Defunctland: The History of Cedar Fair's Berenstain Bear Country

In 1971, in the far corner of the Disneyland parks, in a section called Indian Village, the small land was much less popular than the rest of the Disneyland areas and park executives hoped to draw more crowds to the back corner of the park. planning to clone the national Bear Jamboree that opened at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971, just a week after the Bears' debut, it emerged that the audio-animatronic spectacle along with a new land would replace the Indian village at Disneyland. the land would be called

bear

land Walt Disney was creating his own cast of adorable

bear

s, another sloth and his furry friends were becoming increasingly popular with young children Zeke and Zeb and Ted and Fred and a bear named Tennessee had nothing To do with dad and mom and brother and sister, these were the Berenstain Bears and they also lived deep in the heart of bear

country

.

Stanly Berenstain and Janice Grant were very young artists who met in a drawing class in the early 1940s, after marrying in 1946 and giving birth to their son Leo in 1948 the two illustrators ventured into publishing in 1951 they released Barren Stains Baby Book, a comical book for couples navigating the waters. The apparent hood, Barren Stains, continued to produce more adult-oriented products such as the Loverboy trilogy, including the interesting Office Loverboy. collection of comics depicting the rampant workplace bullying of the early to mid 60s with a fun and sexy approach, such as how to tell what happened at the office today without asking for a service for wives whose husbands They probably wouldn't tell them the truth anyway. a pass to the secretary did not reach first base made a pass to the secretary reached first base these books were either gripping satirical takes on the problematic climate of the corporate workplace or they weren't, in which case Wow after your scorched earth approach to comics for adults the arid posts focused their attention on family advice literature they decided that for their next novel a family of bears would be the perfect protagonists the bears were cute, easy to draw and had a very adorable appeal the couple he sent his manuscript to Theodor Geisel's desk, after almost two years of notes by the famous children's author Stanley and Jan, he published in 1962 The Great Honey Hunt with Soos and the Random House Beginner's Books.

The book begins a family of bears, including Mama Bear, the wisest and strictest member of the family, Papa Bear. the clumsy and silly father figure and the bear, the son of the family who follows the antics of his father in the book. Papa Bear ignores the advice of Mama Bear, who tells Papa to buy honey at the store. The simple lesson of listening to instructions was illustrated. When Papa Bear and Little Bear were chased through the woods by a swarm of bees, the bear characters that appear in the great honey hunt were only destined to stay in one book.

Stanley and Janice went on to begin work on a new project with penguins, but shortly after the publication of The Great Honey Hunt, the couple received a call from Theodor Geisel using the brilliant, whimsical vocabulary and phrases they were known for. became popular, to inform them that the quotes were selling the bear's book a lot, and then told them to start working. In more books and without asking, shorten their names to Stan and Jan and name the series Berenstain takes the newly named Stan and Jan, then they set out on a quest to answer the age-old question: can you milk a bear?

They would release their second book, The Bicycle Lesson in 1964 with many more stories to come Meanwhile in Sandusky Ohio the Cedar Point Amusement Park was getting some major upgrades in 1965 new family attractions like the Space Spiral and the famous jungle The African Safari Larry's also opened new that year was a The dark attraction called Earthquake Earthquake was an attraction transferred from a small park called Freedom Land in New York City. The premise of the dark attractions revolved around the catastrophic 1906 San Francisco earthquake that killed thousands of people, told in spectacular colors and car-driving action on a track.

Visitors across the city moments before and during the disaster Collapsed buildings and cracked cityscapes shook visitors as they made their way through the sprawling, dark attraction. The earthquake would inhabit a large section of the park's north Lake Erie side, near a mini-golf course, the main gallery. and the restaurants the earthquake would continue to operate for decades entertaining guests into the 1980s by 1985 Berenstain had published more than 50 books about Berenstain Bear had produced five television specials had been developing an animated series for Saturday morning programming and had even released a video game people loved the Bears and kids especially couldn't get enough of them mom dad brother and last edition sister bear were beloved characters in the bear families home a two level tree house In Bear Country was a recognized pop culture setting in which children across the

country

grew up.

The lessons taught by the barren stain themes range from simple stories like the consequences of a messy room or eating too much junk food. to more controversial topics like the extent of God's love as the Berenstain Bears rose to the top of pop culture. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 had been basically forgotten. Cedar Point was looking to renovate the earthquake attraction space into something completely different along with other renovations at the park, including the addition of a bobsled roller coaster called Avalanche Run, much more of a single attraction that Cedar Point wanted to create. an entire land that offered engaging activities in an immersive atmosphere for kids, all they needed was a theme and luckily there was a series of family-friendly bedtime books that were steadily increasing in popularity across the country and perhaps the best part that no other theme park chain had taken advantage of the intellectual property, while Knott's Berry Farm in California used the Peanuts characters for its children's land.

Camp Snoopy and Worlds of Fun in Kansas City Missouri used Sam panda with the chaos of his children's land. No park had ever licensed the Bears, so in the early '80s Cedar Point had the park create walking characters based on the famous bears and began developing land to take the place of the earthquake attraction with a generous budget of $500,000. Cedar Point got to work making bear country a real place by June. In 1985, bear country was a fully realized and developed land with winding roads and forested landscapes. The grand opening took place on June 29, 1985, with Stan and Jan in attendance that morning, mom, dad, brother and sister took their places at the front of Cedar.

