Melinda Goes to Knott’s Berry Farm

Melinda is back in time for the July 4th celebration with more images from her June 1980 trip to Southern California! This time, she has shared photos from her family’s visit to Knott’s Berry Farm. Once again, I will rely on my better-informed readers, as Knott’s is definitely not my area of expertise! As for the photos themselves, they were shot by Melinda “…with my little Kodak 110 camera of some sort.” Even her recollections of Knott’s are a bit cloudy:

I only have vague memories of riding the log ride at Knott's, and really nothing else about that park. We must have gone there last of the three [theme parks] as there are hardly any photos of it, so we were probably finishing off our last rolls of film for the trip.

Anyone else out there recall the joy of having a few photos that needed to be shot to be able to take the roll to the camera shop to be developed? The first image shown is of the Timber Mountain Log Ride, the one attraction Melinda remembers. The attraction itself looked pretty much the same when I photographed it in October 2014, other than the monstrosity on the right:



I’m going to make a guess that these next two were from the Fiesta Village:





Melinda and family pose in front of the Denver & Rio Grande narrow gauge train from the Calico Railroad:



The train was still running when I last visited Knott’s in August 2021:



I’m not sure what this attraction is, but it’s my favorite photo of the batch; you can just feel the centrifugal force as everyone is joyously pushed to one side of their ride vehicle!



Looks like the Flying Ace attraction from Camp Snoopy:



I am assuming this is Knott’s, but another area I can’t identify:



The next three are from a marionette show; Bob Baker, perhaps?







This last one showing an 18' high reproduction of Michelangelo’s Statue of David was from the nearby Movieland Wax Museum, also in Buena Park. It was sold off in 2007 with the rest of the now defunct museum’s holdings. Nope…it wasn’t made of wax. It was actually carved from marble!



Here’s a 1967 ad from Vacationland Magazine for the Palace of Living Art at the Movieland Wax Museum, where the David replica was featured:



See more Knott’s Berry Farm photos at my main website.

Adventure Thru Inner Space

Time to visit a golden oldie from Tomorrowland, Adventure Thru Inner Space, that corny but lovable attraction that is still talked about today. From Vacationland Magazine, Summer 1967:

World of Molecules Theme of Tomorrowland Adventure

One of the most unusual adventures in the world will thrill Disneyland guests this summer in the Park’s new Tomorrowland — Monsanto’s “Adventure Thru Inner Space.” Visitors will experience the “miracles of molecules” and “shrink” for “miracles of molecules” and “shrink” for a trip into a world of snowfalkes, molecules and atoms.

Guests feel as if they are shrinking as they journey aboard the highly versatile “Atomobile” — a new transportation vehicle designed by WED Enterprises — and glide into this fascinating microscopic world.

The adventure begins as passengers board “Atomobile” and enter Monsanto’s “Mighty Microscope,” emerging into a world of gigantic snowflakes. Guests feel themselves become smaller and smaller while the snowflakes appear to increase in size. As they pass through huge walls of crystal-like ice, visitors enter the snowflake and observe large molecules all around them. Growing “smaller” yet, they move into the molecules and emerge into a world of atoms, where the nucleus of a tiny oxygen atom resembles a giant sun.

This photo is from the opening of the attraction. Look at that crowd! You'd think it was for Star Tours...which is what is in the same space today.



See more vintage Disneyland Adventure Thru Inner Space photos on my Adventure Thru Inner Space web page.