Rekindle an old blog?

 Hello!

I am thinking of bringing this blog back to life. I am not sure what I would do beyond just talk about old dead attractions I loved but we'll see. 

More to come....

The Haunted Mansion

I love this ride. Another lovely thing from my childhood. I just wanted to post this. I have no idea who made this but it's very good.

The Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland

The Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland was my favorable audio-animatronic show based attraction as a kid. My Mother and I went to Disneyland every year growing up and that show was one thing we always hit. I was really excited the year we went in December as I got to see the Christmas show instead.

I remember walking into the big walkway into a building that was long and narrow. I remember the penny stretching machines, the "stars" doors and the mounted talking animals.

Here are some websites on the attraction:

• Yesterland
• Wikipedia
• Despite Fans’ Fears, Disney’s Country Bears Remain Corny
• Country Bear Jamboree Disney Wiki
• A historical look at the Country Bears Jamboree part 1
• A historical look at the Country Bears Jamboree part 2

Here it is. My favorite show as a kid. I remember having to go down a bunch of stairs into the building. The very first thing I would do is go for the penny machines. 

Here would be pennies from said machines. This is a random picture I found online but I would think I have mine somewhere. It's funny how you wish you kept better track of stuff as a kid? 

Once you got passed the machines you'd find these doors. I'd always just watch them and wait for them to move. They never did. I do remember them talking as the show got closer to starting. 

These guys where always in the hallway. I think they talked too. They are Melvin, Buff & Max

This is the fellas during the actual show. Max was always my favorite. Above is obviously during the Christmas show.

These are the original boys from the first pic. When the attraction was torn down at Disneyland, these guys stayed and are now part of the "Adventures of Winnie the Pooh." attraction as a reminder. I missed them when I went on the ride however. My guess is they are hidden.  

Here is the ride now.

More pictures of this awesome attraction:

Shaker

Little Oscar

Fred

Teddi Barra

This is The Sun Bonnet Trio

Trixie

Wendell

 This dude is here is Henry. The ring leader and MC of the show. Another one I loved. I always enjoyed it when that damn raccoon, Sammy would tap dance on his hat.

This fellow right here always made me worried as a kid. I thought to myself "he's scared!" If you have been to this show you know that this fellow as Big Al. He went camping and all the critters that go bump in the night where after him.I vaguely remember scary eyes and the like in the background making things worse. I always felt bad for the dude. So much so that I bought the tiny stuffed version of him to take home so I could protect him. 

 Here he is again. This is the scared camping part I was talking about. This is also the costume he had on in my stuffed animal.

Going through pictures I found out he was once a wondering character at the park. If I still had all my autograph books I'd tell ya if I met him or not. I am very confident though that if I saw him, I met him.

This guy to the right is Liver Lips. My mom adored this bear because he was an obvious image of Elvis. Or that's what I always got from it.

Gomer

More Gomer.

The Five Bear Rugs

 I adored this show as I have already said several times. In April 2013 I went to Disneyland for the first time in 12 years. I wanted to see this from the second I knew I was going. I didn't have to whip out my map, the second I was in Critter Country I knew exactly where to go. I was rather impressed with the fact that I didn't even really have to pay attention. I was just there. I turned to my girlfriends family and said "We have to see this show." her mom knowing the attraction well agreed and apparently was just as excited. I turned and saw the "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh " sign and my heart sank.

I was genuinely upset and annoyed.  I asked the ride operator who I am sure gets asked this every time she does that station about it. Her response was simple: "It wasn't really popular anymore." I smiled and thanked her for her time than got in line for the ride. I get that things that no longer draw crowds need to go, this is how a place like Disneyland stays in the money, they don't cling to the old. However, I firmly believe that an attraction that held such smiles and fun only died because Disney let it. If anyone in the world is amazing at being creative it's Imagineers. This attraction went away due to pure laziness.

On the bright side, from my understanding is everything was either we reused or remastered and than shipped to another Disney park to be loved by someone else. This, in my opinion is very important.

Kingdom of the Dinosaurs at Knott's Berry Farm

This ride is awesome. Well, was.

 I love this ride. It makes me so sad to know that not only is it gone, but it's wearing down over time. For some reason, Knott's didn't bother to preserve much of the ride. Apparently there is also graffiti everywhere. What I do know is:

• The front of the building is now a Laser Tag Arena and Arcade.
• I didn't think to look into this while I was there but I've found some sites saying that failed and the building is now just park storage.
• The wolves and Ice Age Elk have been moved to Timber Mountain Log Ride. 
• Rocko the triceratops is now in Camp Snoopy. 

I was able to find a few websites that talk about the ride and provide some information.

Kingdom of the Dinosaurs Remnants at Knott's

Kingdom of Dinosaurs - A Ride in Ruin

"In this classic ride, guests boarded time machines in 1920's LA where they were introduced to Dr. Wells (An obvious nod to H.G. Wells, author of The Time Machine), the man responsible for building the time machine. Although he encouraged guests to turn back, guests rode right into a wormhole traveling back to the Ice Age by mistake. Ancient paintings led the way to a caveman village in the middle of a dark forest, complete with a glistening night sky, terrifying dire wolves, a giant elk, and howling winds. A brighter forest introduced guests to a giant ground sloth munching on leaves and a pair of woolly mammoths, one calling to its mate, the unfortunate mate stuck in tar. A saber-toothed cat was the last thing guests saw (Unless you count the backside of a mammoth) before traveling back in time to a giant insect-infested jungle. Afterwards was an early dinosaur-filled swamp followed by a trip to a late dinosaur-filled forest. Brontosaurs, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and a humongous Tyrannosaurus inhabited the area, bidding guests farewell as they traveled back to 1920's LA. The ride was an excellent experience, even when it began to deteriorate in the early 2000's when the ride closed."

Can I just say the dying woolly mammoth always made me sad as a child? I always left the ride hoping she (or he) would be saved by Snoopy.

I remember the first time I went on the ride. A Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus) head stood over the ride track, this glaring down at you. I grabbed my mom and like any other scared child whimpered "mommy". To this day I remember her exact response. "It's okay, he's a veggiesaurus." How awesome are moms?

What it comes down to is instead of fixing the ride up and making it popular again, they gutted very little of it, and left the rest to rot. They also did not bother to tell the public so it could have had a deserving goodbye party. The saving grace here? Rocko the triceratops who used to be at the entrance of the ride is still alive and kicking. Well, as much as you can for being a marble statue. I was there about three weeks ago and he is inside the garden of a kids ride.

Here are some more photos of the ride.