Complete Kings Island View Master scans

[Tim58hsv]

Here's scans from all three of the Kings Island View Master sets.

 

http://tim58hsv.blogspot.com//

 

Best as I can find there were only three sets of Kings Island View Master reels ever released with the first one coming out in 1973 and the second one in 1975. The second one featured Lion Country Safari while the third and final set, released in 1977,  was like the '73 edition with 10 of the same pictures and 11 new ones. I might add that all three sets have the same picture of the Eiffel Tower. 

[TombRaiderFTW]

Wow. Thank you so much for uploading those and posting about them here! Those are really great pictures!

 

Kings Island of the 70's really had a charm unlike any other. It's truly a shame that changes in focus of leadership over the years caused the park to lose sight of the original theme.

 

Also, did the train run the opposite direction back then of the way it goes now? That's kinda what the train pictures look like.

[DubVLegend]

Here's scans from all three of the Kings Island View Master sets.

 

http://tim58hsv.blogspot.com//

 

Best as I can find there were only three sets of Kings Island View Master reels ever released with the first one coming out in 1973 and the second one in 1975. The second one featured Lion Country Safari while the third and final set, released in 1977,  was like the '73 edition with 10 of the same pictures and 11 new ones. I might add that all three sets have the same picture of the Eiffel Tower. 

Super cool seeing old pictures. Id like to see more of the paramount days in pictures especially 1980-2000

[bkroz]

Wow... Seriously awesome. 

 

And faced with parkwide photos like this, I'm suddenly taken with how Kings Island today might as well be a different park altogether. It seems like very little of the "original" Kings Island survives today. It's unrecognizable. You could've told me those were photos of Kings Dominion and I would've believed you. In shots missing the Eiffel Tower, you could've told me the photos were of a park in California and I would've bought it. Very, very cool to see, and I imagine these will be a little sad to those who experienced the park "back then." 

[Imperial79]

Really great pictures!  Never knew the Skyride had green and red lights on it like that!  Wow, I can imagine the attendance if they brought some of this back, the theming too! 

[MDMC01]

Good stuff; thanks for sharing Tim58hsv! I wonder what the "Medicine Show" was.... Also, random comments on the 3 sets:

For the first set, I most noticed that the buildings on International Street are actually well-themed; aside from that, some buildings look like they haven't chnaged much (like the building that is now home to Starbucks).

It's really cool to see pictures of Lion Country Safari; that bridge and the pictures of the animals are cool as well. Also, maybe it's because I know the park so well, but I'm able to place the location in a way that Festhaus goes where Bavarian Beetle stood and Slingshot "replaced" Bayern Kurve.

For the third set, there were actual swans in Swan Lake? I wonder when those were removed. Also, in the aerial Coney Mall map, I can again tell where rides/attractions are currently located in present-day.

[shark6495]

Wow thank you. It seems like it was a unique and wonderful place in the 70s....

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MaestroJr]

Very cool to see Woodstock Express in its early days as Scooby-Doo, also very cool to see Racer when its was new. And very nice pictures of Enchanted Voyage, and the old Barvarian Beetle, Ive never seen such good photos from that short lived coaster! Wonderful photos to take you back to a groovy time at the Island! Thanks for sharing! MaestroJr

[King Ding Dong]

Old pics are always a treat. Thanks!

Was this park ever a big concert venue beyond the current Christian flavor?

SFSTL was and a couple of years ago a guest services emp was able to compile a fairly complete list of the acts that played over the years. It was really cool to see some of the big names that played and even a few I had attended in my youth. Anyone know of anything similar for KI?

[MaestroJr]

My dad saw Kool and the Gang along with other popular 80s bands at the Timberwolf Amphitheatre back in the day.

[MDMC01]

I think Air Supply played at KI at one time? I know there were other bands that graced the Timberwolf stage other than those that are a part of SpiritSong (Spiritsong rocked this year, btw- at least, Red did!)

