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The new figures from Garner Holt


Timber Mountain Log Ride Knott’s updates a classic


One of the industry’s first elaborately-themed flume rides was the Timber


Mountain Log Ride at Knott’s Berry Farm outside Los Angeles. Opened in 1969 by concessionaire Bud Hurlbut, the attraction was relaunched earlier this year following a multi-million dollar


“


restoration by Cedar Fair and animatronic specialist Garner Holt Productions


Timber


Mountain not only


embodies the spirit of Knott’s Berry Farm, but also set the bar for all themed attractions that followed


Raffi Kaprelyan


” NOVEMBER 2013 M


ost of the attraction is located inside a manmade mountain at the California park. Completed over a period of four and a half- months, the recent transformation opened in late May. Garner Holt himself worked with the Knott’s team over many long days and nights to upgrade all the ride figures and sets as well as add new scenes with 62 new characters including a donkey, his favourite. Holt and his staff honoured Hurlbut’s work by making their figures look similar to the originals and maintaining the original theme and storyline of the attraction. Bud Hurlbut, a pioneer in the theme park industry, wanted his flume ride to be a completely immersive experience. Originally named the Calico Log Ride, it was constructed at a cost of $3.5 million. A massive sum to invest back in 1969, and not an insignificant amount now, it was funded and run by the Hurlbut Amusement Company and followed on from the Calico Mine Ride that Hurlbut opened as a concession at Knott’s nine years earlier.


Set inside a 19th Century lumber camp, the log ride takes guests through an 85ft-high (26m) by 330ft-long (101m) mountain range. The ride is in fact housed in an eight-story building and includes 24,000 gallons (91,000 litres) of water that circulates the free floating logs past a variety of mechanical figures and taxidermied animals. Upon his retirement, Hurlbut sold the ride to Knott’s Berry Farm.


Legend of the loggers


Once aboard the flume, passengers see and experience what might have happened to actual loggers at the turn of the century. The mountain is constructed across three levels. From the point of departure, logs are lifted 36ft (11m) by chains to the entrance of the Calico Log and Lumber Company. Passengers then float into the mill to witness mechanical equipment, animated figures and sound effects. After being “stripped” of their bark and “sawed” in the mills, the logs plop down a 5ft (1.5m) waterfall. More scenery follows, including a forest and waterfall before the logs overlook a deep ravine and then travel to the crest of the mountainside above, quickly winding around the curves and over canyons. Periodically, the logs take an


47


exciting surge as though passing over rapids, but the big thrill comes at the end of the ride as they shoot down a 42ft (13m) incline, plunging with a big wave into the mill pond below. “The Timber Mountain Log Ride not only embodies the spirit of Knott’s Berry Farm, but it also set the bar for all themed attractions that followd” says present day Knott's general manager Raffi Kaprelyan, who worked for Hurlbut from 1979 to 1983. “Bud Hurlbut made numerous contributions to Knott’s Berry Farm, but I think that the Timber Mountain Log Ride remains his crowning achievement.”


Holt notes that the new figures include two animatronic men outdoors, fully exposed to the elements. “We don’t do this on all characters, but the framework inside and out is all stainless steel, and their hats are fibreglass. We use a lot of little tricks to make them last longer. We can always update the figures.


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