Knott's Update: Part 2 - The Sky Cabin

Today we will be revisiting Knott's Berry Farm's Sky Cabin attraction. For more than a year now, it has spent most of it's time "parked" at the top of the old Sky Jump tower in the Boardwalk section of the park (formerly the Roaring Twenties Airfield). For a while, there were plans to tear down the old tower and build Windseeker in it's place, but that plan changed last year when Windseeker's location was moved to Fiesta Village and it was announced that the old tower would be staying and the Sky Cabin would be refurbished. Here's a shot that was taken last year of the tower with "Boomerang" in the foreground. (Incidentally, Boomerang is the rollercoaster that replaced Knott's historic Corkscrew Rollercoaster.)



This next shot was also taken last year. I'm not sure why the Sky Cabin car was left at the top of the tower. One employee told me that it had to do with weights....or was it counterweights? I don't know the difference, but it sounds good! Another employee told me that they thought it was "stuck" in that position, because in it's last days of operation, it kept getting stuck at the top of the tower with people inside the cabin!



Even though the attraction remained closed, this sign continued to hang on the side of a nearby snack stand....and it's still there today. Note how the tower is depicted with it's old paint job (after the red and white checkerboard pattern, but before the current red and white stripes).



The safety/information sign can also still be found at the entrance to the attraction.



But Sally and Peppermint Patty are there to keep us from entering the attraction's queue. (They should also be apologizing for their scratched and dirty sign.)



Well, last Thursday when I stopped by Knott's to ride Windseeker, I noticed the cabin actually going up the tower! I went over to get a closer look and to see if it would come back down. When I got closer to the tower, I noticed something odd about the observation car. Can you see what's missing in this photo?



How about if we zoom in a bit?



Okay, let's get even closer. Hey that man is leaning OUT of the window! The glass is gone! That's a good thing considering the last time I rode in the cabin, the view was very "cloudy" from all the scratches on the glass.



Now the cabin is coming back down......



....however, it was not rotating like it used to.



I spoke with a couple ride operators and they said that Knott's is trying to get the cabin in working condition again so that it can be reopened. I really hope this happens! Knott's needs more variety. I would enjoy getting to ride this attraction again just as much as I enjoy riding Windseeker. And I'm sure there are people out there that would ride the Sky Cabin that would NEVER go on Windseeker. Everything doesn't have to be a thrill ride! Bring back Bear-y Tales and the Haunted Shack! (I know, I know....I work that plea into a lot of my Knott's posts, but it will likely never happen!)



The railings in the foreground of these next two pics are located in what used to be the loading area for the old Parachute Sky Jump attraction.





Compare the entrance sign above with the sign in the vintage photo below. Was everything better in the past? Maybe not everything, but that sign certainly was. It looks like they are using the same sign posts after all these years, but today there is a bit of rust coming through the paint.



This was actually the entrance for just the Sky Jump. If we zoom in, we can see a special sign pointing us in the direction of the Sky Cabin entrance which was located on the other side of the tower. (By the way, this photo was from a "Knott's Employees" group on Facebook. The page stated that all content is public, so I hope that means it's okay to repost this photo on my blog!)



Just for fun, here's a vintage postcard of the Sky Jump and Sky Cabin and it also shows another version of the Sky Jump sign.



If the Sky Cabin does reopen, I've got my "C" ticket ready!



Or maybe they would still accept this old "Rides Aplenty" unlimited-use ticket!

Knott's Berry Farm - Roaring 20's Airfield

This is a follow-up to my last post. After posting about Tokyo's parachute attraction and comparing it to Knott's Sky Jump, I remembered that I had this mini-poster from 1976 that Knott's Guest Relations sent me years ago. As a kid, I used to write to both Disneyland and Knott's and ask about "future attractions" and they would usually send me some really neat stuff.

I love the artwork on this poster. It's sad though, to look at it and realize just how much of this is now gone. Actually, everything here might now be gone except for the Sky Cabin that travels up and down the former Sky Jump tower. The Sky Jump itself closed shortly after Knott's opened Supreme Scream (personally, I would rather ride the old Sky Jump attraction.) The Cycle Chase was converted into the Wacky Soap Box Racers, which was then replaced (along with the Gasoline Alley cars) with a roller coaster called Windjammer, which has now been replaced with Xcelerator. The Flying Machine (Loop Trainer) was replaced by XK-1, which was later replaced by Supreme Scream. I really liked XK-1....to me it was kind of like riding the Rocket Jets at Disneyland, but on the Knott's version, the joy stick allowed you to do "barrel rolls" and go completely upside down....though none of the cars appear to be doing that in the photo below. Note the "round house" for the Ghost Town Calico Railroad in the background.

