The Amusement Park World without Kings Island

[SonofBaconator]

Have you ever sat down and thought, "man, what would the world be like without Kings Island?"

I believe that the amusement park industry would be completely different than what it is now. I saw a fascinating video called Kings Island History and it really opened my mind as to how important Kings Island is to the park amusement park industry. Gary Wachs said that at that time, amusement parks like six flags and disney were not as concerned of coasters. He mentioned that people from Six Flags came to see the park and they saw how big of an impact Racer got from guests that they had a new focus with their parks and roller coasters. To think that without The Racer and its huge popularity, the amusement park industry might have been decades behind what it is now. And as the years progressed, Kings Island continued to change the Amusement Park industry with rides like The Beast, The Bat, Vortex, Flight of Fear, as well as other factors throughout the park.

What do you guys think the Amusement Park industry would be like if Kings Island was never built?

[BB1]

We would never had Boomerang Bay, making BB1 inexistant. BB1 would never found his love for woodies, BB1 would not be BB1.

[Ride On_17]

I'd still have my Cedar Point.

[MDMC01]

If it wasn't for Kings Island, I don't think we'd have Outlaw Run and similar coasters. I say this because maybe Son of Beast's loop influenced Rocky Mountain Coasters to try other inversions on wooden or hybrid wood/steel coasters.

[jcgoble3]

The Racer is credited with reigniting the coaster boom. Without that, the industry certainly would be set back some time. But i don't think it would be decades behind; sooner or later, someone would have done it and built a popular coaster, and the boom would be reignited then. Even then, though, KI led the pack with several firsts. First to 6 inversions isn't that important, because that would have been done by someone else eventually. But first LIM launch? That may or may not even exist in this world without Kings Island, and without it, other forms of launching such as that used on TTD and Kingda Ka might never have been invented. KI also set the bar for wooden coasters with The Beast, Without The Beast, I don't think other big woodies like the Voyage or El Toro would ever have been built. Of course we would never have had Son of Beast either, which is arguably a good thing.

So here's where I see the industry in 2013 in this hypothetical world without Kings Island:

• Due to the delay in reigniting the coaster boom, the first hyper is about ten years old, and gigas are the hot new thing, with the world's first one opening last year.
• There is little interest in launched coasters, and the most die-hard enthusiasts actively seek out the few that exist.
• Stratas are only a dream, as the lack of suitable types of launch mechanisms combined with insufficient interest to invent a new type of launch means that the amount of land needed for the lift hill of a 400-foot-tall coaster is impractical.
• Wooden coasters are typically not very tall, with the tallest around 140' and not very long, with the longest around 5,000'. The fastest would be around 69 mph.
• Steel coasters, having never had the overall length record of The Beast to shoot for, would also be shorter, with the longest at around 6,000' long.

That's my guess as to where the industry would be right now.

[SonofBaconator]

But also without Kings Island, parks like Kings Dominion, and Canada's Wonderland, wouldn't have been created. Also Kings Island had lots of new and unique things Cedar Point, Disney, and Six Flags didn't, so I think Kings Island kept the business growing by competing with other parks. If that makes sense.

[shark6495]

I dont think we would be that far behind in the the amusement park world. Just because KI didnt exist does not mean other parks wouldnt have been created. Are we to assume that KICO wouldnt have moved/closed Old Coney? So Cincinnati's theme park would have been still by the river?

We would probably have a very small regional park similar to Geuga Lake. With the Shooting Star still doing its thing. Yearly flooding would be a problem. Odds are Partridge Family and Brady Bunch family members would have been seen at Kings Dominion.

Would John Allen have built a ride like Racer? Probably not. Because KI wanted to bring a classic ride similar to Shooting Star.....

Would Coney have been bought buy Paramount? Maybe. But possibly it would have been a flag park...

Americana could possibly still be open. Crowds would not have been split. Would Middletown have been a bigger draw for business? Would the exits around KI even have anything like they do now? Great Wolf Lodge would not be in that area.... The school district may not be as good since the tax base would be hurt....

EDIT: BTW Love the idea of this topic....

[kblanken]

Odds are Partridge Family and Brady Bunch family members would have been seen at Kings Dominion.

