I'll just leave this here: How a little Disney magic got sprinkled on Knott’s new Calico River Rapids ride – Orange County Register
Some people are saying that whatever goes into knott's next will be fort themed based on the US Cavalry showing up in ghost town this year and talking about building a fort there....
DarkBeer has recovered from his illness and is a regular poster over at WDWMagic Disneyland forum. Come over and wish him well. I make special trips to Knotts the see Krazy Kurt. I'm starting to see the same faces at his shows each night.
The latest rumor is Knotts is removing Mystery Lodge because they have to lose something. Turns out it is going down for a six month referb. I think we will start to see backstage changes shortly after Haunt is finished this year.
Welp, the answer is a reworking of Knott's Berry Tales where you shoot boysenberries at the wolf in the Iron Reef building. I like that they making it a more "family" theme, but I'm expecting same ride system.
I haven't been to Knott's in years. And the last time I was there, it had been even longer since my previous visit, and I was shocked at the number of things that were missing, and the number of things that had moved. I may be in the minority here, but I actually miss the Haunted Shack. I even remember the Haunted Shack Oath: Seriously, the best part of it was watching the people who didn't understand the illusions. I could have sworn that the last time I was there, they'd gotten rid of the stagecoaches.
I have only gone twice. Once about ten years ago, and once this summer. This summer was a much more pleasant experience.
When I was much younger, before started trying to compete with DL, and before they did away with general admission, my parents and I (and/or my grandmother) went there at least once a month. When I was really little, we would often just go to the "lagoon" area on the East side of Beach Blvd (which was not gated), to ride the miniature train and the sidewheel steamboat, and possibly visit Jungle Island. We did the tour of the Independence Hall replica at least once. There used to be a seal pool outside the gate, on the West Side of Beach, and we'd stand around watching the seals, sometimes feeding them. I remember when they introduced ticket books, under the name, "Bonanza Fun Book." (which always sounded more like some sort of coloring/activity book involving the Ponderosa Ranch to me), which later upgraded to the "Super Bonanza Book" (more tickets, in four denominations instead of two). My dad and I had annual passes for about a year, at one point. I still have the accumulated gold dust from many visits to the "Pan for Gold" attraction. And many horseshoes from the blacksmith shop.
