Shaggy

And I didnt say you did - I was agreeing with you. :-) SFAW wasn't supported in any way... that was my point... so SF took the easy way out by thinking selling it would be lucrative... it wasn't.

Canada's Wonderland is a faaaar cry from Astroworld. SF had basically stopped significant investments in Astroworld prior to its closure. I believe in the final 5 years it was open - Diablo Falls (raft flume) and SWAT (S&S Skyswatter) were the only things added - and they were both installed in 2003 in necessity after the park removed The Tornado. The park had fallen into general disrepair and neglect. The area of Houston in which it resided had declined in overall prosperity, avg income and frankly - safety. The park wasn't closed necessarily because the land became more valuable - it closed because it just wasn't seeing growth in attendance and profit margins. Couple that with the fact that they were in litigation with the Texas Giants over parking issues. (At AW, you parked near the Astrodome - then walked over a long causeway that stretched over the interstate before getting to the main gate.) It had a bad reputation by the time it was demolished. I believe the land did sit vacant and undeveloped for years. I attended AW a couple of times in those final years. It wasn't even on par with SFKK at the time. The rides were antiquated, and the park unkempt. I personally didn't feel completely safe there... there were gangs of teens ruling the park, graffiti on some walls and I could smell pot the entire time I was there. One time, I saw a young teen girl and older teen boy copulating right out in the open on a picnic table - they made no bones about it. The first time I went to Wonderland - there was literally nothing around it. It was all vacant land. Now, you cant throw a rock without hitting a condo. However, Wonderland likely has the largest metropolitan draw of any of the CF parks. Its also a HUGE economic boost to both nearby Toronto as well as Vaughan itself. The fact that CF has invested so heavily in CW is proof that the park is there to stay. Oh - someone mentioned XLR-8... well here is a pic I took of it the last time I was at SF Astroworld (August 2003.) I first went around 2001... and I had been looking forward to riding XLR-8 for years - then when I finally did... waaah waaah... it was slower and duller than Iron Dragon if you can imagine that!

For those of you that may be looking for a nice way to safely display your KI pin collection... here's what I came up with. I'm sharing because it may be a good solution for others out there, and was a fun and very easy project. Hobby Lobby sells display/shadow boxes. I purchased a few that measure roughly 21" x 17" x 2". These do not open at the front, nor are they hinged. (The back comes off like any picture frame would.) The back panel is covered with black velvet cushioned by a layer of foam. They retail for $49.99, but I waited until they went on sale for 50% off. (In addition, if you'd rather not wait for the sale, Hobby Lobby offers a 40% off single item coupons online.) I also purchased some dressmaker pins with black ball tips to them to blend in with the background. I found the background foam/velvet pulled away rather easily, so I carefully pulled it off the back panel. I then used Gorilla Glue spray adhesive to better attach the velvet to the back panel. I then simply spaced my KI pins as I wanted them, and secured them in place by angling the black-tipped dressmaker pins through the display hole on each package into the velvet/foam background. (I personally prefer to not open my pins from the cellophane.) I then carefully placed the back panel with the pins secured into the frame while it was standing vertically. This took me less than 30 minutes combined to complete. Below is one of my displays. I had so many pins and buttons that I filled 3 of them. I purchased 4 of the displays so I have one for future purchases.

That I don't know. I was just told by a park rep (at the time) that the park had spec'd the land for an impulse. I'd assume it was a separate install since Superman at SFO was installed in 2000 and lasted until 2006. This would have been in the early '00s that I was told. I don't have any tangible proof, just the spoken word of an Exec. So any "source" hounds out there can just keep quiet. ;-) Its worth noting that KK was basically a lamentable mess during those SF years... inside and out. It was definitely one of the "stepchildren" of the SF parks (another example being Six Flags Astroworld that was treated precisely the same way.) There were a couple glimmers of hope - like when Melinda Ashcraft, the GM of SFOG, transferred there. She had just begun making strides... and had much better plans for the park. But very quickly she was promoted to GM of Six Flags Fiesta Texas (I believe) and then, ultimately became the President of Six Flags Over Georgia. In the short time she was at SFKK, she met with me (I was the regional rep for ACE for a short period of that time) and revealed some really good things she was pushing for at the park. After she left, the plans just went away. The park then just got jostled around, bad leadership constantly shuffled, park operations suffered, organization suffered etc etc etc. Instead of fixing rides, they literally walled them off, or SF sent them elsewhere. Crime ran rampant in the park, They never warranted new, noteworthy attractions - and any strides to draw attention literally turned into disasters. (When they received the "new" shuttle loop - Greezed Lightning - from SFAW, they couldn't even get it running. Yet knowing this, they still invited media and enthusiasts to a grand opening preview for it. When everyone, including news cameras, arrived at the park they simply announced it wasn't operating and said everyone could ride the Drop Tower instead and go home. Some had driven hours to attend the event. It was mind boggling - they literally managed to create an even bigger PR disaster for an old, used ride - a clunker they were already challenged to promote.) The infamous accident on the Superman Tower of Power, years later, exposed how disfunctional the park was on many levels. That was the final nail. Its hard for many to imagine, but prior to the Premier buyout, KK was a force to be reckoned with... and it was actually giving other regional parks a bit of concern. In just the course of a decade Hart added ride after ride, coaster after coaster. That turned out to be a move to sell off the park - which he did. And thus began the parks long descent into madness.

