Kings Island Historians?

[Ehauter]

I am trying to find information on an accident that my family experienced at Kings Island in June 1977. I have been unable to find any record of it online. I am only seeking information out of curiosity. As far as I know, no one was seriously injured. However, the accident we were in could be considered a major failure for the ride.

We were on the log ride, and when we went down the hill, our boat went end-over-end at the bottom. My mother and sister were thrown out of the boat, and my father and I were stuck underneath it. The guy at the top of the hill then sent down the next boat, which rammed us.  It was a miracle that no one was killed, actually. But looking through the history of ride failures, I see the sky ride accident in May 1977, but no mention of our log ride incident, which was much worse (in my opinion, at least).

I was just wondering if there might be some record kept somewhere by an amateur historian that could lend a little detail and shed some light on what is now a pretty hazy memory.

[KIghostguy]

I haven't found anything about it, but my specialty in park history are the deaths and ghost stories. I'm sure @Shaggy or @TombraiderTy would know about it.

[TheRickster]

[Shaggy]

It's not something I have ever heard.

[Ehauter]

I'm going to have to get more details from my mom and dad.  It's a family legend at this point.  I missed most of it, as I was knocked unconscious.  I remember waking up on the spinning platform.  Being the 1970s, we just got on with things.  No one sued, no one even fussed that much.  We even went back to the park the next day.  My dad was determined that we "get back on the horse".  Turns out he was right.  I was all freaked out, but quickly got over it.  Anyhow, i was just wondering if there was any record of it.  Coming during whar seemed to be a rough year, I'm not surprised that K.I. just wanted to let it go if we were willing, which we were.  Bit now I'm left with an unsubstantiated story.  No biggie I guess.  

[KIghostguy]

I checked through some newspaper articles I have that ran after "Black Sunday" talking about previous ride injuries and accidents at Kings Island. None of them mentioned anything about an accident on the Log Flume.

[Ehauter]

Thanks for checking.  Very cool of you.  I was just thinking about it after the recent tragedy at the Ohio State Fair.  Those sorts of things really bother me.  But of course, it's been 40 years, and with no publicity, I figured the chances were small that anyone would remember.  I was hoping that maybe an old employee might be lurking around, who might say "Oh yeah!  I was there!".

[BoddaH1994]

Are you sure this wasn't LeSourdsville Lake/Americana?  You may not have known the difference between Kings Island and Americana at such a young age.  Not that I know for sure of an incident like this at Americana either.

[teenageninja]

I find it hard to believe that your log went end over end and no one was seriously hurt.  I also don't understand how that would have happened.

[kikid74]

The KI log flume doesn't have a spinning platform. I don't believe that Americana had a log flume ride until the early 1980's. Or at least I remember the new one that was installed then....did that replace an older one or was it a new ride type to that park?

[Voicetek]

^ I believe that the Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal had a spinning platform.  Although I've never heard of such and occurrence happening at KI, could that be the flume you're talking about?

[Ehauter]

To answer all of the above questions:

I am certain that it was at Kings Island.  My family has photos from the trip.  I asked my mom yesterday to check the photo albums to confirm the time frame.

There was definitely a spinning platform.  I'm 100% on that.  I remember walking onto White Water Landing at Cedar Point the year it opened, and thinking "Oh, this is just like the one we flipped on!"  The Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal is, I guess, the most likely candidate.  My mom or dad would know.

From what I understand about the nature of the accident, there is a platform at the bottom of the hill that the boat "skips" off of, for lack of a better term.  The boat comes down, hits the platform, which has a bit of give to it.  The boat skips a bit like a stone, which is what causes the big dramatic wave effect.  The platform both cushioned the landing and caused the splash.  Not 100% on this whole deal, I'm not a ride engineer, obviously.  Anyhow, the boat that went before us somehow broke the platform, causing it to stay in a lowered position.  When our boat came down, there was nothing to stop the momentum.  The front lodged, and over we went.

