KIfan73

Flight Deck is easily one of my favorite rides. It is a little sad, though, because I remember riding it when it was new. It really was an "experience" back then.

Wow, that is really sad. So young with so much more to offer.

Me, too! As always, thanks for sharing your photos.

Any more, I actually wouldn't be all that surprised if they did come back. Things much less expensive than $20 million dollar rides (although there's nothing wrong with them!) can do a lot to improve someone's experience in the park.

Unbelievable amount of attention to detail in that pic.

An hour later, they were loading everything up to take to Goodwill. Wow, was I lucky! My family knows I'm crazy about this stuff, so hopefully they would have held onto it.

I just got home from a charity yard sale some family members were having. I couldn't believe when I came across it. My aunt said she got it at Coney Island when they went in the '60's, and it's been in a box ever since. It's a little blurry, but it says "Coney Island" at the top and "Cincinnati, Ohio" at the bottom. The illustration is of a train.

Ah-Shake Rattle and Roll. That has to be the most relaxing ride ever. I'd like to have one of those in my backyard. What a great stress reliever!

Where's the choice for Viking Fury?? A trip to Kings Island for me is not complete without a ride or several on Viking Fury!

I would love to see the return of water elements to different attractions IF there was a way to recirculate/treat the water. It looks neat but I can only imagine the "side effects" of it.

^Ah, the good ole days!

^That is true, but I think an understatement, especially comparing now vs. then. Diamondback, a very large, very major, very expensive cutting edge rollercoaster gave 1.7 million rides. In 1986, nearly the same amount rode White Water Canyon. In 1976, nearly a million people rode Shake, Rattle & Roll, for crying out loud.

I don't think us "younger" members on here can probably imagine how popular some of the early rides were. According to visitkingsisland.com, the KMLF's biggest year was 1973 with 2,267,188 rides given, or 414,357 more than Diamondback did last year! I also can't imagine a year (1982) where over 1.5 million people rode Viking Fury. I really don't think anyone can complain about any lines at KI in 2010.

The PUN and only?

Well, I've ran a few 5k runs, and have been on the bike a lot, so I'm hoping to participate in May! About 6 more weeks to get ready...

Thanks for posting that. That is just awe-inspiring. That also looks to me like possibly the "peak" year or so for the park.

What year are these photos from? 1991?

Wow, GREAT pics. Thanks for posting them!! BTW, get ready to defend your position on the flying eagles!

Great TR. I so want to go to KD. Looks like I'm going to have to do it!

Wow, I rode something similar to that at our local county fair last summer. THE MOST violent ride I've ever been on.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/10q1/just_how_quick_are_roller_coasters_-feature

When I see pictures of CI, it looks like something out of a movie. The trees, the landscaping, even the signs on the attractions (I really like the Skee Ball one).

Wow! Thanks for posting those! What an awesome looking place. It had to have been devastating to so many people when they found out it would close down!

First of all, thanks for this (and many others!) interesting post. I find this part of the park during this era fascinating. I even have purchased old GAF viewmaster reels showing this part of the park. I just can't believe that something like that was really at Kings Island. On a side note, my parents took me to Kings Island when I was 2 in 1975 (and we rode the monorail), and I, of course, have no recollection of it. However, I always remember having dreams about a beautiful, grassy place as a kid, but I never could figure out what I was dreaming about. Fast forward to the early '90's when I made it back to KI for the first time since that first trip. I remember having this very strange feeling of deja vu. After looking at old pictures of the park, I think my dreams were of that first Kings Island trip. I think this is what has made me so interested in Kings Island as an adult. To this day when I walk around the park, I get this feeling-can't say it's happy, or excited, or what-but the only place I get it is at Kings Island. I've heard people say that we have an "inner child", and it's like somewhere deep in my brain, it "remembers" those old parts of the park that I saw as a really young child.