This first image is a great look at the Sky Jump. I've gotta hand it to those two old ladies, they are braver than me. Look how casually that one is waving at us. That looks way scarier than the Tower of Terror. As you can see, the ladies are not strapped in at all - no safety belts or harnesses. I'm sure it was all perfectly safe - - but YEESH!
Here's a kind of fun view, looking down - WAY down - on the famous Corkscrew roller coaster. It was the first coaster to turn you upside-down (twice!), and it had only opened about two years before this photo was taken.
Here's a better view of the Corkscrew, you can see one of the trains that has just gone through the thrilling double helix. If you look very carefully to the left, you can see part of the Calico Mine Train (from the back), a small portion of the Ghost Town, and even part of the RR Train. Any idea what was in that semi-circular building in the middle (towards the top)? Perhaps it's the John Wayne Theater?
This is very similar to some of the views from the first pictures from this series; sorry! Hey, I think I see an IHOP in the distance! Mmmm, pancakes with butter and syrup. You can just see a smidgen of the venerable Log Ride to the right.
Stay tuned for part three - same bat time, same bat channel.
I remember being next in line for the Sky Jump one day back in the late '70s. Two young boys rode up in the basket but their combined weight was too little to trigger the drop mechanism. They were stuck at the top.
ReplyDeleteThe ride operators dragged out a thick vinyl covered foam cushion about 4' tall and placed it where the boys basket would touch down - one way or the other. Then one operator rode up in the adjacent basket and yelled at them to jump up and down. Slowly, about a foot or two at a time, they descended to the ground.
Then it was our turn in the same basket. Witnessing what had happened added to the normal apprehension of the ride, but it performed normally and we lived to tell about it.
What a great place.
ReplyDeleteIHOP?! When you can eat at Mrs. Knotts? Julian Ham 'n' Eggs, real imperfectly sized but perfectly delish Buttermilk Biscuits in all their glorious warmth tucked in keeping nice and soft and hot under a towel. Waiting for Knotts Boysenberry Preserves! Nope, don't even see any IHOP...
It must be something I picked up at this blog, but among the dizzying view I notice a row of what looks like it may be posters on the wall near that theater near the Corkscrew. If they are, what were those posters of?
I'm used to the Corkscrew being blue, not white. But white is all right! I think it was also one of the first free-standing metal coasters? As opposed to the first with metal tracks being enclosed (the Matterhorn).
Oh my gosh, I can't stand it! These are absolutely incredible! These are the pics that I wish that I would have taken on the Sky Jump before they shut it down.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe how clear the shots are. Yes, that is the John Wayne Theater, but at this point it had already been renamed the Goodtime Theater. You can also see Jeffries Barn behind it. Chiana, I don't remember what those posters were for on the side of the Buffalo Nickel Arcade.
I love how you can see the shadow of the Sky Jump tower and the Sky Cabin....and even one parachute on the ground in that last pic. Yes, that is an IHOP which is still there today (I think there was an X-rated Theater next door to it at the time this was taken), and you can also see the Alligator Farm and the Cottage Pottery shop on the corner where Claim Jumpers is today.
That last pic also shows two ticket booths located on La Palma Ave, which was one of two additional park entrances that they had at the time (the other was located next to the Wheeler Dealer Bumper Cars.)
To me, the Roaring 20's and Airfield area of the park is Knott's "Tomorrowland," meaning that it was perfect the way that it was and that they have only ruined it in all their failed attempts to improve upon it....but hey, that's just my opinion!
P.S. Graffer, thanks for that info. Sometimes while I was walking to work, I would see a basket stuck up there at the top and another with a ride operator talking to them. I always wondered what was being said and just thought they were up there trying to reassure them. I didn't know that it took jumping up and down to get the basket to release. Too scary! Next summer we will all be able to ride "swings" in the same space where the parachutes operated (actually ten stories higher). I wonder if they will ever get "stuck" at the top?
ReplyDeleteBravo, David!...I am absolutely blown away by these sensational pics! This 200-ft tower will soon be torn down----but replaced by a 300-ft tower that will have a ride at the top where people sit with their feet dangling out as they swing around the tower at a 45 degree angle (its supposed to be ready by next summer). The IHOP is still there on Beach Blvd just north of La Palma Ave (and yes, there was a porno theater nearby). Rich
ReplyDeleteYa, what everybody said! OK, I won't take the easy way out...
