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Knott’s Berry Farm

Where have all the chickens gone at Knott’s?

by Mark Eades March 31, 2019

Independence Hall at Knott’s Berry Farm

Take a look at the photo of Independence Hall at Knott’s Berry Farm. What do you see?

Now ask yourself this: What do you not see?

Chickens. That’s right no chickens around Independence Hall.

Some of the chickens or roosters that used to hang out around Independence Hall at Knott’s Berry Farm.

In fact, there are no chickens in this area or anywhere at Knott’s Berry Farm any more. They’ve all been removed and sent to a ranch in the Inland Empire with a do not destroy order.

Why? Well the Knott’s folks say the chickens left a lot of, well, chicken doo doo around and it’s a hassle to clean up.

That’s fine, I understand the health issues related to that, particularly with Soak City nearby and people could track that stuff into the water.

That said, I think Knott’s could have come up with a solution that would have kept the tradition of live chickens at the farm and not have the other issue.

Another chicken in the planter behind Independence Hall at Knott’s Berry Farm, as seen in years past.

How? By creating a new pen where some chickens could be kept. On display for guests, yet not out where they could cause a problem.

The pen would also solve another issue Knott’s was having with the chickens – they attracted coyotes would stalk them and slay one for food, leaving the remains to be seen the next morning. Not a pretty sight.

By the way, this has not been reported by any news organization including the one I used to work for. The reporter assigned to cover Knott’s can’t be bothered with getting real stories. That’s what you get when managers and editors think it’s better to let someone cover Knott’s who lives in Pasadena, versus one (me) who lives in Buena Park, three blocks from the park.

If you think me reporting this story says I’m anti-Knott’s – you’re wrong. I love the park. I just think there could have been a better solution to the chickens that visitors used to love there.

March 31, 2019 0 comment

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Can the Catawampus make a comeback at Knott’s Berry Farm?

by Mark Eades August 23, 2018

At Knott’s Berry Farm in Ghost Town, near the stables and beneath the windmill stands an odd creature known as the Catawampus, or “Species Extinct.” Here is a link to Part 1 of my journey of discovery to learn more about this odd creature. Here is a link to Part 2 of my journey. Here is a link to Part 3. Here is a link to Part 4. Part 5, the last part for now, of the journey is below, read on…

Professor Ananias’ journal ended with his getting on a run as an engineer on the railroad that ran through Cajon Pass. Apparently, he left the railroad to, and we can only guess at this point, continue on his search for the Catawampus in the hills and mountains in that area.

There were unconfirmed reports that he ended up along the headwaters of the Santa Ana River in the nearby San Bernardino Mountains. But he was never heard from again. The only evidence was his journal, which was found in an abandoned cabin years ago, and donated to a local library where it languished on the shelves, and eventually found.

But that’s not the end of the story.

Years later, the son of Professor Ananias’ sister came west, wondering what had happened to him. He knew of the professor’s obsession with the Catawampus and retraced his steps, eventually finding the abandoned cabin and the journal shared here.

The son, however, needed work and eventually ended up in Orange County, working as a laborer for some of the farmers in the area.

Those white flowers on the boysenberry vine are future berries.

He eventually met up with Rudolph Boysen, who worked as the superintendent of city parks for Anaheim. Rudolph showed him some vines of a plant that grew purple berries growing along the banks of the Santa Ana River, and offered him some. They were very tasty.

Boysen told him that he had seen what appeared to be tracks, only they were made up of round holes like from a wooden cane. This was similar to the description of the tracks made by the Catawampus as he had read in his uncle’s journal.

Boysen also noted that when the plant dropped its leaves every year, he rarely had any to rake up, as if someone had been there and taken them all.

The berries drew the attention of Walter Knott, who took some cuttings from Boysen, and in a few years successfully turned Boysenberries (as Knott named them) into a booming business.

Anianas’ nephew went to work for Knott, and, at times, saw the same strange tracks – but never saw a Catawampas at that time.

As Knott’s enterprise grew to include Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant and then the added Ghost Town, the farm started to give way, with less and less fields to tend to. But Ananias’ nephew stayed on, caring for the vegetation at the farm. As the farm grew into an amusement enterprise, there were more and more attractions, and less and less actual farm land.

About that time the nephew met a man named Forrest Morrow. He had been told to find the nephew by Knott. Morrow had talked to Knott about creating a new location for a special collection of animals, called Wood-imals. He’d heard about the Catawampus, and thought it would make a fine addition to his collection. They would all be given a safe place to live and, as they generally did not move around during the day, it would be a unique place for kids to run and play. The place would be called Jungle Island.

