Oldiesmann

I have noticed the remnants of an old ride back behind where the Fast Pitch game is now in Coney Mall, but have been unable to figure out what was there. My dad doesn't remember what used to be there, and all I can see from the top of the hill on The Racer is a big circular concrete slab with a hole in the middle of it... Anyone know what used to be there and why they didn't do something else with that spot?

When my supervisor was giving us a tour of the park several weeks ago, he said that they were expecting 4- to 5-hour lines for that ride... As much as I want to ride it as soon as it opens, I am not about to stand in line that long...

I have heard that Kings Island isn't doing the campground this year... Anyone know anything about that? I've only been there once (long story, but basically I ended up riding the tram down there because everyone else on the tram was getting off there and I was on the very inside of my row), but everyone who was there seemed to be enjoying it...

Magilla Gorilla's Grill is still there. I do miss whatever was in Festhaus before Larosas moved in. It really added to the German feel of that area.

Paramount Story is a small park-like area back behind the Caroussel that basically is a walk-through history of Parmount Pictures. It's a quiet, peaceful place away from the noise and business of the rest of the park. Look for the big gates...

Yeah... Whatever happened to all the Hanna Barbera characters? The only one I ever see anymore is Scooby Doo, and that's just a meet-and-greet type thing. I haven't seen characters roaming the park in several years... Also, I seem to remember some sort of a rainbow at the entrance to HB... whatever happened to that?

They've got the land to expand? Where? Unless they take out the campground or expand back behind The Beast (which would require a lot of additional changes to that area), there's really not much room for expansion anymore. I think PKI is great the way it is now, but if they can find room to expand without taking out what little is left of the Kings Mills area, then that's fine with me. Maybe they should rip out Adventure Express - nice ride, but the ending is really lame.

I'm only 22, and so I don't remember half of the rides on this list. I vaguely remember the monorail, though and also remember the Smurfs boat ride (was one of my favorite rides as a kid). The other rides I miss are King Cobra and also the old Witch's Cauldren ride (whatever that was called - the big spinning teacup type thing). As far as storage - I read on one site that the King Cobra is stored over by The Racer someplace, but I don't know if that's true or not. The Eagles ride got sent to the Paramount park in North Carolina, and the Monorail is now part of the ever-expanding tourist trap known as Jungle Jim's International Farmer's Market in Fairfield, Ohio (http://www.junglejims.com for those who aren't familiar with the place).