Kings Island: A Ride Through Time Reviews

[IndyGuy4KI]

As books start arriving from preorder, lets use this thread to put in our reviews and thoughts on Kings Island: A Ride Through Time.

Please use the <spoiler></spoiler> tag if you reveal something in the book that others may not know yet.

Here are 2 podcasts where we discuss the book with Evan Ponstingle.

Released Feb 22nd 2020 -  

Released March 25th 2021 - 

To preorder this book, which is slated to be released on April 15th, and learn more about this book, you can do that here:  River Shore Creative here.

[KIghostguy]

Great idea for a thread, thank you for making it! I can’t wait to read everyone’s thoughts as they read through it.

[IndyGuy4KI]

So, I just got my copy two days ago and already 100 pages in. I am loving it so far @KIghostguy It is very detailed and informative. It's like I was sitting in the room as you were doing these interviews.  

[KIghostguy]

3 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

So, I just got my copy two days ago and already 100 pages in. I am loving it so far @KIghostguy It is very detailed and informative. It's like I was sitting in the room as you were doing these interviews.  

So glad you’re enjoying it! It’s the comments like these that really make writing a book worth it. 

[Hoeter]

I just finished the book. Very well done and highly recommended to any fan of Kings Island and this forum. Also to anyone whose a fan of the industry in general, as the park has had more of an impact on the industry than I thought going into it.

Literally I was reading 50 to 60 pages a night since I got the book on Monday, I was hooked on the story of the park and I don’t really read for pleasure. That says something.


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[KIghostguy]

1 hour ago, Hoeter said:

I just finished the book. Very well done and highly recommended to any fan of Kings Island and this forum. Also to anyone whose a fan of the industry in general, as the park has had more of an impact on the industry than I thought going into it.

Literally I was reading 50 to 60 pages a night since I got the book on Monday, I was hooked on the story of the park and I don’t really read for pleasure. That says something.


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Thank you so much for your kind comments! It means a lot to me. I’m so glad you enjoyed your ride!

[Snowball]

Preordered mine today! Can't wait to read it!

[Gordon Bombay]

Only about 1/4 through so far after this weekend, but wow this book is great so far. 

Learning so many great things. 

[KIghostguy]

1 hour ago, Gordon Bombay said:

Only about 1/4 through so far after this weekend, but wow this book is great so far. 

Learning so many great things. 

Thank you! So glad you’re enjoying it so far!

[Lakota88]

Just finished reading it last night. It is fantastic -- very well-written and researched. There is so much about KI history I didn't know despite growing up in the area.

I just wish there were more (and larger) photos. I'd love to have a coffee table book with full color photos of all the KI attractions, past and present.

[KIghostguy]

3 hours ago, Lakota88 said:

Just finished reading it last night. It is fantastic -- very well-written and researched. There is so much about KI history I didn't know despite growing up in the area.

I just wish there were more (and larger) photos. I'd love to have a coffee table book with full color photos of all the KI attractions, past and present.

Thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed the book. You can check out the photos that didn't make it into the book at: https://www.rivershorecreative.com/kingsislandphotos

[McSalsa]

I finished the book a few days ago, but have not had a chance to write a review until now. It has been repeated a lot so far, but this book is great. Since I have done tons of my own KI history research I thought I knew almost everything about the park's history, and thus a lot of the book was stuff I knew, but there was still a decent amount of stuff I did not know and even the stuff I did was fun to read about again. It was great reading from almost all the past GM's and managers and stuff and why they did what they did, learning about why certain rides were the way they are (wanna know why The Beast has so much straight track, for example? This book explains it!) and also some of the stuff that was proposed but never came to be, including rides that never were and the proposed fixes for Son of Beast after it closed in 2009 that were all rejected (IMO some really radical changes too). My favorite section of the book may well actually be the Mystic Timbers section- it went into so much detail about why the park added a GCI, and then all the theming changes before the coaster opened. Including the alternate shed ending that never was and was replaced by the snake (I won't spoil what it is you will have to read the dang book like I did).

10/10 would highly recommend. Oh, and a final note: I love the images the book opens and closes with.

