A MONSTER blog!!!

[Klabergian Empire]

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2020/april/the-aviation-pioneer-that-invented-kings-islands-monster

 

Really interesting read!

[IndyGuy4KI]

That is a very cool read about monster.

[Oldschool75]

Pretty cool all the detail in the blog, especially how they have kept the original Monster going with parts donated from Fury at CW.


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[Shaggy]

40 minutes ago, Oldschool75 said:

Pretty cool all the detail in the blog, especially how they have kept the original Monster going with parts donated from Fury at CW.


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I agree.  I love that the long-floating false claim that the original was replaced has been cleared up. Kudos to Chad - great job!

[139Signal27]

I’m genuinely impressed with that blog post! That was an extremely interesting and thorough read. Keep more coming!

[KIghostguy]

1 hour ago, Shaggy said:

I agree.  I love that the long-floating false claim that the original was replaced has been cleared up. Kudos to Chad - great job!

If you have a better explanation for this, I’d love to hear it. From the 10/12/1981 Cincinnati Post.

[Shaggy]

33 minutes ago, KIghostguy said:

If you have a better explanation for this, I’d love to hear it. From the 10/12/1981 Cincinnati Post.

 

Didn't write it.  Couldn't tell ya.

Again, kudos to Chad for the great piece of KI history and clarification.  Keep 'em coming KI!

[super7]

It’s great to find out it’s the original Coney Island ride.    That makes it 52 years old.  
 

By the sounds of the story it’s days may be  limited though, it says that the cannibalization of Shivas Fury  from  Canada Wonderland is the source for spare parts since the company is out of business      I would really hate to see it go since it’s  one if the remaining  Coney Island rides.  
 

if it ever does go it would be nice if they could locate a Huss Magic To replace it. That is an amazing flat ride with a similar experience and  a much better loading system 

[Benjamin22]

To be fair the 2003 part donation was under different management, Cedar Fair maybe more committed to keeping historical rides operating. They did buy a bunch of older, more historic European flats a few years back.

[TombraiderTy]

Kings Island has previously stated that our Monster is the one from Coney Island. I don't think anything new was shared in this blog post in terms of whether or not the ride was replaced at some point, and some of the evidence suggesting that the current Monster is not the original Monster still exists.

Also, for what it's worth... Canada's Wonderland's Monster ride (Shiva's Fury) wasn't sent to Kings Island in 2003. The ride shuttered that year, but it then sat in storage at Canada's Wonderland until I think 2008 or 2009. I wish I could find the old posts about it on CWMania.com (an old Canada's Wonderland fansite), but their forums no longer exist and the Wayback Machine doesn't seem to have archived them.

[Klabergian Empire]

Monster definitely 110% needs to be kept running. It is an original ride from Coney AND it is a (in my minds eye) valuable flat ride. Not a whole bunch like those any more to my knowledge.

[Benjamin22]

5 minutes ago, Klabergian Empire said:

Monster definitely 110% needs to be kept running. It is an original ride from Coney AND it is a (in my minds eye) valuable flat ride. Not a whole bunch like those any more to my knowledge.

Cedar Point, Valley Fair & Dorney Park have monsters, however i’m not sure if they’re of a different model. Based off of the Wikipedia page theres only 7 left operating.

[BeastForever]

On that note, its important to remember that an original manufacturer going out of business rarely poses an issue when it comes to procuring replacement parts if another company inherits their patents (and if there's a market for it, someone almost always does ie. Arrow --> S&S; Morgan --> Chance etc).

The link that Wikipedia lists is broken, but it is supposedly Oregon Rides Inc. that possesses the rights to Eyerly Craft Company's rides.

https://www.macraesbluebook.com/search/company.cfm?company=596794

[139Signal27]

19 minutes ago, TombraiderTy said:

Also, for what it's worth... Canada's Wonderland's Monster ride (Shiva's Fury) wasn't sent to Kings Island in 2003. The ride shuttered that year, but it then sat in storage at Canada's Wonderland until I think 2008 or 2009. I wish I could find the old posts about it on CWMania.com (an old Canada's Wonderland fansite), but their forums no longer exist and the Wayback Machine doesn't seem to have archived them.

I’m going to believe the official blog over a fansite every time.

[TombraiderTy]

13 minutes ago, 139Signal27 said:

I’m going to believe the official blog over a fansite every time.

Believe what you want, but the pieces of The Fury / Shiva's Fury weren't at Kings Island in 2003... or 2004... or 2005... as stated, they first appeared around 2008 or 2009. They're visible in Google Earth in 2010, so for sure they were present by then.

And to back-up the claim that the pieces were still at Canada's Wonderland during those earlier years...

Here we have some posts from August 2007 with one user indicating where the ride pieces for The Fury were stored at Canada's Wonderland.

