Gordon Bombay

^People use smart phones for a lot more than just social media.

Oh, no, I'm not doubting you, just didn't know if there was an article I missed or one I read over too quickly. It wouldn't surprise at all if they made some kind of promise like that. For all I know, maybe that's their plan. If I've learned anything in the past ten years it's that press releases (whether in the amusement industry or otherwise) should always be taken with a grain of salt. Regardless, I'm hopeful that they prevail in reopening it. I'd hate to see it become another Surf Cincinnati (not that I didn't enjoy Surf Cincinnati after it closed):

Looking more into this, I'm actually quite a bit skeptical. Maybe it's not totally comparable to the Bluegrass Boardwalk situation, but some recent posts have made me see why you made that comparison. Maybe I missed something, but where did management state they would add four water slides and a new wave pool? That seems awfully lofty of an investment for a company on contract to operate for one year with an option to buy. Not to mention, with negotiating this deal where would they have found the time to draw up plans for this expansion? Anyone remember when Bluegrass Boardwalk kept dropping hints of opening the entire park and then their "experts" came in and "evaluated" and things were scaled way back? Not saying these new folks would scale back or face the same exact challenges, but that's pretty lofty goal to start preaching. Here's to hoping it all works out though, The Beach can really attract a demographic KI misses out on and can do just fine right next door. Also, did anyone else notice the "new" manager is also the "former" manager?

^Apples and Oranges. Fair boards and New Owners.

^Can an idea be blown out of the water if it never existed in the first place?

I usually don't get into these completely useless Coaster A is better than Coaster B fights because it's all someone's opinion, but seriously? I'd ride my bike down Son of Beast's hill before ever riding Mantis again.

What may have given you that impression is how things used to be. When the ride opened up as Days of Thunder, that whole back section was themed/spruced up to reflect the new attraction. Instead of asphalt, there were multi colored pavers in the ground that formed a checkered flag (since Days of Thunder was a racing film). In the center of the midway, there were concrete benches around planters that also held signs with information about the ride technology/the film. The entrance beneath The Racer South turnaround even sported a large Days of Thunder sign and sound effects/music from the film played on the midway. It was a pretty grand area. As you walked under The Racer (the path has since been converted to a maintenance area for WindSeeker), you came out in between the turn arounds and there were all kinds of props. They had a few stock cars sitting about in paint schemes from the film (however, the car models were different from the cars in the film and were manufactured specifically to be on display at the attraction) and there was a truck with a replica camera on it and a Paramount logo showing how they filmed the movie. In the Days of Thunder years, both theatres ran the same film and had a small "scoreboard" in the middle that had ride information and Days of Thunder graphics. When James Bond took Days of Thunder's place, the props in the grassy plaza were gone and the center area between the theatres had a motorcyle from one of the films and other props that spun on the rotating platform. I don't remember when the "B Side" became a rotating film, but it may have been during James Bond. When 7th Portal debuted, the other side was almost always a different movie that rotated between some adventure film and "Smash Factory." The center prop area held cardboard signs of the super heroes from 7th Portal and the theatres were converted to 3D. When it became Spongebob, the whole thing got an overhaul, but that quickly faded after so many years of that same movie being repeated. Days of Thunder made a short return at the beginning of the 2004 season as well. When Dino's 3D rolled around, WindSeeker was built in what had once been the Action Theatre plaza, its original path repurposed as WS maintenance access and a new path was rerouted through the AT exit. The queue line was reconfigured and shortened, but if you look left when you enter the Dino 3D line you can still see the streetlights and the faded outline of the queue. They re-painted the building, side B was already a "haunt," and they installed a new projector and better 3D system while removing the motion seats. Dino's Alive 3D may not be the best movie, but you have to admit the quality is fantastic. Sorry for that tangent down Action Theatre memory lane.

I heard a rumor that this topic will soon be closed for that very reason.

I love how in all the park brochures from the 70's, food was just as much an attraction as the rides. KI seems to have gotten back to more of that this season, but for years the best restaurant at KI was the Skyline across the street.

Standbyme has an awesome thread (one of many) that shows a brochure from the campground in the 70's. Check it out here: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/25069-kings-island-70s-campground-brochure/ One of the highlights: kicamping1b.jpg Paramount said that they were interested in building a new camp ground and built a "modern" one at Carowinds in 2005(?) I believe that had wi-fi hookup and other modern amenities. Paramount's plans, if they had even gone beyond the discussion stage, were probably scrapped when the company changed hands not soon after.