[Spectrum91]

Thanks so much for sharing Tim58hsv! A couple of these sets recently popped up on eBay and I tried to snatch them but was outbid. Glad to see they're still shared online somewhere though.

 

 

Also, did the train run the opposite direction back then of the way it goes now? That's kinda what the train pictures look like.

 

I assume you're referring to this photo. The train still traveled clockwise around the track, but the track used to veer off into what is now Soak City. The fort pictured, Fort McHale, was part of this route. The ride was re-routed after the park closed for the 1988 season, allowing for the construction of Water Works.

[Gabe]

Jimmy Buffett owes much of his fame to playing early shows at Timberwolf, where the term "Parrothead" was coined.  Also, in the PKI days, I once bought a combo ticket for $39.99 that included a tic to Duran Duran at Timberwolf that night.  I'll never forget Simon LeBon intentionally delaying the start of a song so he could watch Drop Tower (then Zone) ascend and then drop.  He was fascinated and implored the crowd to scream and wave at the people on the ride.

[beastfan11]

These pictures are wonderful and remarkably disappointing at the same time.

Geez. What happened?!

[Thrill_Biscuit]

 Epic. Just amazing!  Real tears of joy here, and I mean it! A mere "like" doesn't do it justice.

 

[MDMC01]

Jimmy Buffett owes much of his fame to playing early shows at Timberwolf, where the term "Parrothead" was coined.  Also, in the PKI days, I once bought a combo ticket for $39.99 that included a tic to Duran Duran at Timberwolf that night.  I'll never forget Simon LeBon intentionally delaying the start of a song so he could watch Drop Tower (then Zone) ascend and then drop.  He was fascinated and implored the crowd to scream and wave at the people on the ride.

I recall a band that was playing a past SpiritSong waiting for Drop Tower (at the time, Zone as well) to drop before moving on with a song. However, I forget if it was Newsboys, Tobymac or another artist (maybe Delirious?).

[King Ding Dong]

These pictures are wonderful and remarkable disappointing at the same time.

Geez. What happened?!

They got new stuff. Is that not a good thing?

[The Interpreter]

Sometimes.

Sometimes, no.

Thunder Road, Rolling Thunder, Enchanted Voyage, World of Camping, Shooting Star....

[RollerNut]

I wish there was a law against demolishing PTC coasters!

[Outdoor Man]

Walking through the park earlier tonight I caught myself thinking that Kings Island is just another amusement park stocked with once-a-thrill roller coaster thrills.  Job positions that actually require maturity have done pretty well;  First Aid as well as Security (and unfortunately this year our family has had to use both).  Food Service and Ride Ops... this year has been atrocious.  I can't recall a year where their guest experience has been this bad.  It's not that the individuals in these positions are rude; an overwhelming majority of them come across as lazy.  

 

Walking through the gates used to be much more grand years ago.  International Street didn't play pop music... and i have to be honest, the music roll they have this year makes me want to lunge towards the speakers.  

 

The park used to be masterfully themed.  And over the years it has just dipped into... who cares.  There's remnants of theming but its not connected to anything. 

• International Street has almost nothing international
• I-Street buildings are lined with lights that are half lit.
• German Festhaus serves chinese fast food and has American pop music reviews
• October Fest features a Viking ship and Mexican burritos
• Tower Gardens is a designated smoking area
• Rivertown is about as close as it gets to theming.
• There are a bunch of empty buildings 350'ish days out of the year

It's a great park, don't get me wrong.  Anything that attracts 3 million+ annually in Ohio is doing something right.  But, it could be much more than it is.  I love when organizations go out of their way to "create" a unique experience.  You take the theming away and the Seven Dwarfs mine ride is just a different version of... Flying Ace (or whatever its called).  But add the theming to it... and you have 2+ hour waits for repeat rides visit after visit.

 

I think Banshee is one of the better themed rides they have built in recent memory... beyond that, i'd love it if they put some water under the tracks, insert a tunnel or two, and throw some fog in the field.