Here is another forum, also August 2007, referencing another defunct ride and how it "would be in peices [sic] behind the park with Shiva's Fury"

And the forum I cannot find on CWMania.com... sorry I can't provide a direct quote, but I remember a 2009 thread where it was discussed that, during an enthusiast event, it was shared that the pieces of The Fury had been sent down to Kings Island.

The blog post is a great summary of the Eyerly Aircraft Company and its contributions to the amusement industry, but the wording suggesting Shiva's Fury was donated to Kings Island in 2003 isn't correct. Shiva's Fury was ultimately sent down to Kings Island, it just took a little bit longer.

[139Signal27]

There’s no way you can know that absolutely no parts were sent to KI in 2003. Why would Chad make that up? Sure, some parts were kept in Canada, but to say that absolutely no parts were sent to KI in 2003 is silly.

[TombraiderTy]

19 minutes ago, 139Signal27 said:

There’s no way you can know that absolutely no parts were sent to KI in 2003. Why would Chad make that up? Sure, some parts were kept in Canada, but to say that absolutely no parts were sent to KI in 2003 is silly.

I never said or implied Chad made anything up. The ride closed in 2003 and was later relocated to Kings Island. Possibly Chad mistook those dates as "the ride was closed and relocated to Kings Island in 2003". Seems like a simple, easy mistake to me.

And in terms of ride parts, the central unit on the ride, the individual pods, and the arms all appeared at Kings Island at the same time in 2008-2009. I don't know if there's much else from the ride that would've been shipped down separately from all that five or six years earlier.

I had forgotten about this until now, but I actually have a personal picture of part of Canada's Wonderland's old ride at Kings Island. The picture was shot from Eiffel Tower on May 23, 2009. I wish my camera zoom had been better, but it's still identifiable. And the reason I took the picture was because the part was something new and hadn't previously been there.

And you can compare it to the same part in our own Monster in this picture, as posted here in June 2015 when the ride was being refurbished.

[139Signal27]

You’re putting a lot of effort into this.

[TombraiderTy]

5 minutes ago, 139Signal27 said:

You’re putting a lot of effort into this.

I pointed out a small error, as I think it's important to keep history accurate. Only had to put more effort in cause you kept commenting 

[BoddaH1994]

25 minutes ago, TombraiderTy said:

I never said or implied Chad made anything up. The ride closed in 2003 and was later relocated to Kings Island. Possibly Chad mistook those dates as "the ride was closed and relocated to Kings Island in 2003". Seems like a simple, easy mistake to me.

And in terms of ride parts, the central unit on the ride, the individual pods, and the arms all appeared at Kings Island at the same time in 2008-2009. I don't know if there's much else from the ride that would've been shipped down separately from all that five or six years earlier.

I had forgotten about this until now, but I actually have a personal picture of part of Canada's Wonderland's old ride at Kings Island. The picture was shot from Eiffel Tower on May 23, 2009. I wish my camera zoom had been better, but it's still identifiable. And the reason I took the picture was because the part was something new and hadn't previously been there.

And you can compare it to the same part in our own Monster in this picture, as posted here in June 2015 when the ride was being refurbished.

I think what we can relatively safely assume is that Fury was a parts donor. Parts - perhaps even most - of the Monster may be parts from Fury for all we know. It’s kind of like the old riddle of, if a different board from a wooden ship is replaced every day at what point is the ship a different ship? 
 

Knowing that you have a unique insight as to how maintenance is done on stuff like this, we may be able to come to the consensus that there is no right answer. Maybe the Monster, as all rides, is made up from a pile of parts. They use some and rehab others. In that regard whether it’s Fury or Monster - it’s all just Monster now. 

[gforce1994]

One could see cars from the Soak City bridge.

[TombraiderTy]

1 minute ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I think what we can relatively safely assume is that Fury was a parts donor. Parts - perhaps even most - of the Monster may be parts from Fury for all we know. It’s kind of like the old riddle of, if a different board from a wooden ship is replaced every day at what point is the ship a different ship? 

Oh I don't question that Fury was used to (thankfully) keep Monster alive. At this point I'd be surprised if it wasn't a hybrid of the two, and big kudos to Kings Island (and Cedar Fair as a whole) for caring for these classic rides enough to keep them running. Also I like your reference to the Ship of Theseus - I think the "Coaster of Theseus" is a fascinating philosophical discussion to be had 

Anyhow, to push this more on topic... Here's some interesting shots of Monster I've stumbled on over the years with relevant information. Hopefully users find them enjoyable.

Here's a rare June 1970 shot of Monster at Cincinnati's Coney Island, a couple years after it opened. The picture was shared by Mark Bengel in some Facebook groups about a year-and-a-half ago. Note the circular "skirt" around the base of the ride - I don't think that ever made it to Kings Island (but anyone please correct me if I'm wrong).

A funny 1972 screengrab from The Partridge Family's I Left My Heart in Cincinnati episode (note the YouTube link is a cut version of the episode). I've always found it interesting that a keen eye could spot security, management, etc. lined-up against the fence watching. I'd be surprised if Kings Island allowed people in the ride area like such for any reason today.

