rcs

I have a feeling that this will be in limbo forever.

As a citizen of the Commenwealth of Kentucky, I vote for selling off the parks assets to the highest bidders if a privately backed group does not appear in the near future with the ability to open and run the park. As much as I love amusement parks, the state of Kentucky just does not have the funds to spare in the current economic climate to put into reopening the park. A venture such as this is for private enterprise, not goverment oversite.

What a shame, all of those great rides just sitting there, rotting away. If KK does not reopen, maybe some other parks can rescue some of the rides, picking them up on the cheap.

You really just had to be there. Maybe its my memories of Kings Island as seen through the eyes of child, but it had a certain kind of charm that is sort of lacking today. Believe me, I still love Kings Island more than any other park. But in my youth it was a family amusement park and has morphed over the years into more of a thrill park.

I can still barely remember riding on the train when I was like 5 and it still had theming. Its a real shame that there is no longer anything like that to see during the train ride. And I fondly remember the witch's caldrons. Was one of my favorties growing up and along with the Enchanted Voyage, is one of the rides from the past I miss most.

I like the closed-in gondola type ferris wheels, but have no interest on getting in an open seated one.

I've got quite of a few old photos of King's Island from the early/mid 70's and the early 80's I would be glad to post if anyone is interested. I will put them in a new thread as to not disrupt Paul's, which is awesome by the way. The ones from the 70's were took by my mother a few years before I came along. The other photos were took when my parents took me there when I was either 4 or 5 years old. I took my family to Kings Island last summer, the first time I had been there in like 20 years. We are really looking forward to getting back up there again this summer, I can't think of a better vacation than a day at Kings Island and catching a Reds game the following day.

Not having rode it with the Scooby theme, I really can't compare the two. However, I though it was pretty tame as far as scares go. The hologram near the end could be scary for some small kids, though.

Me and my family made it to Kings Island this weekend, the first trip for my two kids and wife, and my first visit in over 20 years. It more than met my family's expectations and was as much fun as I recalled. The park was really packed and there were some very long lines for alot of the rides. After arriving and taking some pics of the fountain and tower, we headed for Planet Snoopy. That area of the park is very well done and the kids loved it. Charlie Brown and the gang were there to take pics with the kids, and they got their picture taken with everyone but Snoopy, who we never did get the chance to see. Our first ride was on Boo Blasters, which seems to process riders at a pretty fast clip. It was well themed and I managed a score of 1400 on this first go round. After that we headed for the Woodstock Express, but left when they announced they were having some mechanical problems. So we headed for the Aerial Chaser. It was a really fun ride, though my wife and I agreed it was a little rough. We headed back to the Woodstock Express, which was now running. It has to be one of the best kiddie coasters around. I was hoping to get a ride on the Surf Dog, but it was down all day. We left Planet Snoopy and just walked around the park, taking in everything. We went to the Tower, then headed over to the bumper cars. These are much better than the ones I rode at Camden Park, with more cars and lots more room to move around. I took the kids over to the Carousel why the wife took a break. We then went over to the Backlot Stunt Coaster. What a awesome ride! Fast with some great effects near the end! This one seemed to be a real crowd pleaser. The kids wanted to ride a water ride, so we headed for White Water Canyon. My wife and I both had rode similar rides at other parks, so we knew we were going to get really wet! There was a very long wait for this one. We all enjoyed it and of course got really wet! While we dried, we decided to take a ride on the K.I. and Miami Valley Railroad. While a little rough in spots, it is a very charming way to relax and take a breather. We then looked around the park some more. There were a lot of rides I wanted to get on, but the lines were so long and my son is very impatient, so I had to skip them. My wife decided she had to ride one really big ride before we left. I told her that she needed to go all out and get on the Diamondback. While she waited in line for that with my daughter along to keep her company, I took my son for some of the famous blue ice cream. It was some of the most delicious soft serve I have ever eaten. Me, my son, and my cousin, who came with us on the trip, went back to Boo Blasters for another go around. My cousin got top score this time, with my son even beating me! I think my gun must have been broken. We went down to Diamondback just as my wife was getting off of it. She says it is the most intense ride she has ever experienced. With darkness near, we headed for the exit, snapping a few more photos before leaving. All in all, this was a really fun trip that will leave us with some great memories. The park was very clean and the employees were very friendly and helpful. This is the Kings Island I remembered from my youth and I am glad my children got to experience it as well. P.S. On the ride home the next day, we stopped a Great American Ballpark to see the Reds thump the Cardinals and move into first in the NL Central. This may be the year they finally make it back to the playoffs! GO REDS!!!!

By the way, the early forecast for this coming weekend is sunny with highs in the mid 70's. Will it be too cool to ride the water rides without getting chilled to the bone? When I rode the log flume at Camden Park a couple of years ago it was similar weather and the cold water nearly froze me to death!

Took your advice and picked me up a Croakies strap. I got a Cincinnati Reds strap, so maybe it won't look too dorky.

Yeah, the last time I was at Camden Park a couple of years ago, the Sky Divier was the only ride in the park that day not in operation. Hopefully it will get removed quickly and not allowed to sit and rot like the Thunderbolt Express did.

Thanks for all the great replies! I will be stopping along the way in Lexington, KY to pick up my cousin who hasn't there in over twelve years himself. IceCream 329, I will be sure to come down and get some of that famous blue ice cream. I was wondering, since I wear eyeglasses, do I need to get some sort of strap to keep them secure to ride certain rides? I know some places have restrictions for riders who wear glasses. I may get a strap of some kind just in case anyways.

I remember riding this when I was like 5 years old. I believe I have a few old photos my parents took while riding this stored somewhere. This was before it was changed over to the Smurf theme. A couple of things I seem to recall were Scooby and Shaggy in a boat being shot up in the air by a spout of water from a whale. Also I remember there being a Gulliver's Travels segment during the ride.

New member here! Stumbled upon this site while planning for my family's trip to Kings Island on the weekend of May 15 and 16. Its about a 5 hour drive one way for me and I haven't been there in a little over twenty years. I first visited Kings Island in about 1980 when I was around 5 and then a few years later when I was around 10 or 11. I'm going on 34 now and still fondly recall my two trips there. I am looking forward to taking my two kids, 8 year old son and 13 year old daughter, and hope to make some new memories with them. Kings Island is a very special place, especially through the eyes of the very young, and I hope my kids enjoy it as much as I did in my youth. The only other amusement park they have been to is Camden Park, and while that is a nice little park, I believe they will be blown away when comparing it too a really big park like Kings Island. I'm sad to see that Hanna-Barbera Land has been changed, as that was always my favorite part of the park. Things change though and anyway, my kids wouldn't know any of those classic characters except Scooby-Doo and maybe Fred Flintstone. Hopefully we will have good weather for that weekend. I will post a trip report after I return from my trip.