Point to Marched with the Cedar Point Beach Band and Stan and Jan into bear country after they officially opened the land to the public. Stan and Jan stayed to sign autographs and read stories. Berenstain Bear Country was officially open and the young Cedar Point yes began. to flock, where the Berenstain Bears are at Cedar Point, their Berenstain Bear Country, a very special place where you can read books, listen to tapes, and play with all your favorite Berenstain Bears. Berenstain Bear Country in Cedar Point when Berenstain Bear Country opened was a fully indoor playground featuring recreations of classic Berenstain Bear locations such as the Bear Treehouse, Old Bee Tree and Ghost Hill.

The area also featured the real science

fair

, a museum with exhibits and experiments to teach children the inner workings of electric and magnetic telephones. Fields at the Bear Country Library that had a variety of activities such as reading and coloring stories could be found at School Rock and the bears could be seen running around and playing with the children. The goal of Bear Country was not only to bring to life the habitable world of the bears, but to do so in the spirit of the books, just as the bears wrote their stories with lessons in mind.

Cedar Point put a strong focus on educational storytelling and lesson learning in bear country. Cedar Point's initial Berenstain Bear Country entertained guests. for seven years before being greatly expanded in 1992 with a large outdoor play area replacing the slide and mini-golf course. The new area six times the size of the original Berenstain Bear Country features new attractions like a larger family tree house, a dinosaur pit where kids could dig for fossils, the Bear Country Railroad, and the Bear Kids Club. Country's spooky old tree slide a swinging playground and other playground equipment with Bear Country attracting young guests to Cedar Point Cedar Fair Cedar Point's parent company was ready to capitalize on its success elsewhere at the

fair

.

At the time of bear country expansion in 1992, Cedar Fair operated three parks: Cedar Point and Ohio Valley Fair in Michigan and Journée Park in Pennsylvania. Both Valley Fair and Dorney Park would receive their own Valley Fairs from Berenstain Bear countries. Its construction cost approximately $1.9 million. and opened in 1994 Berenstain Bear Country Dorney Park cost approximately two point five million dollars to build and opened in 1995 a Dorney Park spokesperson said it was the first multi-use attraction for children in that age group to open in the past decade at a major theme park in the Northeast, it eventually joined all the other single-purpose attractions for kids in that age group that had opened in the last decade and a major theme park in the Northeast, the Berenstain Bear Country sections at Valley Fair and Dorney Park would be nearly identical to Cedar Point, with few attractions added or removed from the design.

Door kneeling promotions focused on its bear museum and computer cave, which gave young visitors the opportunity to use touch-screen computers that offered coloring games or taught lessons about recycling. In addition, the factual science fair in Dorney was changed to the factual science mobile, here children could press buttons that generated electricity between two poles, pedal bicycles that charged light bulbs or learn about gravity through a classic coin swirl . There was also G grizzly MD's office, which offered health science exhibits where kids could measure their own heart rate and height, weigh themselves, and take fake x-rays. Scattered throughout bear country were phones that kids could lift and hear stories from different members of the bear family in 1995.

The same year Dorney Bear Country opened, Cedar Fair would acquire another Worlds of Fun park in Kansas City, Missouri Cedar Fair immediately began improving the park adding new attractions and opening another Berenstain Bear Country in 1997 in place of the Pandemonium section of the park, as Cedar Fair was more Cedar Bear's interactivity and focus on education in the bear countries at Cedar Fair theme parks were unlike any other children's theme park attraction at the time when most children's play areas only offered physical activities such as playgrounds and jungle gyms. A fully immersive Bear Country experience taught lessons, told stories and sparked young imaginations, as Berenstain Bear Country continued to entertain guests from across the country.

Cedar Fair continued to expand in 1997, the company took a big step forward by acquiring Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. gave Cedar Fair its first year-round amusement park and Knott's Berry Farm arrived with a tradition of great entertainment and theming. It also came with Camp Snoopy. Knotts also had a deal with the Mall of America, which had its own indoor Camp Snoopy because of this Cedar. Fair decided not to extend its licensing agreement with Barren Spots and opted to build Camp Snoopy's in all of its regional parks. 1998 would be Berenstain Bear Country's last season at Cedar Point in Peanuts.

The characters would arrive to greet guests at Camp Snoopy. The following season, Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Peppermint Patty and Lucy officially replaced the bear family for the meet and greet. The Bear Country Railway became Peanuts Express and more attractions were added to the area, including the Peanuts 500 Red Baron Snoopy Bounce balloon race and even a roller coaster called Woodstock Express. It wasn't long before the other Cedar Fair theme parks followed suit, and by the mid-2000s, all of the bear countries had transitioned to Camp Snoopy. New books about Berenstain Bear are still being published today, while the bear family is no longer in the spotlight.

Thegenerations of children grew up. With the creation of Stanley and Janice in books on television and especially in the parks, the Berenstain sections of the Cedar Fair parks became a second home for young children visiting the land with fond memories of colorful and educational entertainment, not there is dude. that many across America wish they could take another hike deep in the heart of bear country, isn't it the woods? Know? Can I get some clamps and a small banjo? My pain is over, just rate it in your brain and naturally see the objective family. of parents hang we have mom dad we have sisters and brothers parents eat bears it's not like brother but there are more beds in the back oh there are in the front follow me now because we are going to go bear hunting up there