KIghostguy

Great IndyGuy! There's one more I just remembered from inside the park. A few years back, they weren't running the blue water slide on Thunder Falls at Soak City, and two girls were talking to each other about how the reason why it was closed was because people kept on seeing Missouri Jane riding down the slide. I don't know what it is about me overhearing weird things girls talk about KI. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I was eating in Chick Fil A (not the Kings Island one) and some girls at the neighboring table were talking about how they are going to remove Drop Tower because a man was decapitated while riding it. I didn't interrupt because I thought it would be rude, but...yeah. That's Mason kids for you. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Anytime Coaster Directed! Kings Island has such an interesting history, and for some reason it irks me when people get historical facts wrong. I live setting the record straight. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

EDIT: Pretty much all of this is wrong. Check out kingsislandghosts.blogspot.com for the full, accurate stories. Sorry if this has already been written about, but here is Kings Island's death tally: In 1976, a 20 year old ranger on Lion Country Safari, John McCann, ran from his jeep into the lion area without his shotgun to use the bathroom. He was mauled by the lions and died on the spot. 1983: Tower Johnny. I already covered this in greater detail here: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/31433-clearing-up-tower-johnny/ 1986: a 26 year old man dives into the Royal Fountains from the bandstand. He breaks his neck and dies. 1989: 39 year old Thomas Cahill is a park employee walking through the parking lot to get back to his car in a thunder storm-while carrying his tuba. He is struck by lightning and dies. 1991: 20 year old William Haithcoat and 20 year old park security guard Darrell Robertson are electrocuted by a faulty aerator pump in the Oktoberfest Pond trying to save 22 year old Timothy Benning, who survived the incident. 37 minutes later, 32 year old Candy Taylor, who is riding on Fight Commander passes out (she was very, very drunk), slides beneath her restraints into the unnocupied seat next her and falls to her death. 2003: A woman has a heart attack on Top Gun (now The Bat) and died the next day in the hospital. 2009: A man has a heart attack on Firehawk and dies later that day in a hospital. One story that I have heard but I cannot validate was that a six year old boy died of natural causes in 1978 while riding what's now Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown. Kings Island is a very safe place. Most of the incidents above were blamed on the victim. If I have made any errors, feel free to correct me. Sorry if this has already been covered on this thread before, but I love clearing up the truths on things. -Ghost Guy EDIT: in 2007, a man died in the hospital a day after riding Son of Beast. He had a pre-existing medical condition. SECOND EDIT: The man who died a week after diving into the Royal Fountains was named Mark Beckman, Thomas "Cahill"'s last name is correctly spelled "Cahall", and he was struck by lightning in the employee parking lot, not the regualr parking lot as I had earlier assumed.

Yea, I'm obsessed with Disney's Haunted Mansion. I have so many books about it it's ridiculous BB1. Like I said above, I'm trying to figure out what characters were in this scene and what they were doing, since as far as I have seen there are no good photographs of this room and no good videos. -Ghost Guy

Thanks Terpy and Thrill_Biscut for clearing that up. I just joined yesterday. I guess I still have a lot to learn -Ghost Guy

Ah! I see where you are coming from TB.

I'll just screenshot and post the articles.

I know hoe Pepper's Ghost works, I've studied Disney's Haunted Mansion in-depth. I was curious that in the case of Phantom Theater, which characters were in this scene and what were they doing? I don't think any one has memeories that detailed, but you never know.

I'll transcribe instead of copying and pasting. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Never mind. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/> <title></title> </head> <body> <div class="page" title="Page 2"> </div> </body> </html> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/> <title></title> </head> <body> <div class="page" title="Page 1"> </div> </body> </html> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/> <title></title> </head> <body> <div class="page" title="Page 2"> </div> </body> </html> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/> <title></title> </head> <body> <div class="page" title="Page 1"> </div> </body> </html> I don't know if these will do anything. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Everyone- I am not able to link the newspaper articles, but I will transcribe them. In the meantime, here a couple more articles not from the Dispatch I sourced. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=799&dat=19630510&id=eZJPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mVEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4078,4112870&hl=en https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=799&dat=19830517&id=gZJPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mVEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1475,4232633&hl=en https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19910610&id=kdQpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JQMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4334,2974430&hl=en http://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/15/us/death-at-graduation-party.html I took the pictures of the yearbook and grave. I will try transcribing the Dispatch articles later today.

