Kings Island
| Previously known as King's Island - 1972 to 1993 | |
| Location | Kings Island, Ohio |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1972 |
| Owner | Cedar Fair, L.P. |
| Operating season | April through October |
| Area | 364 acres (1.5 km2) |
| Attractions | |
| Total | 41 |
| Roller coasters | 12 |
| Water rides | 3 |
| Website | Paramount's Kings Island |
Paramount's Kings Island is a 364 acre (1.5 km²) amusement park located in Warren County, Ohio in the city of Mason, PKI is located 24 miles (39 km) northeast of Cincinnati. (The mailing address is Kings Mills.) The park owns close to 775 acres (3.2 km²) of land, but only 364 acres (1.5 km²) are currently developed. Kings Island is owned by CBS Corporation, and is a part of a chain of Paramount Parks that are located throughout the United States and Canada.
On January 27, 2006, the website of the Dayton Daily News reported that CBS Corporation would be selling its Paramount Parks division. [1]
On May 22, 2006, Cedar Fair announced the purchase of Paramount Parks, including Paramount's Kings Island. [2] Upon completion of the purchase, Cedar Fair will own all three major amusement parks in Ohio (Paramount's Kings Island, Cedar Point and Geauga Lake).
Park history
Kings Island first opened its gates in 1972 in what was then Deerfield Township, developed by the Taft Broadcasting Company. Taft Broadcasting took the name from the previous landlord, the defunct King Powder Company, which founded the town of Kings Mills for its workers. The site is between I-71 and the Little Miami River.
Kings Island served as a replacement for Coney Island, a popular park on the Ohio River about 10 miles (16 km) east of downtown Cincinnati. Coney Island was forced to close due to frequent floods, but has since reopened on a much smaller scale. Many of the rides from Coney Island were moved to the new park; the only attraction left at Coney at the time was Sunlite Pool, the world's largest swimming pool. In 1992 Kings Island was purchased by Paramount Communications, along with 4 other theme parks in America and Canada; the park was renamed Paramount's Kings Island.
One of the first events to draw publicity to the park was the filming of an episode of The Brady Bunch at the park in 1973. An episode of The Partridge Family was shot there the previous year, in 1972. While they do not mention the name of the park, they do call it "a new park outside Cincinnati." On July 4, 1976, Kings Island played host to the wedding of Paul Revere of the pop rock band Paul Revere & the Raiders.
On October 25, 1975 Evel Knievel successfully jumped 14 Greyhound buses at King's Island setting a new audience viewing record for ABC's Wide World of Sports, garnering a 52 household share when his performance is broadcast live. He landed on the 14th bus, but held on. This was one of his last big jumps.
The centerpiece of Kings Island has always been its 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower, located just across the International Street fountain from the main entrance gate. Elevators regularly take patrons up to the lookout tower, which provides a chance to see the entire park and, at park closing, offers the best view of the nightly fireworks display (except for the Independence Day fireworks, which are actually shot off from the observation deck).
Another star attraction is the Racer, which consists of twin wooden roller coasters that race each other side-by-side through much of the ride's footprint. Designed by legendary designer John Allen, The Racer is credited by many people with starting the second golden age of the roller coaster. In 1982, the trains on the right side of the Racer were turned backward, freshening up an old favorite. (Many coaster enthusiasts have nicknamed the backwards train "recaR".)
Other coasters present in 1972 were the Bavarian Beetle, a small steel coaster brought over from Coney Island (and removed in 1979); and Scooby-Doo, a wooden coaster (renamed "The Beastie" in 1979; and renamed again as "The Fairly Odd Coaster" for 2006) located in the park's "Happy World of Hanna-Barbera" kids' area.
Kings Island has added, and removed, many thrill rides throughout the years. 1977 saw the debut of Screamin' Demon, which launched riders through a loop, then back through in reverse; this ride was sold in 1987. In 1979, the park unveiled The Beast, the tallest, longest, and fastest roller coaster in the world at the time. After more than 25 years, it still holds the title of the world's longest wooden roller coaster at 7,419 ft (2,261 m).
In 1981, Kings Island introduced the world's first suspended roller coaster, The Bat; however, it was plagued with maintenance problems and removed four years later. The first stand-up coaster in the United States, King Cobra, opened in 1984, but was dismantled in 2002 when maintenance proved to be too expensive. The King Cobra was then put up for sale, taken off the market shortly in 2003 but returning later that year. The King Cobra is currently stored in building near Flight of Fear and the prarie land behine the Racer and Flight of Fear.
1985 saw the debut of White Water Canyon, a popular whitewater rafting ride that soaks its riders. In 1987, the Vortex roller coaster briefly set a new record with six inversions. 1989 saw the debut of Water Works, a family water park, and 1991 brought Adventure Express, a mine-train style coaster.
The mid-to-late 80's also introduced a Christmas event called Winterfest, which ran from November 25 through December 31. It included visits with Santa Claus, Ice Skating, and a nightly light show. There were many shops and places to eat within the park, and a train ride through the woods was included with admission. This event ended in 1992, but returned for the 2005 holiday season.
