medford

1992 was my gut insinct, some others have said it as well.

thanks again, I wish this didn't have to end, it was always enjoyable catching a bit of the past and comparing it to the future. It looked like a ton of work, but something you'll get to enjoy for years to come. Thanks to you we can all enjoy it for years to come.

touche' The Beastie eh...you're raising your little one right! I'm pretty sure, if you could safely strap him into any ride, he would enjoy all of them. Something like Drop zone or Firehawk might scare him, but I'm 100% confident he'd love The Beast, Vortex, Flight of Fear, etc.. It never fails to warm my heart to see his bright eyed smile each time we ride Viking Fury.

Thats kinda cheating because you can't actually see The Crypt or Diamondback! I just noticed in my 2011 picture the guy in the tye-dye shirt laying down...i'm sure he'd love to know he had been "immortalized" like this on the internet. Wouldn't it be "cheating" to say you like 1974 since the train ride experience was better then, when you can't see in the picture what made it better? At any rate, thanks again another cool set. I'd take 1974 as well (or at least what I remember from 1984) as the train ride was much cooler then. Like you said, as a father of a 3rd old, I'm glad they've kept it around. Despite his love for the Viking ship, Beastie, Rattler, etc... he enjoys the easy train ride as much as the thrills he gets elsewhere in the park.

It wasn't labor day weekend, but the Taste Great, Lessing Filling chants went out on the ride earlier this year while I was waiting for my turn. As Bennett said, it was a staple of the mid to late 80s.

If they'd ever revamp the gardens area, get the fountain working, etc.. rather than being a big smoking area, I'd say 2011 easy. I really wish they'd spruce up that area again. I think the arials are some of my favorites as they show vast areas of change and give you a bigger feel for the changes to the park over the years. regarding the topic above, one of the sadder things I saw this year was an elderly woman sitting a wheel chair completly by her self while walking back to the train one day this summer. She had the same glazed over look my grandmother had from her dimensia in the last year or so of her life. Its one thing (though not something I think is right) if I could have rationalized that she had the capability to tell her party, go ahead and I'll wait here and just people watch for awhile. This lady looked like she had no clue where she was/what she was doing, and it didn't appear there was anyone around keeping a specific eye on her, or even trying to talk to her. Thinking about it now, I wish I would have done something, see if she needed anything, just hung around until her family got back, something. I think there's a decent amount for a person to do that can't ride the rides. The train, Dino's alive, shows, etc are all solid, but frankly if you can't ride the rides, and don't have people that are willing to hang out with you while other members of your party venture off to ride their rides, I'm not sure why you're going to an amusement park. You have to know going in that much of the park is limited to you; if the shows and spending quality time with family are worth the price of admission, knock yourself out.

I don't know if SOB deserves 1 more chance or not, I wish it would get done, but will live if they tear and down and put up something else. But, why 2013? To me, its pretty simple, if you look at the track of improvements made around the park, that is the last area left to get major attention. Firehawk added something back by Flight of Fear, The Diamonback spruced up Rivertown, WindSeeker and Dino's Alive spruced up that area, the water park is getting its treatment this season. Rivertown usually pretty busy, Coney Mall is usually pretty crowded, walk over to Action Zone and its dead. We typically watch the fireworks by the ice cream station in Action Zone. Its a great spot to catch them, I don't think we had a single person sit down at one of those tables to catch the fireworks at night. The action around that area is pretty dead, walk back to Top Gun and the ride is usually dead. SOB should be the anchor of this part of the park, it should be the reason people go back to ride Flight Deck or Amazon Falls. Unless you really like drop zone, its an area that seems ignored. If you're laying the groundwork for a trip to the park, Flight Deck goes from a "awe just skip it, not worth the time" ride to a "hey lets catch this after we get off SOB" If/when they get around to improving Action Zone SOB should be addressed one way or another. If you think having a skyline adjusting ride like SOB, SBNO doesn't hurt you're fooling yourself. How many kids have come thru ohio w/ their parents on a trip to KI, have seen that ride and said "cool" only to find out it can't be ridden. Kind of takes away from the whole experience, leaves you wanting more. You don't miss what you don't see, so it would be better to just tear it down then leave it standing forever with no goal of making the needed improvements to get it running again.

