Knott's Berry Farm to Debut Knott's Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair 4-D Ride for Park's 100th Anniversary

© Knott's Berry Farm

The other day I speculated that perhaps Knott's Berry Farm would be swapping out their current 4-D dark ride, Voyage to the Iron Reef, for one themed to their classic Bear-y Tales dark ride... and it turned out to be true!  I wish I could predict a lot of attractions just by wishing them into existence!

The park will close Voyage to the Iron Reef for good on January 5th, and get to work on opening the new Bear-y Tales ride by summertime.  The ride will be a central part of the park's "A Knott's Family Reunion" celebration that will run from May 15th through August 30th.

© Knott's Berry Farm

If you click this concept art you can see a much larger version of some of the antics that will be found in the brand new attraction.  The original was commissioned by the Knott family and created by Rolly Crump in 1975.

The park gives this description of the new ride in their press materials:

Knott's Bear-y Tales will be an "exciting journey through reimagined show scenes that are reminiscent of the original dark ride, including the Boysenberry Pie Factory, Frog Forest, Fortune Teller Camp, Thunder Cave, and Weird Woods,  culminating in a celebration at the County Fair.  The story takes place 34 years after the original adventure and will follow Boysen Bear and Girlsen Bear as they travel to the Country Fair to earn the blue ribbon prize for their famous boysenberry pies, but Crafty Coyote is back along with his mischievous pups intent on stealing all the pies for themselves.  Guests will climb aboard ride vehicles equipped with jelly blasters to try and recover the stolen boysenberry pies as they travel through whimsical and beautiful environments while competing for the highest score."

It is fantastic to see Knott's Berry Farm making such an exciting effort to celebrate their past with this new ride!  I can't wait to see the finished product.