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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Darkbeer1" data-source="post: 9305919" data-attributes="member: 113497">[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.ocweekly.com/a-tale-of-two-walts-how-an-unusual-friendship-led-to-orange-county-becoming-a-theme-park-destination/[/URL]Disney remained good friends with Knott and Hurlbut until Disney’s unexpected death in December 1966. But the relationship between the two parks continued: Knott’s Berry Farm displayed a framed guestbook page with Disney’s entry on it, and Disneyland would occasionally borrow repair parts from Knott’s when its carousel broke down. In 1969, 22-year-old future Disney Imagineer Tony Baxter left his ride-operating job at Disneyland in the middle of the day to attend the opening gala of Knott’s Timber Mountain Log Ride (also designed by Hurlbut), whose inaugural ride was taken by Hollywood star and Orange County resident John Wayne. Exactly one decade later, Baxter would design Big Thunder Mountain, his first ride for Disneyland, which took inspiration directly from the Calico Mine Ride.By placing Big Thunder’s queue area underneath the train track and adding a tremoring earthquake shaft and an exploding tunnel, Baxter turned Big Thunder Mountain into an homage to the Knott’s ride. Hurlbut’s design of the Timber Mountain Log Ride set the standard for future rides around the world by incorporating theming, scenery and storytelling within a full-sized mountain; Baxter would fully apply Hurlbut’s approach to his work on Splash Mountain in the 1980s, as well as Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye in the 1990s.<<</blockquote>

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