Knott's 1969
I loved Knott's berry farm back in the day, but I haven't been in ages. Plus my knowledge of that park has never been much to brag about. So I'm not going to be able to add much commentary to these photos!
Say hello to "Red", we've seen her before in some pictures taken at Disneyland. She and her husband visited both parks, but I suspect that they did not do them both in one day, the way some crazy people used to. She's walking through the brand new Fiesta Village (it opened in 1969) which was constructed (according to one website) "under the supervision of daughter Marion Knott as a tribute to California's early Spanish heritage".
From these photos is appears that Fiesta Village was (is?) primarily made up of shops and dining areas, and shady plazas where you could sit and rest your weary feet. 
This pond has the look of a rustic swimming pool...and those little immobile "houseboats" look like a nice place to relax. I'm assuming that you could buy crafty items of the sort you might purchase in Mexico....pottery, sombreros, textiles, postcards, baskets, maracas, and generic Viagra. 
You could have Valerie make a silhouette portrait of you or your loved ones...it's a lost artform because it's weird.
If anybody out there has any interesting tidbits about Fiesta Village, I'd love to hear them!
7 comments:
Great images of a time period that is not usually well documented. I remember several amusement park like rides themed to Mexican themes. One was a tea cup ride but with sombrero's. Also I think a Tilt-A-Whirl with Hispanic accents.
Fantastic pictures. Brings back those good feelings. Thanks
Love these photos. Fiesta Village was a nice, peaceful area to just relax and have lunch. The boats were a good place for that.
In the third photo, the single level area of the building on the right is now where the merry-go-round sits.
Oh, and the generic Viagra always had a worm in the bottom of the bottle. Go figure.
Fiesta Village concept was created by Mairon Knott it was her idea to pay tribute to the Spanish heritage.The Knott family had the idea that if you had a good idea you would carry it all the way through to completion. originally the area was part of Ghost Town. Fiesta Village had Bud Hurlbut's rides the merry -go -round the sombrero ride the Mexican whip and the car ride.this area also housed the coin operated cars that were a part of post a month or so ago Marion Knott also created the Roaring Twenties area.
Richard
I have two memories of Fiesta Village, one from 1980, the other from 2002.
1980: Peaceful, laidback place for my parents to have some Mexican food while I rode Montezuma's Revenge.
2002: Busy area with much less effective theming, including a roller coaster going around the lake. But maybe I should feel fortunate because the Church of Reflections and Chapel by the lake were still in place and the rest of the areas diminishing theme hadn't been engulfed in yet more roller coasters...
In the early days, I loved spending time in Fiesta Village. As the years passed, they hacked it up - it was awful.
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