What Are Your Earlies Memories of KI?

[The Interpreter]

Actually, by October 2 back in 1992, Paramount Communications owned Kings Island (they bought it July 31 of that year, if memory serves)...and would the next year sell to Viacom...

[KI-ORIG-EMP]

My parents would always tell me about their time they had at Coney Island and the trips they made on the old stern wheeler Island Queen taking them back and forth from the public landing to Coney. They even said just the trip on the Queen was worth it. I remember being at Coney on the very last day of operation before moving to Kings Island the very next year. I was in the Kings High School band and we were invited to perform at Coney and again on the opening season at KI. I used to sit in the lunch room watching the park being constructed and could not wait to enjoy the park and most of all, work there.

I remember the very long lines in front of the employment office in the very dead of winter waiting for the chance of applying and working at the park. I got my wish in June of 72 and I have been having fun every since.

I remember all the rides and my first trip on The Racer. I do not know why but I always had a fear of roller coasters but after my first time going down the first hill, I was hooked for life. I had a blast riding The Bat before it was shut down and and received the worse sun burn on my head. That was when I knew my hair was getting thin. I remember eating the choclate covered nutty frozen banana on a stick; eating LaRosa's pizza, pop and beer stands every where; The best time was watching the dare devils, the Flying Laliondas (sp?) climing the Eifle Tower and on a wire across the fountain. But most of all I enjoyed watching and listening to the clown band. As a saxophone player I so much wanted to be part of that band. They along with Yogi and the gang attended various functions representing Kings Island. What a joy to be part of the park through the ages.

Mike

[bonafidefreak]

The Wonder Bread Bakery on International Street...you could buy mini fresh baked loaves of bread.

The Bayurn Curve rocked! The Beer Barrels! The singing mushrooms in German Village! Live characters on the train ride! The Enchanted Voyage! Watching the Partridge Family "perform" where the stage in front of the fountains is! The Dolphin Show! The old characters...Fred , Barney, Capt Caveman, the Hair Bears, the Banana Splits! Evil Knevil. Wish they would build a museum on site.

[Purplehaze]

omfg! You just flooded my mind with fond memories. Also dont forget the Firestone Sky Jumpers!

[SharonSD]

I remember the Wonder Bread place.....it was the best place. Fresh hot little loaves of bread. Fantastic 

[Joshua]

My earliest memories are riding Smurf's Enchanted Voyage, Scrappy's Slide, Fender Bender 500, Jetson's Jet Orbiters, and I even have a vague recollection of riding Winnie Witch's Cauldron. I remember waiting in line for The Beastie when my dad told me that it not only predated The Beast, but that it used to be called Scooby Doo. I can still remember the thoughts that went through my head. This was here longer than The Beast? Why isn't it still called Scooby Doo? Everything else is Hanna-Barbera. In retrospect, I find it interesting how even then, before I was able to ride it, The Beast had its claws on me. When you were at Kings Island, you were in The Beast's territory. 

Although at the time, I would have pronounced it "terror-tory." 

Finally, I remember "The Smurfs' Ride," as I called it then, being the first departure to really hit me. You mean, these things can go away? 

[DonnaFan]

I remember the Smurf ride in the 80s and one Winterfest when an Olympic ice skater did a routine to the song Over the Rainbow. My earliest memory is probably the hill that the Smurf boat would go over. Oh, and I clearly remember a character show (Smurfs again?) where Gargamel was on the right side of the stage and I was on stage with other kids and I was scared and yanked on the dancer's hand who was escorting me past the right and I fled off the left side. My mother was upset at me and told me I was very rude. I was so freaked out by Gargamel and now I wouldn't blame my child for acting on instincts of self preservation!

[HandsUp]

Memories through the years:

-Having the '1st ride of the day' be the tram ride from the parking lot

-Those bright, cold fruit-shaped drink bottles 

-The rainbow lights leading into the Enchanted Voyage and the big snail (now at Jungle Jim's) telling us to 'Have a H-Happy Day!'

