Knott's Sky Jump, March 1977
Here are a couple of fun slides featuring aerial views of Knott's Berry Farm taken in 1977. I don't know very much Knott's history, but I am guessing that the "Sky Jump" with its plummeting parachutes, debuted with the introduction of the "Roaring 20's" in 1975. I never experienced the Sky Jump (is it still there?), but some of the other photos in this lot make it appear to be pretty freaky to those who don't like heights.
Anyway, besides the view of Buena Park some 30 years ago (Hey! There's a mall! And a Sears!) we get a pretty good look at Fiesta Village. But most of all, there's a neat bird's-eye view of the Timber Mountain Log Ride. That huge show building certainly dominates the landscape! If you look real close, you can even see one of the floating logs disappearing into a cavern.
Now if we look just a bit to the right, you can see Independence Hall in the distance, and some of the old Ghost Town too (I never realized that the Ghost Town was made up of so many buildings!). You can even see the locomotive, the Church of Reflections, and to the extreme right, you can just see a chunk of the mountain that the Calico Mine Train rode through.
8 comments:
The Sky Jump, sadly, is gone. But this was the coolest era of Knotts for me, purely for nostalgic reasons. The Soap Box Derby attraction was a childhood favorite, and this ride was the source of many a fond memories.
I love your postings!
Are you trying to give me a heart attack! I rode that "thing" on my 11th birthday (peer pressure) and it’s the only time in my life I almost fainted. It used to go up TWO times, I screamed for them to stop my "cage of death" after the first run, never even looked at it again. Yup, that’s the view from up there, WAY too high.
The Parachute and cages are gone, but the tower and "Sky Cabin" are still there, in fact, the Sky Cabin got stuck about a 1/4 of the way up last week, the fire department had to rescue everyone. Yet another reason to never ride it! At one time I believe the tower was the tallest structure in Buena Park.
Thanks for the memories!
You were expected to eat the Fiesta Village Chili before you rode this ride. It was said to enhance the experience of the spectators below.
Yep: Ditto what VDT said. I rode it just once too, that was enough. BTW, there was no solid floor in the baskets either, just an open catwalk platform so you got to feel the air blowing over you as you fell to your death -- twice.
PS - Looking up at the towerhead is just as bad as looking down. Maybe the catwalk floors are really there to reduce the time it takes to "hose down" the drop cage after a guest has a memorable event at 150 feet in the beautiful skies over Buena Park.
I loved the Sky Jump, even though heights sometimes bother me. Somehow I always felt like the cables would hold. The ride opened with the rest of Knott's Airfield, in 1976, and closed in 1999.
The Buena Park Mall - although heavily remodeled - is still standing, including Sears.
In the second photo you can just barely see the Anaheim Convention Center and Disneyland Hotel in the distance.
The Sky Jump wasn't removed in 1999, it said that the ride is still operating after its renovation in January 2000. The parachute are still there, you know.
It wasn't renovated in 2000, it really was removed at the end of 1999 because of one thing...SUPREME SCREAM!
I'm pretty sure Sky Jump was removed in 1997. It was not renovated. It is not there anymore. It was attached to Sky Cabin, which still stands and operates and has been repainted, but the parachutes are long gone. Supreme Scream opened in 1999 I think, and it makes sense to not have 2 rides that essentially do the same thing.
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