My favorite one so far, probably because w/ a 2 (now 3) year old in tow this year, we spent half our time in this area, and the other half on the viking ship, scrambler & monster (well his mother and him on the last 2 anyways as I don't do spinning rides) I like the blue paint job on The Beastie better than the original yellow, though I do wish the tunnel, whenever that came into play was put back. The tree growth is definently nice on a hot summer evening, and there's more "thrills" packed in for a kid who hasn't meet a ride he hasn't liked yet. I agree that the enchanted voyage was enjoyable when I was a kid, but I have little doubt my son enjoys boo blasters far more than he would have enjoyed enchanted voyage. Now if they could just get all the guns to work, there would be little to complain about in kids land.

I agree with you, my photo doesn't do the area justice...it does look a lot nicer than what I show. (I should of taken a complete shot of the area and included it...but I didn't. ) Unfortunetly, I think that would distract from the purpose of the thread/pictures you've taken. The same could be said for many of these comparisions, but is unfair to the art that you've created. Great work all around, I'd hate to take away from what you've presented. Unfortunetly, the engineer side of my brain can't get past the 'why did they change that" aspect of comparing pictures 30 years apart. for instance, the coloring on The Racer, I'm sure there is a significant savings in going "all white" rathern than painting the rails different than the supports. How often do they paint that? When you're not comparing pictures 30 years apart, does the average customer even notice such a thing? I doubt they do, which means the cost savings is worth more than the enhanced customer appeal of having the 1974 paint job. (so why enclose the tunnel?) Kind of makes me wonder, and I'm not sure if anything likes this exists at KI, or in these pictures, but how many things have been done in Kings Island as part of a future master plan that either hasn't occured yet, or was scrapped in lieu of a different master plan a few years later. For instance, say they know they know they're going to to tear out the go carts and put in a new ride sometime in the next 10 years. They have room left in the budget to do some side landscapping and what not in anticipation of this happening down the road, however with the ownership change a ride is never put there, but the changed landscapping is already in the budget and put into place this offseason. Would make it kind of interesting to have an insiders take on the master plans for KI thru the years, what was eventually scrapped, and how it has affected the current park layout.

thanks again, couple of thoughts... The Racer looked much better in 1974 than it does today with that pain job, as has been mentioned several times. I wonder the cost premium would be to add the red/blue coloring to the job next time they give it a paint job? I doubt the lawyers would allow KI to maintain the 1974 fence job, which is kind of unfortunate. those 2 issues aside, I do wonder if you took 10 steps back in both the 1974 picture and the current photo if today's picture wouldn't look "better". The greenery around the turn is better today than what shows in the 74 picture.

agreed, best one yet. I'll take 2011 every day. The only aspect I would trade from the 1974 pic is the pain job on the Monster, Rattle and Racer. The Flying Eagles were in a different part of the park during my youth, while the bumper cars were always a joy; I wish the Flying Eagles were back by The Vortex still, rather than a basketball game, but I'd still take the bumper cars over the Flying Eagles. the trees have grown up nicely, FoF and Firehawk have been great additions to the park. From a landscping point of view, there are more of the original islands in place than I would have guessed. however, the removal/alterations of some of the islands makes this part of the park much more functional. For several reasons this is a high gathering spot in Kings Island. 1st, its kind of central to both the River town/Vortex, the Flight of Fear/Firehawk area, and the Action Zone areas. It makes for a nice meeting spot b/w the 3 main areas of the amusement park. Additionally, Coney Island is a great blend of family entertainment. However, such a blend leads to certain activities that some in the family will love, and others can't tolerate. I can't/won't ride the Monster, Scrambler or anything that spins that much. Just the thought of riding a Tea Cups type ride makes me sick. My wife and 3 year old child love them. I love The Racers, not everyone likes the height or the ups & downs it takes you on. Some love the games and video arcade, I haven't touched them since I was a kid, when my 3 year old grows up, he'll likely spend some time there. Additionally, there are several lunch/dinner type dinning places, skyline, subway the french fry place, etc... If they left the islands of 1974 intact today, this area wouldn't even be feasable for the amount of traffic it sees. There are almost always people taking comfort in the shade of the trees, eating lunch around the islands, or wating for other members of their party to meet up with them from various activities around the coney mall. The 1974 islands are prettier, and the trees would have grown up regardless, but the 2011 layout is much more functional. Its obvious to me why the changes were made, but that paint job on the floor of the monster sure would be nice to get back.

