Knott's Berry Farm Previews New Bear-y Tales Ride Ahead of May 21st Grand Opening

© Knott's Berry Farm

Knott's Berry Farm will debut it's long awaited new interactive dark ride, named Bear-y Tales: Return To The Fair, on May 21st as part of the kickoff of the park's 100th anniversary celebration.  Some lucky members of the press were recently invited to the park to take a spin on the brand new attraction, which looks like a wonderful throw back to the park's history and an awful lot of fun.

 

The park's original Bear-y Tales dark ride opened in 1975 and closed in 1986, so this new interactive 4-D dark ride is somewhat of a part two for the famous bears.  In the new ride visitors are treated to an "exciting journey through reimagined show scenes from 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."

 

© Knott's Berry Farm

The ride's interactive nature comes from the fact that riders are equipped with jelly blasters that are used to recovery stolen boysenberry pies from Crafty Coyote and his crew.  Riders will gain points as they reclaim pies, giving a competitive flair to the attraction as well.  The ride prominently features Boysen Bear and Girlsen Bear as main characters who are trying to get to the country fair to get the grand prize for their famous boysenberry pie.

Bear-y Tales: Return To The Fair replaces Voyage To The Iron Reef, a different 4-D attraction that was located in the same space and opened in 2015.  If you're interested in checking out the finished product, below is a movie from Attractions Magazine that gives a great idea of the experience (though you'd be wearing 3-D glasses so things would be more clear).  The park clearly put a lot of effort into the new ride, with many more physical sets, special effects and more baked into the attraction.