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WCPO: Kings Island rides we wish had never gone away


BoddaH1994
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For me...

Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal- Never got to ride it, as it was removed before I was tall enough, but it tied in so well with Rivertown.

Cuddle Up- Another ride before my time, but a classic that my parents loved, with my dad saying he "never truly appreciated the engineering of that ride until it was gone."

Enchanted Voyage- Yet another ride before my time, but after riding It's A Small World at Disney World back in 2015 during a high school choir trip, this ride would have been cool to see themed to Peanuts, with the boats entering and exiting through Snoopy's dog house rather than a giant television. And let's not forget the snail wishing riders to "Have a huh huh huh happy day!"

Les Taxis/ Ohio Overland Auto Livery- This one I did ride. Very enjoyable and quiet experience. The Auto Livery side fit in very well with Rivertown and the old time Cincinnati theming, and Les Taxis looked very nice from the midway walking towards the Tower. Backlot really kind of clashes with Coney Mall and Rivertown. It can be a fun coaster, but it can't top the Antique Cars.

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About to be judged very seriously right now...but I wish Son of Beast was never torn down. Hear me out, I'm serious. I've never ridden it before, but I would've loved to ride it. As a coaster enthusiast, it seemed like such a groundbreaking coaster at the time. Sure, it had it's mechanical/technical flaws, but maybe...possibly could it have been fixed up? Wasn't RMC a thing at the time?

 Also, we desperately need the Skyride and Antique Cars back. Those are a staple at so many amusement parks, and we don't have one. 

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1 hour ago, BaileyM912 said:

About to be judged very seriously right now...but I wish Son of Beast was never torn down. Hear me out, I'm serious. I've never ridden it before, but I would've loved to ride it. As a coaster enthusiast, it seemed like such a groundbreaking coaster at the time. Sure, it had it's mechanical/technical flaws, but maybe...possibly could it have been fixed up? Wasn't RMC a thing at the time?

 Also, we desperately need the Skyride and Antique Cars back. Those are a staple at so many amusement parks, and we don't have one. 

I loved SOB's first drop, nothing short of amazing. The rest of the ride though was very rough and there were other issues with the ride.

Yes, RMC was around then. From what I have been told the park got quotes from companies that were willing to put their name on it for a fix. The investment just did not make sense.

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What about SOB's layout made it such a fixation to fix?  The first drop, sure, but it was just helices after that.  The thing had 0 air time.  It was such a boring layout.   RMC-ing would have only highlighted that aspect.  

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4 minutes ago, silver2005 said:

What about SOB's layout made it such a fixation to fix?  The first drop, sure, but it was just helices after that.  The thing had 0 air time.  It was such a boring layout.   RMC-ing would have only highlighted that aspect.  

This is so true...imagine being duct taped to a cinder block wall during an earthquake....

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King Cobra seems to always have two things offered up as excuses for its demise:

1) Spare parts became harder to find...

or

2) The steel was in "bad shape..."

...yet, similar models operated well after, one of them even surviving relocation and still operating overseas. King Cobra itself was put up for sale. I wonder what the actual reason was for its removal. Does anyone know for certain?

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1 minute ago, Gordon Bombay said:

King Cobra seems to always have two things offered up as excuses for its demise:

1) Spare parts became harder to find...

or

2) The steel was in "bad shape..."

...yet, similar models operated well after, one of them even surviving relocation and still operating overseas. King Cobra itself was put up for sale. I wonder what the actual reason was for its removal. Does anyone know for certain?

 I have always heard both of those points as well. The most believable statement would be that TOGO went out of business, making replacement parts near to impossible to obtain. 

 

I have also heard rumors for some time that when TOGO built what would become the king cobra, it was a prototype, and KI didn't want to wait for an actual coaster to be built for them, and demanded the prototype be brought out and installed on site. Anyone know if there's any validity to this statement? The world of coasters is always so full of lore!! 

