Gordon Bombay

I'm sure they're paying attention to it, but is it (and Holiday World) as big a threat as some here would like to believe? I sincerely doubt it.

Based off of the number I have gathered both KK and HW have a combined attendance right around 2 million people last year. That is around the total attendance of Carowinds last year. You can say people have forgotten about HW or KK but the numbers say otherwise. I will agree and say that KI is on a completely different level than KK and HW. That is mainly due to KI belonging to a international theme park chain. Both HW and KK are independent parks. Both KK and HW will likely never truly challenge KI for top dog in the tri-state area, but 2 million visitors a year is a very sizeable chunk of the theme park market. To say that people have forgotten about HW and KK is a stretch at best. You mean "reported" attendance by two private companies who benefit from making sure that number is as high as possible without sounding too unrealistic. KI generates a solid majority of its business from pass holders and return visits. Kentucky Kingdom used to when six flags flew above its entrance (and didn't bother investing much because those local pass holders kept returning). Holiday World and KK are only a threat in that they may possibly prevent some consumers from traveling up 71 to Kings Island. However, even when Six Flags still operated KK, they abandoned plans to be any direct threat to KI and instead just focused on the local market. After "Twisted Sisters/Twins debuted, you stopped seeing Six Flags adverts in the Cincinnati market. You'll never convert Holiday World pass holders into KI holders several hours up the road, so I doubt KI is too concerned with Koch family drama world. In short, the "two million" (through the gate per year, not entirely separate individuals) are probably more like a fly buzzing hours down I-71. Cedar Fair probably keeps an eye on it, but probably doesn't care, if anything, they're more curious about Holiday World and probably just chuckling at KK when they're not asking: "that park is open again?"

Tacky? It was better than nothing and more than anyone else would do at the time.

That's a shame.

Love hearing memories like this.

Wow, Monroe, thank you so much for sharing that. I had no idea of the aircraft's history. The gentleman who now owns the airport land was telling me about the DC-3 and he said that it required so much runway that it used back up all the way and be nearly on top of nearby Lebanon Rd. I'm sharing this information with him. Thanks for passing it along, what an incredible history!

Some folks on here may remember the old International Air Show. It ended before I was born, but I've heard a lot about it. The show would start with a hot air balloon being launched, two biplanes mock dogfighting, and had the finale of four skydivers. This show happened every night too! A friend of mine works on a property that used to be an airport in Lebanon, Ohio. Coincidentally, that airport used to be the place where the skydivers for Kings Island would take off from. Like the air show, it too is gone, but some parts of it remain. You can check out that article here if you want: http://queencitydiscovery.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-lost-airport-of-lebanon_13.html While doing some research for the above article, I came across something interesting. English born skydiver Jackie Smith was one of the sport's first prominent female jumpers and she was on that International Air Show team. Here's a photo of her landing at the park. If you look closely, the gate behind her should be familiar: She authored a retrospective piece on her days as a KI skydiver. It's a great read and even has a video of the full air show. You can check that out here: http://skydiving-encyclopedia.com/wiki/skydiving/23-records-events/23-4-significant-skydiving-events/1980-kings-island-nightly-jumps/

It'd be interesting given Cedar Fair's interest in year round revenue opportunities and it'd be the perfect location. Kings Island is an interesting scenario though. The nearby Great Wolf Lodge was built on land formerly belonging to the park and once operated in a great partnership with Kings Island under Paramount. Then for awhile GWL advertising, signage and branding disappeared from the park and its promotional materials. Now it's back. If KI were to pursue its own resort/hotel, no doubt the folks literally right next door may not take a liking to it.

I'm doubtful on the street level retail concept similar to Deerfield Towne Centre. I'd think that if retail develops, it'll have to be much smaller shops. I do think that'd be a good thing though - dense units with convenient shops nearby. It's a far cry from most suburban developments. It'd be even better if this development (and for that matter all surrounding things) were better linked to KI for pedestrian/bike access.

An article from the Cincinnati Business Courier stated that Towne Properties (one of the big names in rental properties throughout Cincinnati) was developing "luxury apartments" to be built on site. They even had somewhat of a rendering: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/12/05/developers-planning-35m-apartment-project-at.html However, those plans were announced in December 2014, a few days after the resort/Inn closed. Demolition began in January 2015, but stopped slightly after. Someone I spoke with from Warren County mentioned that there was a zoning problem and that the demolition may have paused because the property hadn't been rezoned for the rental property yet. With it resuming, I'm not sure if the "luxury apartments" are still on track. I believe at one point, someone also speculated about retail being able to mix in with the apartment complexes ala the nearby Deerfield Towne Centre. Again, just things I've heard, not hard facts.