-Thinking The Beastie was huge

-Roving HB characters

-The '2 log flumes' when KCKC was there

-Vague memories of The Bat

-The Festhaus being German and a show including 'Oh Holy Night' at Winterfest

-The Flying Dutchman

-The gasoline smell of the original tiques

-Bringing lunch and leaving it in the picnic area (by the front or between WW and HB)

-Lining up at the ivy tunnel to get 1st train on The Beast

-Baseball cards and hats from that shop that's by the IS bathrooms..esp. the cool 'new' black White Sox hats

-Pounding an Icee in The Beast line between the concession stand and the station

-Speakers in The Beast line blasting The Who and They Might be Giants

-Flirting with girls in my class while ice skating and riding the train on an 8th grade trip

-One time in 7th-8th grade getting a ride out there in the AM and my aunt was to pick us up at 6. As we were heading out to leave through the front gates, my dad catches us as he came down from the International Restaurant. Turns out he and my mom had decided last minute to see the Moody Blues @ Timberwolf-which meant we had another 4+ hours of night rides! Crazy how we made stuff happen before cell phones. 

-Wearing my Reds hat fall of '90 and passing an age/weight opp who yelled to me: "Reds in 6!!" ...only took them 4 to sweep the A's

-MTV The Grind and finally kissing my HS crush out by the front gates afterwards

-Pounding out 138 rides during DB's maiden season (a small feet by your guys' standards, but a lot for me)

-Getting to ride Beast, Vortex, Drop Tower, The Bat and Mystic Timbers with my son who just turned 48' (this was just a few weeks ago lol)

[DonnaFan]

Gosh these comments bring back so many memories.

I remember the animal safari and those giant glass windows separating the tigers from us.

Those fruit drinks that came in the shapes of the fruit, like a bunch of purple grapes, and they'd be nestled in crushed ice in a wagon on I Street.

Smurf ice cream and LaRosa's cheese pizza. Or pepperoni but they used to bake the pepperoni under the cheese so it was impossible to know what kind it was.

I remember being terrified of Haystack.

There used to be a German show in the Festhaus. Then Game On. During one Winterfest there was a show with the Caroling Co-Eds.

In Heritage Theater there was a show called Escapade sponsored by Chevrolet and we'd clap to the beat before the show started and some cool teenagers always clapped off beat to be rebellious. Before that was a show about Hollywood and opening night and there was a Charlie Chaplin routine with the Keystone Cops. There was also some show in there where they sang Pink Cadillac and Do You Love Me and they had a real pink convertible they'd roll out on stage. There was also a magic show there one year. My mother still has pictures and videos of those old shows. 

[BoddaH1994]

Gosh...

-I scraped my hand on Scrappy’s Slide (it was in HBL by then) and my aunt gave me ice from her drink to put on it.

-One of the vehicles from Der Spin Keggers was closed because someone puked in it.

-Thinking anyone who would ride Vortex was classifiably insane.

-My dad ditching the family and watching the Cheers show all day. He didn’t ride stuff anyway. lol

-Seeing a show in the Enchanted Theater and the performer coming up to my brother and I so we could sing John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt into the mic.

-The monorail stopping for an extended period of time because there was an animal on the track.

-Riding the trams to the campground and then walking out to Kings Mills Rd. My friends and I thought we were such rebels.

Some other memories that aren’t that far back but still feel like a lifetime ago:

-My first coaster event - Beastbuzz 2005, they were celebrating The Beast’s 25th anniversary. That bad boy turns 40 this year...

-Taking a construction tour of Great Wolf. It was a shirt and tie thing and they fed us.  I remember it being super hot in there since it was August and the building wasn’t finished so there was no AC!

-Riding X Flight at Geauga and then Firehawk at KI the next year. RIP

-Watching the first ever Dead Awakening and literally watching as people had to scramble to pick their jaws up off the ground at the end of the show.

-Watching the 4th fireworks from the roof of the IR in like 2005. Somehow they IR lost power so we had to climb down the access ladder in the dark!