My mom and sister were at the back of the boat.  They ended up in the stream, being swept by the current.  Remember, there were zero restraints in these rides, just bars you held down in the sides of the log.   My dad and I were at the front, and ended up under the boat.  The next boat hit, which is probably what knocked me out.  My dad somehow got me out, and I woke up on the platform.  Accounts vary as to how long I was under for, but the prevailing theory was that I was in an air pocket, so it must have at least been a minute or two.

I think, honestly, that we didn't get the worst of it.  Imagine being the next boat, and seeing the boat before your flipping, and then being sent down the hill.  Yikes.

I understand some skepticism.  I would be skeptical too.   However, I assure you that this absolutely happened.  It all seems pretty crazy now, but WE STAYED IN THE PARK for the rest of the day.  Like, we finished the day in the park.  They gave us some towels, and we dried off, took some aspirin, and went about our business.  My dad was pretty hardcore.

[Ehauter]

I just remembered another detail.  We were at Kings Island because there was a hot air balloon festival.  My parents brought us to go to the park and see the hot air balloons.  If that means anything to anyone.

[Ehauter]

1 hour ago, teenageninja said:

I find it hard to believe that your log went end over end and no one was seriously hurt.  I also don't understand how that would have happened.

Please see the details in my post above.  Skepticism noted, and understood.

[Ehauter]

1 hour ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Are you sure this wasn't LeSourdsville Lake/Americana?  You may not have known the difference between Kings Island and Americana at such a young age.  Not that I know for sure of an incident like this at Americana either.

Very sure it was Kings Island.  Please see my notes in post above.  Good idea though.

[Ehauter]

Found this!  Very excited!  This would substantiate the time frame, at least.

[Ehauter]

Also, my sister (who is three years older) has a slightly different memory on this incident.  Ha-ha!

[Oldschool75]

I've never heard of this happening in all the years I've been going to Kings Island. No one I know has heard of this incident, and there is no substantial evidence of it ever happening. Paraphrasing BoddaH1994  above, I think you are confusing it with another park.  

Here is a list of Arrow hydroflumes that were around during that time and in the region.

1973- Coal Cracker- Hersheypark 
1973- Kenton Keelboat Canal- KI 
1975- Riptide-- SFGADV 
1976- Yankee Clipper- SFGAM 
1982- White Water Landing- CP

[Ehauter]

18 minutes ago, Oldschool75 said:

I've never heard of this happening in all the years I've been going to Kings Island. No one I know has heard of this incident, and there is no substantial evidence of it ever happening. Paraphrasing BoddaH1994  above, I think you are confusing it with another park.  

While I appreciate the kindness of thinking that I am confusing it with another park (as opposed to flat out calling me crazy), I was hoping that someone might have a way to help me substantiate the story.  I didn't come to the forum to try to prove the story.  I came to the forum for help proving the story.  I know that this incident did not receive much, if any publicity.  Given the other incidents at the park in the same time frame, and the fact that no one was seriously injured, the fact that Kings Island didn't publicize the accident is entirely understandable.  If no one heard of it, that's fine.  I'm hoping that someone might know of a way to look it up.

Through thinking about it and remembering details (with help from the nice folks on this forum, and my sister, who refers to the entire event as "a freaking nightmare") and then researching those details online, I have narrowed down what happened, the date range it happened on, and which ride it occurred on.

The ride was almost certainly Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal.  I looked at a bunch of old photos, and it fits the bill.  Duel lane drop, kid at the top stopping the boats with his shoe, both lanes converging at the bottom, spinning platform.  The date was either June 4th or 5th, 1977 (but most likely the 4th).  My family was attended to at the Kings Island emergency center.  I was just hoping that someone might have access to records of some sort that might help.  

I am not pursuing this out of any motivation other than finding a missing piece of my personal history.  It's akin to finding documentation that your aunt was on the Titanic or something of that nature.  A fun little pursuit, looking for evidence of something that happened a long time ago.  It was more of an "I wonder if there's anything out there about that" than an "I gotta know!".  I already know that it happened.  I just want a cool little article or document to print out and hang on the wall.

