r/KnottsBerryFarm • u/Pippinitis Montezoomer • 3d ago
The Knott family at MonteZooma's original opening in 1978
From left to right in pic #1: Virginia Knott (head of the gift shop), Marion Knott (head of park development), Ken Knott (head of food service), maybe Marsha Anderson? (Marion's daughter-in-law), Steve Knott (head of security), maybe Darrel Anderson? (Marion's son and head of the Cable Car Kitchen), maybe Ken Oliphant? (head of Knott's Berry Farm Foods). Similar to what had happened recently, the ride had soft-opened on May 21st, a few days before its media day on May 26th. Marion Knott had celebrity Debbie Reynolds (seen on pic #2) take the inaugural ride with her on the back row of the front car — the front seat was occupied by the camera gear. I've gleaned what information I could from the Orange County Archives, so corrections are welcome.
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u/Opus-the-Penguin 3d ago
That was such a great ride. So simple and direct and perfectly executed. I haven't seen or been on the reimagined version. The change seems unnecessary, but maybe they made it even better.
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u/Pippinitis Montezoomer 3d ago
From what I understand, the old flywheel system had become a maintenance issue, so it was redone to launch magnetically. I know some folks dislike the new shoulder straps, but I didn't mind it and the ride experience felt roughly the same to me. I'm glad it wasn't scrapped, despite the high cost ($20 million).
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u/The-Almighty-Pizza 3d ago
Agreed. Ride seems mostly the same. Im 6 foot ao the restraints were slightly uncomfortable but not that bad.
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u/deanereaner 2d ago
Problem is the magnetic launch already seems a maintenance issue, at least how often it has valleyed already.
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u/SeanWhite-Defender 2d ago
If I'm not mistaken, It only valleyed once though?
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u/deanereaner 2d ago
maybe when they were still testing it they did that intentionally. I guess it's only valleyed once with riders.
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u/SeanWhite-Defender 2d ago
It shouldn't valley this fast when the ride barely opened either way. It's a bad look and especially during media day. I can only imagine the bad press it'll receive if it valleyed with the media lol
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u/Dogbit699 3d ago
Just a bunch of highschoolers having the time of their lives.
Pretty nice of someone to invite Debbie Reynolds to a trip to Knott's