Original Thinking

2025 will make it an even 45 years since the ride opened and looking back on it, I have a different perspective given the whole IP driven industry. I guess the days are pretty much gone where your boss sends you out into the park and says “think of something cool for this ride or this area.” Instead of referring to whatever the latest film or toy release was, you think of something that the audience might like from an experience standpoint, then what theme it might be or what might happen to them along the way. WSBR was in effect me looking at what appealed to me as a kid which was Disneyland’s “Mr Toad’s Wild Ride”, it’s reckless nature and then making it a “race” of sorts through some pretty random environments. Everything you saw was unique to the farm, Nothing from a TV show, toy, or movie. I watched an interview on the state of Hollywood with Director George Lucas and he said that there were too many remakes and a lack of “Original thinking.” That was how we thought back then. The thrill of the job was not so much applying an existing story, but doing your best to come up with new one that the guests would like!

So to me, if there is a lasting appeal to WSBR beyond the ride system experience itself, it’s being able to sense that many “wacky” references influenced the show and it felt inspired to a degree. Certainly you can’t hear Mancini in a town of drunken cats just anywhere!

“Soap Box Racers” the Book?.. kinda.

Wacky Soap Box Racer fans Chris Merritt and Eric Lynxweiler reunited some time ago to produce an EPIC tome (over 300 pages) on the history and making of the “Knott’s Bear-y Tales” Dark Ride. To add context, they also included the decades of farm history surrounding it, including the making of “Wacky Soap Box Racers” (and Sotto’s early concept work) with imagery shared from this site and more. It’s doubtful Wacky Soap Box will ever get its own book, but this one certainly is worth owning and has enough on it to make up for it and assure its place in farm history. Get the book, you’ll love every page. Congrats to its authors on another great effort! Thanks!

Here’s where you can order yours.

https://www.fantasy-funwheel.com

It’s all so clear.

Click on IMAGE to read the article.

I believe that Disney Legend Roland “Rolly” Crump (designer of Knott’s Bear-y Tales ride) played an unwitting but influential role in what led to my getting hired at the Farm. Only now that he sadly passed at 93 and we all reflect on his lifes work and its impact, that I clearly see the connections. Wacky is contagious! Find out more in the above article! Love to hear your thoughts. -Eddie Sotto

What’s in a name?

Wacky throwback?

It was a great experience to head out to the farm and enjoy the tribute they erected right at the original exit to the ride almost exactly 40 years later. in asking someone to take my picture in the mocked up vehicle, they shared their love of the ride by telling me to lean. So fun. what I enjoyed the most was the merchandise they created and so much of it! Some of the pieces just said “Soap Box Racers” omitting “wacky” in the title. This struck me, as I originally fought to have the name of the ride just be “Soap Box Racers” as I felt telling guests it’s “wacky” was too “on the nose.” Like saying something is hip, makes it unhip. I lost that battle with Marion Knott and yet I could not resist buying a “Soap Box Racers” hat and shirt.

Selfie Soap Box Racers

It’s only natural that Knott’s would create a way to bring the ride back in social media. Great idea, and what an effort they made to please fans of the ride. Knott’s called me and asked for the correct music, so they do want to stir the emotional pot. Such a great and sincere effort to honor something that didn't even get a T-Shirt 40 years ago!

Finally.

After 40 long years, it was great to see Knott’s finally decide to actually produce merchandise based on WSBR! Believe it or not, even though a million people flocked to ride and reride it in only 11 weeks, there was nothing you could buy as a souvenir of the race. EVER. In sync with the 100th Anniversary of the farm, GM Jon Storbeck and his team see the value of nostalgia and they’ve created some new fun items based on the ride poster by Bob Burns and some other cool uses of the marquee and checkered flag. Get your “wacky” on now before it goes away for another 40 years!

They even restored an original vehicle as a display. Go Knott’s!

Images courtesy @helmsmanfreddy on Twitter.

YOUR Memories

1980. As a tribute, Eddie added DEL, a fun alter ego of Knott’s Park Decorator Del Langdale (who loved pigs.)

So many of you have expressed your warm memories of the ride over the years, and that means a lot. Why? Ironically, on opening day back in 1980, I sat on a bench with my wife and broke down because I was so disappointed in it. I expected so much, and so many things either did not work as expected, were left out, or just did not live up to what I had imagined. I felt like those “all-nighters” before opening were a waste. Deena, my wife sat there in disbelief in front of the Calico Saloon. She just could not understand this breakdown as she had accommodated all of my obsessive behavior through this period and expected me to be thrilled at the opening.

I had tasted the downside of “perfectionism” and being too emotionally close to a project, expecting it to be something I could control like a model train set. I recall passionately insisting on my way to Marion Knott, saying “This is MY baby!” to which she insisted “NO IT’S NOT!” and proceeded to remind me as to who’s park it was. Thought I was going to be fired. A hard lesson, but glad it happened early on. We do our best to deliver on what we imagine will move the audience, but at times we focus too much on the things that didn’t match our intent or expectations and judge the product as we imagined it, not as the guest will experience it. We forget that the audience only sees what we DO deliver, not what’s missing, and thankfully in this case it was enough. Being too close to the details that were slipping away, I had missed the bigger picture, the ride itself was FUN and addictive. The huge kid appeal of that competitive ride system wrapped in “wacky” quirkiness of “the show”, made an unexpected hit and very repeatable.

It’s gratifying to hear from all of you. Would love to hear your comments and memories. Please post!