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Admins, a temp ban may be in order for this sort of insolence.

Bob Joiner from Sterling Heights, MI has graciously allowed KICentral access to his awesome collection of park pictures dating from 1972 through 1992. Bob passed his love and passion for Kings Island to his family with these wonder Kings Island trips. Bob's son Jeff Joiner is also a Kings Island fan and loves visiting parks as well. As Jeff had his own family of 2 girls and a boy, he also has made this tradition with his family who are now Kings Island fans as well. Their family have been to almost 100 parks in 8 countries. His son Logan runs the YouTube Channel Koaster Kids and Thrills United. Logan is already apart of KI history as well, as he spoke at Coasterstock in 2017. KICentral wants to thank Bob for sharing his wonderful collection of over 300 pictures with us. We also want to thank Jeff for getting them uploaded and shared to KIC and other Kings Island Enthusiast platforms. I think you will find that Bob's collection is an awesome representation of park history. Here is Bob and Vicki Joiner in front of the original Bat in 1981.

I'm hoping that Oktoberfest gets an overhaul in the coming years. I know I beat this like a dead horse but I would love to see some classic flats return like spinning barrels. Personally I also think the Burrito shack needs to retire in favor of something more German

Great last ride of the night!

Winterfest has the most beautiful light display!

Best ride at night!

Opening day last year!

inb4 Flight of Fear POV with the lights off

What @gforce1994 said is correct, but if you're updating the timeline then you may want to correct that Ferris Wheel opened mid-1978, not 1982. It was removed after the 1990 season and relocated to Libertyland amusement park in Tennessee. To nitpick, the text also jumps between present and paste tense. Bayern Kurve was a circular, roller coaster like flat ride located where Sling Shot now sits. Here's a similar attraction (although Kings Island's never had a jet of water in the center):

Watch it be the POV of like Kenton’s Cove Keelboat Canal or like Bavarian Beetle (which would be very cool). Or maybe they are finally updating The Vortex POV. LOL! Hopefully it is Orion, but the park could be messing with us and releasing some other POV. Notice how the picture is from last year directed at where Orion is now. That could be a subtle teaser.

On the overall subject of Viking Fury, I don't think I've ever seen a construction picture of the ride. The ride is listed on the 1982 poster map as a 1983 addition, but it actually opened summer 1982 (July 18, though I've seen it misidentified as June 18 before). So it was likely under construction while the park was open to guests... which makes the lack of construction photos even more odd.

Correct. We were going to go there and Kentucky Kingdom two weeks from now before the news about KI came down. Indiana resident here. So...we've never technically had any mask rules at all, in terms of requirement. It was "highly recommended" that masks be worn in public areas where social distancing isn't possible. There's a few random stores that are mandating masks (Menards being the largest example) but for the most part, the bulk of the population hasn't been wearing them here, which is disheartening considering how they've been proven effective in combating the spread of the virus in indoor places. In grocery stores, I'd say at the peak we had about 90% compliance...but we were in a grocery store two days ago and at that point I'd say it was barely 20% compliance. That being said - on June 12 we entered "phase 4", and originally the mask guidance from the state was going to transition from "highly recommended" to "optional" - the governor changed the wording in the guidance last week from "optional" to "recommended". But as far as actual requirements, Indiana's never had any - the logic from Dr. Box (health department) is - "there are some people who may have health concerns and are unable to wear them, and others may become claustrophobic wearing them". The former seems like a defensible stance...the latter seems utterly ridiculous. As the protests have developed and as more guidance has came out, I've actually done a complete 180 on this topic - I was very much in the "anti-mask at Kings Island" boat, as I stated repeatedly on this forum. Now, however...I don't think I'd go at all if masks weren't required. It's just coming down to a "better safe than sorry" mentality for me. If it's too miserable wearing a mask in the park, we'll just leave and come back in 2021 (we have platinum passes this year, for the first time ever).

Hear hear! I said it before, I'll say it again - these are rare gems. Bob is to be commended for taking them, as is Jeff for Sharing. Thanks for posting them here at KIC as well.

Burn it. Burn it with fire.

I think the color choice is good...it does make the ride stand out a little more...it has been blending more and more into the background. (Do the supports match the fence around Hank’s?)

Paradoxically, more testing tends to lower the number of cases over time, as people identified early can be isolated while they're contagious. More interesting than the raw number of new cases is the percentage of tests that come back positive. Luckily, in Ohio, this percentage is relatively low (3.7%) and is decreasing thanks in large part to masks and social distancing. The annoying thing is that we have to keep mitigation tactics in place until we contain the pandemic. For checking the numbers by state, I like the dashboard on covidexitstrategy.org. It includes both data on the raw number of cases as well as the positive test rate.

