TombraiderTy

Thanks for sharing! I really like the picture of Scooby-Doo and Mr. Red in front of the Eiffel Tower; I don't think I've ever seen that one before. Nice find!

Thank you so much for having me! It was a lot of fun to discuss Kings Island's history, plus all the ways that the park will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.

Per the 2005 WinterFest map, you're correct that it was at 7:30pm. This is exciting for the event. The floats look really great and I bet the 8:30pm time will encourage visitors to stay at the park longer.

I remember that mural being revealed during the off-season and scouring old photos to try and find it in an old picture. Turns out it was inside of the original Lost Parents location, pictured here (courtesy KIExtreme). The buildings painted around it were based off International Street's own shops/restaurants, and the two small blue windows directly to the left of Lost Parents were also revealed when the old baby care center was demolished.

I realize it was sorta discussed in a couple of the replies, but just to reiterate since this is one of the biggest (false) Kings Island urban legends - Eiffel Tower's top antenna was not removed to make Drop Zone the tallest thing in the park... 1993 was the final year for the top antenna. Drop Zone didn't open until 1999. Are we to the point that Flight Deck is a nostalgic name/theme?

I realize that these posts are nearly 15 years old, I just want to comment on them in case any new readers stumble on this thread now that it's been resurrected... Flight Commander did not go to Wonderland Sydney nor Playcenter. All signs point to Flight Commander having been relocated to Flamingo Land in the United Kingdom. It operated there as Top Gun from 1996 through 2004. And here's an interesting post on this site from 2003, from one of the ride's operators at Flamingo Land:

It wasn't when I made my post, suggesting that they're still updating the website. Hopefully that means some of the other ones not yet included will be added...

So the website currently lists four mazes: C.H.A.O.S., Madame Fatale's Cavern of Terror, Slaughter House, and the new Cornered. Is it just not fully updated, or is the park axing over half of its mazes: Blackout, Wolf Pack, Field of Screams, Urgent Scare, and Kill Mart? That's very unfortunate if so. Are they not expecting a large turnout for this event or something?

This is awesome! It's great to see old old park items being made available to park fans, versus just being tossed in the garbage, while simultaneously helping out a great charity. Big kudos to Kings Island for this.

Someone in the Kings Island History Facebook group found an album with some Eiffel Tower construction photos in it. All the pictures appear to be 1971 and show the ride's progression as it was built. Definitely some of the cooler history photos I've seen. Full post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/KingsIslandHistory/posts/817892445560103/

And a member of CCI's team, plus one of its designers, created Great Coasters International... which also spawned Skyline Attractions. And after CCI ceased operation, The Gravity Group was formed by several of its engineers. Plus S&S's (short lived) wood coaster division was headed by Denise after CCI closed. The amusement industry would be very different today if Charles Dinn hadn't worked at Kings Island and co-created The Beast.

I don't typically play games at the park, but I remember them transitioning to the game card a few seasons ago. Do those machines take cash? If so, will they continue to? If not, then will a guest who wants to play ring toss and only brings cash have to transfer the cash to a card and then that card to a different card? Joking aside, I think that this is a good idea. It increases efficiency, reduces potential theft or mishandling of cash, and probably saves the park a ton on labor costs, now that most employees can skip the whole cash handling training and don't have to bother with balancing their register at the end of every shift. My only concern has been voiced by a few others - is five machines enough for the whole park?

Assuming it's a similar situation to what happened at GaleForce in 2019, then no need to worry. Unlike humans, the water test dummies don't have the same rigidity (i.e., bones). If they weren't fully filled before riding (or, as happened with GaleForce, there were any leaks), then they can lose their form and won't retain the right shape and dimensions to stay in the seat. Even if a human was to pass out on Orion and their body became limp, their body would still be held in place by the restraint thanks to their legs... which is also why Orion (and practically all roller coasters) require you to have at least one full leg, or to have leg amputations below the knee.

I had the chance to visit Six Flags Great America in 2019 and agree that Goliath is an incredible coaster. It packs an insane amount of thrills in a relatively compact footprint, and even though it's on the short end in terms of duration, it was probably my favorite coaster at that park. However, I'm personally glad Kings Island got Mystic Timbers and would choose it over Goliath. I really enjoyed the park, though it definitely had its flaws. I think visiting some other parks in the country has really made me appreciate having Kings Island so accessible growing up... it really is a top tier park.

