Not so long ago in this message, I said some negative things about Knott's Berry Farm, an amusement park which is in Buena Park, about a Dwarf's throw from Disneyland. They should be viewed in the context of admitting that I haven't been there since 1979 when we shot some footage there with the Bay City Rollers for a TV show I was doing for Sid and Marty Krofft. A place can change a lot in forty years. Steve Bacher wrote…
Could you elaborate a bit more on your lack of enthusiasm for Knott's Berry Farm? Back in the 1980's my family visited my wife's brother's family in LA and we (kids and adults) all went to Knott's. I personally found it more fun than Disneyland. I'm also aware that some folks (like my late mother) disdained the place for political reasons, something about the folks who owned it. Would that have anything to do with your opinion? Though I know you usually don't let such things influence you.
You're right. As I'm sure I've mentioned on this blog a few times, I don't think most boycotts accomplish a lot…though if it'll make you feel better to not eat at Chick-Fil-A, by all means don't eat there. Discomfort is a perfectly valid reason for not doing anything that's optional.
But no, I've never had any desire to go to Knott's since '79 because, first of all, if I'm going to drive that far to go to a theme park, I'll go the extra seven miles and go to Disneyland…and I don't even do that very often. I've been averaging about once a decade. (Note to Amber: I'm about due.)
I actually went to Knott's twice in '79 — once to scout locations for the film shoot. The other time was the actual shoot. The first time was more interesting since we had three hours of walking around the park with Berry Farm officials before the gates opened. They actually turned on some of the rides so members of our party could ride a few of them. I didn't get on because I don't like "thrill rides." To me, a roller coaster is where you pay someone to do to you what would cause you to sue a bus company if it happened on one of their buses.
At the time we were there, "thrill rides" seemed to be the main thing Knott's had to offer. So there's a big reason for me not to go there. The other was that I found its inauthentic re-creations of western streets pretty boring. I'd recently had the run of the backlots at Universal Studios and Warner Brothers…and their western streets were a lot more exciting. So there's my answer, Steve.
Another correspondent and friend of this blog, Tommy Donovan, wrote that he used to work at Knott's Berry Farm. He looked around and found this video of still photos taken from the one-day shoot we did at Knott's with the Rollers. It says the filming was 1978 but that's wrong. Tommy asked if I am visible in this video and the answer is that parts of me are in one or two shots but you can't really see me. In a few photos, you do see an older man with white hair. That is Jack Regas, who directed the Bay City Rollers show and countless others. I'll tell you about Jack in a video link in the next few days. Here's the montage of the Rollers, years before the fantastic success they enjoy today…