[TheRickster]

Are you sure it wouldn't have been on the canoe ride that was near that same area? Maybe the canoe just flipped and you had a near drowning?

[Ehauter]

4 hours ago, TheRickster said:

Are you sure it wouldn't have been on the canoe ride that was near that same area? Maybe the canoe just flipped and you had a near drowning?

If it were just my own memory, this would actually be a viable theory.  But I spoke with all three members of my family last night to just get some clarification / different perspectives, and while some aspects of the story I shared above are off a bit, the gist is correct.  I'm going to post some clarifications / corrections.

[Ehauter]

Hi all,

I know how crazy this story sounds.  Truly.  It's like jumping on an Eiffel Tower board and saying "Hey, I fell off the Eiffel Tower in 1977 and lived!  It was awesome! Anyone remember that?"  

I deference to the folks who feel I am mis-remembering (and I am, on some details!), I spoke with my mother, father and sister last night.  Just for background, my mom and dad are in their late 60s, putting them in their late 20s when this story took place.  No one is medicated, and no on has dementia.

Here are the clarifications and corrections:

My family actually went to Kings Island for the Air Show.  Going to the park was the treat my sister and I got for being good at the air show.  Being from Toledo, we grew up as Cedar Point kids, so Kings Island was a whole new world for us (which is why we don't know the names of the rides as well.  You want to know about the Gemini, Demon Drop, Blue Streak, I got you covered).

The ride was indeed Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal.  I sent them pictures, and they all instantly said "Yes, that was it".

My boat did NOT flip end over end at the bottom of the hill as I had thought.  I was mistaken on that.  According to my dad, the boat dug down into the water too far at the bottom of the hill, but rather than going end over end, it bobbed up and got the front half stuck on the side of the canal.  My mom and dad started yelling at the guys at the top of the hill, trying to figure out what to do, but did not get their attention.

There were two little booths at the top wit college kids who would stop the boat, and according to my sister, they also had a little gate that would drop to send the boat down the hill when it was all clear, as a manual safety mechanism.  The guy on the second lane didn't check, didn't see, whatever, and sent the next boat down, which hit ours, and THAT'S what flipped us.

The rest of the story played out pretty much as I stated above.  According to my mom and dad, the people in the boat that hit us were hustled off the platform pretty quickly while the KI crew tended to us.  They seemed uninjured, but there wasn't enough time to be sure.  My dad asked repeatedly to speak with them, but was unable to.

Kings Island offered our family all sorts of goodies, including lifetime passes, which my dad declined.  He says that we were fine, and that they didn't owe us anything.  Accidents happen and all that.  He says that the only damage we incurred (beyond the bonk on the head I took, and my sister's obvious distress) was a pocket watch that my mom had just gotten him for his birthday, which never worked again after he got it wet.

Anyhow, it's clear that my story isn't getting a lot of traction here.  It was my hope that there might be some record of ride closures due to incident, or safety team records, or something.  I know that none of you are familiar with this story, and really, why would you be?  As far as KI stories go, it isn't a particularly juicy one.  Probably just a footnote in a log somewhere.  I was just hoping someone might have the log.

Thanks.

[Ehauter]

Like this.  Exactly like this, in fact, but with one less boat.

[TheRickster]

That's a much more feasible story.

[Maverick44]

White water landing didn't flip end over end......I could see the boast getting stuck at the bottom but yeah.

[Ehauter]

Yeah, well..you know.  Gotta cut me a little slack here.  I was 4.  Things are a little fuzzy.  

My dad told me the real deal and I was all "Oh.  I've been saying crazy things."  The basics were right, just the order of events and the end over end business were off.

Ha-ha!

[TombraiderTy]

Minor incidents like this would be unlikely to receive media attention, especially in the 1970s and given your family didn't report the incident to the local news or speak with any press about it. I'd therefore be surprised if there's anything online on it, pardon the memories and information you've shared here.

[teenageninja]

Thanks for clarifying.  You could also attempt to contact the park if you need additional information, unlikely they have anything though.