Calico River Rapids | |
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Knott's Berry Farm | |
Area | Ghost Town |
Status | Operating |
Opening date | May 26, 1988 |
General statistics | |
Type | River rapids ride |
Manufacturer | Intamin |
Designer | Garner Holt Productions, Chrestensen Design |
Duration | 4:00 |
Boats | 25 boats. Riders are arranged 6 across in a single row for a total of 6 riders per boat. |
Height restriction | 46 in (117 cm) |
Control System | Dual Allen-Bradley PLC |
Theme | Calico ghost town |
Animatronics | 20 |
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Calico River Rapids is a themed river rapids ride located at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. The ride originally opened in 1988 as Bigfoot Rapids and was originally constructed by Intamin. For the 2019 season, the ride was refurbished with a western theme to match the well-themed Ghost Town section of the park. The renovated ride opened on May 16, 2019. [1]
Calico River Rapids provides a new back story of Ghost Town and takes place during the early days of Knott's Ghost Town. Moreover, the ride's backstory provides the introduction of two new characters in the fictional town of Ghost Town, Potts and Colter. Both of these characters served as the focal background story of Ghost Town and are played as actual characters during Knott's summer Ghost Town Alive season. Calico River Rapids provides guests an experience of setting the Calico River which Potts and Colter explored leading to the discover of the Calico River Territory. [2]
The ride originally opened on May 26, 1988 as Bigfoot Rapids and was originally constructed by Intamin. The ride was formerly in an area called "Wild Water Wilderness" but was never theoretically part of the well themed Ghost Town. Bigfoot Rapids featured trees throughout its surrounding area but minimal theming. Along the ride was formerly known as Bigfoot Rapids, the ride was never themed or featured any Bigfoot appearance. [2] [3]
As there was little to no theming about bigfoot, it served to be major criticism of the attraction. The ride's age and Knott's Berry Farm commitment to returning to its theme park roots were major factors which led to the retheming of the former Bigfoot attraction. Towards the end of the 2018 season, Knott's Vice President of entertainment, Ken Parks, encouraged the park to close down the ride for extensive refurbishment and rethemed and reopened it as Calico River Rapids for the 2019 season. Knott's Berry Farm along with the efforts of Garner Holt Productions and Chrestensen Design revamped the attraction as a whole new themed experience with roughly 20 new animatronic figures as part of the extensive refurbishment, including a proper appearance of Bigfoot. [2]
The ride reopened as Calico River Rapids on May 17, 2019 to large crowds. [2] Since the ride's reopening, Calico River Rapids has been well received by park visitors in part due to its much improved theming from its previous incarnation (Bigfoot Rapids) and has become one of the park's best family rides. [1]
Walter Marvin Knott was an American farmer who founded the Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in California, introduced the Boysenberry, and made Knott's Berry Farm boysenberry preserves.
Knott's Berry Farm is a 57-acre (2,500,000 sq ft) theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Six Flags. In March 2015, it was ranked as the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America, while averaging approximately 4 million visitors per year. The park features over 40 rides, including roller coasters, family rides, dark rides, and water rides.
Calico is a ghost town and former mining town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Calico Mountains of the Mojave Desert region of Southern California, it was founded in 1881 as a silver mining town, and was later converted into a county park named Calico Ghost Town. Located off Interstate 15, it lies 3 miles (4.8 km) from Barstow and 3 miles from Yermo. Giant letters spelling CALICO are visible, from the highway, on the Calico Peaks behind it. Walter Knott purchased Calico in the 1950s, and rebuilt all but the five remaining original buildings to look as they did in the 1880s. Calico received California Historical Landmark #782, and in 2005 was proclaimed by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to be California's Silver Rush Ghost Town.
Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein, best-known for designing and constructing thrill rides and roller coasters at dozens of international theme parks, amusement parks and other establishments. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement installations". The company has corporate offices across the world, including three in Europe, three in Asia, and two in the United States.
GhostRider is a wooden roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. It is located in the Ghost Town section of the park, south of the main entrance. Manufactured by Custom Coasters International, GhostRider is the tallest and longest wooden coaster on the West Coast of the United States, measuring 4,533 feet (1,382 m) long and 118 feet (36 m) tall. The ride follows an L-shaped double out and back pattern, with a station themed to a mining building. There are three trains, each themed to a different precious metal, though only two are in use at any given time.
MonteZOOMa: The Forbidden Fortress, previously known as Montezooma’s Revenge, is a shuttle roller coaster located at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, United States. Designed by Anton Schwarzkopf, the ride opened on May 21, 1978, and is one of eight flywheel-launched units manufactured for theme parks around the world. It is also the oldest looping shuttle roller coaster still operating in its original location. The ride was closed in February 2022 for a major refurbishment and has been scheduled to re-open in 2025.
