Platinum Bass

If you're interesting in finding more historical aerial photos of the park or anywhere in Ohio, go to the link below. I've been using their Google Maps KML file to view images for years, but it appears they now have a web portal that presumably is much easier to navigate and work with. Beware, this is an easy way to lose a few hours (or an entire weekend) if you start exploring that content. https://www.transportation.ohio.gov/working/engineering/cadd-mapping/survey/aerial-imagery

I'm glad others found this stuff interesting. Here are the full un-cropped versions of the aerial photos I downloaded when researching the fort house. These versions show a much wider area, and include a few more years, versus what I included in my original post. Fort house is still circled in red in each of them. 1956 - Great shot of the entire land which Kings Island would later occupy 1957 1958 1960 1962 1964 - You can see the clearing for I-71 in progress 1967 1970 1972 1974 1975 1980 - A nice look at The Beast in its early days 1985 - King Cobra is visible 1986 - Real good look at the whole park here 1993 1997

I finally got to this episode recently. First let me say I love both Tower Topics and The Attractions Group podcasts. Always interesting stuff... That house has fascinated me for some reason. At one point not too long ago I went down the rabbit hole of seeing what historical information might be available about the property online and learned quite a few things. None of that is super exciting, but perhaps a few details might be worth sharing... Based on various property records, I believe the house was built sometime between 1954 and 1956. I can't speak for or against the accuracy of the supposed agreement to not tear it down, but FWIW it was actually one of three houses side by side all along what was the east side of Columbia Rd that Kings Island left standing, and apparently used in some capacity, for many years. Each property had different owners prior to Taft purchasing each of them separately in early 1970. All 3 houses were still standing at least until 1986. 2 of the three until at least 1993. By 1997 only the one in the fort remained. Hopefully I'm attaching these images correctly... The first one is snip from a survey from 1984 showing each of the original property boundaries of the three houses KI kept around. The house in the fort is the southern most of the three plots in the red circle. The other images below are all snippets cropped from aerial photos made available online by the Ohio Department of Transportation. In each one the "fort house" is circled in red. Here is 1956. Fort house is recently built. The middle of the 3 houses is being built. No sign of the northern house yet. The old farm house further north in this photo would not survive the park opening. Here is 1957. The middle house is now complete. The fort house has added a pond. Still no sign of the northern most house. Here is 1964. The northern most of the 3 houses the park would keep is now present. The middle house has added a garage or large shed. Here is 1970, the year Taft purchased each property. All 3 houses were purchased on different dates in Jan and Feb of that year. The northern most house looks to have added an addition to back since the 1964 photo. This one is at an angle that gives a reasonable idea of what the housed looked like before the park owned them. Also of note the old farm house further to the north is still standing at this point. Here is 1972. The park is open now. All 3 homes are still standing. The older farm house that was further north is gone. This photo shows what Don described in the episode that the train did not originally come particularly close to the house. Here is 1974. Cars parked at all 3 houses. This one is angled to show a bit of the front of the houses. Here is 1975. Another one showing a decent look at the houses. Here is 1986. All 3 houses still standing and appear to still be used in come capacity. Here is 1993. The middle house is now gone. It would have been in the way of the re-route of the train for the water park. The fort is now build around the southern house. The northern house is still standing though. Here is 1997. The northern most house is now gone, only the southern one inside the fort survived this long.

This May 26, 1985 blurb in the Dayton Daily News seems to imply that Skyline may have been new at the park that year.

Best thing I've seen on the web in a long time. Thanks for sharing.

I second Silverwood, Playland in Vancouver (which has perhaps my favorite wooden coaster), Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (maybe the best setting of all American parks), Funtown Splashtown USA, and Lagoon among the many good ones mentioned. Lake Winnie and Canobie Lake Park are a couple more I’d add. And though it may not have any big thrill rides, a place called Enchanted Forest in Turner, Oregon is a marvelous little park.

A couple of tips for those interesting in visiting Hersheypark: You may want to look into purchasing your tickets at one of the many "Giant" supermarkets located throughout central and eastern PA (not to be confused with the Maryland based chain of the same name or Pittsburgh based Giant Eagle). Many seasons the ticket deals at "Giant" have the lowest prices you'll find and as a bonus they usually include free parking if redeemed by June 30. If your travel route to Hershey takes you anywhere near the Altoona area, please consider visiting Lakemont Park and/or DelGrosso's Amusement Park. Both of these offer free parking and admission with inexpensive ride options of both all day wristbands and per ride tickets making them easy, affordable places to stop if even for a short time. These two parks have very different personalities from each other, but both are quite charming in their own ways. DelGrosso's is even better if you happen to be able to visit on a "Spaghetti Wednesday". And a quick Dollywood tip: Though obviously not practical for many, if you can by chance plan a visit on weekdays in the fall I highly recommend it. If you visit on a weekday in October for example, the month long Gospel festival may bring a moderate sized crowd into the park but few of those people will be queuing up for any of the rides. Yet the park does a great job of keeping everything (other than water attractions) running unless the weather is unusually bad. Be sure to check their operating calendar closely though, as while the park is open most days during that time of year they are closed some days.

One point that most of the media reports have been unclear about, the park has always been scheduled to be closed to the public today (Sunday). That particular fact has nothing to do this incident.

Re: glasses During my June 2012 visit to Knott's, we specifically asked two different staff members about their glasses policy. Both told us that they were not permitted at all on Pony Express and Rip Tide (top spin), but secured glasses were permitted on all other attractions. Ride ops were then consistent with that throughout the park.

It was the separation of the CEO and Chairman of the Board positions that you're thinking of. Those have indeed been separated and will remain so.

Today was not the best day to be riding the one at California's Great America. http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13031694