However, Ananias’ nephew told him he had not seen one, though there was evidence of them being in the area. Morrow offered to help catch one or two.

What Morrow did, after reading up on the Catawampus in the professor’s journal, was suggest a way to trap one alive.

He brought in a stuffed, dead coyote, then rigged up a loudspeaker connected to a record player that would play sounds of a coyote howling. They decided to do it one night in the fields when there was no moon.

They stayed up late one night, waiting. After things got quiet, they turned on the record player. The howls could be heard across the boysenberry field. Then, after an hour, they heard the sound of a bell connected to the trap. They rushed out with their flashlights and there, in the cage, was a Catawampus.

As usual, it did not move when confronted by humans.

Morrow gently picked up the cage and put it in his pickup truck, along with a good helping of boysenberry plant leaves.

Later, he told the nephew he never saw the Catawampus move, though he did hear occasional mooing sounds coming from where he kept all the caged Wood-imals.

Months passed by, as Jungle Island was built. Then Morrow brought all his Wood-imals to the island and placed them throughout the place, opening the island in 1964.

Kids loved the place, and the Wood-imals had a place to live, and kids visiting Knott’s Berry Farm had a place to run and romp.

But eventually, progress took its toll and the island was changed into a nature area less then 20 years later. Most of the Wood-imals eventually disappeared.

Vines of the Boysenberry plant are thriving and doing well at Knott’s Berry Farm. Photo by Mark Eades

But the one Catawampus left somehow lived on. It is thought it still fed on Boysenberry plant leaves, the few that were left around Knott’s. And because coyotes occasionally roamed through the area, undoubtedly feeding on the chickens living there, it would occasionally catch a coyote for a meal.

Anania’s nephew finally left the farm for the east too, deciding he had finally seen his uncle’s Catawampus, and verified all the claims found in the journal and wanted to present the findings to the university that had laughed at him. But he never made it there, the victim of an automobile accident.

Still, one, lone Catawampus could be seen around Knott’s Berry Farm over the years, even as the Boysenberry plant all but disappeared. In fact, for a couple years there was only one plant that survived the loss of the farming of boysenberries in the area. It grew, quite by accident, by the farm’s train “roundhouse” and the engineers that cared for the engines kept it alive.

Then, a few years back, the farm decided it needed to bring back its legacy, and planted some boysenberry vines by the little lake. As the vines grew and berries appeared, the Catawampus – which had not looked well, seemed to grow too. It got healthier. It disappeared for a while, then a baby Catawampus appeared – along with the adult.

This Baby Catawampus can be seen standing next to its Momma under the Windmill in the Ghost Town Area at Knott’s Berry Farm. Photo by Mark Eades

Now both are alive and healthy, spending the daylight hours under the windmill where visitors can see them. Neither seem to be bothered by humans, but who knows? They don’t move around when people can see them.

And because there was a baby, that means there should be other Catawampus around – hiding. Could this be a sign that more Catawampus could appear around the farm, babies and adults?

One can only hope that’s the case.

August 23, 2018 0 comment

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The Catawampus have to be out here somewhere

by Mark Eades July 31, 2018

Professor Ananias’ career as a scholar in the field of rare animals was in ruins – even though he had seen a herd of Catawampus, he only had his drawing, and that drew nothing but skepticism and scorn from other scholars.

So, he left the world of academia and headed back west on the railroad, eventually working on the railroad as a fireman and then an engineer.

At first, he was on the Durango & Rio Grande Western Railroad in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, traveling the narrow-gauge railroad line that serviced the mines and loggers there. But eventually, he hooked up with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, ending up based out of Barstow, California.

The Catawampus as seen once upon a time at Knott’s Berry Farm.

Once there, he spent his spare time roaming the hills and mountains in a vain effort to find the Catawampus again. He would also listen to the town gossip and talk to others to see if anyone had heard of them.

No one really lived in Calico anymore, though there were a few prospectors in the hills. But none of them knew anything about the wooden creature.

One night, after getting back into town after steaming in from Arizona, he stopped off at one of the old watering holes (a bar) where he met two old codgers.

This is the entry from Professor Ananias’ journal about that meeting:

I met two older, bearded men, one was called Whiskey Bill (and he deserved the name judging by the quantities of that liquid he could down) and Handsome Brady (though how he got that name had to have been a joke!).

Statues of those famous western characters, Handsome Brady and Whiskey Bill.