But if Kings Island didn't exist, then wouldn't that void Kings Dominion too? My understanding is they made KD due to the success of KI.

[shark6495]

Thats true, but if KI never opened that doesnt mean Taft would never have bought another park. Its a fair assumption to say KD would never have opened, but in my opinion I believe Taft would have opened parks elsewhere. KI was the starting point, but KD could have been. Would it have been called Kings Dominion, Im not sure if King would have been used.

Taft bought the rights to Hannah Barbera characters in the late 60s. It was my understanding that they wanted a theme park to display these characters.

[rcwizard13]

The area surrounding the park would be drastically different. Likely much smaller and lacking of the many various businesses. I'd also think instead of Mason and Kings school districts, there would only be one.

[KIfan73]

Good thing we have Kings Island. Frontier World Central just doesn't have the same ring to it.

[thoe124]

The Racer is credited with reigniting the coaster boom. Without that, the industry certainly would be set back some time. But i don't think it would be decades behind; sooner or later, someone would have done it and built a popular coaster, and the boom would be reignited then. Even then, though, KI led the pack with several firsts. First to 6 inversions isn't that important, because that would have been done by someone else eventually. But first LIM launch? That may or may not even exist in this world without Kings Island, and without it, other forms of launching such as that used on TTD and Kingda Ka might never have been invented. KI also set the bar for wooden coasters with The Beast, Without The Beast, I don't think other big woodies like the Voyage or El Toro would ever have been built. Of course we would never have had Son of Beast either, which is arguably a good thing.

So here's where I see the industry in 2013 in this hypothetical world without Kings Island:

• Due to the delay in reigniting the coaster boom, the first hyper is about ten years old, and gigas are the hot new thing, with the world's first one opening last year.
• There is little interest in launched coasters, and the most die-hard enthusiasts actively seek out the few that exist.
• Stratas are only a dream, as the lack of suitable types of launch mechanisms combined with insufficient interest to invent a new type of launch means that the amount of land needed for the lift hill of a 400-foot-tall coaster is impractical.
• Wooden coasters are typically not very tall, with the tallest around 140' and not very long, with the longest around 5,000'. The fastest would be around 69 mph.
• Steel coasters, having never had the overall length record of The Beast to shoot for, would also be shorter, with the longest at around 6,000' long.

That's my guess as to where the industry would be right now.

Flight of Fear was originally supposed to be a cable launch like on montazumas revenge at knotts but they couldn't design a fast enough clutch for the launch so they invented LIMs

[XGatorHead 8904]

But also without Kings Island, parks like Kings Dominion, Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, and Great America wouldn't have been created. Also Kings Island had lots of new and unique things Cedar Point, Disney, and Six Flags didn't, so I think Kings Island kept the business growing by competing with other parks. If that makes sense.

Carowinds opened in 1973, independent of Taft, built by a Charlotte business man. It would have been built with or without KI.

Great America opened in 1976, independent of Taft, built by hotel chain Marriott. It may or may not have been built without KI.

But you are probably right about KD & Wonderland, as those were built by Taft.

[YoungStud]

I am jealous of KD cause they have Volcano and I305.

[Browntggrr]

I am jealous of KD cause they have Volcano and I305.

They also have Hurler, eliminating any potential personal jealousy of the park itself.

Now KD's location we all can be jealous of. The close proximity to BGW, home to 3 fantastic B & M's which are all: fun, reliable, and (most importantly) safe makes the area near KD a great family destination.

[YoungStud]

^

I was almost going to like your post.

[Browntggrr]

^

I was almost going to like your post.

Please don't.

-Brown, running to put his fanny pack on.

[YoungStud]

YoungStud: Not surprised.

[Thrill_Biscuit]

The Partridge Family and Brady Bunch would have had very boring episodes where each family visits a soybean farm next to an interstate in Ohio.

[SonofBaconator]

But also without Kings Island, parks like Kings Dominion, Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, and Great America wouldn't have been created. Also Kings Island had lots of new and unique things Cedar Point, Disney, and Six Flags didn't, so I think Kings Island kept the business growing by competing with other parks. If that makes sense.

Carowinds opened in 1973, independent of Taft, built by a Charlotte business man. It would have been built with or without KI.

Great America opened in 1976, independent of Taft, built by hotel chain Marriott. It may or may not have been built without KI.

But you are probably right about KD & Wonderland, as those were built by Taft.

This is an embarrassment

[Thrill_Biscuit]

Oh, no, dude, just a mistake within a good topic. It's clear you edited your original post. This is a very good topic! Thanks for starting it.

I agree that it would have been a Fess Parker world around here had Charlie, Gary and the gang not stepped in.

[XGatorHead 8904]

^^Sorry, I didn't do it to embarrass you. It's a very good topic, one I had never even considered.

[KI-ORIG-EMP]

If Kings Island was not built, Fess Parker had might had been successful in building his theme park in Northern Kentucky. My home town of Kings Mills would still be a sleepy town and the Kings Mills Road interchange at I-71 might had become congested with office parks and shopping centers rather than an amusement park. This might what might be happening at this very moment in an alternate reality with the Kings Local Schools fast becoming the largest school district in the State of Ohio.

[Thrill_Biscuit]

I think it would more likely resemble the interchange at Caesar's Creek flea market. Lots of farm land and a few more homes, stores and small businesses, but not to the scale that's there now. The sprawl would have flipped to the other side of the Ohio River.

[shark6495]

Would the Tennis Courts and Golf Course had been built? They were conceived by Taft, correct?

[jcgoble3]

The Racer is credited with reigniting the coaster boom. Without that, the industry certainly would be set back some time. But i don't think it would be decades behind; sooner or later, someone would have done it and built a popular coaster, and the boom would be reignited then. Even then, though, KI led the pack with several firsts. First to 6 inversions isn't that important, because that would have been done by someone else eventually. But first LIM launch? That may or may not even exist in this world without Kings Island, and without it, other forms of launching such as that used on TTD and Kingda Ka might never have been invented. KI also set the bar for wooden coasters with The Beast, Without The Beast, I don't think other big woodies like the Voyage or El Toro would ever have been built. Of course we would never have had Son of Beast either, which is arguably a good thing.

So here's where I see the industry in 2013 in this hypothetical world without Kings Island:

• Due to the delay in reigniting the coaster boom, the first hyper is about ten years old, and gigas are the hot new thing, with the world's first one opening last year.
• There is little interest in launched coasters, and the most die-hard enthusiasts actively seek out the few that exist.
• Stratas are only a dream, as the lack of suitable types of launch mechanisms combined with insufficient interest to invent a new type of launch means that the amount of land needed for the lift hill of a 400-foot-tall coaster is impractical.
• Wooden coasters are typically not very tall, with the tallest around 140' and not very long, with the longest around 5,000'. The fastest would be around 69 mph.
• Steel coasters, having never had the overall length record of The Beast to shoot for, would also be shorter, with the longest at around 6,000' long.

That's my guess as to where the industry would be right now.

Flight of Fear was originally supposed to be a cable launch like on montazumas revenge at knotts but they couldn't design a fast enough clutch for the launch so they invented LIMs

Good point, but mine is still valid as well. LIMs were invented because the cable launch was not fast enough. Without the invention of LIMs, even faster launch systems like the one we see on TTD may have never been invented. Also, take a look at this RCDB search for launched coasters. There were very few launchers before the two Flights of Fear. Flight of Fear was the turning point, after which launched coasters became far more popular and commonplace. So without Flight of Fear sparking interest in launched coasters, there would likely be very few of them today, and there wouldn't be enough interest in them to warrant the expense of inventing faster launch systems.

[SonofBaconator]

^^Sorry, I didn't do it to embarrass you. It's a very good topic, one I had never even considered.

I was only teasing

[SonofBaconator]

What about Hanna Barbera? KI was sort of like its big break.

[The Interpreter]

Uh, no.

KI benefited from its association with Taft (owned by) far more than HB benefited from KI.

Prime time tv was HUGE back then. Cable tv was only to bring local channels to areas with no reception, there were only CBS, ABC and NBC, and in some places what was known as ETV and a precious few independents (like WXIX).

Fred Fintstone, the Jetsons and company made HB. It wasn't KI that did that.

[shark6495]

Terp, I thought I read on these boards or somewhere similar that Taft wanted an amusement park to showcase their characters, similar to the Disney model. Was this correct? Any more details on this?