Knott's Berry Farm: A Real Bargain

When I was growing up, my family often took me to Knott's Berry Farm during the summer.  It was one of their favorite places, and it soon became mine.  My grandparents would tell me about "the good old days," how the park had developed, and how they had sometimes met with and spoken with the park's founders, Walter and Cordelia Knott.  It wasn't that they could claim close friendship with the couple: it was simply that the two were approachable, and involved in the running of the amusement park they had started.

Knott's Berry Farm wasn't conceived as an amusement park.  Instead, it started as a berry stand.  Later, due to economic necessity, Cordelia started serving chicken dinners.  These became so popular that a restaurant was built, and then various amusements were fashioned, so as to entertain those waiting in line for their food.  

Back then, I didn't care about the park's history: all I was interested in was the rides.  But I had to choose my amusements carefully, as we purchased coupon books, and you only got one kind of coupon.  As my grandparents never made much money, cost was always an important consideration for them.  They bemoaned the fact that they had to pay an entry fee, even if they didn't go on a single ride.  For them, just being there was special.  They didn't mind paying for a few rides if they took me, or accompanied my parents, but they always worried about expenses, and "Prices are so much higher than they used to be" was a common theme.  So sometimes, my family would go there, and I'd only get to go on one or two rides.  (Needless to say, those weren't my favorite visits).  But the fewer rides you took, the longer your coupon books lasted, which meant stretching your dollars, and more trips to the park.

As I was going through some of my grandmother's old papers the other day, I came across the remnants of these old coupon books.  Finding them reminded me of those happy times, and made me reflect on how much things had changed.  Back then, a child's Super Bonanza Coupon book cost $7, and included main gate admission and eleven adventures.  An adult's book was $6.75.  Currently, Knott's Berry Farm charges $26.99 for a child or senior's one-day admission (if you purchase online), and $39.99 for teens and adults.  Of course, you get more rides now, you'd expect to pay more than six or seven dollars, right?  But according to Dave Manuel's Inflation Calculator, $7 in 1975 money equates to $30.43 in today's money.  So maybe admission prices haven't risen so much after all.

It's inevitable that prices will rise with time.  But sometimes, it's nice to discover that you can actually spend less, and get far more for your money, than you would have over thirty years ago.  Now, if only I could trade in my old Super Bonanza tickets for a one-day admission...

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links
The History of Knott's Berry Farm
Inflation Calculator
Knott's Berry Farm

A Good Day to Die Hard in Hungary

Sometimes, a preview really wins you over.  That was the case for us with “A Good Day to Die Hard.”  We saw the preview, and decided that the movie looked fun.  Thereafter, it didn’t matter what the critics might say, or how audiences might compare it to the previous films.  The preview won us over on the character of John McClane, and the idea of him teaming up with his son against the baddies of Russia.  So we picked up the third and fourth movies in the franchise, and watched them to catch up on what we had missed after the first two films.

Although they’re primarily action movies, the Die Hard movies are also about family.  The first two highlight how a demanding job can detract from your relationship with your spouse.  As John McClane is an exceptional police officer, by the third film, his marriage is on the rocks.  He repeatedly tries to call his wife, but his pursuit of the villains always force him to abort those attempts.  In the fourth movie, he works to win back his daughter, who blames him for her parents' divorce.  Now, in the fifth movie, John's son has been arrested in Russia during an assassination attempt.  He’s been estranged from his son for several years now, and doesn't understand why his son has taken to a life of crime.  So he travels there to attend his son’s trial, and hopes he can do something to aid him.  Only he travels to Hungary, not Russia.

I didn’t realize until the credits that the movie was actually filmed in the Budapest area.  (At one point, Moscow’s colorful cathedral seems to rise in the background).  Some of the chase scenes were filmed at the Hungaroring, one of my favorite Formula One racetracks.  Filmmakers can do so much with special effects these days, and they used these tools not only to transform locations, but also to heighten action sequences.  The automobile chases, the people falling out of buildings and crashing through barriers, and all the explosions, are portrayed so colorfully and artfully, that they better resemble a professional ballet than the ugly gritty reality of so many action films.  Given my recent research, the story also tempts me to view the movie as a contemporary Hungarian Fairytale, with John McClane as a Taltos, a folk hero with special knowledge that allows him to survive the most extreme situations, and can fly through the air and land without sustaining major injury.

But that might be going just a little too far.

Reviewers may have panned the movie.  Audiences may feel it’s the smallest Die Hard ever.  But for an hour and a half, the movie transported me to Russia (even if it was Hungary), and I followed John McClane as he sought to reconnect with a son who had long ago written him off as a father.  Because John's aims were simple, and born of love and concern, I felt for him, smiled and laughed with him, and cheered him on in his (and his son’s) fight with the villains.  Likewise, the plot may have been simple, but what there was of it was good, and always kept me wondering what would happen next.

If you enjoy a movie with lots of action, built around a protagonist who realizes that his most precious treasure is his family, perhaps you’ll find that it’s "A Good Day (for you) to Die Hard."  Or at least, that it’s a good day to go out and watch a fun, light-hearted action movie.

Now, if only it had a few dragons in it.

Dragon Dave