-Spending a fair amount of time with Robbie Knievel. He had his demons, but he really was a nice guy. I’d hang out with him again.

-Speaking of the Kaptain - being front row, center for the Knievel jump. That was my favorite day I’d ever spent at KI.

- Driving around the park with midget wrestlers in my car. I filmed some promo stuff with them and ended up more or less following them around all day and documenting. One of them who was supposed to be at WEBN in the morning but couldn’t get up in time for it. Puppet (the head midget, I guess?) had me film him going into the guy’s room at Great Wolf and farting on him as punishment.

-Riding The Beast with Al Snow way past his prime. I think he was flattered that I knew who he was.

-CBS owning the park and seeing the park at its worst. 

-Waking up to the news that Cedar Fair bought the park. I still have “woah, really?” moments from that.

-Meeting Dick Kinzel and he politely acted like he had heard of KIC, and we politely acted flattered that he would say that. After and awkward silence, Dane asks him, “So how much did your belt cost?”

-...and many more.

Of course, the most important memories are with the friends I have made over the past 15 or so years.

 

 

[flightoffear1996]

Ill just to a quick post. It was 1999 or maybe 1998. It was one of my first visits to the park without my parents. My friend and I were in the water park on the little pirate ship slide. I was at the top of the slide and slipped. That’s the last thing I remember until I hit the bottom of the slide.   I smacked my head on the back of slide and the park ambulance road me to first aide where I got sent to the hospital for 6  stitches in the back of my head. 

[Stoan]

I vaguely remember there being animal cages, mostly birds, in the center sections of Coney Mall. That is my earliest memory of KI, I was probably 5 or 6 so it would be very early 90s.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Me and my dad riding the Great Pumpkin Coaster back when it was Little Bills and knowing a guy in the photo booth there, I also remember them trying to get me on Woodstock Express back when it was Fairly Odd Coaster and I was scared of coasters back then. 

[Sol44]

I was born in 1977. Some memories way back:

 

-the clown band - always an exciting moment when you saw them traversing the park.

 

-the floral tunnel between Hanna Barbera land and Rivertown - very neat, and cool even in hot weather!

 

-legit Potato Works fries - in the big cup. The stuff they serve now isn’t even close.

 

-vague memory of these little plastic sugar/juice filled bottles shaped like the Hanna Barbera characters. They’d be sold in a cart on ice, usually near the front gate, they were cold, and they were heavenly as a 5 year old.

 

-the secluded picnic area my family would find, down a “trail” into the woods toward Swan Lake, somewhere over by where Annie Anne’s is located? Very cool spot.

 

-Screamin’ Demon - what a feeling to conquer this as a little guy. The walk up the steps - the view from up there, going upside-freakin-down and backwards!

 

- the shootout on the train ride - what a pleasure to watch as a boy.

 

-was there Opening Day for King Cobra. My dad was interviewed in the park by Channel 9 and it aired on the 6pm and 11pm news. I thought it was a huge deal haha.

 

-the Oak Ridge Boys at Timberwolf, circa 1984

 

-the Eagles - I thought my dad was a superhero the way he made them dip and dive.

 

-the Smurf Ride, particularly that little “hill” the boats would go over.

 

 

Here is my 1982 season pass haha

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DonnaFan]

I still have my passes from the mid 80s when I was a kid. I couldn't believe when we got passes this year that they don't do pictures on them now! I was really looking forward to my son getting his little face on a pass like I had.

[flightoffear1996]

1 hour ago, Sol44 said:

I was born in 1977. Some memories way back:

 

-the clown band - always an exciting moment when you saw them traversing the park.

 

-the floral tunnel between Hanna Barbera land and Rivertown - very neat, and cool even in hot weather!

 

-legit Potato Works fries - in the big cup. The stuff they serve now isn’t even close.

 

-vague memory of these little plastic sugar/juice filled bottles shaped like the Hanna Barbera characters. They’d be sold in a cart on ice, usually near the front gate, they were cold, and they were heavenly as a 5 year old.