I was sitting at the bar having a brandy when I overheard them talking to one of the ladies from a place called “Goldies,” and were trying to come to some sort of arrangement. During their discussion with the lady, they said that if they could come up to her place, they would take her out tomorrow to see the Catawampus. My ears perked up on hearing that.

After the lady denied their advances, I could see they had nothing else on for the evening, so I purchased a bottle, and walked over, setting the bottle in the middle of the table.

“Mind if I join you?” I asked.

Their eyes showed they had been around in the west for a long time. But they lit up when they saw the bottle.

“If y’all are sharin that, why shor,” said Whiskey Bill.

I set three glasses on the table, opened the whiskey and poured. Bill grabbed his glass and drank it down like a thirsty camel. I refilled it immediately. Bill started to drink that one, but stopped when Handsome Brady cleared his throat.

“What can we do for you stranger?” Brady asked.

I leaned forward and spoke in a low voice.

“I couldn’t help but overhear you mentioning a creature called a Catawampus.”

Handsome picked up his drink, looking at Bill while he slowly sipped. Bill’s eyes got a little larger, he took a short sip from his glass. Bill coughed.

“Uh, that was just talk, you know, for the lady.”

“Really?” I asked. “So, you haven’t seen one of the wooden creatures?”

Handsome seemed to choke on his drink. He set it down.
Handsome asked, “How do you know they’re made of wood?”

I looked around, no one in the bar was paying attention to us at all, but the two seemed unwilling to talk.

“I’ve heard about them too, years ago in Calico.”

They looked at me with disbelief in their eyes.

“I was there when it was booming, I’d hoped to get proof of their existence.”

Whiskey Bill asked, “What kind of proof?”

“Maybe capture one alive and take it back east to my old college.”

They both laughed.

Brady said, “If you can manage to catch one, they’ll just stop movin, and then people will think you’re nuts cuz all you’ll have is some pieces of wood.”

Bill added, “We seen a couple, we had ‘em cornered in a box canyon. They just stopped moving, they stopped their mooing – for all anyone could’ve known, they were just a prank played by some youngsters to make them look like they was livin things.”

I nodded and took a drink myself.

“Still, you’ve seen them?”

The two nodded.

“Where?”

“In the foothills on the other side of Cajon Pass,” Brady said.

I started to get up.

Bill asked, “You going to try and find ‘em?”

“Yes.”

“Well best of luck to you sir.”

I started to take the bottle, saw them both staring at me. I put the bottle back down.

Bill said, “I knew you was a gentleman when I laid eyes on you.”

I felt reborn as I walked out of that bar and headed to my place to get some sleep, I had a run across the desert, but now wanted to get on a run to Victorville, as that was much closer to the pass.

Where’d the Catawampus all go?

by Mark Eades July 18, 2018

Professor Ananias had found the old Prospector, and was learning more about the habits of the Catawampus that day and night. He did a drawing of one of the ones he saw that evening around the old Prospector’s camp.

It is indeed a strange looking creature. I’m not sure it is real to this day – but the Professor claimed it was, but all he could do was a drawing as he did not have a still camera with him, as they were very expensive back then.

This rough coal sketch of a Catawampus was created by Professor Ananias in 1881. Or so his (wink, wink) journal says.

This drawing was from his journal that I found the only copy of, so I kept reading…

September 21, 1881

I finished my sketch of one of the creatures and noticed that the herd had stopped moving. They were also getting harder to see as the old Prospector’s fire was dying down and the moon was disappearing under some clouds.

“You better get inside your tent and tie it shut, feels like a storm’s comin,” said the old Prospector.

I pointed out towards the Catawampus herd, “Why aren’t they moving around?”

The Prospector shrugged, “I think they do that so any coyotes coming by won’t know they’re alive, then they jump ‘em and get a meal.”

I just nodded, in slight disbelief. We both saw some lightning off in the distance. We both made sure our horses were secure in the Prospector’s makeshift stable, and I turned in, securely tying my tent flap.

The occasional lightning flash made it hard to sleep but I finally started dozing off when I was startled by a yelp. But it was pitch black and started to rain so stayed in my tent. I could hear some movement over where the herd was, they were in the dry wash.

The rain grew more intense, and I could hear the herd moving around – it sounded like they were moving away. Then I heard a roar of water rushing down the ravine, followed by more intense lightning and thunder and more rain. It was safer to stay in my tent on the higher ground.

