Knott’s Berry Farm Announced Bear-y Tales will be returning as a new dark ride replacing Voyage to the Iron Reef 4:D
Knott’s Berry Farm today let us know what they were planning for their 100th anniversary year. Fan favorite Bear-y Tales will be returning as a re-imagined interactive 4:D dark ride called Bear-y Tales: Return to the Fair. Guests will use jelly blasters as their weapons on the vehicles while visiting locations that used to be in the old attraction. The attraction will be open in the summer of 2020.
Knott’s said:
An all-new adventure will make its debut as part of the 100th anniversary celebration in summer 2020. This 4D interactive dark ride will bring to life a continuation of the story from the classic attraction. Guests will climb aboard ride vehicles equipped with “Jelly Blasters” and be immersed in the world of the Bear-y Tales characters to try and recover the stolen boysenberry pies from Crafty Coyote and his brood of pups. Families can ride through and take in the expansive surroundings or compete for the highest score. With all of the classic scenes re-imagined including the Pie Factory, Frog Forest, and County Fair, this will be a journey like never experienced before!
The new ride will once again use Trio-tech of Canada to create the ride systems who were used for the ride Bear-y Tales is replacing. Voyage to the Iron Reef 4:D.
Iron Reef 4:D opened in May 2015 and its last operating day will be January 5th 2020 Knott’s announced. The short lived 4:D attraction wasn’t that popular with guests, shooting freeze rays at underwater creatures attempting to harvest steel from the parks iconic attractions.
The building has been home to some popular rides before though…
The new ride will of course be based on the first ride used in the building opening in 1975. Bear-y Tales. This dark ride designed by Disney Imagineer Rolly Crump. (Crump is known for some other rides and lands you may have heard of like Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, The Land and Wonders of Life Pavilion at Epcot.)
The ride followed the story of a group of Bears called Boysen, Girlsen, Trapper, Raz and Elder as they traveled to the country fair to sell their pies. This ride would be the marquee attraction in the new Roaring 20’s themed area of the park. Look out for an Expedition on Bear-y Tales coming next year.
Following a decline in popularity in 1987 a new ride based on the increased public interest in Dinosaurs came. And if you haven’t already seen it check out our video on Kingdom of the Dinosaurs below.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvyJ4uG2UPw[/embedyt]
Kingdom of the Dinosaurs took riders back to the prehistoric era but due to a decline a popularity and aging parts closed on December 23rd 2004. It would take 10 years for the building to be gutted with some of the animatronics reused throughout the park. This led to the opening of Voyage to the Iron Reef 4:D in 2015.
Knott’s also announced some event dates for 2020
See below the list of announced event dates for next year:
- Knott’s Peanuts Celebration — January 25 – March 1
- Knott’s Boysenberry Festival — March 20 – April 19
- Ghost Town Alive + Summer Nights — May 15 – August 30
- Knott’s Spooky Farm — September 26 – October 31
- Knott’s Merry Farm — November 20 – January 3, 2021
What do you think? Are you excited for a re-themed interactive dark ride revisit to Bear-y Tales? Did you ride the original? Let us know what you think in the comments. For other news and videos on Knott’s keep an eye on our dedicated section.
