BoddaH1994 Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 Kings Island, circa 1972 Photo courtesy of Don Helbig Quote
Gordon Bombay Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 Ryan, awesome picture. Very nice of Don to share it. Any idea when it was taken? Hard to believe the antique cars were once the back of the park. Quote
BoddaH1994 Posted January 11, 2009 Author Posted January 11, 2009 Opening day, 1972. I'd chalk that up as being a semi-historic day in the history of Kings Island. :-) Quote
Guest rcfreak339 Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 The Racer looks awsome, with it's new shiny coat of paint. 600 posts! Quote
coaster_junky Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 wonder if he has any pictures of the entrance The Beast opened with? post 666 Quote
KIfan73 Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 That is a GREAT picture. I also liked the one posted in the Diamondback thread. Thanks for sharing. Quote
chippewa&idora4ever Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 Oh my gosh! That is such a cool picture. The Racer looks very nice, pretty. Good forums today! First forgotten Cincinnati, now this? I'm happy Quote
gigacoaster2k Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 Good forums today! First forgotten Cincinnati, now this? I'm happy Me too. I've always been fascinated with history, and obviously I'm fascinated with amusement parks too.. put the two together and you have my attention! Quote
footballfreak Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 That is a great picture. I want to see a picture of The Beast's entrence in 1979. Quote
Cory Butcher Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 The historical items that most of us would probably never come in contact with had we not been a part of this community is staggering. Absolutely staggering. We are so privileged to have access to the internet and this site, and be in contact with people that have many the same interest as ourselves. Thanks KIC, and Thanks Don! Quote
CoastersRZ Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 Another awesome picture! The back end of Coney Mall was not completed (along with the connection to Rivertown) until 1975 when Shake Rattle and Roll and the Zodiac were introduced. See the Haley`s Comet ride? The Super Round Up ride painted in red? See that large sign that it sports? That was actually the old sign from the Shooting Star, that was moved from Coney Island and renovated for the Haley`s Comet ride. Just another little tidbit of history I thought I`d share. And if you notice, the crowds were rather sparse on that first day of operation on April 29th, 1972. That was because it rained most of that day! Quote
DeLorean Rider Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 Excellent picture. Pretty crazy how the back of the park then is now practically the central hub of the park Quote
Beast1979 Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 Amazing, fantastic to see how different it was back then! I'm so surprized how small th park was, The Vortex would be barely visible in that picutre! Quote
Jasper Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 If i am correct isnt it in the history that Kings Island opened up on this day but since it rained they had another opening day ceremony of some sorts? I could be wrong though. Nice picture Boddah and thank you Don!! Quote
CoastersRZ Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 April 29th, 1972 was the official opening day for Kings Island. Daily operation would not begin for a few weeks after that date, just like the seasons now a days. Quote
violakat03 Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 Not to step on toes, but I didn't want to start a new thread for this. It's nicely ironic that I just found these pictures yesterday and was going to post them, but them saw this thread so I thought they'd be a great addition! My mom recently scanned some of her old slides onto the computer, and she has some from the park in 1979 (sorry footballfreak, none of Beast's entrance). It's neat to see what's still there and what is gone. The dolphin show: Monster (the blonde woman with shoulder-length hair and wearing glasses right in the middle of the picture, on the ride, is my mom) - look at that line! Lion County Safari: Kings Island Railroad - all that lush green grass! Quote
BoddaH1994 Posted January 12, 2009 Author Posted January 12, 2009 EXCELLENT excellent photos! Thanks for sharing! Quote
Jasper Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 Wow the park sure has changed since then. Imagine if back then there would have been a ride like Diamondback come along. We might have coasters over 1000 feet today. Quote
Gordon Bombay Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 Violkat those photographs are great! Thank you for sharing! Would you mind if we added those to the KIC History gallery? We will watermark them for you and give you full credit. PM me if you are interested. Quote
CoastersRZ Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 Thanks for sharing those photos! Its amazing how much the trees have grown up at the park, especially by the train station! Quote
trint2004 Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 I love the look of the park back then. Quote
standbyme Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 Just wanted to say thanks to Don for sharing another great opening day shot...these are the kind of photos that need to be displayed in Wings...also thanks to violakat03 for sharing those slide shots...I love seeing the early train theming. Quote
violakat03 Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 I found some more slides from inside Enchanted Voyage - but they are all too dark, even to be fixed in Photoshop. I'll keep looking! Quote
Thrill_Biscuit Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 My how the park has grown! Awesome pic of Racer and Halley's Comet! I almost thought I saw Zodiac, but it was the sign for HC... Great picture! Thanks for posting that! (04-29-1972: At that moment, about a mile to the west, a young Tb was celebrating birthday #3!) Quote
odettekitrigisele Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 Kings Island, circa 1972 Photo courtesy of Don Helbig Wow!!!!!!!!!! I have not been on this forum for a while, but I see it is just as cool as ever! This picture is just beautiful! I love looking at pictures from the first few years of KI. The park just grew and grew.....I guess it's still growing too! Thanks for the lovely picture :rolleyes: Quote
gigacoaster2k Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 I have some decent photos of King Cobra from 2000 if anyone is interested. Quote
Gordon Bombay Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 ^I am very interested, post em up giga! Quote
gigacoaster2k Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 I apologize for the poor quality. These photos were taken with a throwaway camera, and I scanned them as a collage before cropping and saving each photo as its own file. The date on these photos is June 23, 2000. Quote
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