The tallest rides at KK were in direct correlation to each other due to the height variance. You could, at one time, essentially, draw a straight line from Hellevator to the Giant Wheel to the top of Chang's lift when looking at the park from an overhead view. Here's an approximate mock up using the current Google Earth view... Of note - there was once an Intamin Impulse coaster proposed for SFKK. It was to take part of the land used by Tin Lizzies and run along the road. Its tallest spike was supposed to fall in line with the other tall rides there. The park ultimately installed Greezed Lightning from SFAW instead.

No Johnny Quest afaik - but Moby Dick showed up in this form...

As I understand... The "Moby Dick" ride was just a concept idea that never went farther than these drawings. Bushman started the concept work for Kings Island around early 1969 - and he based a lot of his concept work off of HB properties at the time. He was also doing concept work for other potential "Hanna Barbera" stand-alone parks as well. FYI, I believe Bushman was hired by Taft - not Coney Island persay - so his work *might* have started well before the Coney merger. "Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor" was a very short lived cartoon made by HB in 1967. It was not popular at all. I don't know of any other "work" done using this theme other than these drawings. I do seem to recall the original EV having a "nod" to Moby on the side of building - a large "flat" of the character that went along with all the others on the building. There was a lot of other HB stuff that never left the drawing board. Ironically, at the time, Scooby Doo was a new fledgling property for HB - so it was used semi-sparingly in the theming (other than things like the coaster name and Shaggy and Scooby figures in EV.) Ironically, it became HB's most noteworthy title and that's apparent in the number of rides that eventually got added to the area and themed to SD. FYI - when Paramount "re-did" Hanna Barbera Land, the new entry sign to the area was meant as a "nod" to the early Bushman concept. I believe a Hanna-Barbera park was eventually opened by KECO in Texas in the early 1980's. It did not use the Bushman concepts, and only lasted around 4 or 5 seasons. It used a lot of the same "elements" that were included in the KI 1982 HB Land remodel as well as the themed area at Canada's Wonderland. Frankly, out of all the parks that I visited that had a HB themed area (I went to KI, KD, Carowinds and Wonderland) - Wonderland probably made the best use of the overall HB theme and I felt it was closer to what Bushman had in mind. But remember - Bushman was used to conceptualizing Disney attractions - and used to having deep pockets and vast resources to dive into. Wheras Coney and Taft, were not as "unlimited" when it came to budgetary constraints.

I'm ready to volunteer to get on top of the awning over the Diamondback storage bay, as well as The Beast's final brake run, to sweep off all those hair/wrist bands. I mean, what the heck is that about? Why is it a thing? And why on earth have they been there for years and years? Its like the "gum trees" that used to be in lines. There's no purpose and its unpleasant to look at. At least with the low crowds this season, it will take the GP longer to come up with some way of ruining something in the Orion Queue.

These are the best merchandise items sold at the park these days.

I couldn't agree more. For those of us fortunate enough to experience those years in the early-to-mid 1980's, its really impossible to describe the "vibe" at the park. I've never experienced it anywhere else, in the same way. It really stood in a league all its own on many levels. I wish I had the perfect word to describe it, but never find one that explains it. The Bat was a jaw dropper. At the time, it was like something from another world. I remember there were always people lining the perimeter fence to watch it. One of the amazing things about it was that it really wasn't that tall - but it came very close to the ground.

LOL - your eyes are very good... and yes, I have quite a few Ghosts from Disney... ;-)

To this very day the trains on the original "The Bat" remain the most incredible trains I've ever seen on a coaster. I was just 9 years old when it opened, and I can remember being mesmerized by how it looked. I stood for hours and watched those trains swirl around those turns. They were absolute works of art.

BTW - as of early last week, it looked like Orion had already laid claim to at least one phone... Tsk Tsk Tsk

Forgive me if this may have been posted - but if you are a KI or Orion memorabilia collector - McDonalds (at least the ones in Louisville) have Orion/Kings Island themed cups. (They are styrofoam and include a $30 single admission coupon.)

My first visit. Seeing “The Bat” (original) in person. First ride on “The Beast.”

Here’s a couple early merchandise items from my collection with the original “Crown” logo.