The lift has been there since the ride opened. It's there so that a person utilizing a wheel chair could enjoy the ride's theming and "pre-show" and then have access into the flying saucer. Since 1996 though, I think the novelty of the queue has worn off. You have to remember though that when that ride opened - the theming was right on par with Disney and while an excellent effort has been made in past years to revive it somewhat - it's a shell of its former self. Still today you can find hints of how elaborate the theming was. The announcements out front in "the base," the outdoor queue line radio that references Richmond and Cincinnati UFO sightings (the two cities of the parks that opened the rides) and even if you watch the pre-show it tied in with the voices that give you instructions in the station. At one point the ride ops even wore military like berets and uniforms that had the "Bureau of Paranormal Activity" patch on them.

My friend Jake runs a really good blog called The Cincinnati Monocle. Today he posted about how he was remembering a time when MTV's mid 90's DJ show "The Grind" visited Kings Island in the summer of 1995. He recalls how it wasn't really the actual show or cast, but a poor stand in for it which seems about right for Viacom pushing their MTV brand in the park during those days. More and videos of the actual MTV show (not the one at Kings Island): Remembering when MTV's The Grind visited King's Island... I don't remember this event at KI nor do I remember the show on MTV, granted I was pretty young when this was happening, but does anyone remember any of those or did they go to it?

^That's such a broad definition it could be used for any business. Healthcare is life and death, Fast Lane is short wait or long wait for an amusement park ride. Come on.

Or place his own ugly mug on it.

^I think it's just the fact that it's something completely new, not to the industry, but to the park. You also need to keep in mind the demographic KI attracts compared to a major operation like a Disney or Busch. Generally people vacationing in Florida have a lot more discretionary income than a blue collar Midwestern family spending one day at a Kings Island.

You don't have to be rich to enjoy a day at the park nor do you have to be rich to afford Fast Lane passes. There's more to KI than just rides. When I was a kid, the only time my parents could take us was on the weekends. The lines were long, the park was packed and we only rode what us kids demanded while my parents waited in line. My parents loved those days and those were my favorite days I ever spent at the park. While KI's Fast Lane system is one of low overhead and one of the most "interesting" operations in the industry, it's a tiered experience like any other place. Last night I went to go watch the Reds play the Diamondbacks. I sat in the outer view level and ate two $1 hot dogs and a $1 bag of peanuts. I spent $12 the entire night and watched a miserable game from the nosebleeds, but I still enjoyed myself. I could've just as easily spent more money to sit behind home plate and snag a diamond seat of stub hub. Every Friday my boss and I go eat at a cheap chinese buffet while some of our coworkers go out for steaks - we don't resent them for spending their money on that. Life is what you make of it and even if money were non-existent, objects have value and wealth has value. It's not worth worrying about who has what or who can afford more.

Riverbend, PNC Pavillion, MidPoint Music Festival and now Bunberry have pretty much made Timberwolf obsolete for any "big name" acts. Have any of you ever been to a concert at Timberwolf? It's an awful venue.

Because cigarettes can't be prizes.

Direct link to the information in question: Interesting to note that the layout features a similar design to the Kings Island one at the bottom, but this one looks like it will utilize the upstairs projection room of the building. Stairs to get up and down?

Great report! Boddah1994 and I were out that way buying fireworks when we stopped by on the 4th of July. Did they tame down their flying scooters?

As someone familiar with HUSS rides and ride operations I have to point out that this post is totally misleading and none of the information within is accurate.

