Delirium13

http://twitter.com/KIGMGREG

Wow, The Racer looks amazing in that picture! Thanks for sharing.

It's for the best, the ride's best days were behind it. When I rode it on opening day last season (the only time I rode it all season) it was in a sad state even with the "ride enhancements", which were just lipstick on a pig in my opinion. Sad to see what was once Tomb Raider, a ride that had entered with a bang as one of the park's biggest investments ever fade into history with a small tweet announcing its end. The biggest disappointment to me though is that it's not being torn down, the box is an eyesore, but oh well it'll be interesting to see what they do with it for Haunt.

I always read that Shockwave is an uncomfortable ride experience, but I always remembered King Cobra as being a good time and don't remember it being rough, then again I was much younger when I rode it. Those of you who have ridden both, am I remembering this correctly?

Seeing the old Beastie sign brings back a lot of memories. I remember when I was younger and we would visit the park once a year every summer and how excited I would be to go ride the big, bad Beastie, knowing that one day I would be tall enough and brave enough to move up to The Beast and I'll forget the day that I finally did just that. I still think that renaming Beastie and the removal of its tunnel was the worst thing about Nick Universe and had hoped that maybe it would be changed back for Planet Snoopy but was disappointed once again. I'll still hold out hope that someday it could return to being The Beastie because I feel like it adds some charm to the park rather than it being named Woodstock Express because that's what the "bigger" Planet/Camp Snoopy roller coasters are called. Rather it feels almost like a story line that there are two beasts (I'll leave Son of Beast out of this...) in the park and you have to get past the smaller one (Beastie) before you can ride The Beast. That's how I imagined it at least. That's the end of my rant about a coaster I probably won't ride until I have kids and take them to the park even if they do rename it. Thanks again for posting these pictures! Edit - Also on the topic of The Beastie sign, I was surprised to learn that The Beastie had cousin from down under at the lesser known KECO park Australia's Wonderland, similar sign and all: Photo is from RCDB.com

I'd love to see Kings Island get some type of Intamin. The two that come to mind are either an Intamin Plug and Play or one like Maverick. B & M Invert would also be nice. Whatever they get I hope they won't just clear cut an area and put it on flat land. Leave as many trees as possible and use the terrain.

Standbyme, thanks for everything you have been sharing this offseason, I really enjoy looking at the older pictures and brochures you've been posting, so thank you! 1985 did look like a great year for the park, WWC is definitely one of the better additions to the park, I remember running around and riding that thing 3 or 4 times in row at night when I was younger, not the best when you have to get into a car shortly after. Still love to get on it at least once on really hot days, I just love the seclusion of it. Also, the descriptions of different things in that brochure are great. Reading about International Street really makes me hope that they can bring back some the actual "International" atmosphere to it, at the very least bring back some street perfomers, I hope Mr. Ouimet looks at how some of the atmosphere was in the past and brings it back. I also like that Viking Fury is mentioned as one of the big thrills.

That would definitely be an improvement over the cramped cars they have now.

Thanks for the update! Opening Day needs to get here fast. On the topic of painting the slides, I'd like to see the slides (the old ones at least) be painted something more colorful than simply repainted the same colors they are now.

Nice find, that picture really has me longing for summer.

I hear they're pairing Son of Beast and the Crypt this year.

Thanks for sharing the link! Great pictures.

I voted Giga, with reservations. I would love to see a Giga if it were a.) an Intamin (to me a B&M Giga would just be a taller Diamondback, just my opinion) and b.) In Action Zone. One of the only problems I have with Diamondback is that it essentially completed the ruining of what was once one of the most beautiful areas of the park, the lake and Antique Cars. Though Diamondback with its splashdown isn't as bad as the wonderful gravel of BLSC, I still wish they could have kept the lake. So as TombRaiderFTW said, I'd be all for a Giga in Action Zone as it would fit the area well. Though I agree it would be nice to see the Eagles return, as there is a need for more rides that the whole family can enjoy at the park, not to mention their removal was unnecessary in the first place. Also, I'd love to read the Facebook fan comments on a Kings Island status of: "New for 2013: Flying Eagles".

Absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. The pictures of Son of Beast were amazing, as was being able to see in some pictures how much has changed in the park in just 12 years.

I say they should move to Cincinnati.

Awesome pictures! I had never seen a shot of the skyride station before so that was very cool. I have a hard time choosing between the pictures today. I'd love for the skyride to still be in the park, but the 2011 shot is very vibrant looking and the landscaping is nice. Anyways thanks again for doing this!

As a Coke fan, very excited to hear this. I just hope that it is here to stay at Kings Island as well once the current contract is up...

My experience of being inside a park while it was closed is limited to Kings Island's International Street but that was a cool experience in its own right, I'd love for the opportunity to go through a whole park in the offseason. Anyways, great pictures, thanks for sharing!

^I had a less than pleasant ride on Zephyr this past summer thanks to a nearby dumpster and there was also a certain spot in Rivertown that smelled like garbage almost every time I walked through it. They need to keep those things further away from the guests.

Amazing picture, I love coming back every day to see these and that may be my favorite so far. I wish they could have kept the charm (and Flying Eagles) from the 1973 picture. Combine that amazing landscaping with Flight of Fear and Firehawk and the area would be awesome! Thanks again for all the work you put into this!

I'm pretty sure when they mention their website in commercials they say "Go to visitkingsisland.com". There are a lot of ways around saying "visit vistkingsisland.com." So I wouldn't say it's a huge issue, but kingsisland.com would be ideal.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I really enjoy reading threads like this and look forward to seeing more photos!

Yeah I was pleasantly surprised to find that out when I renewed my pass online... I think charging people to print something at home with their own printer, ink, and paper is a pretty outrageous....

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to put that together!!!

Park closed for the season early... From http://indianabeach.com/pages/indianabeach_calendar: