The last 1980 Kings Island home video I can make.

[VideoFromGeorge]

Alright, here is the last video from July 24, 1980. I put together all the random scenes. You'll see the entrance, shops, singers singing "YMCA", brief views of Zodiac and Tumble Bug, day and night views of the fountain, and even a person selling those neon glowing strips at dusk that were so cool. I am glad this website exists, and I am glad so many people have enjoyed my dad's video. Time to put this tape back on the shelf. George

[BoddaH1994]

We've loved watching your videos! Thanks so much for sharing them with us!

[The Interpreter]

And this one? Truly special.

1980. Nearly 35 years ago.

Where DOES the time go?

Thanks so VERY much for sharing with us! 'Tis truly great gifts you brought us!

[Magenta Lizard]

I've loved watching your videos so much! I spent so much time at KI as a kid, but I have a crappy memory and almost no documentation of it. Your videos have let me step back there for a little while.

[Thrill_Biscuit]

Ah! This is so awesome! Those glow strands! Way before the modern LED toys, those were all the rage at the park! (This made me remember all those colorful, feathery bird marionettes, Glassblower-stretched 7-Up bottles, and "Ghost Chasers" Invisible Dog leashes everyone was walking around with as the closing hour drew near).

I loved the ambient music over Coney Mall. Very amusement-park-like! I miss it.

The shot of the timeless Glassblower shop reminds me of how there is at least one craftsperson who (as far as I am aware) is still working in his shop since years before this video was made. Just one of the millions of thoughts and wonderful memories that come pouring in as I watch these.

Your videos are beyond treasures. Thanks!

[KIfan73]

What is it about July 24!!?? http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/24760-standing-within-3-feet-of-1974/?p=446132

[jandyb79]

What a treasure! Your video, more than any others I've seen, truly captures what the park felt like in those earlier days. Seeing the park in this raw context is the way I remember it as a child. The footage of the Tumblebug was especially was a treat! I also love how this was able to capture the music and sounds of each area, where other videos that have turned up from the period have only been mute. Thank you once again for taking the time to edit and post these!

[Thrill_Biscuit]

Quoting KIFan73: "What is it about July 24!!??"

In 1980? It wasn't the most eventful day in history, unless you were an avid fan of Peter Sellers or Bjorn Borg. Who died and was married (respectively)...

That didn't come out quite right...

[silver2005]

I never realized how big Zodiac was. It just towered over Coney Mall. Also, I noticed how most of the video focused on things other than rides. Boy, how times have changed.

[Italian Job 2005]

I love the rustic look and theme of the old Kings Mills Log Flume. Very classy. I want that theme back.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KIfan73]

That's the most vivid image I've seen yet of what it was like to be in the park way back when. I've always wanted to see what the shops looked like during the early years. Amazing! Thanks!

Edit: I also want to say your father must have had an extremely advanced video camera (for that time period). The picture quality and the sound are incredible. I've got a pretty good set of speakers set up on my computer and it sounds like I'm right there. For the young ones...In 1980, it would have been extremely rare and expensive to have even owned a VCR in 1980!

[Sonofbeast2.0]

I think KI/CF of now needs to take notes and watch this video of the past! You ask me, the park looks truly amazing! I love the themeing they had!

Some things that I would LOVE to see:

International Street (IS), look and become "international" again.

More focus and care put back into the fountains.

Someone walking around selling balloon or even have a cart. Not ounce in past few years, have I seen KI even selling balloons!

Redo some of the signs of their kid ride, to make them look much more grand again!

A live band to go with the show(s).

Classic music for Coney Mall and IS.

grass/shrubs in the shapes of Peanut characters.

Honestly those are some silly things that I think would be quite doable and really add to the park experience!

[BlondyRidesOn]

They should, at least, change the background music on International Street to something instrumental. Kings Dominion's International Street still plays nice fitting background music:

(Not my video. I found it on Youtube)

[BlondyRidesOn]

Sorry for the double post, but I absolutely love these videos. I especially enjoy seeing the Tumble Bug running. I wasn't born in 1980, it gives a great idea of what the park looked like compared to now.

[Oldschool75]

Oh man this takes me back. Did anyone catch the conversion from the young kid looking for the Skyride?, "They must have taken it out". Oh those were the days.

**Side note, The Empire Strikes Back was currently showing its first run in theaters when this video was taken.

[VideoFromGeorge]

That's the most vivid image I've seen yet of what it was like to be in the park way back when. I've always wanted to see what the shops looked like during the early years. Amazing! Thanks!

Edit: I also want to say your father must have had an extremely advanced video camera (for that time period). The picture quality and the sound are incredible. I've got a pretty good set of speakers set up on my computer and it sounds like I'm right there. For the young ones...In 1980, it would have been extremely rare and expensive to have even owned a VCR in 1980!

For anyone interested in the history of this tape here it goes. Yes it was very rare to have a video camera way back then. My father purchased his first VHS VCR in 1977. It was $1,000. This was the first VHS VCR available to the general public. He bought his first video camera in December 1978. I do not know what he paid for it. It was made by Magnavox. At the time there was no portable VCR, so all recordings had to be indoors. He used a cable attached to the VCR (which remained on top of the TV) to record. He hooked a bunch of cables together so he could record outside. This is the first outdoor recording he made: it was January of 1979.