Eventually the rain died down, and so did the sound of the rushing water – then it got strangely quiet. I peeked out the flap, but could not see a thing. I yawned and went back to sleep.

That morning, I woke up with a start, the horse was making some noise. I grabbed the sack of horse feed I had with me and went outside. The Prospector was at the stable, feeding his horse. I brought over my feed for my horse.

Looking around at the wash, all I could see was evidence of where the water had been, and a few small pools of water still standing – soon to be gone by the rising sun.

“Where’d they go?” I asked the Prospector.

He shrugged, “Probably run off thanks to that storm, or could have been washed downstream. But they got themselves a coyote last night.” He pointed at a carcass of a coyote, pretty much picked clean on the banks of the wash. Flies were already buzzing around the carcass.

While my horse ate its fill, I wandered down to the wash – there were no tracks of any kind.

“Thanks to that storm, you probly won’t find any tracks for them,” the Prospector said.

I nodded, but was determined to continue my journey and even try to trap one to bring back to the college. I packed up my things and thanked the Prospector.

“Good luck, they’re hard to find and can blend into any woods,” he said as I rode off.

Before going downstream, I went upstream and found that the flash flood had washed away the strange purple berry plant. The Catawampus would probably not be returning to this location any time soon. So I turned my horse around and we headed downstream.

November 1, 1881

I’ve spent the better part of a month looking for any sign of the Catawampus, but can find nothing. I hear stories once in a while, all of them pointing towards them heading up into the San Bernardino mountains.

December 20, 1881

It’s getting cold in these mountains, ice is on the ground and snow is at the higher altitudes. I’m running low on funds and have found no sign of the Catawampus at all, though have heard some talk about finding dead coyotes here and there.

As much as I hate to admit it, I must return home back east and report my findings for now. I hope my colleagues will trust what I have to say and not laugh me out of the college.

— Well that was the last entry of Professor Ananias’ journal from then. He was, indeed, ridiculed, for his findings. He left that college, and took up another trade, that of railroading – serving at first as a fireman, then an engineer on one of the narrow-gauge railroads that were servicing both the mining and the logging operations in the Rockies.

But he never gave up his quest, and after decades, in his senior years, came west to California again, after hearing rumors of a strange wooden creature somewhere near Barstow.

Face to face with the Old Prospector and the Catawampus

by Mark Eades July 11, 2018

I continued reading Professor Ananias’ journal. He entitled the next entry in his journal, “Meeting the old Prospector.”

Here is that entry: September 20, 1881 – I’ve been following the tracks of the old prospector’s mule and those beside it of holes spaced just like four-legged animals for a few days. They lead into a canyon. Cautiously, I urge my horse forward.

This Catawampus stands beneath the windmill in Ghost Town at Knott’s Berry Farm. Photo by Mark Eades.

As we moved further up into the canyon, I heard a lot of clicking noises, mixed with a variety of what sounded like cows mooing.

My horse tripped on a rock, making a neigh sound as it recovered. I stopped, and the noises I heard had stopped too.

We slowly set out again making little noise. Shortly, the clattering sound like wood sticks being clapped together started up again, along with the cows mooing, but it sounded like they were moving away from us, faster than we would ever catch up.

Rounding a bend, we saw a small campfire with coffee brewing next to it. On the ground could be seen many of the holes that looked like they were made by some strange animals. Then I spotted an old man, standing outside his tent at the ready with his shotgun.

“Ya scared them off,” the old, bearded man said.

“What was that?”

“Ya scared them away,” he said.

“What did we scare away?” I asked.

“The Catawampus.”

“The Catawampus?”

“Yep,” he said as he spit something out. “The Catawampus, they’re a little shy about bein’ seen.”

I nodded.

The old man beckoned me down off my horse.

“Ya want some coffee?”

“Why thank you,” I said.

The old man had probably not shaved in a couple years, and who knew when he had last bathed, as we were in a desert and water was hard to come by.

“I spect they went up the canyon to the spring, if it ain’t dried up yet,” he said as he poured me a cup of coffee. I tried a sip, it wasn’t bad – it had a hint of berry in the flavor that reminded me of the blackberries back home, causing me to smile.

“Like that coffee?”

“As a matter of fact, I do, there’s a hint of some kind of berry, like blackberry.”

“It tain’t black berry. I found a few of these big purple berries, ne’er seen ‘em before. But them critters seem to like the leaves of the bushes they grow on. There’s a few up at the spring. But if the water’s dry, they’ll probably die off,” he said.