I've seen old pictures of the fountain and often thought, geez that looks so much better than today. But when I look at these 2, there is no doubt that the fountain area looks better today than in 1974. Not only the trees, but the coloring on the buildings looks much better. Thanks again

awesome. No doubt I'd rather be in the old picture, though I've always wondered how many of those pictures were made. Angle looks good, they would have had to move the power pole anyways to dig up the gardens and put down the pavers. Moving it 2 foot wouldn't have been much of an "upcharge" as they redeveloped this area.

awesome, thanks.

I guess one question, is this an attempt to save a few bucks? Its definently not worth it to walk from the hotel to KI, but there are other places you could possibly park and walk to the park, Kings HS, great wolf lodge, the harley davidison shopping area w/ the new Chipotle, etc.. the movie theater and some more. I can't say how often, if at all these lots are patrolled to tow cars of people who might try this, but I would assume a place like the movie theater would be pretty easy to "blend" in.

I guess it depends on the 3 year old? My just turned 3 year old made it a requirement to visit the dinosaur at the front of the park each trip. I'm looking forward to this, we held off doing DA all season, knowing that once we did it once, he was going to want to do it every trip. Aside from the begging for another ride on the Viking Ship, Boo Blasters and The Beastie, we didn't really want to spend the $15 to see DA more than 1x. This gives us the perfect opportunity to enjoy both DA, and the trick or treating on his last trip to the park this season. I doubt the dinosaurs are going to scare him in the least. Never having experienced DA myself, I assume its no more scary (and likely less so) than boo blasters; I see 3 year olds (and younger) in line for boo blasters every trip to the park.

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&style=o&form=HPSFLT Found it interesting, that as you move around, change direction of views, etc using the Bing bird's eye view the Son of Beast switches from having a loop, to having no loop. I also found it interesting, that some of the photos (presumably during the looping SOB days) don't show any work in the Diamondback area, while other areas clearly show the station ground work being done. What I found interesting, is that I would have assumed there would be visable evidence of clearing work, footers out in the woods for Diamondback at the same time, but there doesn't appear to be any. Not that this has anything to do w/ the new attraction, but I guess it shows that the more detail oriented work around the station takes much more time than putting down the supports out in the track run after the lift hill where its' footer, support, track, repeat. If I had to guess, if that is indeed a firehydrant, its something around the race car track in the Action Zone. There's some prett open land there, as well as some road going back into the outerzones of king's island with some structures back there. Whenever we catch the fireworks, we grab some icecream and sit back there for a great view. Its a pretty underutilized area with Son of Beast down.

I have a different view on the snoopy topic. I have a 3 year old. We typically go to the park on weekday nights, about once a week after work. He went during the day 1x early in the year w/ my wife when her neice was in town for the week, and we went as a family w/ other members of the family who went for a full day late in the season. As far as I know, the only times he's seen the snoopy characters were his two "full" day visits as they're not out in the heat of the afternoon. The 1 time I was with him, he was very excited to see snoopy and have a picture with him. He went and danced with linus in front of the Eiffel Tower mid afternoon shortly before leaving. anyhoo, if we drive around town and see a random picture of mickey mouse, he automatically says "look dad, mickey mouse clubhouse". Obviously Cedar Fair can't use Mickey, but on a recent drive past a small airstrip, the metlife blimp was parked on the grounds there, presumably on its way to whatever event it was covering. When my son saw snoopy on the blimp, it wasn't "look dad, peanuts" it was "look dad, King's Island" We were a good half hour away from King's Island, so he's obviously tying snoopy with King's Island. Snoopy is instantly recognizable and you see it far more often than you think. However, with it not being on TV on a regular basis, my son ties in seeing snoopy with his trips to King's Island. We don't let him watch sponge bob, though he knows the character having caught glimpses of it in the past. My guess, if he saw a picture of sponge bob, he would think of the TV show before he thought of any tie to King's Island (if it still existed). I think there is value in such a connection. There's little contrevesy with the peanuts gang, they're beloved from generation to generation; they're iconic. You know Snoopy is still going to be recognizable in 50 years. Sponge Bob? we shall see. The Peanuts have stood the test of time that few survive. Additionally, Nick has a tie in w/ universal theme parks. It may not even be an option for Cedar Fair to use Nick characters as part of their themeing due to contractual ties with other parks/companies. However, I am wondering if there was a way to tie in Thomas the Train into their railroad. I doubt they're going to go back to the old railroad show I remember as a kid, so other than a means of transportation b/w the park and the water park, I mostly see families with young kids who enjoy a train ride who would be excited by the Thomas theming.