A 1974 shot, shared on this site in this incredible topic. I believe that spiral pattern was added in 1973 (or possibly mid-1972). I'd love to see that return someday.

That infamous 1981 shot with the ride missing  It was originally posted on fuse.net, but its page is long gone. (Hopefully without going too far into it, for anyone unfamiliar... the old rumor was that KI removed Monster for the 1981 season and shipped it up to Canada's Wonderland, where it opened as Shiva's Fury. In 1982, Monster re-opened at Kings Island but it was not the same ride - instead, it was the one that had been intended for Canada's Wonderland. Canada's Wonderland operated our "original" Monster through 2003, and in an ironic twist it was ultimately returned to Kings Island for spare parts usage. However, looking at a 1980 construction photo of Canada's Wonderland you'd see Shiva's Fury... which debunks that whole rumor, as Monster wasn't also gone from Kings Island in 1980. There's still the question of why Monster was missing in 1981 though, and the newspaper excerpt shared by @KIghostguy is worth discussing.)

One more shot and much more recent (and from KICentral's own photo gallery). Those tube lights were removed from the top piece around 2005 I think... Cedar Point's still has them though, so hopefully someday Kings Island will return them to our ride.

[gforce1994]

4 minutes ago, TombraiderTy said:

Oh I don't question that Fury was used to (thankfully) keep Monster alive. At this point I'd be surprised if it wasn't a hybrid of the two, and big kudos to Kings Island (and Cedar Fair as a whole) for caring for these classic rides enough to keep them running. Also I like your reference to the Ship of Theseus - I think the "Coaster of Theseus" is a fascinating philosophical discussion to be had 

Anyhow, to push this more on topic... Here's some interesting shots of Monster I've stumbled on over the years with relevant information. Hopefully users find them enjoyable.

Here's a rare June 1970 shot of Monster at Cincinnati's Coney Island, a couple years after it opened. The picture was shared by Mark Bengel in some Facebook groups about a year-and-a-half ago. Note the circular "skirt" around the base of the ride - I don't think that ever made it to Kings Island (but anyone please correct me if I'm wrong).

A funny 1972 screengrab from The Partridge Family's I Left My Heart in Cincinnati episode (note the YouTube link is a cut version of the episode). I've always found it interesting that a keen eye could spot security, management, etc. lined-up against the fence watching. I'd be surprised if Kings Island allowed people in the ride area like such for any reason today.

A 1974 shot, shared on this site in this incredible topic. I believe that spiral pattern was added in 1973 (or possibly mid-1972). I'd love to see that return someday.

That infamous 1981 shot with the ride missing  It was originally posted on fuse.net, but its page is long gone. (Hopefully without going too far into it, for anyone unfamiliar... the old rumor was that KI removed Monster for the 1981 season and shipped it up to Canada's Wonderland, where it opened as Shiva's Fury. In 1982, Monster re-opened at Kings Island but it was not the same ride - instead, it was the one that had been intended for Canada's Wonderland. Canada's Wonderland operated our "original" Monster through 2003, and in an ironic twist it was ultimately returned to Kings Island for spare parts usage. However, looking at a 1980 construction photo of Canada's Wonderland you'd see Shiva's Fury... which debunks that whole rumor, as Monster wasn't also gone from Kings Island in 1980. There's still the question of why Monster was missing in 1981 though, and the newspaper excerpt shared by @KIghostguy is worth discussing.)

One more shot and much more recent (and from KICentral's own photo gallery). Those tube lights were removed from the top piece around 2005 I think... Cedar Point's still has them though, so hopefully someday Kings Island will return them to our ride.

Unless the ride was disassembled and replaced by Monster.

[Benjamin22]

So interesting how much history just one, small flat ride has. Great blog and love the discussion that’s occurred here. 

[CorkscrewMcPuke]

The mention of Roll-O-Planes got me thinking. It'd be pretty sweet if we got a large version of the same thing one day. (I know we already did.)

But the attributes of the design still have potential for a modern flat.

[Benjamin22]

^ What is that a picture of?

[standbyme]

7 hours ago, TombraiderTy said:

I don't think that ever made it to Kings Island (but anyone please correct me if I'm wrong).

Oh...you don't have to worry about THAT around here! 

[TombRaiderFTW]

^ That's the best thing I've ever seen.

[Klabergian Empire]

59 minutes ago, standbyme said:

Oh...you don't have to worry about THAT around here! 

We need this as a separate thread NOW!!!!

[Pagoda Gift Shop]

Monster is (and probably always will be) an underrated ride.  I never knew they painted the ground in all those colors.  As for the time it was "missing", could the answer be similar to how Shake, Rattle, and Roll went missing for refurbishment? 

It is not uncommon that flat rides are stripped completely down to nothing every few off-seasons.