Shaggy

I want them back! Snapping or no snapping, they belong at KI. The person that pulled the plug on them at PKI, and yes I know who it was, made the most inane decision in the parks history. IMO, those flyers are as historical to KI as The Racer and Carousel.

Let the misspellings begin... VengEAnce. LOL! In all seriousness, I'll go on record and say this will be, by far, Cedar Point's best coaster. I cannot wait to ride it. Kudos to them!

Here's something I always wondered until recently - how it works. Basically, the best way I can understand it is by imagining one of those lamp timers for use at home. Underneath the grandstand, there's a round disc that has pegs that can be removed/changed. As the timer disc rotates, the pegs turn the nozzles and lights on and off - thus changing the cycle. There's also a wind indicator that can reduce the pressure of the water to avoid the water from spraying into the midway.

Originally 10-12 minutes depending upon the cycle.

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2017/may/international-flair

Thank you, it's been a labor of love. Plenty more to come!

Apparently every person featured in the video was required to have at least one zit ;-)

It's not something I have ever heard.

For clarification... the nickelodeon in Phantom Theater was NOT the organ the Maestro sat at in the queue or in the Peppers Ghost scene... those were just painted boxes. It was located behind Maestro figure #4 (the one where music sheets were swirling above his head) following the peppers ghost scene but prior to the mummy (ooooooooooooohhhhhhh!) and prop room scene. I do not believe it was the functioning nickelodeon that played in the actual park at one time. Could be wrong - but the one in PT was synched to the ride soundtrack to "play." That tells me, it was a "prop" possibly made for the attraction. For Fearfest, the figures popped up - complete with the nickelodeon (as you said) on the International Street Bandstand. I found this youtube video that shows the Nickelodeon prop from PT on display at halloween as described. For an up-close view, jump to: 3:35

If memory serves me, there was a nickelodeon in Rivertown... but I think it moved around a bit. I seem to remember it at Columbia Palace. But I also seem to remember one in the Coney Mall arcade. I also recall you had to pay to hear it play. That's not to be confused with the piano player at the train station... yep, a real-live person used to play all day at the station of the KI & MVRR

I've personally always held a grudge against BLSC. That ride RUINED the most beautiful part of the park and cost KI one of it's most beloved and original rides. They took out waterfalls, evergreens, and beautiful foliage for.... shipping containers, a sewer pipe, chain link fence and gravel. Horrid

Just wanted to point out that permanent amusement/theme park attractions require HOURS and DAYS of operational test runs, cycles and inspections prior to passing inspection and accepting riders. In addition, coaster/ride chassis undergo routine stress tests such as zinc baths and black light inspection during off seasons. Fair and carnival rides don't. The public/media cannot/does not differentiate between permanent and portable rides - they lump them all into one category. This casts a black cloud on parks of which guest safety is a primary concern. For years and years there's been a need for a different set of rules... however these rides continue to slip through the cracks. (no pun intended) I am not blaming anyone - it was an accident of course - and no one wants to see anyone harmed or injured on any ride. But fair/carnival rides undergo an inordinate amount of wear and tear outside of plain operation for tear down and set up (not to mention travel on the backs of trucks.) About 20-some years ago I witnessed a Tilt-O-Whirl failure at a fair. The ride partially collapsed when the entire back half of one of the cars came off mid-operation with riders. No one was injured - thank Heavens - but it scared me enough that I don't ride them and recommend that others avoid them as well. I'm actually surprised that Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey hasn't spoken up yet - this is the perfect platform for him to grandstand about how awful rides are.

