A temporary logjam is Knott enough to spoil the opening festivities for this theme park’s Boardwalk expansion & its newly enhanced Timber Mountain Log Ride

Shelly Valladolid

11 years ago

So how did yesterday’s media event at Knott’s Berry Farm go? Well, that kind of depends on whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist. Are you the type of person who sees the glass half-empty or half-full? Or — in this particular case — the Timber Mountain Log Ride flume as half-empty or half-full?

Tell you what: Let’s start off by talking about the portion of Thursday’s event that went off without a hitch. And that was the official opening of the newly expanded version of this theme park’s Boardwalk area.

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

Pop culture guru & author Charles Phoenix served as that morning’s master of ceremonies. Resplendent in his Boysenberry-print suit, Charles welcomed the public & members of the press to this 9 a.m. ceremony. Which was celebrating the addition of three new rides to the property that (quoting Mr. Phoenix now) started out as ” … a break-through boysenberry farm which blossomed into America’s greatest roadside attraction and then blossomed again into the world-class family theme park destination extravaganza extraordinaire that it is today.”

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

Then Charles welcomed to the stage Raffi Kaprelyan, General Manager of the Knott’s Berry Farm. Who talked about the latest additions to this theme park: the Coast Rider, the Surfside Gliders and the Pacific Scrambler. Saying that ” … I think you’ll all agree that — thanks to our creative team at Knott’s — this area makes you feel like you’ve been walking along a seaside boardwalk.”

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

And what do you find along a seaside boardwalk? Saltwater taffy. Which is why — when it came time for Buena Park City Manager Jim Vanderpool to cut the ceremonial ribbon — instead of a ribbon, Knott’s provided Vanderpool with an immense piece of Boysenberry-colored taffy to cut through instead.

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

After the cutting of the candy, it was then time to head over to the Timber Mountain Log Ride …

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

… where — in spite of all the live entertainment that was going on in & around Calico Square (including one really kick-ass bluegrass band) …

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

… one couldn’t help but notice that there wasn’t actually any water flowing through Knott’s famed flume ride. Which originally opened to the public back in July of 1969 …

… with the then-22 year-old Tony Baxter (center right in the photograph below), theme park enthusiast and future Imagineer, in attendance.

Anyway … Getting back to the re-opening of Timber Mountain Log Ride now: As Charles took to the stage again, Mr. Phoenix had to acknowledge the obvious. “As you guys may have noticed, the water isn’t quite in there yet. The Log Ride’s not going to be ready ’til a little while later. But — as we know — all great things are worth waiting for.”

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

With that, Charles welcomed Beth Swift, the Mayor of Buena Park, to the stage. Who then reminisced about how ” … way back in 1969 when this Log Ride first opened, I was working here (at Knott’s). I was a college kid working over in the Indian Village, which is no more. But selling souvenirs to the tourists coming in, it was a great place to work. But the day of the Log Ride opening, (the theme park) was amazingly packed. I had never seen so many people. And the big event (was) not only the Log Ride but having John Wayne, the famous actor, here.”

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

And speaking of the Duke … John Wayne’s son, Ethan (who was there with his Dad back in July of 1969 to take part in the original dedication ceremony for Timber Mountain Log Ride) also took part in Thursday’s re-opening ceremony for this Knott’s Berry Farm favorite. And as Charles held up a photograph of John Wayne & son at the attraction’s original opening ceremony, Ethan — after commenting on how hot it was — said “I want to get on this ride today as bad as I did back then.”

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

But alas it was not to be. Continual technical problems kept the Timber Mountain Log Ride from actually running on this attraction’s official re-opening date, May 30th. It wouldn’t be ’til the following morning — Friday, May 31st — that visitors to Knott’s Berry Farm would then finally get the chance to experience this radically reimagined flume ride with its new animatronics that the wizards at Garner Holt provided.

Now I know that it’s not professional for reporters to pout …

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

… So I took some solace in being able to tour that temporary Timber Mountain Log Ride historic exhibit which Knott’s has set up inside of this theme park. Which is where I got to see the original model of this flume ride that Bud Hurlbut built to help sell Walter Knott on this project.

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

And looking at all of the great detail that Bud squeezed into this model made me all the more determined to return to Knott’s Berry Farm very, very soon so that I can then ride the newly enhanced version of Timber Mountain Log Ride.

Photo by Teresa Whitmore

UPDATE: Which is why I decided to go back to Buena Park on Friday, May 31st. Which — as it turns out — was a very smart move. Because the revamped version of Timber Mountain Log Ride is an absolute delight. A perfect balance between the new & the old. Which makes this Knott’s Berry favorite a must-see the very next time you’re in this theme park.

Which brings me to my next question: Given that Cedar Fair freshened up this theme park’s Ghost Town section back in 2012 and just gave Timber Mountain a makeover, what’s the next part of Knott’s Berry Farm slated to receive some TLC?

Well, if what Matt Ouimet (i.e. Cedar Fair’s CEO) told the guys at Season Pass Podcast back in March is true, there are a couple of ideas on the table right now. One is to built a new dark ride in the old Roaring ’20’s area show building that used to house “Knott’s Bear-y Tales” & “Kingdom of the Dinosaurs” …

… while the other possibility calls for this theme park’s Calico Mine Train ride to receive the same sort of enhanced theming & animatronic upgrades that Timber Mountain Log just got.

So if you had your druthers, which proposed theme park enhancement project would you prefer to see Knott’s go forward with in 2013 & beyond?

Your thoughts?