Later, in '79 finally a portable VCR became available and he could go places with it. I will be working on other projects like Great America in Gurnee, IL 1979 and Wisconsin Dells 1980 if anyone wants to see. I will not post them on this site, but they can be seen on my YouTube page VideofromGeorge.

[The Interpreter]

Yes, we want to see!

You are welcome to post them here, or at least links!

And thanks so very much, again.

[Thrill_Biscuit]

Oh man this takes me back. Did anyone catch the conversion from the young kid looking for the Skyride?, "They must have taken it out". Oh those were the days.

**Side note, The Empire Strikes Back was currently showing its first run in theaters when this video was taken.

I remember all the giant Star Wars characters atop the Marquis at the theater over in Tri-County... and the Billy Joel song "It's Still Rock & Roll To Me," Blondie's "Call Me," and Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" were blasting out from car stereos everywhere!

[KIfan73]

My father purchased his first VHS VCR in 1977. It was $1,000. This was the first VHS VCR available to the general public.

My uncle purchased a VCR at around that same time, and we used to go visit him. It seemed like it was probably about 2 feet wide, 2 feet deep and probably a foot tall. Playing a movie you want to see - anytime you want to see it!? He may as well have had a space shuttle in his front room. He also had one of the 9 foot diameter satellite dishes in his backyard at around the same time.

[NoChickens]

Naturally, my first VCR was a Betamax in 1984. Life is full of choices, some right, some wrong ;-)

[KIBeast]

I love these videos. Reminds me of the times I went to KI with my family in the early years. Some of the best times of my life.

Now, I want to make new memories with my son so he can look back and say the same thing.

[Voicetek]

Naturally, my first VCR was a Betamax in 1984. Life is full of choices, some right, some wrong ;-)

Our first VCR was a Betamax as well lol. Around that same time my dad was shopping around for a VCR trying to decide on the VHS or the Beta. After doing much research and consulting people working in the electronics departments, he went with the Betamax. He was informed that the tapes were smaller and had better resolution video (all of which were true) so it would more than likely win out over the VHS which was a bigger tape. As we all know now, VHS won the battle of home video cassette media. Why? To this day I have no idea. You'd think with how things usually go, the more compact tape would win. I loved our Betamax though. The tapes were small and it produced some nice quality recordings. We kept that thing and used it for years, even after video stores stopped renting Betamax copies. Having a VCR in your home in the early 80s was quite exciting!

[The Interpreter]

Why? Cost.

VHS was much, much cheaper.

WalMart has built a fantastic business on the proposition that Americans largely value cheap over quality.

[Voicetek]

Why? Cost.

VHS was much, much cheaper.

WalMart has built a fantastic business on the proposition that Americans largely value cheap over quality.

Ah, well that makes sense. I was too young to know how much he paid for our VCR or how much those things actually cost back then. That would make sense that the VHS won because it was a cheaper product.

[Gabe]

That same argument cant be made for Blu-Ray v. HD-DVD. Both had similar resolutions and were cheap to produce. In the case of Blu Ray, it was the major studios forming a cartel of sorts to only release their movies on the format they had a financial interest in, which was Blu-Ray. As Terp said, the superior format (which many believe to have been HD-DVD) doesn't always win.

[homestar92]

Why? Cost.

VHS was much, much cheaper.

WalMart has built a fantastic business on the proposition that Americans largely value cheap over quality.

Cost was a part of it for sure, but there were other major factors too. There is a very specific subset of the home video industry that played a relatively big part in the VHS-Betamax battle. It wasn't the sole factor that won the battle as many will try to claim, but there was certainly some major influence.

This same subset of the industry was substantially less influential in the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD battle, largely because of the internet.

[malem]

Blu-ray also had stronger copy protection than HD-DVD, attracting movie studios to the format.

[homestar92]

^ And I think it's safe to assume that the PlayStation 3 supporting Blu-Ray playback didn't hurt either.

[Joshua]

Cost, along with the power of convenience, is also why we're moving past the boundaries of physical copies and into the realms of digital libraries, which is a switch I'm quite reluctant to make.

[homestar92]

Cost, along with the power of convenience, is also why we're moving past the boundaries of physical copies and into the realms of digital libraries, which is a switch I'm quite reluctant to make.

That's true, to a point. But I don't think physical copies are going away completely any time soon. America is an enormous market, and a lot of America is very, very rural. There are lots of places where the only options for internet are dial-up, which is far too slow for streaming video, or Satellite, which is very expensive and usually has data caps, making it unsuitable for streaming. And as a content creator, you don't want to simply eliminate that large portion of your market. So for that reason, as well as people like you and I that like to have tangible copies of the movies and music that we purchase, I don't see physical media going away completely in the foreseeable future. Maybe when we get to a point where affordable broadband is available nationwide, though, as that would blow away the biggest reason for continuing to sell hard copies.

As for the other piece of that puzzle, the people who have reliable internet access but simply prefer physical media: For me personally, I won't outright refuse to buy a digital download, but it is definitely a much tougher sell. I won't, however, pay for something that I "own" but can only stream and not download locally (such as a movie on Vudu). If I'm paying for something intangible, I want to at very least make sure I can make a backup and that I can continue to use my product even if the vendor goes out of business. Obviously this wouldn't include Netflix, since I'm not "buying" those movies, it's more akin to an unlimited rental service. That's usability even if the company goes under is precisely why so many people cling to physical media. And probably exactly why the movie and music studios want so badly to move past it.