Knott's Berry Farm will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its iconic Timber Mountain Log Ride next week.
The Bud Hurlbut-designed water ride opened on July 11, 1969, christened with a bottle of Boysenberry juice by park co-founder Cordelia Knott, as her husband Walter and actor John Wayne looked on.
The Log Ride followed Hurlbut's 1960 Calico Mine Ride, which put a richly themed, narrative-driven dark ride inside an artificial mountain years before Disney. The Log Ride married story-driven theming with a log flume ride, establishing a model that Disney would again copy two decades later with Disneyland's Splash Mountain.
In 2013, Knott's refurbished the Log Ride with new animatronics and show scenes from Garner Holt Productions and it will celebrate the ride's 50th birthday with two new animatronics that will be installed by the 11th.
Knott's will be giving limited-edition souvenir buttons honoring the ride to guests visiting the park on July 11, in addition to selling commemorative pins, T-shirts and artwork for the anniversary.
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