 

-the secluded picnic area my family would find, down a “trail” into the woods toward Swan Lake, somewhere over by where Annie Anne’s is located? Very cool spot.

 

-Screamin’ Demon - what a feeling to conquer this as a little guy. The walk up the steps - the view from up there, going upside-freakin-down and backwards!

 

- the shootout on the train ride - what a pleasure to watch as a boy.

 

-was there Opening Day for King Cobra. My dad was interviewed in the park by Channel 9 and it aired on the 6pm and 11pm news. I thought it was a huge deal haha.

 

-the Oak Ridge Boys at Timberwolf, circa 1984

 

-the Eagles - I thought my dad was a superhero the way he made them dip and dive.

 

-the Smurf Ride, particularly that little “hill” the boats would go over.

 

 

Here is my 1982 season pass haha

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

This is probably a dumb question but was that seriously what the passes looked loe

[Kayla_Uzlik]

My first KI memory is when I was on the train with my mom and I had to be around 6 or so. It was getting cold and my mom tried to force me to put on my Curious George jacket and I said "no! I'm not cold!" and then she said "you have goosebumps, you're cold" and forced it on me 

[Sol44]

This is probably a dumb question but was that seriously what the passes looked loe

 

This is my 1982 pass, yes. Haha. There is no writing on the back or anything. In subsequent years the passes got progressively fancier. It’d be interesting to see a version of the pass each year, to see the evolution of form.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ldhudsonjr]

On 5/17/2019 at 1:50 AM, BoddaH1994 said:

CBS owning the park and seeing the park at its worst. 

This is probably a better topic for another thread but this was during my late teenage hiatus from going to KI that lasted a couple of years, but I'd love to know what you mean by this. What happened during the period between the Viacom split and Cedar Fair? Though I had been to the park prior to PKI, I grew up mostly during the time Paramount owned the park and remember feeling really sad when CF bought the park. I don't feel that way anymore, but I do still get nostalgic for the PKI days every now and then.

[BavarianBeatle]

1972.  I remember riding the train with people beside it, log flume, Scooby Doo, Bavarian Beetle, not being tall enough for racer, not being tall enough to drive the antique and turnpike cars, the original Enchanted Voyage.  I was three years old and I thought it was the best thing ever. 

  

[McSalsa]

I can share my early memories of KI- at least what I remember. I was 10 years old, and it was the summer of 2000. (Probably August) We got lost on the way to the park and had to get directions, but we made it. It was a big family trip- we had at least 10+ people, probably more. The big new ride (which I was seeing advertised on TV) was Son of Beast. As we were on the way to Kings Island, I was so sure I was gonna ride it, given I had ridden Hoosier Hurricane at Indiana Beach 1 year before and it was fine.

Then we got to the park and I actually saw Son of Beast. For reference, Hoosier Hurricane is about 78 feet tall. Son of Beast was 218. Yeah, I chickened out- and about a decade later, when I finally got the courage to start riding big coasters...Son of Beast closed for good. I do remember watching Son of Beast from the Eiffel Tower though- I went up there 3 times total that day! I really enjoyed the Eiffel Tower. Still do. Also, my first ride ever at Kings Island was...Atom Ant's Airways. Now it is known as Sally's Sea Plane.

I also vividly remember King Cobra. Never rode it either, but I remember just standing on the walkway where Sling Shot is now where that big loop went right past the path. As a kid, I thought that looked very cool. I was actually a bit shocked to learn the entire ride would be gone just 2 years later.

Also, seeing the sheer size of SOB made me nervous even on the smaller coasters. What was then The Beastie (now Woodstock Express) gave me a bit of a scare, and Racer was flat-out terrifying to 10-year-old me because I didn't realize what airtime was.

I also recall watching my Mother ride Drop Zone, and we saw some show in the Kings Island Theater (I think it was a musical show about monsters in movies). I also remember not being able to really see most of Beast- if only I knew to look BEHIND Vortex back then from the Eiffel Tower.