[KIghostguy]

23 minutes ago, McSalsa said:

I finished the book a few days ago, but have not had a chance to write a review until now. It has been repeated a lot so far, but this book is great. Since I have done tons of my own KI history research I thought I knew almost everything about the park's history, and thus a lot of the book was stuff I knew, but there was still a decent amount of stuff I did not know and even the stuff I did was fun to read about again. It was great reading from almost all the past GM's and managers and stuff and why they did what they did, learning about why certain rides were the way they are (wanna know why The Beast has so much straight track, for example? This book explains it!) and also some of the stuff that was proposed but never came to be, including rides that never were and the proposed fixes for Son of Beast after it closed in 2009 that were all rejected (IMO some really radical changes too). My favorite section of the book may well actually be the Mystic Timbers section- it went into so much detail about why the park added a GCI, and then all the theming changes before the coaster opened. Including the alternate shed ending that never was and was replaced by the snake (I won't spoil what it is you will have to read the dang book like I did).

10/10 would highly recommend. Oh, and a final note: I love the images the book opens and closes with.

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it! Hearing such positive thoughts really make my day.

[BeastForever]

I've had the book for almost two months now, but unfortunately it was not until a week ago that I could really set aside the time to start reading it.

That having said, I was finally able to really focus on it Monday, read about 50-60 pages each day since then and just finished the whole thing less an hour ago.

And let me just say...

WOW. Just, wow...

I mean, I knew this book would be great, but this even went so far above my expectations.

This was brilliant.

Flat out, brilliant...

First time I held the book it honestly almost felt overwhelming, just to see that many pages and that heavy a piece of literature dedicated to the history of one park. That's part of why I didn't read it right away. I knew that level of detail was going to require a certain level of focus in order to fully appreciate it. But when I finally found the time, I was able to read every word of every page.

And it was worth every penny, and every day of waiting...

Obviously I'll refrain from going into too much detail so as not to spoil any of the key stories/surprises. But generally speaking what I was fascinated by perhaps more than anything was how projects develop over time throughout the planning process, and also how quickly the direction of said projects can change over time.

This I'm sure is true of the industry in general, but of course is that much interesting when looked at through the lens of all the major projects, additions, revamps, overhauls etc. throughout KI's history.

The Mystic Timbers and Orion sections are very in depth. I was just amazed at all the details, info, and insights that I Iearned from the backstories of KI's two most recent roller coasters.

The whole book is downright phenomenal but if I'm to pick a favorite part, it would probably be going from Mystic Timbers all the way to the end. There are acknowledgments in the back of the book, but I would like to give my own thanks to all those interviewed (and the author, of course) that made those pages in particular possible!

This book is just such a great thing to happen for the Kings Island community. For so long, us fans never really had that definitive work of history that encapsulates the park's storied past in as a comprehensive and all-encompassing way that this book does. Now we have it. And by one of KIC's own!

Thank you so much @KIghostguy!

This is a masterpiece!

[KIghostguy]

35 minutes ago, BeastForever said:

I've had the book for almost two months now, but unfortunately it was not until a week ago that I could really set aside the time to start reading it.

That having said, I was finally able to really focus on it Monday, read about 50-60 pages each day since then and just finished the whole thing less an hour ago.

And let me just say...

WOW. Just, wow...

I mean, I knew this book would be great, but this even went so far above my expectations.

This was brilliant.

Flat out, brilliant...

First time I held the book it honestly almost felt overwhelming, just to see that many pages and that heavy a piece of literature dedicated to the history of one park. That's part of why I didn't read it right away. I knew that level of detail was going to require a certain level of focus in order to fully appreciate it. But when I finally found the time, I was able to read every word of every page.

And it was worth every penny, and every day of waiting...

Obviously I'll refrain from going into too much detail so as not to spoil any of the key stories/surprises. But generally speaking what I was fascinated by perhaps more than anything was how projects develop over time throughout the planning process, and also how quickly the direction of said projects can change over time.

This I'm sure is true of the industry in general, but of course is that much interesting when looked at through the lens of all the major projects, additions, revamps, overhauls etc. throughout KI's history.

The Mystic Timbers and Orion sections are very in depth. I was just amazed at all the details, info, and insights that I Iearned from the backstories of KI's two most recent roller coasters.