The map pictured in the Coney brochure was a watercolor concept drawing by Bruce Bushman. It is a large painting and exists to this day. It is in the private collection of a Kings Island collector, and is (perhaps) the rarest KI artifact I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. Its cut off in the Coney brochure, but at the time the drawing was done, the park had yet to be named - there's a "banner" area at the bottom right of the actual painting where the name was to be later filled in - but it never was. I can tell you with absolute certainty, that the outlying areas of the park - specifically rides/ride placement - changed immensely from the Bushman concept painting.

I can’t recall Cedar Fair ever reusing the Paramount Logo for nostalgic merchandise purposes prior. Perhaps enough time has passed allowing Paramount Parks monikers to to fall into public domain. Either that or the rights to the logo fell to CF as a part of the buyout... and they’ve simply chosen to suppress its reuse until now.

The Kings Island "Crown" logo was used through fall 1971 to promote the park. By December the new, more familiar, "Disneyland font" logo was in place. (More about that in a minute...) Ads for the KI preview movie that played local theaters used the new logo as early as Jan 1st. However the movie itself was produced in 1971, and used the "Crown Logo" in it's title shots. Here are samples of the logo in the variations of the "preview" brochure that was distributed before KI opened. There were at least 3 variations of the brochure. The first (far left) was distributed at Cincinnati's Coney Island at the preview center in early summer 1971. The second version was also distributed at the Coney preview center late season/August 1971. (It names the Jack Nicholas designed golf course at Kings Island which was announced in August 1971.) The third brochure was distributed at the information centers after Coney closed (note the original planned opening date of May 6th which did not happen.) As you can see, the second logo was in place for this brochure. The new logo was developed, as I understand, in fall 1971. It utilized a variation of what's become known as the "Disneyland" font. It *may* have been suggested by Bruce Bushman, who did quite of bit of concept work for the park. (Mr Bushman was one of the original WED Imagineers responsible for the original design of Fantasyland for Walt Disney. He was instrumental in also designing Kings Island and, no doubt, patterned parts of KI on it.) The new logo could also have been a "nod" to the fact that Kings Island - when it was being announced/built - was being billed by many as Ohio's version of Disneyland. While the park was under construction, there were 2 different billboards placed by the interstate to mark the location of the park. The first billboard featured the "Crown" logo. The second also used the "crown" logo as well - but the Eiffel Tower had become part of the advertising campaign. Here are pictures of both billboards courtesy of KI50MOVIE... Its worth noting that ALL advertisements of Kings Island at Cincinnati's Coney Island used the "Crown" logo. Including the "Racing Coaster" billboard that sat adjacent to the Shooting Star's station. By the time KI opened in May, the "Disneyland" font version of the logo was the only one being used for advertising purposes. The confusing matter is, the "Crown" logo still cropped up on merchandise and shopping bags etc. That (very likely) included the "Tiki Mugs" mentioned here. The reason? Because many orders for merchandise and various items were placed prior to the logo change to meet manufacturing timeline requirements. BTW - the "Crown" logo still crops up as a "throwback" on merchandise from time to time. For instance, this season there is at least one item (a slinky toy) that features the "Crown" logo being sold in the shops on International Street. For posterity, I think the switch to the "Disneyland" font logo including the Eiffel Tower was an excellent decision. Its far more iconic and dynamic than the "crown" logo. Frankly, I still prefer it to any logo the park has used since - including the Paramount version and the current Cedar Fair version.

I'm not. While I understand some enjoy them, I've ridden 4 of those suckers and for me are a let-down... a one-trick pony. I hope KI goes a complete different direction - whenever they do add another marquee coaster attraction.

I would expect that to change in the coming days/weeks.

https://www.wdrb.com/news/11-louisville-businesses-issued-corrective-orders-for-covid-19-violations-over-weekend/article_702bb81c-c060-11ea-a7ff-7b94e10aa4b8.html Kentucky Kingdom has been issued corrective orders for not enforcing Covid precautions and safety measures. The park insists the orders are unwarranted as they were not a part of reopening plan.

Because CF legal doesn't allow it on park promo photos.

I'm just tossing this out there as a precaution to folks vying for a ride on Orion on the 2nd... I'm no numbers guru... but bear with me as I just play with numbers out loud. If they dispatch a train every 2 minutes, that's 30 trains per hour. If they limit it to, say, 12 people on each train, that's an hourly capacity of 360 people. (I have no idea how many they plan on allowing on each train, I just "supposed.") If they let in 4,000 people before noon and 2/3 of them head to Orion... Well, again, just be prepared for a long, long wait. Take sunscreen, sanitizer and drink lots and lots of water my friends. Just sayin.

BTW - most know this, some may not, when it opened, there was a center mast with flags on it.