Calico River Rapids opening day set!

Knott’s has announced that expeditions into the Calico river territory officially begin on May 17th 2019. Traveler's are advised to beware the infamous "Skunk Ape."

Calico River Rapids Behind-the-Scenes

Knott's News: Just look in the background of Ken Parks and Bill Butler/Garner Holt for some blink and you'll miss it details. Behind Ken Parks you see a Wilderness Rapids sign (may be the main entrance sign), a new version of the Beware of Skunk Ape poster and a couple of new pieces of art that I can't quite make out. There are also gold bars, a gold pan,  and a scale behind him, possibly hinting at the Calico Mine Ride tie-in we were told about (I assume the downed tree that went up over the weekend is a Log Ride tie-in). Behind Bill Butler/Garner Holt you can see blueprints for the sluice channel attached to a water tower (the one that the woodpecker pokes holes in that will get riders wet). You also see what the final Potts and Colter cabin will look like once the chimney and all the other details are attached. The video then gives us a good look at the Chicken Coop and the Trapper Cabin.

Knott’s new Calico River Rapids overhauls BigFoot Rapids, adds Ghost Town backstory

An extensive renovation of the 1987 BigFoot Rapids at the Buena Park theme park debuting this summer will transform the river rapids water ride into an animated attraction with nine thematic scenes and more than 20 animatronic figures.

The new look, aesthetic and design of the reimagined Knott’s ride was inspired by legendary Disney Imagineer Marc Davis, according to Parks.

“Marc Davis was such an inspiration that I wanted to include a few nods,” Parks said in an email interview. “These are new scenes, but their sense of tone is definitely an homage to Mr. Davis.”

Read the rest at the OC Register

Knott's News: It sounds great but only time will tell how effective the staging will be on a river raft ride when they can't design the layout with the show scenes in mind. Still, I love the story and design direction they're taking. They've used Marc Davis-esque gags in their past renovations at Knott's but I'm incredibly thrilled that they're taking it up a knotch (see what I did there).

Behind-the-scenes look at animatronic characters coming to Knott’s new Calico River Rapids ride

“It’s a thousand times trickier to build something that is going to be outside all the time,” said Butler, who helps develop the backstory, characters and set designs for new attractions.

As a result, Garner Holt Productions built more robust characters for Calico River Rapids with stainless steel internal mechanisms that won’t rust.

The faces of the new outdoor characters on the Knott’s log ride turned green after installation due to an issue with the pigmentation of the skin and ultraviolet light exposure, Butler said. Garner Holt Productions fixed the problem.

Read the rest at the OC Register 

Knott's News: The baby bear and prairie dogs look soo cute!