It was a fun trip- TBH, I am a bit shocked I can remember as much of it as I do. That says something.

[silver2005]

I remember early 90's KI, but mostly HB Land.  I don't think I ever rode the monorail or ventured much in the adult side unless  it was watching my dad ride King Cobra and Vortex.  I got scared on a few of the rides, like Beastie and Enchanted Voyage.  Really didn't like coasters and dark rides for a while in the early days.   Riding the KIMVRR made up for it and I could handle both the log flumes a-okay.  A lot of good memories on the original Tiques as well.  

Beast was incredibly horrific to me on my first ride as I got taller and I also didn't take a liking to Adventure Express.  I also was iffy on Racer (both woodies still had buzz bars at that time), though I made it okay and I only rode forwards at first.  

Then I discovered Top Gun.  I was hooked instantly and I eventually conquered my fears of the other big coasters.  I got my first Vortex ride and first Beast night ride (which was my 2nd ride overall on Beast) back to back on one of the 11 pm closings during the PKI days.  That was easily my favorite KI visit.

Back in those days since there were less rides, The Vortex queue would stretch past Dodgems and Beast would wind its way past the Rivertown side of Tiques (about as far back as the Backlot launch track). Flight of Fear was routinely 90 minutes-2 hours long. KC had quite the waits, too.  I also miss the Cool Zone in The Beast queue.    

[BeastBabyDoll]

My memories aren't nearly as nostalgic, because I was born in 2000 lol. 

I've always greatly enjoyed amusement parks, and some of my earliest memories involved amusement parks. 

In regards to Kings Island I remember...

-being at Kings Island during a tornado  (I was in the water park at the time) and they locked us in the bathrooms.

-riding Adventure Express on loop right before the park closed 

- my dad telling me "The son of The Beast isn't even as scary as The Beast because it's his son" to get me to go on it. I was probably 5-6 and was very gullible lol

-tricking my friend who was scared of everything into riding tomb raider by saying it was "just a dark ride"

-BACKWARDS RACER

 

[Logan]

My earliest memory is definitely riding The Beastie with my dad. I would marathon that thing all day. Also remember riding Scooby's Ghoster Coaster with my dad too. That was a strange, quirky ride. Why did KI even build it in the first place?

[ldhudsonjr]

On 5/23/2019 at 1:50 PM, BeastBabyDoll said:

- my dad telling me "The son of The Beast isn't even as scary as The Beast because it's his son" to get me to go on it. I was probably 5-6 and was very gullible lol 

you were able to ride SoB at 5 or six? Jesus Christ...my son just turned 7 and isn't quite tall enough to ride Racer...

As far as my earliest memories of the park, I consider myself lucky to have witnessed (as a very small child) the very end of KI before Paramount, but most of my early memories of the park are from the PKI days.

Early memories:

-Riding with my dad on what I'm fairly certain was "Sunshine Turnpike". I never knew the name of it, but I've always had the memory of riding around little sports car looking things, and definitely remember an underpass.

-Phantom Theater: as a kid, I probably associated this attraction with KI more than any other (maybe with the exception of the Eiffel Tower if you consider that an attraction). This was always one of the first things I wanted to go on, and as long as it was there I never felt the trip was complete until riding this. Maybe the one thing I most wish hadn't been removed from the park.

-I definitely remember seeing flight commander and thinking that it looked scary as hell.

-Hanna Barbara Land: while I do think that Planet Snoopy is great, I kind of feel bad for my kids that they missed out on Hanna Barbara land. It was so awesome to see all the characters from the cartoons I loved so much. I miss seeing that Mystery Machine.

-Seeing a show in the kids theater and my little sister being picked out of the crowd by Barney Rubble so he could ask her to marry him (or something? It was part of the story I think? If someone could provide any clarity on what show this was please do tell! This would have been earliy 90's. If I had to guess I'd say 91-93 sometime in there.)

-Those candy apples that were completely covered in some kind of red candy. It looks like they may still sell those but I haven't seen one in AGES. It seemed like I saw people walking around with those all the time back in the day.