FYI, while the video is *dramatic*, and tells the basic tale, it barely scratches the surface as to what all went wrong with SOB. It doesn't mention the issues with the designer... a very famous one... that wouldn't ride it... and who himself forced the park into breaking the 200' barrier. It doesn't mention that the park was given two options via a scale graph paper model that allowed them to remove the loop if they wanted. It doesn't talk about the fiasco that was the announcement... for which the park and Montel were not prepared to make... which resulted in a complete dismissal of the PR/Marketing Team. It doesn't mention that it went through 2 logo and theme changes. It doesn't mention that it operated with riders first on Easter of 2000. It doesn't mention that it operated, unaltered, for a select few (your's truly included) before it opened to the general public - but was temporarily re-profiled before the public ever got on. It doesn't mention that in the first weeks of operation, wood coaster crew members were staffed at questionable parts of the ride all-day, every day, to monitor the structure in order to prevent any failures. It doesn't mention that PTC turned down the construction of the trains. It doesn't mention the addition of trim breaks in two areas of the course - or how kicker tires were added to prevent rollbacks. Finally, it doesn't mention that it operated over 4 times as long as "The Bat" which was riddled with issues yet is revered by so many. I wouldn't call it a failure, but I wouldn't call it a success either. I have a long, vested history with SOB. And it will likely go down as one of those (in)famous coasters that people will reminisce (good and bad) for eternity. Ultimately, my opinion is that SOB was waaaay ahead of it's time and technology. It single-handedly ushered in a new era of wooden coasters and could be credited as the modern-day genesis of inversions on "wooden" coasters. Was it one of my favorite coasters? No, not by a long shot. But I sure did enjoy all the hub-bub and excitement surrounding it. Frankly, the loss of the loop crippled the ride by removing it's best feature. The decision to add G-trains must have been made by someone that had never ridden in one... I could have saved them a lot of trouble by sending them to ride "The Boss" at SFSTL. Prior, SOB was rideable - but these severe and drastic knee-jerk alterations compromised how it was designed to operate and made it brutal. I rode it dozens (if not hundreds) of times prior to the change. (Why, I rode 21 consecutive times for Travel/History Channel filming with a camera mount beside and in-front of me with no issues.) However, I only rode it about 3 times after the loop loss and train switch... it was horrendously bad and intolerable... far too rough for me. I found it ironic that they actually made the complaints WORSE with the changes. My last ride was at night in Sep of 2008... and when I got off I knew I would never ride it again... so I said a quiet little goodbye then and there. Bittersweet... the coaster that never was what it should have been... I do wonder what RMC could have done with the ride - it would likely have been a top 10 for most. That's what happened with "Rattler" at Fiesta Texas - SOB's pre-curser that was plagued by the exact same structural and size issues and built by the same people that built SOB... RCCA (The video fails to mention that lawsuits were filed against them for that coaster too.) But truth is, the PR damage is what killed SOB and why it's not there anymore. There was no "converting it" when people would always associate it with sensationalistic news stories of horror rides... like this video. Finally, so much time and effort (not to mention $) had been sunk into it, the park just gave up on it... and traded the clunker for a brand-new Mercedes.

I would suspect... Winterfest prep.

Got it. Yes, the single lift on KCKC used two belts. It's also worth noting that for at least the last few years of operation only one drop chute was operational.

Nope, just one lift.

Actually... The Screamin Demon got relocated to Camden (where it became "Thunderbolt Express") when a deal with Indiana's Fun Spot Owner (Berkley Roberts) fell through. In June of 1987, Roberts blabbed to the press that KI was "planning to build a log flume" and and he had bought the coaster. This irritated KI officials who then denied to the press that the coaster was sold and clarified that Roberts had only entered a verbal "intent" to buy it. In reality, he had made a down payment, but was ultimately unable to finalize a deal to purchase it. Once the deal fell through, the owners of Camden Park stepped in and were able to purchase the ride. To my knowledge, there was no "tie-in" between KI and Camden other than they sold it to them as a business deal. Roberts didn't give up when the Demon deal fell through... he instead purchased the proto-type Arrow launched looper "Zoomerang" from Boardwalk and Baseball (Originally Circus World) in Orlando. The park closed abruptly in 1990, immediately sold the rides and land, and the identical Zoomerang was purchased by, and installed at, Fun Spot. It operated there from 1991 until 2008 as "Afterburner." The coaster that became the Fun Spot Afterburner was the first launched looper Arrow ever built. It was used to develop and test the attraction at their plant. "Zoomerang", "Black Widow" (Riverside Park - now Six Flags New England) and "Screamin Demon" (KI) were the first 3 of these types to operate at any parks. But the Screamin Demon was the first to open to the public. There were 5 more Arrow launched loopers built following, and currently only 3 remain in operation. Thunderbolt Express operated sporadically at it's time at Camden. In it's later years, the launch cable mechanism failed and the park was unable to replace it. (Word on the street was they didn't have the few thousand it would have cost.) The coaster sat idle with the park "intending" to fix it. It was in desperate need of a paint job (it had only been painted once - the year it was installed there) but ultimately they ignored it and rust took over. In it's final years, you could actually see through holes in the running rails. I paid a visit to Camden in 2000, specifically to see (and photograph) the former KI coaster. That was the last time I ever saw it in person. It never re-opened and was demolished in 2004. I've not been back since. Only the one visit. It was such a turnoff, that I have never wanted to go back. Shaggy

I believe, in a separate post, someone was questioning his whereabouts. Mr Harsley is a legend of Cincinnati's Coney Island and early Kings Island. He is to be thanked and congratulated on all the hard work and dedication he showed in the design and creation of so many facets of the parks and attractions. Shaggy

Did you know the Eiffel Tower "Tree Topper" from the one and only Paramount's Kings Island Winterfest is still in use? It's located on the exterior of the Entertrainment Junction building facing I-75.