I guess its pretty old school to be picking fights with younger members

I was at SFoG today. First half of the day it felt like I was the only one there. Zen rides on a few coasters. Lines started becoming 10-20 minutes second half of the day. Workers all had masks on. Guests were doing a pretty good job. Security was reminding folks masks need to be worn. Even saw the park president reminding folks of masks while he was walking around. Was everyone perfect? Not by a long shot. Lots of noses, pulled down masks, etc. But I think overall folks were doing pretty good, kids included. You'll never see everyone in compliance all the time, but it was far better than Lowes and Walmart around here. Today was also mid 70s. So, a very pleasant day. I'm curious what I'll see in a month when I'm back down there. They did every other row on the coasters with a train wipe down every hour or so. It would be a ~5 minute delay and they would wipe down all seats, even the ones not being used.

I really feel bad for the park. What a horrible position to be in. They have added the biggest new toy in their history and cant show it off, or invite all their friends over to play the way they'd like. I know some may be upset, complain, argue, point fingers, rant and rave etc (after all, that's what people seem to do on social media.) But I am positive Kings Island is as frustrated and saddened by this as anyone - and they'd change it if they could. Everyone will have a chance to ride, some sooner than later, but ultimately this whole situation is a bummer from all sides.

Checking on @Hawaiian Coasters 325 and @collin.klopfstein…..are you guys ok?

Click the link for the real post. Orion POV

Saw that coming

https://mobile.twitter.com/chadshowalter/status/1273412823129997315 He was messing with us! LOL!

Only about 70 or so feet over. Both photos courtesy Jeff Joiner: 1980 or 1981 (can't pinpoint which): 1982:

Not to nit pick - but Festhaus actually opened with Winterfest in 1982.

Today, I witnessed a 40ish "country boy" throw a hissy fit in an Ulta because he was asked to wear a mask. Why can't people be like, "You know what, fair enough!" and turn around? Do these people not realize how ridiculous they look by acting this way? Anyways, bringing it back to KI, my condolences are to those working the front gate and thus forced to deal with such behavior this season.

Thanks you. I learning everyday about coasters.

Not defunct; PTC still manufactures and refurbishes trains.

We don’t necessarily NEED a POV. It would be much appreciated though!

I beg for mercy! LOL!

It's called competition. KI should covet every passholder they have. I could certainly say that KI has lost an amount of SPH in the wake of KK's reopening. I think you missed the point of what @SonofBaconator is saying. Leisure dollars are hard to come by. It might be 1000 gold pass holders in Louisville who don't renew and 500 from others areas, but that's $150k lost right there. That's a lot of money, even to a multi billion dollar company like CF. Add on meal, drink, and one time purchase, and you are approaching a half a million. And I am being very conservative with those theoretical numbers. So if half of the 1500 went for one day to KI, the total expeniture might be $100 for tickets, parking and extras. So that's only $75k. Better than zero, but still an overall loss for CF. KK usually has about 100k SPHs. Kentucky Kingdom reopened in 14 which is when KI got Banshee. Ki should have got another coaster that year anyway. Kentucky Kingdom added the flying scooters rod and the frog hopper. The next season, Kings Island added the flying scooters and a moon jumper (same ride, different theme). Kentucky Kingdom upgraded their water park when they reopened, Kings Island added new slides and new water park restaurant. Kentucky Kingdom got Storm Chaser, Kings Island got Mystic Timbers the next year, just three years after Banshee. Kentucky Kingdom has rallied around their food offerings, and have been recognized for having some of the best food in a park. Kings Island has really started to ramp up their food quality, too. And now, we get Orion, just three years after Mystic Timbers. It is not a direct response to KK, of course. I'd bet it has been slotted, or the idea of a GiGa has, for a while. KK will not get a GiGa. So, they will have to come up with other things to add to get/keep those SPHs from KI. Roller coasters are big investments--to get three of them in six years--I doubt that would happen if KK did not reopen. And the other things that KI has done are no coincidence. Since 2014, and my becoming an enthusiast, I have not noticed that KI has increased any marketing here in KY. I get both Lexington and Louisville TV where I live. KI commercials are rare, but are more frequent in Lexington that they are in Louisville. No billboards. No direct mailers. They have not even promoted Winterfest here. They have responded to KK's offers in Indy. Meanwhile, Dollywood and KK are sending out promo materials, billboards and having spokespeople on news segments on a regular basis. I have not seen anything about Orion or the reopening of KK on the local news shows, but this morning, I saw segments about this tweet on the Louisville local news and then at 10 am, the Lexington local news. KK will never be a KI. Ever. Even if a major operator like SEAS, SIX or CF acquired the rights to operate it. Ed Hart and the fair board have been quietly buying up land around the park, and as leases expire on land that the fair board owns, they are not renewing the leases. There is plenty of room for expansion now and in the future. Niche park or not, the new KK has had an impact on the KI we have today. .