Thanks Maestro! It really looked and sounded like an incredible ride. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Spectrum-I'll try. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

For all the people reading this post-I am so glad I can clear this up. Exaggarating and making up details on John's death really angers me, not only because it's historically inaccurate, but also because I find embellishing/making up stuff very disrespectful and rude to John's memory.

Hello everyone, Ghost Guy here! I was looking for any information on the Pepper's Ghost effect that was used in Phantom Theater. I can find barely, if any, information on this scene. Memories, photos, and videos are all welcome! Thanks! -Ghost Guy

Shark-thank you. This story is very sad. I wonder if any of his four brothers will read this. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It does indeed, Thrill_Biscut, it does indeed. Very sad.

Awesome photos! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I love The Bat/Flight Deck/Top Gun. It's popular, and a favorite with many people, myself included. I don't think that it will be removed. -Ghost Guy Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I hope that Phantom Theater is put back sometime in the next several years. I never got to ride it, but it looks awesome in YouTube videos. Unlikely, but one can hope. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

These are the photos I was talking about. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thank you! I sadly never got to ride Phantom Theater, as I moved to Mason in 2007. But boy do I wish they still had it! I love Maestro.

UPDATE 4/2018: I wrote the following in Sept. 2015. What follows is almost entirely wrong. The full, updated and complete story is at: https://kingsislandghost.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-truth-behind-tower-johnny.html Hello everyone! One of the most persistent Kings Island ghost stories is "Tower Johnny". There are many urban legends about him, but I have come to clear up the truth. First, there are multiple urban legends about how he died. Here is what happened, according to newspaper articles that reported the incident. On May 13, 1983, 17 year old John Harter, of Delaware, Ohio, was visiting Kings Island for one of it's annual Grad Nights. Harter, as well as other students of Delaware Hayes High School, was set to graduate June 5. His birthday was May 27. Anyways, he had indeed been drinking that fateful night. Whether he smuggled it into the park, or drank before entering isn't known. Harter rode some rides that night with his friends, as well as his girlfriend, Pam Donley. However, he became separated from his friends. At about 10:15 p.m., John made his way up to the 50 foot platform of the Eiffel Tower and then proceeded to climb a five and a half foot fence onto the interior emergency stairwell. Investigators believe he climbed up a bit, then climbed onto a beam near the elevator shaft. While standing there, however, he was hit by the counterweight instead, lost his balance, and plunged 50-60 feet onto the top of the rising elevator. The impact killed him instantly. He was not decapitated during the fall, the Warren County Coroner was quoted as saying in the Columbus Dispatch as saying that the cause of death was "skull fractures and several broken bones". His girlfriend and friends were walking around the Tower base looking for him when he fell, although they did not see him fall. The Tower was closed the rest of Grad Night, and was closed the next couple days while police investigated. He was buried the following Wednesday in Oak Grove Cemetery in Delaware, Ohio. I recently accidentally ran into a woman who was best friends with Pam Donley. She reported that the three of them, the woman, Pam, and John, had all rented out a car and were renting a hotel room together near the park. She was at Kings Island the night John was killed. She said that John was a very kind and smart young man. I have photos of when I visited his grave as well as photos from the Hayes 1983 yearbook. If anyone can tell me how to post these, thanks, as this is my first KI Central post. I'm sure that you all are familiar with the ghost stories (security called to Tower by employees working late who see a boy in 1980's style clothing walking on the top platform, elevators moving by themselves, etc.) No matter how careless John was, this was still a very sad and tragic accident. Just thought you all would find this interesting. -Ghost Guy EDIT: The photos are included in a post below.