The Ghost Town & Calico Railway is a 3 ft narrow-gauge heritage railroad and amusement park attraction within Knott's Berry Farm, an amusement park located in Buena Park, California.
Grizzly River Run is a river rapids ride located at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is similar to Kali River Rapids in Disney's Animal Kingdom but distinctive as the rafts are engineered to spin as they descend chutes. The attraction's name comes from Grizzly Peak, the bear-shaped mountain that the rapids flow around. It was designed by Walt Disney Imagineering.
Xcelerator is a steel launched roller coaster located at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, United States. Manufactured by Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel, it opened in 2002 as the company's first hydraulically-launched coaster and cost $13 million to construct. Following the early demise of Windjammer Surf Racers, a dueling roller coaster that briefly operated from 1997 to 2000, Xcelerator was soon announced as its replacement. It launches to a maximum speed of 82 mph (132 km/h) in 2.3 seconds and reaches a height of 205 feet (62 m).
Log flumes are amusement rides consisting of a water flume and (artificial) hollow logs or boats. Passengers sit in the logs, which are propelled along the flume by the flow of water.
Pony Express is a steel motorbike roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. It is the first motocoaster built by Zamperla in the United States, opening on May 22, 2008. The ride features motorbike-style seating and a flywheel launch system.
Knott's Scary Farm or Knott's Halloween Haunt is a seasonal Halloween event at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. It is an event in which the theme park is transformed into "160 acres of horror", via a series of roaming monsters, terrifying mazes and 'scare zones'. As of 2010, it was said to be the first, largest and longest-running Halloween event to be held at a theme park.
Wendell "Bud" Hurlbut (1918–2011) was a designer, builder, entrepreneur, and one of the first creators of theme parks in the United States.
The history of Dreamworld dates back to the mid-1970s when John Longhurst envisioned the future theme park. After a seven-year construction period, Dreamworld officially opened to the public on 15 December 1981. Now owned by publicly listed Ardent Leisure, the park has seen many expansions, closures and replacements over its 30-year history.
The Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in Orange County, California, originated from a berry farm owned by Walter Knott (1889–1981). In the 1920s, Knott and his wife, Cordelia, sold berries, berry preserves and pies from a roadside stand beside State Route 39, near the small town of Buena Park.
The Timber Mountain Log Ride is a themed log flume water dark ride at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California, United States. The ride is themed after the Knott's Calico Ghost Town. The ride is one of the oldest log flumes in the United States and is one of the most popular rides at the park. Moreover, the Timber Mountain Log Ride received a major refurbishment in 2013 and celebrated its 50th anniversary on July 11, 2019.
The Beagle Express Railroad is a 2 ft miniatured themed Peanuts train ride located in the Camp Snoopy area of Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. Formerly known as the Grand Sierra Railroad, the four minute train ride transport guests on a journey around reflection lake and the surround Camp Snoopy and Fiesta Village. The ride opened in the 1983 season as part of the opening of Camp Snoopy. The train ride was previously longer prior to the opening of Silver Bullet. When Silver Bullet opened on December 7, 2004, the track layout of the Beagle Express Railroad was shortened in the Reflection Lake area. In 2014, the ride underwent a refurbishment in cooperation with Garner Holt Productions and opened with small animatronic and figures from the Peanuts characters as part of Camp Snoopy's 30th anniversary. Moreover, during Knott's Spooky Farm, the Beagle Express Railroad undergoes a family friendly Halloween themed overlay with characters from the Peanuts comic strip. There is also a peanuts celebration overlay during Knott's Peanuts Celebration. Riders must be 46 inch tall to ride by themselves, or no height restriction if accompanied by an adult.
Paul von Klieben was the key employee of Walter Knott in the early years of Knott’s Berry Farm and the restoration of the ghost town of Calico, California. He started his career in Chicago as a commercial artist and portrait painter. In 1941, he joined Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, California as a staff artist, then served as art director there from 1943 until 1953. He traveled to ghost towns in the West, and designed most of the Ghost Town section of Knott’s Berry Farm. He created concept art for most of the buildings that were built there. He also drew up floor plans, oversaw the construction of buildings, and even spent some time painting concrete to look like natural rock. His Old West paintings and murals adorned the walls of many structures in the park, and his art was used extensively on menus, brochures, catalogs and other Knott’s documents.
Sesame Place San Diego is a children's theme park and water park in Chula Vista, California. It is owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts, which operates the park under an exclusive license from Sesame Workshop, the non-profit owner of Sesame Street.