Well, I heard that the original plan was to relocate the Eagles to the old Flight Commander site. But, apparantely corporate nixed that idea and sent the ride down to Carowinds. I think that the Flight Commander site is prime real estate for a new flat ride. Anything is better than the Eurobungees.

This was my favorite part of the park with the winding ivy tunnel I loved going thru that as a child.

Great memories. Alot pf parks that were built in the 70's had these. Some parks even have fans or misters in there's.

yeah i think its pretty much agreed that we really lack an organized and maintained landscape. we can only hope for change.

...Son of Beast should have been built in another area....

Yeah...like South America.

I agree that IJ and AZ would have been inseparable, not unlike the Olson twins.

Yeah, that ride in AZ would blend right in. The area around Eifel Tower always seemed almost sacred.

Nothing was sacred to the Paramount Park folk. I swear that they'd spit on your mother if they could squeeze a nickel out of her.

You might want to ask older Dorney Park fans what Cedar Fair considers sacred....

Remember, the theme park industry is a business, not a shrine...

And closed parks generally can't and don't preserve much of anything.

We are NOT a closed or landlocked park.

No doubt any business needs to be competitive, and change if it is necessary to be competitive. Part of being competitive though is being unique. I think one of the big things that made KI unique is that area where IJ is. It was a KI trademark. I have nothing against IJ in and of itself, just the location was stupid. I'm sure its very difficult to balance heritage and with-it-ness. You don't want to lose too much of one, but you don't want to fall behind in the other. However, in this case, I think most people will agree they screwed up.

Whoo hoo i am right. I guessed 1992 because Flight Commander is still there and Top Gun is not present . Also you can see Adventure Express in the corner of one of them. We need to have like an offseason pic quiz and try to guess what year they were.

EDIT*

Whoo hoo i am right. I guessed 1992 because Flight Commander is still there and Top Gun is still present

TOPGUN opened in1993 not 1992.

i moved back to cincy in 2003. i hadn't been to ki since 1981. the park is nothing like i remembered. the landscaping was always top notch. i definitely agree that ij was a waste. i enjoyed riding with my kids on the antique cars and then they were gone.

yeah i think its pretty much agreed that we really lack an organized and maintained landscape. we can only hope for change.

Wow, you should really get to the park early (before open) and see all the work. They change a lot of those flowers around the park constantly, especially those flowers on the date display . KI's grass must be very emo too because it must cut itself.

Don't be so quick to dis ground crew. Kings Island wouldn't look good without them.

yeah i think its pretty much agreed that we really lack an organized and maintained landscape. we can only hope for change.

Wow, you should really get to the park early (before open) and see all the work. They change a lot of those flowers around the park constantly, especially those flowers on the date display . KI's grass must be very emo too because it must cut itself.

Don't be so quick to dis ground crew. Kings Island wouldn't look good without them.

I don't think anyone is dissing the grounds crew. They're just pointing out that landscaping is a shadow of what it was during KECO's management.

It's even a shadow of that found in many other parks...such as Six Flags Over Georgia, Busch Gardens Anywhere, Dollywood, etc.

It's even a shadow of that found in many other parks...such as Six Flags Over Georgia, Busch Gardens Anywhere, Dollywood, etc.

Well, Busch Gardens is in a class all it's own. Not even Disney can touch the landscaping and arhitecture at the Busch Parks.

Emo.. cutting itself.... abosultley Hilarious

OK, this pic will really give it away:

You guys are good! Long line for AE. Would have never picked up on that one.

It was Friday, July 24 1992. That was only my 2nd trip to the park, the first being in '75 (gotta look those pics up, too). I've always kicked myself about that '92 trip because I didn't realize the monorail was there, and didn't ride it. I have pics of the Wild Animal Habitat from the '75 trip (I was 3!).

Thanks for the comments, too. I believe I took those pics with just a small auto-focus 35mm camera.

Those pics really brought back memories for me. I will look up the pics that I have when I first started working at Kings Island back in 1972.

Mike

^Excellent!

WOW

An Older Employee Than Me!

Welcome to the list Mike!

I always thought I was an oddball when I thought that BLSC should have been placed in Action Zone. I doubt the park would invest in a removal and restoration of this area, but one could hope!

Ha!  I thought the title of this thread sounded familiar.  I can't believe how long ago it was that I created it.  It also dawned on me this past summer that it had been 25 years since the visit that this thread was created about.  I was going to attempt to visit Kings Island on the exact same date (25 years later), but I ended up just missing it by a week!

Old school topic bump. I've been checking out your PTR's @KIfan73 and just wanted to say I really enjoyed them, particularly this one. Thanks for capturing the park so many times!