Lessons and Laughs : Tourist Attractions Combine Learning With Fun

It’s quiz time and Wild Bill wants to know who discovered America.

“The President,” chimes a wide-eyed little girl between slurps of soda.

Wrong. But it was a trick question anyway, Wild Bill admits before the responses wander further astray. The credit goes to an unknown American Indian, and from there unfolds the story of the frontier.

This is not classroom patter. Wild Bill--or at least singer Jerry Johnson who plays him--is holding cowboy court with 175 children from day camp inside the cavernous dinner theater in Buena Park that bears his name. It is all part of a program to entertain and educate youngsters on field trips during the day, with the hope they will lure their parents back for the main show one night.

Wild Bill’s Wild West Dinner Extravaganza is the latest tourist destination to discover the benefits of offering educational programs to schools and youth groups. It joins Knott’s Berry Farm and Sea World and even attractions as small as Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum in catering to youth groups.

Typically, the programs boost attractions during the slowest times--mornings in the winter and fall. Prices are usually nominal, intended more to build good will, return visits and favorable word-of-mouth than make a difference at the ticket booth. At Wild Bill’s, for instance, every youngster leaves wearing a promotional American Indian headdress made of paper and discount coupons for future visits.

“This is pretty much a break-even, but it gets the flyers out and gives the kids a good time,” said Vice President Rick Crocker.

One of the largest and most established youth programs belongs to Knott’s Berry Farm, a couple of blocks down Beach Boulevard from Wild Bill’s. The park’s educational programs hark back to the 1950s when Walter Knott built his Ghost Town.

Today, the park is host to 100,000 teachers and students a year who choose from 13 programs ranging from dramatizations of the signing of the Declaration of Independence to taking a spin past the hungry jaws of the park’s animated dinosaurs and a talk by a free-lance paleontologist.

Knott’s attractions are sometimes designed with school groups in mind. In April, the park dedicated a Thomas A. Edison’s Inventors’ Workshop in conjunction with Southern California Edison specifically to teach principles of electricity to pupils. The newest feature in the park, an Indian Trails camp where American Indians from different tribes demonstrate crafts, dances and food preparation, will be developed into a school program for fall.

“We found the best way to educate is to entertain,” said Beverly Mills, Knott’s manager of education and culture. “There is a lot of involvement, a lot of hands-on” interaction between students and the demonstrators.

Mills said the programs draw schools from as far away as Modesto, Palm Springs and Santa Catalina Island. Despite tight school budgets, she said the programs remain popular. But she adds that for Knott’s, its a break-even proposition.

“It is not considered a commercial venture by the park. Rather, it is considered an outreach and a public service to the community,” Mills said.

Sea World in San Diego has an extensive education program for kindergarten to college students, including visits to the park and instructors who visit schools. The park served 237,732 students and others last year through its educational programs, bringing in revenue of $597,718, according to a year-end report prepared for management.

“We will take a program out to pretty much any class that will invite us,” said Sea World spokeswoman Corrine Brindley. For park visits, the staff gives instruction on topics such as whales and marine conservation.

Instead of year-round programs, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia confines its educational field trip programs to a single day.

More than 8,000 high school students from California, Nevada and Arizona showed up last March for Physics Day. Participants calculate the forces produced on a roller coaster, giving them a ready excuse to ride.

The event was dreamed up in 1982 by a Palos Verdes Peninsula High School teacher who studied the park’s rides. With 20 of his peers, he developed a booklet with 130 questions about ride dynamics that is handed to each student on Physics Day. There are also competitive events, including constructing the farthest-flying paper airplane and fashioning the farthest-spanning bridge from a single sheet of paper.

Physics Day proved to be such a hit that the park has added a Math & Science Day for junior high school students. The next Physics Day is scheduled for March 14, and Math & Science Day will be April 25.

Such educational programs have usually been associated with theme parks and larger attractions. The Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, however, has found a way of tying into the program at Wild Bill’s, which is across the street.

For $2 in addition to $5.50 a student charged by Wild Bill’s for lunch and a show, Mark Edwards dresses up as explorer and attraction namesake Robert Ripley and creates a rope chain with the kids and leads them to the museum. There, he tells them about the history of many of the exhibits.

The Wild Bill’s show has its own pleasures for kids, though not quite as odd as those at Ripley’s. Johnson, as Wild Bill, breaks into the nearly forgotten “Back In the Saddle Again” on his guitar as kids clap along. He gives his spiel on Western lore, on how the attraction is modeled on the kind of Western show that Easterners once saw and how the kids can relive it “when you bring your folks back to see our entire show in the evening.”

Soon, Johnson introduces Tucson Big Mountain to lead his Indian dancers through their paces. The kids watch in rapt attention.

“There’s a lot more to Indian dancing than just a lot of jumping around,” Tucson Big Mountain explains to the group of mostly 7- to 10-year-olds.

Afterward, Wild Bill wanders through the audience with a microphone. The kids comment on which of the dances they liked most. They also ask a few questions of Tucson Big Mountain, such as why do the dancers wear bells (Answer: To keep in time with the drum) and can they really make it rain (Answer: No).

Field Trip to a Tourist Attraction

Despite tight school budgets, field trips to area theme parks and attractions remain popular. The programs not only give students a break from their school routines but also entertain and educate at the same time. Selected programs in Southern California:

Venue Program Price Knott’s Berry Farm Independence Now! and The Rising Sun $4.50 Buena Park Actors stage a re-enactment of the (714) 220-5244 signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The New Age of Dinosaurs $3.50 A trip on Knott’s dinosaur ride, a visit to the “Dinosaur Discovery Center” and a talk by a paleontologist. Sea World Kelp Beds and Icebergs $6 San Diego A program for gifted students, (619) 226-3834 kindergarten to third grade, that teaches about the differences between marine mammals and about their environment. Whales $3.80 Shows students how people interact with whales and defines the various species. Universal Studios Help Save Planet Earth $6.50 Hollywood Students learn tips on reducing, Universal City reusing, recycling and/or conserving (818) 777-3762 water and energy, creating a nontoxic home and protecting the ozone layer. Behind the Scenes $6.50 A career seminar focusing on the behind-the-scenes opportunities in the entertainment field. Earthquake Preparedness $6.50 Features two films based on student’s understanding and maturity: “Living on the Fault Line” for grades seven through 12 and “Yogi Bear’s Earthquake Facts” for kindergarten through sixth grade. Six Flags Physics Day $12.50 Magic Mountain A one-day event in which students Valencia calculate the force of roller coasters (805) 255-4806 and ride them, compete in paper airplane contests and solve physics puzzles. (Next program is March 14, 1993.) Wild Bill’s Wild West Field Trip/Summer Day Camp $5.50 Dinner Extravaganza Wild Bill plays songs on the guitar, Buena Park tells of Western lore; Native American (714) 522 4611 dancers perform. Includes lunch. Ripley’s Believe It Field Trip/Summer Day Camp $2 Or Not Museum From Wild Bill’s, students are led extra Buena Park to the museum where they are given a Call Wild Bill’s tour of cultural oddities from around at (714) 522 4611 the world.

Source: Attractions listed Researched by CHRIS WOODYARD / Los Angeles Times