^Maybe it wasn't known as a tunnel back then, therefore wouldn't need to be "tunnel'ish"

hands down 1974 so much better looking

The tunnels are nasty. It doesn't matter if they're clean or not. For me, they totally spoil the mood coming back to the station.

I really like all the green in the 2011 photo though! ... and still love The Racer, of course!

why did they enclose them anyway?

The tunnels are, to quote Sir Charles Barkley, turrible. I do not know what the thinking was behind that.

One can hope that a fresh coat of red, white, and blue paint this offseason will freshen the old girl up. Removing the silly tunnels is probably too much to ask.

Compared to what they used to be circa 2008, I don't think the tunnels are too bad. They're on their way back to what they were, though.

why did they enclose them anyway?

We needed a place to get rid of our gum.

I always like heading into the tunnel at the end.

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.

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.

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. )

I like the '74 picture better. I've always liked the red, white & blue paint job better than the all white. Plus, I like how you could get so close back then. Oh well, people are idiots and changes had to be made. Nothing we can do about that I suppose...

I haven't said it in a while, but I'll say it again... Thanks for all the pics! Last week I was catching up on a lot of stuff at work so I was barely on here, but I appreciated all the updates!

I love this topic! Gives me something to look at during school when we aren't doing anything. Good stuff.

Wasn't the path getting further away a 2011 change?

EDIT: Whoops, misread something. Please delete this post.

Wasn't the path getting further away a 2011 change?

Correct, the path and subway patio were changed slightly. 2011 season.

The "tall" fences were added around racer about the time of the SFOG Batman incident so like 08 or 09? They were also added to Vortex, Beastie and I think TOPGUN.

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.

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.

Skid brakes. Wet skid brakes don't function as well. Covers help keep skid brakes dry.

Of course, the skid brakes are now gone.

Definetly 1974. Well, actually 1990, because of the backwards racer, but thats not a option. And I would like that patio back, looks very nice. And I kind of like the tunnels, bu the thing I don't like is everyone throws there gum and boogers on the wall, So its quite discusting when you go through there.

I love the idea of the open tunnels at the end. I hate sitting in the closed tunnel now. Nothing really to look at, besides the gum. Painting The Racer red/white/blue would be my dream "improvement" to the park. It would shine.

I officially love this topic.

Say, when was the last time The Racer got a fresh coat of paint anyhow?

Thanks to everyone for all the interaction yesterday...I liked reading all of the comments.

Today's photo set is another one of those which only the 1974 shot is fun to look at...but hopefully that is enough.

1974

It's weird how wide open it looks.

2011

I am sorry for this lackluster shot. By the time I got around to taking this shot the sun was not in a great spot for a nice photo. With my limited time at the park there was no turning back with this photo. I thought about retaking one when I came back in October but I didn't want a shot with all of the fall colors & Halloween decorations. This is TRULY an example where my photo doesn't do this area justice.

The odd thing about today's photo set is that if I only went by these photos I would choose to be back in 1974....but as I have stated before, I love the trees along the fountain...so today 2011 gets my vote again.

P.S. The next 2 days of photo sets will be better than this one so hang in there!

Hey, this one is really cool; no need to throw it under the bus

I'm wondering if the 'new' trees were planted since '74, or if a couple of those are the little ones in the old pics 'all grown up'.. fascinating!

You might can see more in 1974, but knowing first hand the heat of the days when the lil' pink Snoopys are soaking in the fountain, big trees and shade in 2011 look better to me.

I'll bet you enjoyed getting to stand in the shade while you were matching the shots, huh? This is great stuff!

Mature trees are nice, but I-Street in '74 looked like an interesting place to be versus the walk-by it has become today. I know, there are times when I enjoy sitting by the fountains and people watching, enjoying the scenery, but I think it looks like there was more to it than that.

Thanks again for the efforts of JD and Hendrick on this thread - it makes me go to the computer (v. just the iPhone) to log on to KIC every day.

Thank you for doing this, it has been such fun looking at the pictures of the park that I grew up at. It's been great to show my daughter how the park looked when I was growing up compared to how it is now. She is turning into quite the KI enthusiast.

Awesome! It's great to see a pic of this fairly undocumented part of the park. I vote for '74. I still can't imagine the reaction of the average park goer back when Kings Island was new. It had to have been totally stunning.

Thanks again for the efforts of JD and Hendrick on this thread - it makes me go to the computer (v. just the iPhone) to log on to KIC every day.

Everyday, I save this topic for when I get to my MacBook One of those funny things that probably 1/2 of us here do.

J.D. Ki should give you a free pass or something for this. Even if your... nostalgia leaning

Even if your... nostalgia leaning

I thought I was doing good at staying "current"...when I first looked through these pictures I kept thinking to myself "Gee I wish the park still looked like that"...but once I started looking around in the photos of what I would have to do without if it was just like 1974, I found myself choosing 2011 a lot more than I thought.

(This run-on sentence has been brought to you in part by a grant from...)