The boysenberry vines at Knott’s Berry Farm. The Catawampus reportedly likes the leaves of the Boysenberry Vine. Photo by Mark Eades.

Then he offered his hand, “My name’s Dusty Mule, some call me crazy, and I know some refer to me as the ‘Old Prospector,’ but Dusty’ll do.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Dusty,” I said as I shook his purple-stained hand. “I’m Professor Aranias.”

“You’re kinda young to be a professor.”

“I graduated from college at the age of 16 and got my masters at 17.

“Why’d ya come out here?

“This is research for my doctoral thesis for a small college back east. I study and research new animals not really documented by scientists.”

“Well ya come to the right place. These little fellows took a liking to me, probably cause I like them purple berries and don’t touch the leaves.”

“May I ask why you call them Catawampus?”

“I dunno. Maybe cuz they’re a little Catawampus from any regular animal I’ve ever seen.”

“I’d like to see them and study them.”

Well, I think they’ll be back, they’re a little shy about bein’ seen by strangers. But I don’t think they’re gonna stick around this area much longer.”

“Why is that?”

“Cuz that purple berry plant don’t look like it’s gonna last much longer – so I spect they’ll start out across the desert to find more of them or something else they want to eat.”

“What do they look like?”

“Well, you probly won’t believe me, but they look like a bunch of bare sticks put together, with a small barrel for a heard, two horns that face down, and some hair that looks like dried grass.”

“You’re right, I don’t believe you.”

“Well that’s the truth. You want more?”

I rolled my eyes and then nodded, “Sure, why not.” I made like I was writing all this down when, in fact, I was not.

“Well they have a mighty strange appetite. Besides the leaves of these plants with the purple berries, they eat coyotes.”

I didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but I had seen a few remains of eaten coyotes on my trek out to his campsite.

As it was getting dark, the Old Prospector served me up a homemade cobbler with some of that purple fruit. I will say, for a grizzled old man, he sure knew how to make a good cobbler.

As we stared at the fire, we heard a coyote yell, that was cut off suddenly.

“They got another one. Useful to keep the coyotes away,” Dusty said.

I just nodded. He went on.

“There used to be as many Catawampus as there were buffalo in the old west, but with more and more humans, their numbers have gone down as humans have scared them away. Farmers keep them away from their crops cause they think they eat their crops, but that’s the crows and other critters.”

“Do you think they’ll come back by your camp tomorrow?”

“I think they’ll come by tonight, now hold real still and turn around slow. There’s a few of them right behind you.”

I slowly turned and what I saw was, well, strange and weird, and exactly as described. I tried to count how many, but could see how many there were in the campfire lit darkness.

“That’s all the closer they’ll get, they’re kinda wary of fire.”

After seeing them in person, I agreed with the Old Prospector. They looked like they were made of sticks and just as he’d described. To say I was surprised is an understatement. All I could do was stare and wish I’d had one of those still cameras. I slowly got out my drawing pad.

Editor’s note: This is part two of a multi-part series. Here is a link to Part 1. Here is a link to Part 3. Return to this site in a week for the next installment in the series.

July 11, 2018 0 comment

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What of the Catawampus?

by Mark Eades July 4, 2018

At Knott’s Berry Farm in Ghost Town, near the stables and beneath the windmill stands an odd creature known as the Catawampus, or “Species Extinct.” This is Part 1 of a multi-part story.

Now in the past it was thought that the adult Catawampus seen there was a male and was the last one – but now experts are beginning to wonder maybe it’s not that extinct, as now there is a young Catawampus right next to the adult at Knotts. Leading them to believe that maybe the Catawampus at the Farm was not male, but female. There’s no real way to tell even up close.

Or is it that the males take care of the young like some species?

And a second question: Since there is a young one does that mean there are more out there somewhere and they are starting to regrow their numbers like the buffalo?

I set out to find out more, and in my intense search for more information I found the lost journals of Professor Ananias who was, until his disappearance years ago into an abandoned mine in the town of Calico, the expert on the creature that looks like it is made of bare tree branches, known as a Catawampus, or “Species Extinct.”

Here is the first entry from Professor Ananias’ journal: “May 1, 1881 – I arrived at Calico, a new town that sprang up almost overnight due to a discovery of a massive vein of silver. But my interest was not in silver, gold or other such intrinsic things. Rather, I was more interested in the older prospectors’ stories of strange wooden creatures seen in the desert areas. I hope to find one or two of them willing to talk to me. I suspect I will be purchasing them a beverage at the local saloon to loosen their tongues. Secondhand reports indicate that upon sightings of the creatures they were apparently startled into silence. It makes me wonder what it was they saw that could have frightened them so.”