Top Gun, the last suspended coaster built in the USA, was built in 1993 and avoided the mechanical failures of The Bat. 1994 saw the addition of Action Theater, an indoor simulator ride. In 1996, the park added the world's first roller coaster powered by a linear induction motor (LIM), Outer Limits: Flight of Fear. In 1999, Drop Zone, the world's tallest free-fall tower, and Face/Off, an inverted coaster, were opened. The Son of Beast, billed as the sequel to the Beast, opened in 2000. Currently, it is the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world, as well as the only one to successfully incorporate a steel loop into its otherwise wooden structure.
In 2002, the park added Tomb Raider, an indoor version of a ride commonly known as a giant top spin. Delirium, a 137 ft (42 m) Giant Frisbee, opened in 2003. In 2004 Their classic movie "Days of Thunder" opened in side B of the Action FX theater next to Spongebob, taken away later that year due to low viewership. In 2005 the park introduced the Italian Job Stunt Track coaster. Also that year, Delirium experienced a malfunction that caused closure of the Giant Frisbee for a major part of the season. It eventually recieved the repair it needed, and eventually reopened later in the season.
Today, Kings Island has 12 roller coasters and many huge flat rides. But despite all of these thrill rides, Kings Island is much more than a park just for thrill seekers. Kings Island's "WaterWorks" water park was renovated in 2004 to become "Boomerang Bay," a waterpark resort that comes free with admission. Kings Island has also won Amusement Today's award for 'Best Kid's Area in the World' five consecutive times (2001-2005). Its longtime kids' area, Hanna-Barbera Land, was slowly being replaced with the Viacom-synergistic Nickelodeon Central, which debuted in 1995; the entire kids' area will be rethemed as "Nickelodeon Universe" for 2006, with the dark ride "Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle" remaining as the last vestige of H-B.
PKI, like the other parks in the Paramount Family, features a number of attractions - encompassing rides, live shows and restaurants - based on Paramount Pictures films and other CBS and Viacom brands. The park now seems to be making a conscious decision to attract families more than thrill-seekers.
Roller coasters
Operating
| Ride | Year Opened | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Racer | 1972 | A John Miller/Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters racing wooden coaster. |
| Fairly Odd Coaster | 1972 | A John Miller/Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters family wooden coaster. Previously known as Scooby Doo (1972-1979) and Beastie (1980-2005). |
| The Beast | 1979 | A giant wooden roller coaster designed by the park themselves that remains to be a top 10 coaster among many industry experts and enthusiasts. To this day, it retains the record for longest wooden roller coaster. |
| Vortex | 1987 | An Arrow Dynamics designed "Mega Looper" coaster that opened as the world record holder for most inversions (6). |
| Adventure Express | 1991 | Arrow Dynamics designed family Mine Train roller coaster. |
| Little Bill's Giggle Coaster | 1992 | A Miler Coaster designed ride aimed at kids. Previously known as Scooby Zoom (1992-?) and Top Cat's Taxi Jam (?-2005). |
| Top Gun | 1993 | An Arrow Dynamics Suspended roller coaster. Cars are suspended below the track and are free swinging. |
| Flight of Fear | 1996 | A Premier Rides LIM-launched roller coaster prototype. Previously known as Outer Limits: Flight of Fear (1996-2000) |
| Face/Off | 1999 | A Vekoma inverted Boomerang roller coaster. |
| Son of Beast | 2000 | A Roller Coaster Company of America designed wooden roller coaster. Was the first hyper wooden coaster and the first wooden roller coaster with a vertical loop. |
| Rugrat's Runaway Reptar | 2001 | A Vekoma family suspended coaster based off of the TV show Rugrats. |
| Italian Job: Stunt Track | 2005 | A Premier Rides family LIM-launch coaster based off the chase sequence of the 2003 remake of The Italian Job. |
Defunct
| Ride | Year Opened | Year Closed | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bavarian Beetle | 1972 | 1979 | An SDC designed "Galaxi" steel roller coaster. Moved over from the original Coney Island Ohio park. |
| Demon | 1977 | 1987 | An Arrow Dynamics shuttle loop roller coaster and the first of its kind as well. Moved to Camden Park in West Virginia as Thunderbolt Express, then scrapped in 2004. Also known as Screamin' Demon. |
| The Bat | 1981 | 1983 | Prototype Arrow Dynamics suspended coaster. Although intense, the ride had a fair share of downtime and complaints of pain. This concept was given another try with Top Gun in 1993, which was signifigcantly less intense. |
| King Kobra | 1984 | 2001 | Prototype TOGO Stand-Up roller coaster. The ride was the America's first true stand-up coaster and was taken down in 2002 to make space for Delirium. Today, King Kobra sits in a field behind Flight of Fear and some parts are inside Flight of Fear's building. The ride is currently up for sale. |
| Scooby's Ghoster Coaster | 1998 | 2005 | Prototype Caripo Batflyer suspended roller coaster (billed as the first suspended coaster for kids). The ride had poor capacity and roughness complaints. Removed in 2005 as a part of the Hanna-Barbera Land removal for Nick Universe. |