No amount will ever replace their son. I feel awful for this family. I cannot imagine their grief.

I believe these to be stock photos of KI's first day of public operation - 1972

Oh I could see KI adding one... Cedar Point did. IMO, if KI were to "re-invent" Octoberfest, Adventure Express would be ripe for a total re-theme. It could very easily be altered to a Bavarian theme - which it should have been back in 1991. I'm not sure what will become of Octoberfest. I hope for a huge re-do eventually. For years, the signs have pointed to it going away completely - yet it manages to cling to life season after season. It has always been the most neglected area of the park - long before Cedar Fair, Paramount or even KECO. Fact is, when the park opened Lion Country Safari (now Action Zone) in 1974, it completely land-locked Octoberfest. For 43 years it's been sandwiched between two large, and more interesting areas - that limitation greatly affected how it's stagnated for so long. I personally love Bavarian theming - so I hope it remains and becomes a more viable themed area in the future.

FYI, A lot of you are very interested in Kings Island's history. This season, I'm honored to be blogging for the park on their website about the origins of the park all the way up through all the current rides. The first full installment was posted today. Here's the direct link: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2017/april/a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-rides

Here's a fun memory I neglected to add to my above post... Without a doubt, the hardest ride to operate was the now-gone Boo Boo's Baggage Claim. It was a kiddie Turtle ride that required the op to time the stop so it landed perfectly in line with the load platform. Inevitably that thing would fall a foot short, or a foot long. I only managed to get that darn thing to stop in the right place about 1 out of 10 times. It was soooooo touchy. "Sit down kids... you're going around again!" Oh, and the attraction that everyone hated... and I mean HATED to be "sent" to was "Hand Carts" in HB Land. You spent all day chasing kids who left the vehicle or walking those stupid cars around that whole track when they stopped pedaling about 1/3 of the way through. They were about 2 inches off the ground, so you were bent over all day. If you were on shift on your home ride and you got told to go to "South Pie" to help - you were doomed - that meant Hand Carts. FYI... this attraction lasted as long as it did because the VP of Operations for years and years at KI, Don Miller, had ridden them as a kid at Coney island and they were his favorite memory. The ride everyone JUMPED at the chance to go to was WWC. Although it was very hot and hard walking on that platform, it meant you would get rotated to the tower where you got to squirt people. Some of the best laughs I have EVER had at KI... as an employee or guest... was working that tower. Man it was fun.

There's also, typically, a hierarchy. When I was there... many moons ago... Each large ride typically had two leads, who if not promoted, maintain the "training up" of the crew. If the leads were promoted before, during or after a season, previous vested crew members could request to be promoted to lead of a ride. In terms of non-lead returning staff, they typically got to request on which attractions they'd like to work. New hires were then used to fill in the gaps left by non-returning employees or skeleton crews. Now, it's been nearly 20 years since I worked there, but I'll give you my experience. I took a PT job there on weekends, requested a position on a coaster and was immediately "placed" on the "Outer Limits: Flight of Fear" crew. (FYI, this was back when there were still official uniforms for the OLFOF crew - yes, I wore the beret!) I didnt begin working there until late summer - fall season only, so I was not fast-tracked to "drive." However I was trained and tested on driving the coaster late in my tenure that season. The following season, at the returning employee job fair, I requested "Beast." I was immediately placed there and it became my "home" ride. However as an experienced and dependable employee on what was (then) one of the best (and hardest working) crews in the park, I (along with many of The Beast crew members) was subsequently trained on about 20 other rides throughout the season. I would get "sent" to a ride if someone called in, or the crew fell short. They could easily train brand new in-coming rides employees, even on their first day, to check lap bars on Beast (or other major attractions.) This allowed seasoned ride ops to be "sent" to fill in on attractions that required them to be "signed off" to operate. The third season, I returned to the fair and made the request to be on "Son of Beast's" inaugural crew. I was informed part time employees would no longer be considered for crews of major rides. The Operations manager, at the time, had made a sweeping decision (which they ultimately reversed as the season got underway- but only after many seasoned part-timers declined to return.) and I was a casualty. Seeing the limitations, I made the decision to end my tenure there. In an ironic twist, that very summer, I left my full-time employer in Cincy to relocate to Louisville for a job with a company I have loved for 17 years now... so, in the end, I would have had to turn down the KI seasonal job anyway. I'll say that my time working as a ride op at KI was extremely fun, exciting, memorable - but also hot and hard work. It ultimately created great memories for me, and I am very appreciative of the experience I had there. Plus, it allowed me to check "Driving The Beast" off my bucket list.