Knott's Berry Farm, back when it was still just a berry farm (San Francisco: how much, house)

[ccm123]

Sounds like a great time!

I think the first time I've ever eaten Mexican food, was at Olvera Street. I was 5 years old (?), or thereabouts. My grandfather took us there and ordered my brother, sister and I, each a child's "taco plate".
After eating it, I was forever hooked!

Originally Posted by SeaOfGrass

The first time I went to Olvera Street was on a field trip in grammar school. My mom had given me a little bit of money to spend. I bought this huge, pink paper flower and had it tucked in over my bedroom window for years. lol And I never forgot the tacos. I've been back as an adult several times since. My paternal grandfather and grandmother came here from Mexico. They were married in the church there.

[circa_1948]

A blurry pic of my sis and I (in blue) and 2 unknown boys riding the Wells Fargo stagecoach circa 1955.

[Forever Blue]

I went here the most of the amusement parks when I was a child in the 80s. I loved it. I still go from time to time as an adult, like every 1-3 yrs because I just love amusement parks. I'll always love that place!

Didn't finally try their chicken until one day in 2019 & it's good & actually has good flavor!

[saibot]

Several years ago I posted on this thread that my mom told a story of going on the Log Ride when she was pregnant with me, and the long drop frightened her.

Well, a few months ago I saw an article (in the OC Register?) about Knotts, and they mentioned the opening date of the Log Ride as July, 1969...two months AFTER I was born! My mom couldn't possibly have ridden it while pregnant with me. So much for that family story!

[kauaidooley]

Been going to knots since about the late 50's . Not so much to have a chicken dinner but to enjoy the overall western style ambiance and fun attractions.

At that time, Next door to Knots was an alligator farm, where they had a few hundred gators and the announcers / trainers would run across the backs of the gators to all of our amazement. However, they also had a huge pit with about 5 huge, huge crocks. At the time , I was 16 or 17 years old, I was not aware of the difference of a gator and a croc.

Well, there is a big difference, the gators were peaceful, sometimes barely opening their jaws as the trainer ran across their backs
.
No big deal. But at the Crocodile pit, very deep, they took large poles with dead chickens attached and lowered them into the pit. Those crocs leaped, snarled, and snapped big time. One heck of a lot of enormous violence. Good lesson for me in later years when we sailed and eco tripped Australia..

Additional FYI..... My very good friend, Mike B, who I professionally flew with as a certified flight instructor, and later with Air Combat U.S.A. ( fighter planes, 5 and G dog fights ), He actually was the owner of Air Combat USA at Fullerton Airport. In later years retired as a Capt with American Airlines. Point being his family owned the print shop there at Knots...( get your mug on a wanted poster, etc ). This was over many decades.

Just a different angle than the Chicken dinners. OH, when I was a kid, I also enjoyed panning gold there at Knots.

Well, that is about all that these memory banks can recall....Happy to see that Knots is still charging forward.

As to Disneyland, when I was in college, I worked there for a summer. ( about 1960 ) Had a great time, actually worked with Walt Disney during some of the production shows, and I need you to keep this very top secret. I was the very first HAPPY THE DWARF character...and the dynamic seven and Snowy were quite infamous through out the park. One summer was enough for the Mouse, and we were not invited back.

One heck of a summer !

[T. Damon]

Originally Posted by ccm123

Yes, Marineland is another place I recall. I only recall visiting that park once or twice. Marineland is now closed, but my wife and I visited Sea World (San Diego) the last time in 2009. As a child, Sea World was on our list of places, as was a place called Lion Country Safari, in Irvine (closed 1984). Remember that one?

Went to all four, Knotts, Marineland, Lion Country Safari and Sea World (in addition to Disneyland and newly opened Magic Mountain) in the 70s - and I’m from NorCa foothills. It seems amazing of the relatively undeveloped areas at the time that they all seemed to exist in and the approachable yet exciting exhibits and rides that presented themselves to us young kids. I remember the distorted “optical illusion” building at Knotts where bottles rolled uphill, etc... (I’m an architect now and it was pretty compelling) but it wasn’t much more than a somewhat expanded and settled County Fair at the time.

[TimTheEnchanter]

Typically a resurrected thread annoys me, but this one is kind of timeless.

Spent a lot of time in middle school and high school hanging out at both Knott's and Disneyland. Back then, Disney had much cooler rides, but Knott's made efforts to improve and my senior year of HS put in the Corkscrew, which was the first roller coaster to put riders upside down. Since then Knott's has built some very cool coasters.

We still love going to Mrs Knott's CDR and have been three times since "the plague" started to get meals to go to support them.

Been to all the amusement/theme parks mentioned (SFMM, Lion Country Safari (who didn't have a Fraiser t-shirt?), Busch Gardens (yes they had rides, I remember a monorail and a boat ride and animal shows), Japanese Deer Park, Movieland Wax Museum (smelled funny) and Marineland), but also ones NOT mentioned like Pacific Ocean Park, Santa's Village, The Pike, Griffith Park Zoo, Beverly Park & Ponylamd and the Balboa Fun Zone (which at one time my friends and I went to pretty much daily).

[TimTheEnchanter]

PS Santa's Village (Lake Arrowhead) has been partially reopened as an adventure park, while retaining some of the old buildings.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter

Been to all the amusement/theme parks mentioned...but also ones NOT mentioned like Pacific Ocean Park...

Lots of memories of Pacific Ocean Park. https://www.city-data.com/forum/los-...ark-santa.html

[Racer46]

Been to just about every amusement park in So California, including those now closed.



Knott's was always one of my favorites due to the old section. Watched it grow and grow and ... well grow.



Disneyland was next, as a kid I used to ask people leaving if I could have any of their ride tickets (yes this was long ago) and they would give me them and that kept me having fun all day. The entrance fee was minimal.