Knott's Berry Farm's "XK-1" - 1995

Well, I'll continue on with the Airfield attractions history, just in case anyone is interested.....The Propeller Spin was replaced by Whirlpool (an indoor "scrambler" attraction) which itself, was relocated to make room for Perilous Plunge. The Airfield Eatery was a "buffeteria" style restaurant inside of a building that resembled a huge airplane hangar. While I was working there, it was renamed Captain Kelly's....I never understood why. It was probably just to keep someone in a job (the job of "name changing" and "poor decision making.") That building has now been torn down and replaced by Coasters Diner. I believe the Cloud Nine Ballroom building is still there. The last time I was at the park, it was called the Boardwalk Ballroom but I don't think it has been used for dancing for many years.

Below, is a Disco Fever Club card that gave various discounts, including reduced admission to the park after 7 p.m. on select nights. This was offered back in the day when the Cloud Nine Ballroom was THE place to go dancing at Knott's (way before there was ever a Studio "K".) You could get this card at the grocery store by purchasing Pepsi products. Remember Aspen soft drink? It was apple flavored!

In the eighties, Knott's put a 3-D movie in the Cloud Nine Ballroom called "Sea Dream." This was to try and compete with Disneyland which was currently showing EPCOT's 3-D film "Magic Journeys" on their Space Stage at night. When I worked at Knott's, we would have to go every year to employee "summer kick-off" meetings. At every single one of those meetings, the general manager would try to tell us how great the new attractions were going to be that summer and how they were going to be so incredibly better than what Disneyland was doing that year. The example that really stands out in my mind is in 1983, when he tried to convince us that DL's "New Fantasyland" wasn't going to be able to compete with the newly opening Campy Snoopy. I remember always thinking that they should just be themselves and stop comparing everything they do to Disney and just accept that they will never be able to compete with them on the same level. This was back when the Knott family still owned the park. Marion Knott would also speak at those meetings. I wonder if the new management has stopped trying to compare themselves to Disney?

Well, this really is my last post before I leave on my trip. I should be posting again in about a week and a half.

Happy Easter to everyone!

Welcome to Parachute Land!

.

Or is it one word....Parachuteland? It's shown each way on two different signs. This magical land can be found at Tokyo Dome City in Tokyo, Japan. Located next door to the Tokyo Dome sports arena, this amusement area was founded in 1955 and consists of three sections or "lands", Parachute Land, Tower Land, and LaQua.

.

Parachute Land does indeed contain a parachute ride and it's called the Sky Flower. This attraction was made by Intamin AG, the same company that made Knott's Sky Jump tower, as well as several parachute towers for other amusement parks across the U.S.

Tokyo's Sky Flower

For a comparison, the photo below shows Knott's Berry Farm's Sky Jump tower, (This photo was borrowed and used with permission from the Vintage Disneyland Tickets blog. Click here: Vintage Disneyland Tickets to see fantastic trip reports of Disneyland, Knott's and Magic Mountain, in addition to great vintage park tickets, brochures, maps, guides and much more!)

.

Knott's Sky Jump

Riding in these baskets gave me a major flashback to my childhood visits to Knott's. It also took me back to a time when I worked at the park. On the Sky Flower, you are taken up and dropped twice....just as in the old days at Knott's. (Knott's changed this at one point and only took guests up once.)

This is the view from the top during the day.

And this is the view looking down on the Tokyo Dome sports arena at night.

Parachute Land also has it's own "PeopleMover" attraction called the "Sky Trip," and it's just like Disneyland's used to be....except the vehicles are different colors...and the cars only hold two people....oh, and you have to power them yourself by peddling! Other than that, they are JUST like the old PeopleMover. The next photo shows a Sky Trip car leaving the station. That's a hotel rising up in the background. It kind of gives the park a "Disney's California Adventure" feel to it.....but not in a good way.

Here is a blue and a pink car going around the base of the parachute tower.

And here's another view of the vehicles looking straight down from the top of the Sky Flower. An orange Sky Trip car can be seen at about "eight o' clock" and a blue one can be seen at about "ten o' clock."

I hope everyone enjoyed this visit to Parachute Land! I will try to do a post on the other two "lands" of Tokyo Dome City in the future, but I probably won't be blogging for a little while now, because I am leaving in just a few days for Tokyo. On April 15th, Tokyo Disneyland will be celebrating it's 26th anniversary with the opening of their new Monsters Inc. Ride and Go Seek attraction. I hope to bring back lots of new photos to share!