Since everyone's been sharing their SOB memories, I though I'd share a few of mine and I'm in a writing mood so pardon this novel. I also thought I'd share a few photographs I came across. I remember the day they announced Son of Beast. I had come home from school and my dad was home from work early. Our family had been going to Kings Island regularly with passes since 1996/1997 and I had just gotten brave enough the year before to start riding the "real" rides. I remember him booting up the old dial up Netscape internet to show me the old Cincinnati.com articles, waiting with anticipation as each small image loaded of the ride's model. I remember vividly the wooden loop and how it looked on the model. I remember all the news outlets misreporting it as the world's FIRST wooden looping roller coaster. There was a book I checked out from the school library frequently that proved otherwise. When the ride finally opened, I was 11. I didn't get to ride it in its early days of one train operation before it closed down for awhile. When it did reopen, both trains were running and my uncle and I waited two hours. I remember the queueing very vividly. We were in a temporary line outside the entrance for awhile, I remember my uncle making fun of my shoes as we watched Top Gun nearby. I remember getting incredibly nervous as we waited on the ramps up to the ride station and saw the water dummies below. Never did I think while waiting for that ride that day that I'd ever work at the park let alone in the maintenance shop that worked on SOB or ever walk its rails, I was just thinking about how intimidating that hill looked. I even remember how the ride smelled and still smelled in its last operating season... all that wood. We boarded the train and the first thing I noticed was the awkward placement of the on-ride photo. Then the loud lift, the speed and view in the dip. The slow down at the first drop crest and then WHAM! You were flying. I immediately picked up on how the double helix rose bowl was a homage to the original Beast and then that loop... I made sure to look left and see the Eifel tower spin like in all the media videos. Then there was more speed and boom you were back. I was psyched. It was by far my favorite coaster. ...granted I was really thin, 11 years old and a little bit over four feet tall. My uncle on the other hand hated it and immediately complained of how rough and unenjoyable the experience was. I begged my dad to ride it again with me since my uncle declined. Another two hour wait and then I got to experience it all over again and loved it just as much. My dad hated it and never rode it again. As the years went by and I got taller and bigger I realized how painful and miserable of an experience the ride was. I stopped riding it at age 13. In 2006 the ride opened a few weeks after the regular park and a few people hinted on KIC that it would be much smoother. My friend and I actually ditched school a few periods early and headed up to the park when we heard from Boddah1994 that it was set to reopen that day. We got there and noticed they had removed the last car and that the ride was now a 5 car operation per train. We anticipated it greatly, there was a short line and we hopped in the back seat. If there was an improvement in the ride experience, we missed it cause it was still rough as hell. I didn't ride it again until after it reopened in 2007. While the first drop was great and the new trains offered more leg room... the Rose Bowl was still punishing and completely ruined any hope of the ride being good. I never much cared for it and by this time I worked at the park a lot, so I hardly ever visited in my off time. The last time I ever rode the ride was in 2008 while at the park to photograph some of the Knievel set up. Still didn't care for the ride. I have lots more experiences and cool stories about how special that ride was to me, but Ill save those for another day. Not that anyone asked, but in my humble opinion - the ride is done. I'm sure you could do something incredible with the Rocky Mountain treatment, but even if you did... EVERY news article and piece of media would include "the ride USED to be Son of Beast which was known for x y z (x y z not being good things). Browntggr brings up the best and most logical point. They haven't torn it down because it's not a threat, not falling down and not hurting anything. When they need to get rid of it... they will or they'll do it when they're ready to put something else there. And as someone who is familiar with that ride from many perspectives... you can't see anything from the midway or Adventure Express to be able to convulsively say you see it falling apart. Just throwing that out there. As for the photographs I mentioned earlier. I remembered seeing these a few years ago, but couldn't find the website. Apparently this website has been down since sometime in 2010 and even before that it reaked of early 2000's web development and hadn't been updated in some time. It is (err was) the website for Roller Coaster Corporation of America. I accessed these photos via the Way Back Machine. All of the following photographs are ©Roller Coaster Corporation of America. - Work on the loop towards the end of construction. - Aerial view towards the end of construction in 2000. Note that you can still see a lot of the landscaping for the former Wild Animal Habitat. - A train being lifted onto the track. - Work on the final brake run.* *A rumor I had always heard, but have no idea if it's true is that the brake run was initially designed to hold two trains in waiting in addition to one in the station for a three train operation. I also heard that the ride's station was supposed to be an exit station and that the area of straight track immediately exiting the station was going to be a loading station to allow for a four train operation. Obviously, the ride opened with one train and only ever ran two so who knows. - Not sure what section of track that is, but check out that extreme banking. Too bad you were too busy praying for the ride to be over to ever notice the cool element. - Construction workers. I bet these guys have a cool story. - No idea who any of these guys are, but I believe that the date reads February 17, 1999. Maybe checking out the area for where a future attraction would go? - Draw your own conclusions. - Land clearing, note Adventure Express on the right. - Construction as the sun sets. - A train on its way to the station. Note the all red color scheme that eventually was changed to Red/Yellow. - View from the block brakes while the ride was still under construction. - Not sure why the flag was raised here since I don't believe this is where they "topped off" and completed construction. - The media day in May 1999. - Mock up of the trains. Note how much more spacious/better they look compared to how they turned out. And last, but not least: - The station. Like, I said these are not my photos. They are ©Roller Coaster Corporation of America. If you want to see their old site, you can access it via the Way Back Machine here: http://web.archive.o...//www.rcca.com/ A man I once worked for, who taught me a lot, once pointed to that ride and said "To me, that thing is iconic of Kings Island." For me, it is as well. Even though I never cared much for the ride, it's symbolic of my favorite years in the park I spent with my family and for a lot of other things, but that's all another story for another day.

I think a ferris wheel would make a great addition to on the other side of where the International Showplace is. You'd see it popping up over the trees from International Street and it would somewhat replace the views lost when the 50 ft. platform closed.

I thought there was an official announcement from Rocky Mountain at IAAPA or something that Rattler was next for them? Maybe I'm confusing it with something else.

I can't vouch for it this year as I have not been in the park since May, but a neat thing I thought I'd add is that the "Flight of the Valkyrie" music and refurb of the LED lights was the brainchild of one of the maintenance workers at Kings Island who heads up the "sound" department. He came up with that and was able to get it done. Super nice guy.