Knott’s Berry Farm has announced May 21st as opening day for their new dark ride ‘Knott’s Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair’. The ride, which is uses the same system as its predecessor ‘Voyage to the Iron Reef’, was built for the 100th anniversary of the park and is a tribute to a classic Knott’s dark ride.
The dark ride is located in a building near the West entrance of the park, which was the location of three different dark rides in the past. The first dark ride, called Knott’s Bear-y Tales, operated from 1975 to 1987 and depicted a bear family on a journey to the fair. The new interactive ride will pay tribute to this former dark ride. It tells a new version of the story, though many scenes are based on the original ride.
When the original Knott’s Bear-y Tales closed in 1987, the ride was rethemed to ‘Kingdom of the Dinosaurs’. This ride closed in 2004 and the building remained unused until 2015. A new interactive dark ride, called ‘Voyage to the Iron Reef’ opened, with a complete new ride system that was built by ART Engineering and interactive systems built by Triotech. This ride system is reused for the new ‘Knott’s Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair’ dark ride.
Knott’s Berry Farm will reopen to season pass holders on May 6th, after being closed for more than a year due to the outbreak of Covid-19. The park will open to the general public on May 21st, kicking off the 100th Anniversery Celebration.
