it and I was in a cold sweat the whole time in line. But once I rode it I've been hooked on Roller coasters ever since.
Here is a great pair of photo's of "The Corkscrew". The first one is when it was constructed at the Arrow Development plant. The second one shows it as it was in its heyday at Knott's.
Here is a great pair of photo's of "The Corkscrew". The first one is when it was constructed at the Arrow Development plant. The second one shows it as it was in its heyday at Knott's.
This roller coaster is of historic significance, it is the first "modern" coaster to turn upside down (twice yet!) it beat Magic Mountains "Revolution by a whole year. Thankfully, this actual coaster still exists and you can ride it! It' not at Knott's, it's at Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho (link)
In place of the little map that used to be in the back of the book, now we get an ad for the "Good Time Theatre". This ad will remain here until the ticket book sales cease in the early 1980's.
The May 1975 back of the book is totally new, and very nice too if I say so myself.
What is the "Adventure Club" you must be asking? It was very similar to Disneyland "Magic Kingdom Club" (a mega post MKC series is coming in April) where corporations would get group type discounts. Here is a Adventures Club Membership Card for Lockheed Employees'. Expires December 31, 1976!
Heading into May 1976 we see that "The Corkscrew" has a minimum height required, I guess your height didn't matter in 1975? Two MORE new attractions for the "Roaring 20's" land. The famous "Parachute Jump" and the "Motor Cycle Chase"
The "Parachute Jump" is the only time in my life my knee's actually started to go weak and my hands turned white from holding the railing so hard. Too high, too out in the open, and the darn things used to go up twice!!!!!! The tower is still at Knott's but the Parachute's are thankfully gone, however the rotating observation room is still there. "Motor Cycle Chase" was a lame attempt at the old "Steeple Chase" idea, but very silly and not much fun.
A super rare "Bicentennial Bonus" free ticket to Independence Hall; only for Adventure Club members. I really like this ticket.
And last today, this is the back of the basic book (for you Non-Adventure Club members) from May 1976. I'm not so sure about the "watermelon" colors, 1976 seems more "earth tones" to me.
Wow, that was a looooong post. Fun for me, I hope for you too... I'm off to Disneyland today, so possibly no post tomorrow, but you never know...
6 comments:
That Bicentennial ticket is great. I'm amazed at the quality of rides that you could go on with a mere "A" ticket. The Log Ride, Calico Mine Ride, The Corkscrew, wow. I can't even imagine what you might ride with a "B" or "C" ticket!
Awesome stuff VDT. Great post.
I've got 2 of those Bicentennial Tickets :)
I now live down the street from Knott's, literally a few miles away.
Haven't been back to Knotts in 30 years but went yesterday with the kids. So much has changed it's incredible. I remember Montezuma's Revenge as pretty much THE attraction. And the Parachute Jump was the scariest thing I've ever been on to this day. I was hugging the bottom of that cage like there was no tomorrow.
The park looks good, it had some really terrific rides, it's amazing how far it's come.
Sad that the haunted shack is gone. Loved that thing.
Are the tickets from 1971 to 1975 worth any money
does anybody remember Wolfman Jack and the disco dancing that you could go listen to and he was live on the a.m. Raidio that was a fun weekend you could go and hang out with Wolfman Jack I believe that was in 1972-74 ??
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