I'm not the smallest guy in the world, but fit comfortably on the great pumpkin coaster, and The Beastie. There are some people quite large who ride The Beastie w/ their kid, so if you get on that, definently squeeze in. There's more room than it looks on that thing, helps to get a back of the seat car where there is a little bit more leg room under the seat in front of you.

First things first, when you get to the park have your kid measured and get a rest band. In the evenings, this is often done in the customer service station right as you walk thru the ticket tacker booth. In the mornings, and thru the day they have this set up right by the keyhold picture booth (there is a large sign w/ height restrictions there, to the left of the fountains before you'd get to the skyline chili). This will save you a lot of time potentially having your kid have to hop off a ride to get measured than jump back on the ride (ie they don't measure you before you hop on The Racer). I'd also advise you to check your kids height prior to going, with the shoes he'll wear that day so you can get a rough idea of where he'll fall. The last thing you want to do is build up a ride, only to find they won't let him get on it. We take our 3 year old on a regular basis. A lot depends on your kid. Mine is pretty tall for his age (truned 3 recently and cleared the 42" height restrictions last week). Basically if he's tall enough to ride it, he loves it. Back seat on the Viking ship, beastie (Woodstock express?), scrambler, monster (and now Shake, Rattle & Roll) are ridden each trip to the park. If its his first time, I'd suggest starting small, if you like coasters, they have the great pumpkin coaster in kids park which is two quick trips around a small track. It will get him used to the feel of roller coasters and shouldn't scare him too much. If that's too much then you know to stick in kiddi land all day (or perhaps the water park). If you look at this and know you're kid can handle it (at 5 he should be, but if he's never been on a coaster before its a pretty good starting point), there is The Beastie and kids bumper cars to get him gooing. Boo Blasters is in that area, and a good spot for a hot summer day. There is another coaster in kiddie land that I haven't been on, I think the height requirement is 44" or 46" You're feet hang below as you ride below the track, so I'd imagine that's not the best one to ride right away. At 5, I'd think your son would be tall enough to ride everything in kiddi land, but as I said, my son's pretty tall so check before you go and talk it up. In the general area, in addition to the rides mentioned above, if he's 48" he can ride The Racers, Adventure Express, The Beast, etc.. Check the web site, you have to be taller than 48" for some rides like Delerium, The Diamondback, etc... If he's tall enough, and you think he can handle it, I'd start at Adventure Express. There's not much of a hill as it uses the terrain in the back of the park to get much of its speed. It moves pretty quickly and will move him around in the seat a bit, plus I doubt there will be a line to deal with. If he enjoys that, The Racers, which usually has a pretty quick line as well, are right next door and will help him get used to going up a decent size hill and getting some air time on a ride. After that, The Beast then The Vortex would be negotiable. I'd imagine some 5 year olds would jump right into them full bore, while others would say no way. Overall, take your time, definently bring a stroller to help them get thru the park. They'll wear down quicker than you. Remember a cup of water is free at all concessions, so pick up a handful every so often if its hot outside to help keep his energy up. If you get there early, save some time before you leave to ride two or three of his favorite rides again. If he's ok with the height, I'd take him up to the top of the Eiffel Tower at some point to get him a feel for the park. You get a pretty good view up there. We take in a diaper bag each time. I don't know the restrictions, but its never been opened (kind of surprises me) so we generally pack some snacks, wipes, etc for our little guy. I'd suggest doing the same to keep him going between meals. You can park a stroller somewhere close to pretty much any ride. I wouldn't suggest leaving your wallet in it, but I wouldn't worry about anything being taken out of it, if that makes sense.