ReplyDeleteWhen I first looked at these photos, I immediately got that frenzied, scared for my life feeling that I always get when I am up someplace high. How I ever rode this thing is beyond me. I know I did it, more than once! But it almost feels like it was my evil twin that rode it, not me. Or wait...was it my good twin and I'm the evil twin? Whatever...
They are incredible photos and I wish I had been the one to take them!!! WOW.
The views are spectacular and I know I will be looking at these over and over today.
Great Aerials Major!
ReplyDeleteThese images date from a period when I couldn't visit, so none of it makes sense to me, but it's fun to see everyone else enjoying them.
thanks.
JG
Fun views! It is neat to see the Corkscrew and the Wacky Soapbox Racer. The Soapbox racer was one of my favorites as a little kid.
ReplyDeleteLook at those open spaces. And a real Texaco gas station...the way I remember them. Notice the lack of traffic?? Those WERE the days.
ReplyDeleteGraffer, thanks for your awesome recollections! You'd think that if weight was an issue, that they would have insisted that at least one adult be in the basket. Or something.
ReplyDeleteChiana, I can't help it, I love pancakes. And waffles. And french toast. Meanwhile, those sure do look like posters - ENORMOUS posters. I wish I knew what they looked like up close. I'll have to leave your question about the Corkscrew up to somebody who actually knows something (unlike me).
TokyoMagic!, I'm glad you liked these. Thanks for the comments about the details I missed, including the view of the Alligator Farm!! And the two ticket booths at the La Palma entrance. Will you only be able to swing at the top of the new tower? Or will you also be able to just go up for the view like before? I wish I had been able to take "then and now" views....
Connie, JG, Andrew and Anonymous, I'm glad that these photos brought back some good memories (or "new memories in the case of JG!).
Major, it doesn't look like there will be any kind of observation car that will travel up the new tower....too bad! I wanted to ride The Sky Cabin one last time to take photos, but it has already been closed. I took a couple pics the last time I rode it (in 2007, I think) but the glass was all scratched up and smudged, so they are not great photos. Maybe I'll post then anyway in a "Farewell to the Sky Cabin" post.
ReplyDeleteSo how was Disneyland yesterday???????
They traded John Wayne for a Goodtime? For shame! :p
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic! thanks for the reply I didn't know what the Buffalo Nickel Arcade was - remember the name, nothing else.
Boy these are great views. Had to take another look! :)
So I'm off today and I'm basically doing "nothing"....except going back to these pics every so often and drooling over every detail. I just noticed that the ladies in your first pic today, can also be seen in the first pic of your "Part One" post (with their backs to us, just to the left of the dead Palm tree) They obviously knew the photographer, but they are pretty far away in that first post and aren't posing for the photographer...the loud seventies blouse on that one lady is what got my attention. Anyhoo.......
ReplyDeleteHoly smokes, these are wonderful! Despite 1990s visits and a 2009 trip to the restaurant, this is how I remember Knott's.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed at how relatively small the Calico Mine Train show building is yet how large it seems while you're riding it. What incredibly intricate ride design! I'd also never realized that that big reddish-orange building in the Roaring 20s area was actually the back of the Mine Train.
These pictures also bring back why my family liked to vacation in January and April (my school was were on the 45-15 system because of overcrowding, so we got 15 days off after every 45 days of classes, and that's when my "track" got it's early year vacations"). There's virtually no traffic and no crowds. Look at the queue for the Corkscrew - when I saw there was no line, I was surprised to see it was even running that day.
Note also how much of the development around the area was low-rise, how there's a lot of relatively open space, and how there's a lot of green. Is it still like that?
LOL Major, thank you as always. Sometimes it's memories, sometimes it's friendship.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate both.
JG
Chuck, I'm not sure if that reddish-orange building actually contains any of the Calico Mine Train ride. I'll have to ask one of the experts (TokyoMagic, any thoughts??).
ReplyDeleteI'm also not familiar enough with Buena Park as it is today as some are. It seems likely that it has been developed to the point where there is very little open space.
Yep, that building is the show building for the Mine Train ride. I saw the doors in the back open on different occasions and was always tempted to go inside....but never did, darn it!
ReplyDeleteMost of those undeveloped grassy areas were and still are overflow lots for Knott's parking.
beautiful images of the park...nice coaster, too!
ReplyDeletethey have a balloon ride now at Downtown Disney at WDW and I wanted to go but Rachel didnt, so we didnt. of course, i have been kicking myself ever since. what was i thinking!?
thanks for sharing these very cool pics ;D