Just in case anyone's curious, the demolition has finally resumed. I took these photographs on Friday the 11th of March. I imagine by today, most of it's gone. PHOTOS: http://queencitydiscovery.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-demolition-of-kings-island-resort.html

Winterfest 05 was a truly heartfelt effort. Remember, it was rolled out at two parks underneath the Viacom umbrella. While Viacom made some interesting decisions and had different ideas from the original incarnation of Paramount Parks, they weren't stingy entirely. They invested in a lot of infrastructure improvements and entertainment options for KI's Winterfest. KI's WinterFest 2.0 suffered from several issues. Snowfall and bad weather were much more frequent. Required parking payment and admission outside of a season pass also didn't help. There were also more regional entertainment options that had cropped up or been improved in the years since Winterfest halted. From the people I knew and the amount of investment, it seemed they planned to make another go at it the next year. Later, Viacom and CBS split. Paramount Parks fell under CBS while Paramount Pictures fell under Viacom. From the onset of 2006, it was clear that CBS was hardly interested in continuing the Paramount Parks operation and would seek a buyer. Associates started that year without name tags. Instead they were issues one identification badge to wear clipped to their shorts (and would incur a payment deducted fee for replacement). The "QTV's" also constantly blared advertisements for CBS owned properties like College Sports Television (CSTV (Now CBS Sports Network). They also had this interesting little thing they did... When you entered the park, immediately to your left were advertisements for Winterfest. They were already selling "advance tickets." Now, there's two diverging viewpoints I've heard over the years: 1) The intentions were true and they planned to give Winterfest 2.0 another go. or 2) CBS didn't actually intend to risk losing money on another winter event should a buyer not be found and wouldn't actually go through with it or... ...as what would happen: someone did buy not just Kings Island (but all the parks) and Cedar Fair had the pleasure of being the ones to announce Winterfest's cancellation (not that many people really knew or cared) as well as refund those advance tickets (did anyone really buy any?). There you go.

Does that Snoopy still have the table and umbrella near it? The one clearly grabbed from International Street Pizza just before the ride was re-themed.

I'm going to assume that part of the plan is to build a new fence with actual lockout points, right? Great photos, thanks for sharing!

Just to be clear, the article at the start of this topic didn't involve trespassing. I had permission to be there.

Now that's a website I haven't been to in a long while. Time to go down memory lane.

True, but only to a certain extent. One just gets you a citation, while the other gets you thrown in jail. But both are still illegal. For the record, I always obey the speed limit. Let's ease up there, moral police. By that rationale you could also say one crime has the potential to kill people and does so several times a year, one's just trespassing. HarvestMan, I'd listen to Goble. Don't go trespassing. He knows about being where he's not supposed to. Remember, you can't Coast with the Kids unless you pay to.

Heard from some folks that the original development efforts have stalled hence why demolition has stopped and nothing has been announced. Looks like the abandoned resort may be there for awhile....what's left of it at least. If you obtain permission it isn't really trespassing isn't it? And If we're going to go into legal details, I'd expect you, nor anyone else here to share copyrighted material without the expressed, written consent of the copyright holder. Be careful what images you link and what article quotes you copy.... upstanding citizens you know.

That bad?

Walked through it a few times. Couple of actors jumped out from corners, slightly startling me and they said variations of "boo," "what are you doing here," and "get out."

I'd hate to see the crowd that KK would bring in for a halloween event with their already cheap tickets. Kings Island is bad enough.

I believe some sort of mid course brake has always been in operation at that point. Weighted "skid brakes" we're once used (you can still find the buckets underneath the ride) before the transition to the magnetic variety. Terp, maybe you can shed some light on this: I've seen video and heard about how the mid course brake shed once had "kicker wheels" at its far end. We're pinch brakes once used there that would allow the train to come to a complete stop, essentially creating another block?

I don't know if that's necessarily the sole reason for why AE's first tunnel smells so bad, but there is in fact some drainage behind the ice cream stand in Action Zone that flares up with the stench of rancid dairy on hot summer days. The back road to Delirium was always an adventure.

For Kings Island so loved the world, it gave its only "Son."

In a way, I'd say they did. Paramount always had a habit of installing attractions with awesome effects. Providing a budget and resources to maintain those effects however... Boddah1994 and I used to know a guy who kind of worked in the department responsible for maintaining some of those effects. He always had an elaborate story as to why it couldn't be done. He had a good nickname for Technifex, a longtime provider of Paramount Park's special effects. Use your imagination, he called them Technif.... Truth be told, Technifex makes some incredible stuff all around the world. I don't think it was always their fault. Boddah and I have heard it all. We'll often joke that if you want to change a lightbulb at KI, someone will tell you about how the electrical wiring is strung through cement and a den of scorpions.