The whole book is downright phenomenal but if I'm to pick a favorite part, it would probably be going from Mystic Timbers all the way to the end. There are acknowledgments in the back of the book, but I would like to give my own thanks to all those interviewed (and the author, of course) that made those pages in particular possible!

This book is just such a great thing to happen for the Kings Island community. For so long, us fans never really had that definitive work of history that encapsulates the park's storied past in as a comprehensive and all-encompassing way that this book does. Now we have it. And by one of KIC's own!

Thank you so much @KIghostguy!

This is a masterpiece!

Thank you for your kind words; you made my night! It really means the world to me. I’m so glad you enjoyed the book that much! So rewarding for me to read. I really enjoyed working on it, so I love reading that it paid off for you!!

[BeastForever]

So now that I've had some more time to think about all the new stuff I learned, a few thoughts I would like to add:

Of all the great stories in this book, one of my favorite has definitely got to be:

Spoiler

how the Festhaus makeover and Glockenspiel restoration was not originally part of the I-Street renovation, and it was none other than @TOPGUN1993who pitched the idea to "the right people" in order to get that done.

I remember when the Gockenspiel's return was announced in March 2019, just thinking how uncanny the timing of that was, considering that there was a lengthy thread just a few months earlier in December 2018 assessing the then-lackluster state of the Festhaus facade. So to see the Festhaus all of a sudden be included in the I-Street renovation, I just thought: "It feels like someone from KIC is behind this."

And sure enough it was!

TOPGUN1993 is also responsible for a lot of other intricate theming details throughout the park. To him I would like to say great work, and keep killing it!

There is this great quote he has on page 328-329:

"As we've seen, all these older things the parks did are almost always way cooler and detailed than things are today. Like all these paint styles and painted murals, why did we ever get rid of that? I see the park as a big canvas and we're creating the artwork with everything we do within it."

Could not agree more!

And it is that mindset that really separates a true amusement/theme park from just "a place with rides". There are a whole bunch of "places with rides" throughout the country and world, but it's this kind of appreciation for the aesthetics and ambience side of things that make a park something special. Again, thank you for your work, and we can't wait to see what else you have in store for KI/CF!

As for my thoughts that are not potentially spoiler-inducing, I will say this:

The big takeaway I got from the final chapter "Still Going Strong", is that, after reading about all the fine attention to detail that park management and staff put into the I-Street Renovation, Antique Autos, and of course the theming packages for Mystic Timbers and Orion, I am assured more than ever of their ability to put the best product forward.

They really do think about everything it seems. An example of this that really struck me was how they made sure when you ride Mystic Timbers, which color train you're in would have no indication on which creature would present itself in the shed.

But what about which song that plays? Nope, apparently that does not give it away either! So in other words, it's completely random and there's no way to decipher a code. That is ingenious!

The park is in a position right now where I, and I'm sure many others, can confidently say that the park is 100% in the right hands and those behind the scenes are truly skilled and passionate at what they do.

Perhaps most importantly, the park is united in a common and cohesive vision - more so than it has been arguably since Taft/KECO. It is great to observe the park in a time where everyone involved is on the same page as they are now.

Again great stuff! And I look forward to that Zoom event tomorrow!

[Skibum]

Finally ordered my copy and cannot wait to receive it tomorrow.  I've been going to the park since 1975 and this history will be a true walk through time for me.

[IndyGuy4KI]

On 6/16/2021 at 10:12 AM, Skibum said:

Finally ordered my copy and cannot wait to receive it tomorrow.  I've been going to the park since 1975 and this history will be a true walk through time for me.

I don't think you will be disappointed. Great book.

[Skibum]

On 6/17/2021 at 10:36 AM, IndyGuy4KI said:

I don't think you will be disappointed. Great book.

 

It truly is a great book.  Excellent details and descriptions.  Truly fascinating.

[MDMC01]

So, I finally started reading the book tonight. Just finished the first chapter (and the two intro sections before this) and I already love it! It's well written, easy to read (as in, I'm not having to grab a dictionary every two seconds, unlike other books I've read) and the reading experience is both exciting and nostalgic. Great job @KIghostguy! Also, great integration of the interviews thus far (it reminds me a lot of a similar book I read called Slimed about the early days of Nickelodeon) I am looking forward to learning more as I go!