Gordon Bombay

Son of Baconator beat me to it.

While this seems to be the case, what's always thrown me off is the fact that multiple others still operated and one still does. I wonder just how hard those parts are to acquire.

King Cobra seems to always have two things offered up as excuses for its demise: 1) Spare parts became harder to find... or 2) The steel was in "bad shape..." ...yet, similar models operated well after, one of them even surviving relocation and still operating overseas. King Cobra itself was put up for sale. I wonder what the actual reason was for its removal. Does anyone know for certain?

Definitely planning to check this out. Kind of bummed it's not permanent.

Son of Beast could really use a fresh coat, I can't even see it these days.

If you look in the background of this shot (or ever find yourself in Timberwolf), you can see one of the lights from the Adventure Village/Wild Animal Habitat days.

Very cool. Looking forward to that and any other entries. Specifically with Kings Dominion, I never knew they removed theirs. Interesting how being a transport to the water park has somewhat kept KI's relevant. Back in the day, there was all this clamoring to revert it back to its own attraction. I believe there was at once a proposal to place Snoopy's Starlight Spectacular throughout the train's course, to be used after the water park closed during daily operation. Instead, the park made that half-hearted mess of burnt out Christmas lights.

Just popping in to say, been lurking over this topic for awhile. Really love the posts and discussion. Thanks for the informative and entertaining read!

Wow, I thought Peanuts was a bit outdated (although done well), but that's a real throwback.

And a lot of this was the result of changing trends over the decades that don’t necessarily appeal today. Kings Island (and several other regional/seasonal parks across the nation) was truly envisioned as a “Disney of the Midwest.” Not in the sense of totally themed attractions, but in the sense of being a destination. The park was a draw, but the idea was that there’d be a whole “resort” with options and activities that would attract whole families (and their money) for extended periods of time. At the same time, you could also grab up local passholders who’d routinely visit and spend money. The Kings Island golf courses were once renown and a step above simply due to availability. They were constructed at a time well before golf was a more “casual” sport and well before so many suburban neighborhoods (across the nation) were constructed around new golf courses. Over time, Kings Island’s golf center went from having limited competition to courses all over the region. Golf was no longer just the sport of the wealthy and those who had a Country Club membership/those who would travel to play at courses like KI’s, golf was soon found all across the suburbs and even in public parks. Then there’s the resort, which when originally built, was quite a few steps above standard lodging. KI’s also had no nearby competition. If you wanted to stay at a hotel near the park, it was by far the most convenient. Kings Mills and the Mason/Fields Ertel exit had close to nothing when the park opened, but soon piled up with a range of quality in hotel options as that industry changed too. Very quickly, the KI resort went from being renown luxury lodging to “pretty good” to “just ok” to “yeah, I just need a cheap bed for the night” to demolished. In terms of the campground, it’s been stated earlier in this thread just how popular camping was for a time. It seems to still be a popular pastime with enthusiasts, but the types of camping pursued has shifted. KI’s campground wasn’t just an attempt to capitalize on the craze of the 70’s, but to also offer a cheaper option for lodging when there wasn’t many alternatives nearby (except for their expensive resort). Around the time our campground was killed off and GWL built, Carowinds opened up a revamped and improved campground. If I recall correctly, that model was never really replicated in the chain by either Paramount or Cedar Fair. Nowadays, camping seems to just be a nice option to have at a park, but not something holding you back from attracting more guests. Overall, KI’s mission has changed too in an ever evolving world of entertainment options where you can choose to spend your disposable income. This has occurred at other parks built around the same time. The idea of “regional Disney’s” and massive “resort complexes” seemed to fade after the 70s. Soon parks began targeting local populations and regional visitors more strongly, realizing that the regular money comes from regular customers who spend within the park. Paramount Parks attempted highly themed attractions (usually executing them quite poorly), but the emphasis was always on the region rather than nationwide travelers. Under Cedar Fair, we’ve seen similar things. They know their core audience lies within the regions surrounding each parks (save for some wiggle room for exception at the larger properties such as KI, CP, KBF, and CW). This doesn’t always pay off, though. During the 2008 recession, CF banked on the thinking that most people would choose to stay home from vacations and frequent their regional parks more. Instead, people seemed to save up for that big vacation and take it at the expense of in park spending, season passes, and visits to their local/regional park. Sorry for the diatribe. Just bummed I can’t visit the “College Football Hall of Fame” anymore (because of course, that was once part of KI’s “resort” too). Edit: just to add, the KI Resort property was supposedly going to get townhomes/apartments built on it via Towne Properties, but that seems to have stalled.

