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Standing within' 3 feet of 1974


standbyme
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Guest TombraiderTy

J.D., thank you so much for doing this. You know how much I, alongside other members, love the park's history, and I've always thought that comparing then/now is one of the best ways to share it.

Your determination to make the photos as accurate as possible is impressive - based off the first photo you shared, I'm curious what the Congo Falls employees thought when they saw you standing on the far edge of the queue, taking pictures of who-knows-what :lol:

I also enjoy how in-depth you made the comparison with the "Surviving after all these years". It's also clever how you put the date alongside the photo in the vintage format.

However, following your first rule...

#1. If you feel that I have made an error by all means point it out. (Even though I THINK I have done my homework I do not for one second feel that I am infallible.) BUT if you do think/know that I have made a mistake…PLEASE point it out in a NICE way.

...I do have to point out an error :P In your "Currently known as..." picture, you incorrectly labeled Planet Snoopy Grill as Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A is closer to Eiffel Tower and technically part of International Street. Not a big error, but thought I'd let you know :)

Once again, thank you for doing this. I plan on following the topic (and posting too :P) and hope that other members do the same.

P.S. Thanks for the shout-out to my Lion Country Safari spotlight- oddly enough, I actually referenced that today for some odd reason in my physics class :lol:

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Standbyme,

This is an AWESOME thread. Kudos to all the work you have/will be doing for this thread. It is stuff like this that makes checking out KIC so much fun. I love seeing the history of the park and what it looked like in its early days, before I was around. I look forward to more photo comparisons in the coming days/weeks.

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All I can say is WOW. I remember the "good ol' days of Kings Island. My memory is having to drive up Rt. 52 to the park, and we could see the Eiffel Tower a few miles down the road (4 hr drive, is now cut to about 3hrs) Upon arrival we would get a Larossa's pizza. That is still a tradition with my family.

Racers were the big attraction among others. Rides I remember most were Rotor, Magic Carpets, Tumble Bug, Bavarian Beetle, and the Bayern Curve. That was the ride that prepared me for coasters, with the high speed and g-force. Man, I wish KI would (and could) bring back some of these classic rides. Now back to reality, I still love visiting the park, and sharing the park with my son, like my parents did with me.

P.S. I heard a funny rumor. When I was 11 or 12, a kid in line tried to tell me, that The Rotor floor "raised" back up and caught the back feel of another rider. (pretty funny???) I think that it scared me just a little, and I payed close attention when riding that attraction. I would love to see more old photos of the park. THANKS

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Thank you to everyone who responded…it does mean a lot to me, sincerely. :) (Although some of the responses are SO hopeful they almost scare me…I hope that the pictures don’t eventually let some of you down.)

As I mentioned, quite a few of them are the “same old, same old”…at least that’s the way I see them.

PLEASE do keep in mind that I have not posted the 1974 photos before…so even if the 2011 shot is “boring”…at least you have an unseen old shot to look at….which leads me to today’s photos!

This is a shot of one of the island’s in Lion Country Safari. TombraiderTy’s Lion Country Safari thread was a great assist with some of these photos!

As Ty pointed out, the islands were supposed to look like a monkey’s face…this would be a shot of the “right eye” island. (I hope.) This was a tough one. I went through several old shots and attempted to match the park benches in the background and the type of tree that is on this island. There is room for error with this shot...but I THINK I got it right...what say you Ty?

1974

birdsa.jpg

2011

birdsb.jpg

And today here we stand outside of the line for Congo Falls.

About the only thing that looks somewhat the same (to me) is that you can still see an embankment in the background.

Thanks to Hendrick:

birdsc.jpg

As for where I would rather be standing…1974 or 2011, today I choose 2011. As much as the island is interesting, I love Congo Falls SO much I would give up looking at the turtles & birds in a heartbeat…plus it doesn’t look like they themselves are probably having a great time being confined to that little area all the time.

... maybe "Flashback Till Opening" will make a return this offseason ;)

I hope it does, I have been counting on it! :)

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I can't wait to see these pictures that you've posted (and the ones to come). See, I'm usually on here while at work, and my work computer blocks pictures that are posted on this site. It all has to do with "Personal Network and Storage" sites being blocked, so anything linked from those types of sites are invisible to me. So, it looks like I'll have to fire up the home computer this weekend.

Now from the descriptions of the pictures, I think I'd have to agree with you on where I'd rather be... 1974 for the first one and 2011 for the second. I loved walking through the ivy tunnel as a kid. Too bad they got rid of it... was it really that hard to maintain? :blink:

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Guest TombraiderTy

I was wondering why you asked me about the Monkey Islands quite some time ago :P

That shot is probably one of the trickiest and most difficult to replicate, but I think you did a pretty good job. I can't say with 100% certainty that it's the same angle, but it looks pretty right to me. I also doubt I'm the only one wondering if they're the same tree- it'd be pretty neat if they are.

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Sorry if I am a reader and not responder. I love the trip reports people do and I have never responded to them. I know you can count views so to me that was my response. If someone knows people are reading it that was good for me and not trying to diss their hard work. I do hope you post all of the pics here as I am a resident of this area since the park was built and love to see pics from the past and current. Still wish KI would publish a book just on the story of KI. There is the coney island book and the videos of the start of KI, but a nice coffee table book would be a good addition.

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I still remember how fascinated and grateful I was when TopGun did this several years back. Threads like these take lots of painstaking work and attention to detail.

Thanks so very much. Having watched KI develop and grow over the years has been a fascinating process. Seeing it beautifully documented is fantastic, indeed.

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Good morning everyone! Once again, I appreciate the feedback. It does make a difference to me that I can see who is enjoying these photos. :)

Today is another shot from the tower. When the antique cars were still there I never failed to take a picture of that area when I was up in the tower. It was a close tie of my favorite area to look down upon…that and of course the fountain area.

It was fun watching the cars go along the track from up there…plus all that glorious grass & those wonderful trees!

1974

antiquea.jpg

2011

antiqueb.jpg

Today, it doesn’t get much “colder” than this area of the park. It is like night and day compared to its previous self. I miss the antique cars SO much…but at least I have my memories.

As for where I would rather be standing in today’s photos…need I answer?!! :rolleyes:

P.S. As I mentioned in my 1st post...I will be skipping posting these on the weekends...so my next one SHOULD be on Monday.

Once again, Hendrick was kind enough to put these 2 photos together! :)

antiquec.jpg

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