Columbus Zoo has announced Redwood Falls' replacement, Tidal Twist. It's a Zamperla spinning coaster, and based off the ride stats it sounds like it'll specifically be a compact spinning mouse. Article: https://www.coaster101.com/2021/04/15/columbus-zoo-announces-tidal-twist/ Ride Model: https://rcdb.com/14399.htm

I acknowledge the misinformation in the USA Today article, but "a man killed riding The Beast when he stood up and hit a tunnel wall" is an odd line to just insert without any facts attached... unless the author was being incredibly irresponsible and reciting a rumor he heard and was assuming as truth? The Colossus death he referenced is based on fact, and it's also odd that the following line in the article references the Consumer Products Safety Commission and its data... which is a factual, reliable source. I tried finding any additional information on CPSC's website, but it seems that most of their data shared is for 1987 onward... that USA Today article is from 1987, which means the supposed incident was likely 1986 or earlier. The oldest injury statistics report on the site is from March 1995, but the link is unfortunately wrong and takes a user to information on bathtub and shower injuries. And a search on Newspapers.com isn't turning anything up. It's just a bizarre statement to make and I wonder if it's irresponsible reporting based off rumors, irresponsible reporting getting rides mixed up (and if so, which one it was)... or actually true? Edit - I was able to get in touch with someone who worked at Kings Island's First Aid / Fire Department from 1980 onward. He doesn't remember there ever being a death on The Beast, which puts a lot of weight to the journalist getting their facts wrong. I'm still very curious if that accident occurred on a similar ride or what though.

@Eric FL This scan of an old newspaper article was just shared by Trace Eggers in the KIHistory Facebook group and appears to show one of the gazebos you're remembering.

Yes, the Tilt-a-Whirl (Whirligigs) previously operated at Wyandot Lake and left the zoo after 2017. It thankfully still operates, now at Funtimes Fun Park in Alliance, Ohio. Their little teaser ("But stay tuned, as we have a whole new "twist" on fun coming this summer! [Upside-down face emoji]") makes it sound like a replacement is set for this summer. Given that's only a few months away, I imagine it'll be a flat ride of some kind.

This seems unexpected - the Redwood Falls log flume at Columbus Zoo is currently being demolished, as shared by the zoo on Facebook The ride opened in 2008 and was manufactured by German company Hafema. Their post says "But stay tuned, as we have a whole new "twist" on fun coming this summer! [Upside-down face emoji]".

I wonder what caused its delays... it wasn't the first Arrow hydro-flume, so I wouldn't think it'd have prototype problems. Maybe the 1972-1973 off-season was particularly rainy or snowy or something? Here's a summer 1973 construction shot of it, shared by @Sergeant Pepper in this thread. And here it is seemingly up and running in 1973, courtesy flickr user tshiverd. The specific date is unknown, but you can see the trees are starting to change colors. I wish I could've ridden Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal, but I'm grateful for the handful of Arrow hydro-flumes still around. Coal Cracker at Hersheypark is especially great - I hope it (and the others) stick around for many more years.

Someone just shared this wonderful home video of Kings Island from 1973 in the KIHistory Facebook group and on YouTube. It's excellent footage of the park its second year, including Marathon Turnpike, actors and special effects on the Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad, views from the Eiffel Tower, and some of the storefronts on International Street. It's about six-and-a-half minutes and definitely worth watching.

Well look where episode 106 of the Brady Bunch was filmed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Brady_Bunch_episodes#Season_5_(1973–74)

Six Flags Over Georgia removing their sky ride would be a huge bummer. I'm not too surprised though - I visited the park in summer 2019 and was surprised to see how inefficient its operations were... there were so few buckets, it seemed to be running at maybe 10% a regular sky ride's capacity. I wish I rode it, but the crowds were absurd that day. To answer @CoastersRZ question, only Six Flags Over Georgia and Six Flags Great Adventure still have their Von Roll sky rides. Outside the aforementioned Six Flags ones, I believe that the only other Von Roll sky rides still operating in the country are (in alphabetical order) Busch Gardens Tampa, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, California's Great America, Cedar Point, Minnesota State Fair, San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, Tulsa State Fairgrounds, and Washington State Fair.

I'd love to see a medium- to large-sized Ferris Wheel added to the park. I think that you can have more than one ride that offers views of the park, and a Ferris Wheel is a great ride that's super inclusive... pretty much anyone can ride it. I'm also always a fan of adding more rides outside of Planet Snoopy that kids can ride.

I never knew about that - thanks for sharing your memory! Here's an advert for it from July 14, 1995 in the Dayton Daily News.