I don't believe they use magnets, rather there are mechanical pins that slide through the reclined seats, locking them in place to the main vehicle chassis. There are several sensors on board the vehicle to confirm each pin (and there are many) is locked and ready to go. These sensors communicate with the main computer wirelessly.

Cool Wut

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the post and your visit to the park. They've really done a good job turning that park around.

Thanks @jtro223! I have a second part to that one which deals with a review of the park itself: http://queencitydiscovery.blogspot.com/2017/09/kentucky-kingdon-six-years-later-part-2.html

So I don’t post on here anywhere as much as I used to, but when I was much more active on KIC, one of my favorite things to do was create Photo Trip Reports. I loved authoring travelogues on places ranging from Cedar Point to Camden Park to the occasional visit to my home park of Kings Island. Over the past ten years though, the allure of visiting parks somewhat faded (although, if you follow my site by chance, I still visited plenty of abandoned ones). That all changed recently when I went to Kentucky Kingdom. So I’ve got a photo trip report in two parts. Part 1: Before/After In 2011, I had the opportunity to tour the park when it was closed/abandoned. Multiple ownership groups grappled for control, but now the park is very much alive. Check out side by side, interactive images showing what’s changed here. Part 2: A review I also took some time to just enjoy the park, ride the coasters, and have a look around. Overall, I think KK is pretty good, but what’s the deal with the constant one train operation? Overall, I'm pretty surprised at just how good this park ended up being. I had my doubts, but it won me over. Read more here. Thanks for checking it out! I have to say, it felt good to write a PTR again!

If Six Flags owned Kings Island... ...they'd probably have a "Fast Lane" system that's more than just wrist bands.

@CoastersRZ: people are saying "footers." Drop that knowledge!

SOB was a ****ty ride, but it had nothing on how awful The Villain at Geagua Lake was. Loved when Cedar Fair's proposed "fix" was putting used Gerstauler trains on there that weren't even good when they were new.

The park is still running the Fast Lane program in this way? As in, it's just a shorter line, but still a line? Are they still using the wristbands? Six Flags of all companies, STILL has a better system for this type of perk than Cedar Fair? Sad.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it just one conveyor belt and then two drops that were side by side with an operator switching boats between the two? That conveyor/lift scared the absolute living hell out of me as a kid. Fun Fact: behind the Tomb Raider/Crypt/Crappy Haunted House Building there is (or at least was) a wooden shack. In that shack, even well after KCKC was gone, the pump controls for the old flume still remained with "Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal" still labeled on them.

To be fair, all the crap about ghosts and whatnot is all nonsense anyways. "Legends," pssh, the last thing the park needs is some kid up there going on about how they heard rumors of a ghost. Talk about the train, cool facts about the park, etc, make it entertaining. I think the point teenageninja is making is that oftentimes the joking around, having fun, etc. can improve morale. As someone who's spieled, managed people spieling, audited crews who spieled, etc, I can say that if you get the right person up there they can have a good time and get the proper information out. The truth of the matter is, most people aren't listening anyways. No matter how important or eloquent the message, people in line have their minds on other things. They're not a captive audience. So if you can say "here's where you store your loose articles, fasten your seat belt, and here's a fun quick fact," then who cares? They know safety is the main priority, they're acutely aware of that. Doesn't mean you can't have fun and be entertaining while striking the proper balance. When I was 16, it was always a blast on those final Beast trains to get the guests to play Simon says: "Make a funny face, fasten your seatbelt, quack like a duck, nod your head if you understand where loose articles go."

Oh, man. You're right! There definitely was at one point.

^That Swan Lake bridge was definitely gone before 2007. There was also another bridge that ran between the basketball hoops and icee stand in Rivertown before Diamondback came about. I only remember it being for employees, but it ran over a creek and then behind wings.

Paging @Shaggy!

I don't think it was actually a "bridge." I think what you're seeing in this video was once the back porch area of Oktoberfest Gardens (when it was an actual biergarten theme) and it eventually became the back porch of Bubba Gump's "even less than stellar than the normal less than stellar chain restaurant" Shrimp Shack. There used to be remote controlled boats for a time I believe as well as the little vending machines where you could buy fish food. When it became Bubba Gumps, there was a turned over fishing boat placed over an old concrete pier. That pier used to be a support for the sky ride. Edit: strike all of that above, there was a bridge! S/O to DBInternational for showing that below.