I like the look new look of the greatest flat to ever grace Kings Island! Looking forward to riding it again.

I think if it came down to it KI could come up with some pretty basic IPs. I myself had the idea of theming the old Crypt building to an abandoned mining company. Also I doubt KI would ever build a ground up dark ride so they'd have to work with existing structures: the Crypt building, Action Theater, & Boo Blasters. I'm no engineer so I don't know what I'm suggesting is feasible but have an indoor/outdoor wild mouse or infinity coaster that's heavily themed for the Crypt building. That building was built for a Top spin so I don't know how good it would house anything else. Boo Blasters and the Action Theater could just be given an overhaul where BBoBH can either return to Phantom Theater or something entirely new and Action Theater could have changing shows

I'm just saying, families who live in Kentucky (around Louisville and Lexington) might opt to go to KK more times over KI for the sake of saving money. Personally if I lived in Kentucky I'd to go to KI over KK anytime but other people don't see it that way. To quote @BeeastFarmer "KK will not stop people from going to KI, but KK might turn some KI passholders into once a year folks."

@Oldschool75...keeping it classy. As someone of a similar age, I am embarrassed for you.

@silver2005 @Phantom Theater all I'm saying is that there's always going to be competition and that its unwise to underestimate someone who's in the same market as you.

Loving the pictures, guys!

It wouldn't be my top choice but it woudl be better than an empty building. Considering how much our theater was gutted not sure it'd be any easier for them to do versus just something completely new though.

Bayern Kurve was installed in 1973. The promo art was very meta as it included the cover of the 73 map in the image. The Bayern Kurve was removed in 82, and reopened in 85 in SW.

1982 was a big year for change at KI. Obviously, celebrating their 10th Anniversary, they refurbished/expanded Hanna-Barbera Land. But (going by memory) I believe that season also saw the loss of Rotor, Bayern Curve left at the end of the season, the Ferris Wheel was relocated and Racer turned backwards. They added Viking Fury, Winterfest premiered with the new Festhaus and Timberwolf opened earlier in the spring. In addition, if I recall properly, that was also the year that they completely overhauled International Street and did away with the "yards" in front of the shops. That's a lot in one season. I would suspect that, by that time, many of the attractions were "aging out" and the park just needed a general refresher. New decade - new stuff - new look. (That trend obviously continued over the next few years as Coney Mall got overhauled, Enchanted Voyage switched to Smurfs etc) Also, as the park had expanded over the years, attendance had grown. They had also added season passes to the mix around that time, so they probably felt more pressure to change in order to hold the attention spans of those that would be returning year after year, week after week, day after day. Not to mention, they felt like they had to mask the previous season's inferiority due to "The Bat" being so temperamental - and then completely closed for all of '82.

Kings Island stated that the POV will be released around the opening of Orion. The Orion Webcam will also go back online around the park’s opening.

Is today the day? Fingers crossed...

Its an often forgotten gem. I rode both "versions" pre and post re-do. I re-rode last year and it reminded me how much fun it is.

Wow, I did not know it was so evil-minded to post an opinion on here! I agreed with you that Diamondback needs a repaint and stated what I wrote was just my opinion, but I guess you can’t please everyone. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Both those places had Dw photographers who allowed people to remove masks for photos. If you didn't want the full 2020 look. There's always going to be people who think there above it all and do whatever they please. But security and managers were wandering and catching those who were not wearing them properly even the 5+ age. But they can't be everywhere at all times. edit to add: all black diamond rides and water rides were exempt. So yes they are actually a mask free ride back on as soon as you exit. Neck gaiter really are the way to go for these policies. So yes you will see full trains of unmasked riders. Wild eagle ran full capacity trains because its design allows the spacing without skipping rows.

It seems like screens are the affordable way to go without breaking the bank. I myself am a fan of practical affects and props

RIP Vortex Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TASTE GREAT...LESS FILLING Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk