WILD CARDS: Wild Rivers off Irvine Center...

WILD CARDS: Wild Rivers off Irvine Center Drive doesn’t have the political clout of Disneyland or Knott’s Berry Farm. But the water park usually draws a packed house, and now it’s found a way to piggyback off the two big names. . . . This summer it’s offering a bounce-back coupon with Knott’s: Anyone leaving either park can get a $3 or $4 discount to the other. Next year, Wild Rivers will team up with Disney on a coupon package. “Our best deal is still the season pass,” says a spokeswoman.

GIVE ‘EM LIBERTY: Knott’s always draws big over a Fourth weekend. After all, it’s the only place in the county with a brick-by-brick replica of Independence Hall--down to the crack in the Liberty Bell. The building draws about 1,500 daily, but that always swells to 20,000-plus this weekend. Part of the Fourth of July show: Patrick Henry and Benjamin Franklin--actors in costume--who will answer questions as if you’d been transported back to the 1770s (B2).

MALLING IT OVER: In “Life Among the Mall Rats” in this month’s Vogue, author Charles Gandee got a lesson from South Coast Plaza marketing director Werner Escher. “If you’re doing a story about malls I don’t want any part of it,” Escher told him. “South Coast Plaza is not a mall. It’s a retail shopping complex.” . . . . Apparently, malls have gained a bad rap among the elite, Gandee writes, and the country’s third largest, uh, mall wants nothing to do with the label.

KID PAY: California Angels rookies J.T. Snow and Tim Salmon have promising careers. But you can measure real success by their autograph value. At a major card show at the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend, Snow and Salmon are scheduled to sign autographs, at $7 per signature. . . . But Sugar Ray Leonard will be there too, and he’ll cost you $35. Muhammad Ali and Sandy Koufax are the big draws at $50 per John Hancock.

Financing Fun

Admission costs for a family of four at five theme attractions: Disneyland: $108 Universal Studios: $104 Sea World: $92 Knott’s Berry Farm: $84 Wild Rivers: $60 Note: Prices rounded to nearest dollar Sources: Individual parks