 

I stand in the minority here, but I hope KI never gets a $25M "giga" that will just pull line patrons from Diamonback, etc...  Build a smaller, slower, shorter coaster and theme the smack out of it and create an experience that won't lose it's line after the next thrill is built (a la Tomb Raider... RIP).

[Thrill_Biscuit]

Excellent post, Dwight_Schrute!

 

An amusement park should have a distinctive, other-worldly feel to it when you enter. A simple change to symphonic music (movie themes are fine, and the same ASCAP/BMI license covers movie themes the same way as it does Justin Timberlake, Twenty-One Pilots or  Ruth B. (I do events for my company, and believe me, licensing is NOT genre-based)...

 

As mentioned above - I think a little bit of minor theme touches, a'la Banshee, will add that special 'feel' back to the park.

 

The music, I think, has some kind of commercial benefit; some background --albeit perfectly legitimate -- deal that sells the music through self-advertisement, which comes back in some form of some kind of monetary advantage, which likely makes 'business sense.' "Hey, guys, we get thousands of young people in our park everyday. They likely all have phones, and those phones have Shazam! We'll blast out the top 45, the memorable soundtrack of their visit; they'll buy the music, all for X% or $Y. Deal?" -Just a thought.

[jbeast]

Those are some amazing photos! Brings back a ton of memories of being there as a young kid. I love the park now of course, but it was such a different place back then.

[Gabe]

I think Air Supply played at KI at one time? I know there were other bands that graced the Timberwolf stage other than those that are a part of SpiritSong (Spiritsong rocked this year, btw- at least, Red did!)

This site does a pretty good job of listing concerts and setlists (where available) from Timberwolf dating to a July, 1982 Jimmy Buffett show.  

 

http://www.setlist.fm/venue/timberwolf-amphitheatre-at-kings-island-cincinnati-oh-usa-43d72f37.html

[Gabe]

And here is the review of said Duran Duran show I attended (with mention of the Drop Zone stoppage).  The Enquirer wasn't terribly thrilled with the show, apparently:

 

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2000/08/21/loc_duran_durans_getting.html

[homestar92]

Jimmy Buffett owes much of his fame to playing early shows at Timberwolf, where the term "Parrothead" was coined. Also, in the PKI days, I once bought a combo ticket for $39.99 that included a tic to Duran Duran at Timberwolf that night. I'll never forget Simon LeBon intentionally delaying the start of a song so he could watch Drop Tower (then Zone) ascend and then drop. He was fascinated and implored the crowd to scream and wave at the people on the ride.

I recall a band that was playing a past SpiritSong waiting for Drop Tower (at the time, Zone as well) to drop before moving on with a song. However, I forget if it was Newsboys, Tobymac or another artist (maybe Delirious?).

Last year at SpiritSong during Skillet's set, John Cooper stopped for a second between songs to admire the 10PM fireworks.

[MDMC01]

I don't remember that, but working SpiritSong last year was a blast as TFK* rawked it!

 

TFK= Thousand Foot Krutch; they are my favorite band!

[atom]

Very cool!

 

By any chance did you scan both right and left sides of the View-Master reel?

 

For my masters thesis I've worked out a way to display vintage stereo images in a Virtual Reality scene. https://askatom.net/vvr

 

I've love to see those great pictures in 3D. If nothing else, would be an interesting counter-point to the World's Fair of 1893 I've been viewing for a year

[Tim58hsv]

Very cool!

 

By any chance did you scan both right and left sides of the View-Master reel?

 

For my masters thesis I've worked out a way to display vintage stereo images in a Virtual Reality scene. https://askatom.net/vvr

 

I've love to see those great pictures in 3D. If nothing else, would be an interesting counter-point to the World's Fair of 1893 I've been viewing for a year

I scanned only one of each photo on each reel but not the duplicate images. Sorry

[ZeroGee]

I appreciate you sharing these ! I have the same reels ( well at least I hope my folks still have held on to them for me ) And it is very sad to see the sterilization of so many "theme" parks . 

[TeTe27]

Wow these are great!! Thanks for sharing!