A Catawampus and its offspring live in Ghost Town at Knott’s Berry Farm

Apparently, the Professor did not find anyone who would talk for some time as his next few entries were simple ones: “June 30, 1881 – Still searching for anyone who will talk to me about this strange creature, though I did find out they were calling it a ‘Catawampus.’ I’m not sure if that is its real name, or just one they have called it. It appears to be a name based on something gone askew. Or maybe they spotted it after walking across an area in a strange manner, or maybe the creature travels in a strange manner.”

Then a few months later, the Professor stumbled across someone who would talk: “September 14, 1881 – I decided to roam around the hills in search of an old prospector named Dusty Mule, after Goldie told me she had heard him talk of the creature during one of his visits to her establishment. No one seemed to know where he was located. But I persevered.

I happened to see a lone strand of mule tracks going into the hills one evening and started to follow them, but it was getting dark and there was no moon. So, I stopped and made camp near a small clump of cacti. As the darkness took hold, I heard the sounds of the night in this forsaken wilderness – that of the coyote mixed in with the sounds of cows mooing in the dark. I thought that the cows were giving away their position in the dark to the coyote. Then I heard one moo a little louder followed by the yelp of a coyote that sounded like it was caught in a trap – then a ghostly silence. No coyote or cows heard the rest of the night. I fell into an uneasy slumber.

Sometime later that night I thought I heard what sounded like the clatter of wooden sticks being clapped together outside my tent where I had bedded down for the night. My horse did not seem to mind it at all. I was tired from not getting any sleep and ignored it. Pretty soon the wooden clapping sound moved away and I went back to sleep.”

A strange sound indeed per the Professor’s journal. What could make a sound like a cow, when there were no cows for miles around? I read on:

“The next morning, I arose and quietly poked my head outside the tent. My horse was still there, but when I looked down at the ground, I saw what appeared to be small holes in the ground. They appeared to be round, of various diameters ranging from less than one inch to nearly three inches. It seemed to me someone was playing tricks on me as the holes were spaced just like that of four-legged animals. They also paralleled the tracks of the old prospector’s mule into the hills. I resolved to follow them and packed up my tent, saddled my horse and set off.”

Editor’s note: This is part one of a multi-part series. For Part 2 click here. For Part 3, click here.

July 4, 2018 0 comment

Bill Reyes, an aficionado, digitally recreated the music heard in the heaven caverns room inside the Calico Mine Train Ride at Knott's Berry Farm.

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Former Cast Member Remakes Heavenly Music

by Mark Eades August 4, 2014

Bill Reyes, a theme park afficianado and Disneyland Alumni, digitally recreated the music heard in the heaven caverns room inside the Calico Mine Train Ride at Knott's Berry Farm.

Bill Reyes, a theme park aficionado and Disneyland Alumni, digitally recreated the music heard in the heaven caverns room inside the Calico Mine Train Ride at Knott’s Berry Farm.

Music, trains, and theme parks are passions of Bill Reyes, and he’s found a way to work all three into his life. Unusually enough, it began when Bill’s dad learned his young son preferred music to sports—and rather than lose heart at not having a future athlete in the family, he encouraged Bill’s love of music.

Bill’s dad gave him records by Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich, and Count Basie, sparking his first musical love—drums and percussion instruments. Bill learned to play and kept playing for many years.

“Once I hit high school, the band director there introduced me to various other instruments including all the horns and reed instruments,” Bill said. His music passions grew to include guitar, keyboards, and more, eventually recording and producing music in his own studio at his house.

But music was not always a good source of income for a person with a family, so Bill turned his hands to educational design—producing training and educational materials and programs for a variety of companies. Even while working at his day job, he still finds time for his first musical love. “I can play all night long live on drums and percussions.”

After music came trains. Bill’s childhood passion for trains was fired up by frequent trips to Knott’s Berry Farm. Back then going to Knott’s was a free place for the La Mirada family to go. “The steam engine, number 41, scared me as a kid, but I was fascinated by it,” Bill said. “I went and got books on trains and researched them a lot.”

Bill saved up so he could buy a ticket and ride not just the big steam train but also the Calico Mine Train Ride, where he heard the organ music—a piece called “Going to Heaven”—in the Cavern Room at the top of the big lift halfway through the ride. “The sound of that organ music in that room was wonderful,” he said.

