Friday, March 2, 2012

The Sky Cabin At Knott's Reopens! - Part 2

This is Part 2 of our ride on the Sky Cabin at Knott's. At the end of Part 1, we were still ascending the tower.



Here we are facing east and looking down on the Boardwalk gaming area. The building at the very bottom of the photo is the Boardwalk Barbeque (formerly Glider Diner when this area was known as the Roaring 20's Airfield).



We are now going to be able to view some "then and now" comparisons thanks to Major Pepperidge of Gorillas Don't Blog who is graciously allowing me to use his vintage pics from 1977. Here's the same view as above, but from 35 years ago. Note that the gaming area used to be called the Pilot's Rec(reation) Area and had a "wrecked" airplane on it's roof. Whatever happened to clever themeing like that? Has it all gone out the window?



Next we have a view from just a little higher up and looking just a little further south. We can see the twisted mess of roller coaster tracks that now dominate the skyline at Knott's. The red and yellow track belongs to the Silver Bullet and the brown wooden track on the far right is Ghost Rider.



This 1977 view shows a little bit more of the building below us which is the former Cloud Nine Ballroom. This was a very popular spot for dancing before the old animal farm was converted into "Studio K" in the '80's.



I'm going to repost the previous four photos again, but this time with a few of the landmarks highlighted. I've circled the large backstage access doors to the Log Ride in red. We have seen a closer view of these doors in the past (here)



You can see how the planter that used to be located to the right of these access doors was removed at some point and the gaming area was extended.



In these two shots, I've circled Independence Hall in blue. The purple circle is showing Silver Bullet's loading station (the former location of the Original Berry Stand which no longer exists). And the green circle is around the Church of Reflections which used to sit across the walkway from the Original Berry Stand, but was relocated to the parking lot when Silver Bullet was being built.





Just for fun, let's take a close-up look at the Church of Reflections in it's former location......



.....and in it's new location across Beach Blvd.



I have more "then and now" Sky Cabin photo comparisons (thank you Major Pepperidge!) so check back in a day or two to see the views to the north, south and west!

6 comments:

Major Pepperidge said...

Wow, you did a great job matching up the angles! I'm sure that was trickier than it might seem, especially the shots as the Sky Cabin is still going up or down!

Never noticed the little trees added to the exterior of the Log Ride. I surprised how much has actually stayed the same, in spite of the changes.

Those roller coasters really do look like a mess; however, they are probably what is keeping Knott's going these days, as most guests are not looking for charm or wonderful ambiance.

TokyoMagic! said...

Thanks, Major. It was definitely trickier than I thought it would be. I was trying not only to take the same shot as your photos horizontally, but from the same level vertically on the tower. The other tricky part was that there are two windows to shoot through...the real glass and the plexiglass over it and there is even some space in between the two, so I think that is why I wasn't getting sharper images. I just wish they had turned out as crisp as your vintage shots. Oh, and another problem with the two pieces of glass was that there is already dust accumulating between the glass and the plexiglass, so the view already isn't super clear to begin with. But, at least it isn't scratched or etched.....YET!

Snow White Archive said...

Excellent comparison photos!

MIKE COZART said...

I wanna go up the SKY CABIN and come down to the ROARING 20's when I get out!

TokyoMagic! said...

SWS, Thank you!

Mike, You and me both!!!!

Connie Moreno said...

Mike, take me with you!