Knott S Berry Farm

A Knott's Berry Farm worker who operates the popular Calico Railroad ride was killed Sunday evening, crushed between two passenger cars in what officials said is the first employee death in the theme park's 76-year history. The fatality took place about 6 p.m., just as the park was closing for an hour before reopening for the evening as "Knott's Scary Farm," a Halloween-themed attraction.

Cedar Point plans to turn the Ohio theme park's Million Dollar Midway into the $6-million Luminosity nighttime spectacular complete with lights, lasers and fireworks tied to a stage performance with DJs, dancers and drummers. PHOTOS: Luminosity nighttime spectacular at Cedar Point Debuting on June 8, the 40-minute Luminosity: Ignite the Night stage show will be followed by a pyrotechnics finale that leads into a DJ street party designed to turn the midway into an enormous dance floor.

In the 2 1/2 years before a woman fell to her death from the Perilous Plunge water attraction at Knott's Berry Farm last month, at least two other people fell out of rides made by the same manufacturer, according to lawsuits and investigation reports. In all three thrill-ride accidents at parks in California and New York, the victims slipped free from shoulder harnesses, lap bars or seat belts. In two of the cases, the riders weighed about 300 pounds or more.

A brain aneurysm caused the death of a 25-year-old woman who collapsed after a roller-coaster ride at Knott's Berry Farm, the third such incident at California theme parks this summer, authorities said Tuesday. Gafudji Mekanisi, a former Knott's employee who family members said was a thrill-ride aficionado and an aspiring model and singer, was on the Montezooma's Revenge roller coaster with a family member about 7 p.m. Friday when she reportedly slumped over the safety bar. She died about 4 a.m.

A woman was in critical condition with head injuries Thursday night after she fell from a high-speed, spinning ride at Knott's Berry Farm, authorities said. The woman, identified by Fire Department officials as Cheryl Vandegrift of West Covina, fell from the Tampico Tumbler about 2:40 p.m. as it was twirling riders, park officials said. It was unclear how far she fell, but the ride is 30 feet at its highest point.

Knott's Berry Farm said Thursday that it will close the theme park two days a week for the first time in five years, a cutback that could be a sign of the recession's effect on Southland tourism, though the park said otherwise. The five-day schedule, with the park closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, will start next week and continue for six weeks, after which the park will again be open seven days a week, said Stuart Zanville, a Knott's spokesman.

Five animal rights activists protesting the captivity of marine mammals chained themselves to a dolphin swim tank at Knott's Berry Farm on Saturday, halting a noon dolphin feeding show, park officials and police said. After the protesters had remained chained for about an hour, Buena Park police summoned by security guards arrested them. They were taken to police headquarters and booked on trespassing charges, then released with orders to appear June 29 in Municipal Court in Fullerton.

Drawn in part by television and radio promotions, tens of thousands of youths converged on Knott's Berry Farm on Wednesday for a Cinco de Mayo celebration, disrupting traffic and commerce and sparking scattered violence until hundreds of riot police restored order. The event's 5-cent admission price was heavily publicized on KIIS-FM, a music station popular among teens, and also promoted on Spanish-language station KMEX-TV.

Russell Knott leaned back in a chair behind the desk in his unassuming office at Knott's Berry Farm and reminisced about working on the farm--both in the fields and as general manager of the theme park. Knott, 77, also reflected on the city's first tourist attraction, founded by his late parents, Walter and Cordelia, who had settled in Buena Park nearly 74 years ago.

At Knott's Berry Farm's Cinco de Mayo debacle promoted by KIIS-FM DJ Rick Dees, the rowdy youths were mainly outside the park--those who didn't get in on the 5-cent admission. But a similar promotion at Disneyland for Halloween in 1994 produced not only horrifying gridlock, brawls and frustrated customers outside the Magic Kingdom but a crime wave inside. "It was a nightmare," recalled Deena Ipolito, a sales clerk at the Emporium on Main Street that day.