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8 minutes ago, lifetimecoaster said:

 

I have also heard rumors for some time that when TOGO built what would become the king cobra, it was a prototype, and KI didn't want to wait for an actual coaster to be built for them, and demanded the prototype be brought out and installed on site. Anyone know if there's any validity to this statement? The world of coasters is always so full of lore!! 

The King Cobra was entirely built, installed, tested, etc. at TOGO HQ in Japan. The ride was disassembled and shipped over to the US for reconstruction and installation at Kings Island.

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4 minutes ago, KIghostguy said:

The King Cobra was entirely built, installed, tested, etc. at TOGO HQ in Japan. The ride was disassembled and shipped over to the US for reconstruction and installation at Kings Island.

I had assumed that would be the case. I don't remember where I had heard that, but somewhere along the line, I had read somewhere that TOGO had set up a prototype with lesser quality steel and that was why the tracks and supports rusted so badly between paint jobs. 

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Days of Thunder is my favorite movie, even though I hate NASCAR.  It's so terrible and cheesy.  Everything is over the top.  It's basically Top Gun is a race car.  I miss this ride a lot.  Living out the movie was amazing even if the ride was lame.  I'm 100% positive I am the only person that has this opinion.

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Quote

It became necessary for the ride to be removed after its manufacturer, TOGO, went out of business, making it impossible to get replacement parts needed to maintain rider safety.

https://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/remember-this-standup-coaster-king-cobra-kept-kings-island-visitors-on-their-toes-for-17-years?page=2

 

Don Helbig was a part of this article, so I think that may settle that question. 

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2 hours ago, BaileyM912 said:

 Also, we desperately need the Skyride and Antique Cars back. Those are a staple at so many amusement parks, and we don't have one. 

Yes!  Exactly!     Skyride desperately needs your help over The Ride Game Thread.   It is being savagely attacked by mongrols that don’t realize a park will always remain Tier ll without a Skyride.  :ph34r:

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4 hours ago, lifetimecoaster said:

https://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/remember-this-standup-coaster-king-cobra-kept-kings-island-visitors-on-their-toes-for-17-years?page=2

 

Don Helbig was a part of this article, so I think that may settle that question. 

While this seems to be the case, what's always thrown me off is the fact that multiple others still operated and one still does. I wonder just how hard those parts are to acquire. 

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4 hours ago, AnyPancakes said:

Days of Thunder is my favorite movie, even though I hate NASCAR.  It's so terrible and cheesy.  Everything is over the top.  It's basically Top Gun is a race car.  I miss this ride a lot.  Living out the movie was amazing even if the ride was lame.  I'm 100% positive I am the only person that has this opinion.

I always rode it first!

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29 minutes ago, spooky21 said:

I miss action theater and tomb raider more than any. Keelboat canal and SOB are others I miss but can live without.

I miss action theater as well...it had such a cool queue, break from the heat...such a bummer that it's just a storage building now.

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On 4/17/2018 at 9:46 AM, Gordon Bombay said:

King Cobra seems to always have two things offered up as excuses for its demise:

1) Spare parts became harder to find...

or

2) The steel was in "bad shape..."

...yet, similar models operated well after, one of them even surviving relocation and still operating overseas. King Cobra itself was put up for sale. I wonder what the actual reason was for its removal. Does anyone know for certain?

It was made with Japanese Steele - a much lower quality. The other ones were American Steele, which is less prone to fatigue over time.

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When I was a small child, My favorite rides in the park were the shoes as I called them ie the Flying Dutchman, Babba Looey's Buggies, (Not that I could ride them now, but it would have been a fun nostalgic thing to see my kids in them),  The Flying Carpet Slide ( when it was still in the spot the Zephyr today is in, not when it was shrunk and moved to Hannah Barbera land), the Smurfs.  Not saying the replacement rides weren't worth having, but when I think of what I liked most back then, those are the ones I think it would be nice to have one last ride on.  :)

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