Bill’s fascination with trains continued as the family began making annual August trips to Disneyland for his brother’s birthday. “I knew the first thing I’d see and smell when I got there were the trains.” Bill said it took a few trips for him to figure out there was more than one train at Disneyland, but once he realized that fact, he continued his diligent research. When he found out about Walt Disney’s affinity for steam trains and even his ownership of a scale model live steam engine, Bill began to dream about maybe working someday at Disneyland—on the steam trains, of course. “I love trains. I don’t really own any,” Bill admits, “but I love them.”

Bill’s Disneyland dream had to be tabled awhile as he worked on raising his family. Then one Sunday, just a few years ago, Bill and his son went to Traveltown in Los Angeles. They also went next door to the Los Angeles Live Steamers, and discovered Walt Disney’s Barn. During that visit, Bill met Michael Broggie, son of Disney Legend Roger Broggie and one of the members of the Carolwood Foundation, which maintains the Barn at the location. In 2009, Bill became a volunteer docent for Walt’s Barn.

Eventually, Bill joined the Carolwood Foundation and became a member of its board of directors. Now he can be found there on the third Sunday of each month, dressed in a conductor’s uniform, answering visitors’ questions.

When the last recession hit the U.S. economy, it pounded both Bill’s lines of work—hard. That’s when he applied to work at Disneyland. “I figured what the heck,” he said.

In 2011, Bill was offered a position as a Disneyland Attractions Host. After going through orientation with the Disney University, he was soon working on the west side of the park. Before long, Bill began getting calls for work back in his field, forcing him to resign his position after a few months. “I loved working at Disneyland, but there weren’t enough hours to support my family,” Bill admitted.

Meanwhile, he paid a few more visits to Knott’s Berry Farm and rode the Calico Mine Train Ride, where he found that the wonderful organ music in the Cavern Room had become less than heavenly over the years. “It sounded like it had been edited, and was very weak.”

Bill Reyes (right) is pictured with Bud Hurlbut, designer of the Calico Mine Train Ride and the Timber Moutain Log Ride at Knott’s Berry Farm. Used by permission.

Bill decided it needed improving, so he paid a visit to his friend Lonnie Lloyd, who was shop foreman for the legendary ride designer Bud Hurlbut. (Bud had designed and built the Calico Mine Train Ride. Walt Disney admired Bud’s ride designs and met with him several times.) Even though Bud had passed away, Bill was able to get a copy of the original sheet music for the Caverns Room from Lonnie and set about recreating it from scratch. “I am not an organist,” Bill said. “I’m more of a technician. But I wanted to do it as a tribute to Bud.”

The original organ music had been recorded more than 50 years before on a real organ. While Bill did not have access to the original, he did have a scratchy copy of it and started working on a new recording. Because he was not an organist, Bill took more of a technical approach, recording digital samples of organ music and matching them to the sheet music on his computer. It took several months of finding and getting organ samples, plugging them in, listening, and adjusting before he finally got it finished. “I played it for Lonnie and he thought it was a new recording of the original.”

Bill’s work didn’t end there. When he heard that Knott’s Berry Farm was going to completely refurbish the ride, he wanted them to have the new recording and offered it to them gratis.

When the refurbished ride—with an all new sound system and more—debuted in June 2014, the organ music heard in the Cavern Room of the Calico Mine Train Ride is what Bill had produced, and he did it in line with all of his passions: music, trains, and theme parks.

This profile is part of a series featuring former Disney Cast Members being written for the Disneyland Alumni Club. These stories reveal the role working for Disney has played over the years in shaping the lives of the people who help “make the dream a reality,” as Walt would say.

In honor of the 60th anniversary year of Disneyland in 2015, the Disneyland Alumni Club is reaching out to former employees, whether retired or younger, who may not be aware of the organization. The Club was started in 1983 by Disneyland executives Van France and Dick Nunis as a way to help Cast Members stay in touch after moving on to other careers. Is that you? If so and you’d like to take part in the Club’s private celebration next August—or participate in their many other activities and benefits, please visit www.disneylandalumni.org and join today!

Here’s some previous stories about Disneyland Alumni:

Lifelong bonds formed working at Disneyland

John Waite Loves Theme Parks

Caretaker of Walt Disney’s Family Film Legacy

A Real Disneyland Character

August 4, 2014 1 comment

Knott's Berry Farm theme parks

Knott’s Soak City opens for 2014

by Mark Eades May 16, 2014

The tide is in at Knott’s Soak City for the summer 2014 season.