-BLUE ICE CREAM!

-More trees. I definitely remember there being MUCH MUCH more shade back in the day. Miss that.

-LaRosas Pizza slices! I don't remember seeing any LaRosa's pizza here in Dayton prior to the 2000's, so when we would go to Kings Island I always thought the Pizza there was so great because It was different from the places I was used to. I was in High School or Jr. High when one opened up near me, and was SUPER PSYCHED to be able to get that pizza whenever I wanted. Kind of wish it had stayed the rare treat I remember it being because I hardly ever think of ordering it now.

-SKYLINE! It seemed for years that I couldn't imagine going to Kings Island without stopping by the Larosas near the Carousel for some Skyline. I noticed that the general area where we used to eat is still there, but now that I think of it I'm not sure if there's still a Skyline over there? I guess I'll have to check. Either way I distinctly remember there being one in that area.

EDIT: OF COURSE I forgot to mention the original antique Autos! Loved that ride.

I could go on and on.

 

[Logan]

^Those candy apples were like crack to 4 year old me. I always insisted on getting at least one every time we went.

[BeastBabyDoll]

13 hours ago, ldhudsonjr said:

you were able to ride SoB at 5 or six? Jesus Christ...my son just turned 7 and isn't quite tall enough to ride Racer...

As far as my earliest memories of the park, I consider myself lucky to have witnessed (as a very small child) the very end of KI before Paramount, but most of my early memories of the park are from the PKI days.

Early memories:

-Riding with my dad on what I'm fairly certain was "Sunshine Turnpike". I never knew the name of it, but I've always had the memory of riding around little sports car looking things, and definitely remember an underpass.

-Phantom Theater: as a kid, I probably associated this attraction with KI more than any other (maybe with the exception of the Eiffel Tower if you consider that an attraction). This was always one of the first things I wanted to go on, and as long as it was there I never felt the trip was complete until riding this. Maybe the one thing I most wish hadn't been removed from the park.

-I definitely remember seeing flight commander and thinking that it looked scary as hell.

-Hanna Barbara Land: while I do think that Planet Snoopy is great, I kind of feel bad for my kids that they missed out on Hanna Barbara land. It was so awesome to see all the characters from the cartoons I loved so much. I miss seeing that Mystery Machine.

-Seeing a show in the kids theater and my little sister being picked out of the crowd by Barney Rubble so he could ask her to marry him (or something? It was part of the story I think? If someone could provide any clarity on what show this was please do tell! This would have been earliy 90's. If I had to guess I'd say 91-93 sometime in there.)

-Those candy apples that were completely covered in some kind of red candy. It looks like they may still sell those but I haven't seen one in AGES. It seemed like I saw people walking around with those all the time back in the day.

-BLUE ICE CREAM!

-More trees. I definitely remember there being MUCH MUCH more shade back in the day. Miss that.

-LaRosas Pizza slices! I don't remember seeing any LaRosa's pizza here in Dayton prior to the 2000's, so when we would go to Kings Island I always thought the Pizza there was so great because It was different from the places I was used to. I was in High School or Jr. High when one opened up near me, and was SUPER PSYCHED to be able to get that pizza whenever I wanted. Kind of wish it had stayed the rare treat I remember it being because I hardly ever think of ordering it now.

-SKYLINE! It seemed for years that I couldn't imagine going to Kings Island without stopping by the Larosas near the Carousel for some Skyline. I noticed that the general area where we used to eat is still there, but now that I think of it I'm not sure if there's still a Skyline over there? I guess I'll have to check. Either way I distinctly remember there being one in that area.

EDIT: OF COURSE I forgot to mention the original antique Autos! Loved that ride.

I could go on and on.

 

My dad's 6'9" so it's definitely my advantage point haha

[DonnaFan]

I went to Totally 80s the other day and being in the steep stands brought back memories of how whenever anyone dropped something - usually a little round drink container shaped like fruit - it would roll allllll the way to the front.