The 13-acre waterpark will open for the 2014 summer season on weekends beginning Saturday, May 17th and every day starting Memorial Day weekend.

This season there will be a new feature at the waterpark. First up is a new complimentary Yoga class for its 2014 season pass holders.

The Yoga class will be held every Friday and Saturday morning from 8:45 – 9:45 a.m. and starts June 27th running through August 9th. The classes will take place on the grass near the newly painted Grammie Lagoon.

In addition, Knott’s Soak City, Gold and Platinum Season Passholders can enter the water park an hour and a half before the general public at 8:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays beginning June 27th and runs through August 9th.

The waterpark will be open daily starting Memorial Day weekend through September 1st, then weekends through September 14th.

Regular admission to the park is $36, $26 for juniors (ages 3-11) and seniors (62 and over). Admission includes unlimited use of all water park rides and attractions. Kids under three-years-old are always free.

The Knott’s Soak City Season pass is currently priced at $66, or six payments of $11. Prices for the season pass will be increasing May 26th.

Guests can also purchase a Gold Season Pass which gives them admission to both Knott’s Soak City and Knott’s Berry Farm theme park. The Gold Season Pass costs $102 or six payments of $17, or less if a junior or senior.

All prices do not include any applicable fees or taxes.

Knott’s Soak City will also offer its guests an All Day Dining Plan. The Plan can be purchased on the day of their visit for just $29.99+tax and applicable fees. Every 90 minutes guests can dine again and enjoy a wide variety of entrées at Soak City’s Long Board Grill.

All tickets and passes can also be purchased online at soakcityoc.com, or knotts.com.
Operating hours may vary, and are subject to change. For the most up to date information visit the websites, or call 714-220-5200.

May 16, 2014 0 comment

Knott's Berry Farm Railroads steam locomotives theme parks

Opening dates for Camp Snoopy and Calico Mine Ride announced

by Mark Eades May 2, 2014

Knott’s Berry Farm said that the grand re-opening for Camp Snoopy and the Calico Mine Train Ride would be June 14, 2014.

Knott’s decided last year, that after the success of the refurbishment, including new show scenes and more, of the Timber Mountain Log Ride, that its other classic Bud Hurlbut designed ride, the Calico Mine Train Ride, needed some of the same work.

The same company, Garner Holt, has been involved in the refurbishment since the ride closed in January. The newly refurbished ride will feature new figures, and a complete redo of all the classic scenes, as seen in this photo of the steamy mud pots room.

The steamy mud pots room, the first scene in the Calico Mine Train ride at Knott’s Berry Farm. The room has not had steam for a few years, but it was returned with a new boiler as part of the massive refurbishment in the spring of 2014.

At the same time Knott’s embarked on a redo of Camp Snoopy, making it feel more kid-friendly, and like a camp in the high Sierras.

One of the many new signs that will be placed in Camp Snoopy at Knott’s Berry Farm during its 2014 refurbishment. The signs are redwood planks, sandblasted to give them a raised look, then hand painted.

This refurbishment also features the addition of three new rides, as well as an update to the steam railroad in the camp that will now have scenes straight out of the “Peanuts” comic strip.

These dimensional characters from the Peanuts comic strip will be part of a scene that riders on the Grand Sierra Railroad will see after its completion as part of the Camp Snoopy 2014 refurbishment at Knott’s Berry Farm.

May 2, 2014 0 comment

I knew boysenberries grew big, but not this large.

Knott's Berry Farm multimedia theme parks

Everything is boysenberry purple at Knott’s

by Mark Eades April 13, 2014

Knott’s Berry Farm was calling it Berry Bloom as it held a Boysenberry Festival.

Knott’s Berry Farm celebrates everything berry much during its Boysenberry Festival.

As part of the festival, there were special boysenberry flavored foods including chicken wings coated with a boysenberry sauce, turkey legs with a boysenberry sauce, fried boysenberry ice cream and more.

Souvenirs were also boysenberry themed.

The park also recreated Walter and Cordelia Knott’s original boysenberry stand, and had boysenberry vine seedlings for sale.

There was also a wine tasting held in the Wilderness Dance Hall.

For the record I tried six of the wines. I also tried the chicken wings, the waffles with fruit, the fruit and cheese plate, the turkey leg with boysenberry sauce, the chocolate covered bacon, and for dessert I had two slices of boysenberry pie, a boysenberry tart, a boysenberry cupcake and washed it all down with water and a hot tea.

Click here to see all the shades of purplish boysenberry.

April 13, 2014 0 comment

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